Summary of the articles for the course Leadership in Organizations (2018/2019):
-Alvesson, M., and Svenningsson, S. (2003). Managers doing leadership: the extra-ordinarization of the mundane.
-Brinson, S.L. and W.L. Benoit. (1999). 'The Tarnished Star. Restoring Texaco's Damaged Public Image'.
...
Brinson & Benoit; The Tarnished Star- Restoring Texaco’s damaged public image
History
For many years Texaco’s public image was; a scrupulous, upright and responsible company. By the
spring of 1996, Texaco launched a new campaign to create a more modern public image to become
attractive to a specific consumer group, including young African American drivers. However, this
campaign led to an unintended image; racism
African Americans were boycotting the company
Texaco accused of racism
Even more troubles after Lundwall releasing a secret tape which recorded a conversation between
Lundwall and three other executives. Examples: ‘’black jelly beans’’ who were ‘’glued to the bottom
of the jar’’, mentioning problems with Hanuka and Kwanzaa, ‘nigger’. They also talked about plans to
destroy evidence that might help the plaintiff’s lawsuit (afro-americans).
dozens of articles in newspapers + magazines
The publicity was widespread and intensively negative. Texaco’s response defined the corporate
culture in the mid 1990s.
Evolution over time
o Firstly; existence of problem qualified + promising corrective action
‘if the accusations are true’
o Secondly; groundwork for shifting the blame + separation strategy
‘good employees follow the policy, bad employees might not’
o Thirdly; problem is acknowledged + corrective action will be taken
Desire to ‘heal the painful wounds’ caused by ‘reckless behaviour’
‘few rotten apples’ in the company (separation)
o Fourth; mortification
Expressing regrets; ‘root out such painful behaviour’
o Fifth; explicitly naming 6 corrective actions + punishing the involved employees
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,Results
His image repair + acknowledgement of the accusations clearly evolved over time which is
logical since they had to know the existence and nature of the problem before taking action.
No differences between the messages for Texaco employees and the messages for the public
(all messages were posted on corporate website, so they might have done this to be
consistent and prevent from people thinking that they communicate differently to the public
Texaco settled the lawsuit
Fundamental approach to attack the racism; ‘We are a terrific company (bolstering), we will
not tolerate discrimination in the future (corrective action), we are sorry (mortification), and
any wrongdoing was performed by a few bad apples (shifting blame)
o These strategies + settlement was very effective, after a few weeks the bad publicity
and boycotts disappeared.
o The sale didn’t drop intensely (1997) back up again
It was unusual to hear the executive respond directly and responsible
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,Implications for future crisis communication
Immediate and responsible reaction
Apologizing for mistakes
Report plans to prevent from recurring the problem
For separation to be effective, 3 conditions crucial
o Company should establish that employees violated the company policy
o The bad apples should be symbolically AND physically be separated from the
company
o The company should take actions to discourage future violations of policy
Conclusion
Effective crisis communication by using; bolstering, corrective action, mortification + new
forms of shifting the blame; separation
The settlement of the lawsuit also contributed to the effectiveness of the image repair
Alvesson & Sveningsson- Managers doing leadership; the extra-ordinarization of the mundane
Introduction
It is the leader’s ability to address the many through the use of charisma, symbols and emotional
devices, the ambition being to arouse and encourage people to embark upon organizational projects
Leadership is about the manager being active and powerful; the leader acts, the follower responds
Frequently made distinction: leadership/ management
‘The function of leadership is to create change while the function of management is to create
stability’
‘Leadership creates new patterns of action and new belief systems’
Definition of leadership: being about ‘voluntary’ obedience. There are assumptions of harmony and
convergence of interest, the leader seldom uses formal authority or reward/punishment in order to
accomplish compliance.
Little attention in literature to mundane aspects of managerial work and leadership.
Mundane activities, especially listening, are very important things to do for managers in
knowledge-intensive companies
The level of authoritarianism and asymmetry in social relations is low in knowledge-intensive
companies
Definitions management
Mintzberg about management: ‘controlling, coordinating and directing’
Kotter ads: ‘it is more formal and scientific than leadership’
Fagiano: managers are those ‘multiplying effectiveness of… superiority by getting others to
carry out instructions’.
o Management is frequently related to creation of stability, structure, systems and
bureaucracy
o Leadership is related to visions, cooperation, networking, teamwork, creativity and
inspiration
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, Definitions Leadership
Mintzberg about leadership; ‘inspirational’ and supportive’
Kotter; emphasizes the formulation of ‘vision’ as central
Fagiano; leaders help others do the things they know need to be done in order to achieve the
common vision
Dubrin; producing change and releasing innovation and development
Characteristics Leader VS Manager
Leader Manager
visionary rational
passionate consulting
creative persistent
inspiring Though-minded
innovative analytical
courageous structured
Listening
Required for effective leadership
Make subordinates feel more favourable
Make them feel better having discussed problems
Less resistance to change
The study
Knowledge intensive company
Byoteck in the life sciences sector, main focus on R&D
Interviews with middle or senior middle-level managers, project managers and researchers
Organizational culture; autonomy, network building, interest in knowledge, symmetrical
relations across formal hierarchies.
No fixed questions
o People were asked to talk about their work, and when they started to address
leadership, what they thought leadership meant in practice.
In interviews managers talked of leadership as conveying and formulating visions, strategies
and overall guidelines, but when asked to specify the practice notions of visions and
strategies they failed.
Managers doing leadership
Listening, chatting and being cheerful have been mentioned as important to
leadership, this sometimes implies that managers possess a special form of expertise
in carrying out these activities.
The interest of this study is to understand the ideas and orientations of those being
studied, of how leadership is constructed.
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