This article investigates how managers position themselves and their work in terms of leadership in a large knowledge-intensive company. The significance of contemporary discourse on leadership, practical aspects of managerial work, and ambiguity as a central dimension of organization and leadership (particularly in knowledge-intensive settings) are highlighted. We examine the presumed leadership in a company with respect to the three `moral' and `aesthetic' positions or aspects of leadership: good, bad and ugly leadership. The article shows how managers incoherently move between different positions on leadership. The study undermines some of the dominant notions of leadership, for example, the leader as a consistent essence, a centred subject with a particular orientation to work. We suggest a less comfortable view of managers aspiring to adopt, but partly failing to secure leadership identities and a coherent view of their work. Value commitments appear as disintegrated and contradictory. The study indicates a need to radically rethink dominant ideas about leadership.
Alvesson, Mats2002bPostmodernism and social research. Buckingham: Open University
5.
Alvesson, Mats , and Stan Deetz2000Doing critical management research. London: Sage .
6.
Alvesson, Mats , and Kaj Sköldberg2000Reflexive methodology. London: Sage .
7.
Alvesson, Mats , and Stefan Sveningsson2003`The great disappearance act. Leadership'. Leadership Quarterly (forthcoming).
8.
Andriessen, E. , and P. Drenth1984`Leadership: theories and models' in Handbook of work and organizational psychology, Vol. 1. P. Drenth , H. Thierry , P. J. Willems and C. J. de Wolff (eds). Chichester: Wiley .
9.
Barker, R.1997`How can we train leaders if we don't know what leadership is?'Human Relations50: 343-362 .
10.
Barker, R.2001`The nature of leadership' . Human Relations54/4: 469-494 .
11.
Barney, Jay1996`Bringing managers back in', in Does management matter?Allan Malm (ed.). Institute of Economic Research Crafoord Lectures 6. Lund: Lund University Press .
12.
Beckerus, Å.et al.1988Att leda via idéer. (To lead through ideas). Stockholm: Norstedts .
13.
Bryman, Alan , Stephens, M. , and Campo, C.1996`The importance of context: qualitative research and the study of leadership' . Leadership Quarterly, 7/3: 353-370 .
14.
Clegg, Stewartet al.1996`Management knowledge for the future: innovation, embryos and new paradigms', in The politics of management knowledge. Stewart Clegg and Gary Palmer (eds). London: Sage .
15.
Denis, J-L. , A. Langley , and L. Cazale1996`Leadership and strategic change under ambiguity' . Organization Studies17: 673-699 .
16.
Denison, Daniel , R. Hooijberg , and Richard Quinn1995`Paradox and performance: toward a theory of behavioural complexity in managerial leadership' . Organization Science6: 524-540 .
17.
Dubrin, A.2001Leadership. Research Findings, Practice and Skills. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin .
18.
Fiedler, F.1996`Research on leadership selection and training: one view of the future' . Administrative Science Quarterly41: 241-250 .
19.
Foucault, Michel1980Power/Knowledge. New York: Pantheon .
20.
Glaser, B. G. , and A. L. Strauss1967The Discovery of Grounded Theory. Chicago: Aldine .
21.
Hedberg, Bo 1990 `Exit, voice, and loyalty in knowledge-intensive firms' . Paper presented at the 10th SMS Conference, Stockholm.
22.
Jackall, Robert1988Moral mazes. Cambridge, MA: Oxford University Press .
23.
Jain, R. K. , and H. C. Triandis1997Management of research and development organizations. Managing the unmanageable. New York: Wiley .
24.
Knights, David , and Hugh Willmott1992`Conceptualizing leadership processes: a study of senior managers in a financial services company' . Journal of Management Studies29: 761-782 .
25.
Kotter, John1990Force for change. How leadership differs from management. New York: Free Press .
26.
Kärreman, Dan , Stefan Sveningsson , and Mats Alvesson2003`The return of the machine Bureaucracy? — Management control and knowledge work' . International Studies of Management and Organizations33(2) (forthcoming).
27.
Löwendahl, Bente1997Strategic management of professional service firms. Copenhagen: Handelshöjskolens Forlag .
28.
McAuley, J. , J. Duberley , and L. Cohen2000`The meaning professionals give to management... and strategy' . Human Relations53/1: 87-116 .
29.
Martin, J.1992The culture of organizations. Three perspectives. New York: Oxford University Press .
30.
Martin, J. , and D. Meyerson1988`Organizational cultures and the denial, channeling and acknowledgement of ambiguity', in Managing ambiguity and change. L. R. Pondyet al. (eds). New York: Wiley .
31.
Meindl, J. , S. Erlich , and J. Dukerich1985`The romance of leadership' . Administrative Science Quarterly30: 78-102 .
32.
Mintzberg, Henry1998`Covert leadership: Notes on managing professionals' . Harvard Business Review (November-December): 140-147 .
33.
Nicholls, J.1987`Leadership in organisations: Meta, macro and micro' . European Management Journal6: 16-25 .
34.
Oliver, A. , and K. Montgomery2000`Creating a hybrid organizational form from parental blueprints: the emergence and evolution of knowledge firms' . Human Relations53: 33-56 .
35.
Pfeffer, Jeffrey1981`Management as symbolic action: The creation and maintenance of organizational paradigms', in Research in organizational behaviour. Vol. 3. Larry L. Cummings , and Barry M. Staw (eds). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press .
36.
Porter, Michael1980Competitive strategy. New York: Free Press .
37.
Porter, Michael1985Competitive advantage. New York: Free Press .
38.
Potter, J. , and M. Wetherell1987Discourse and social psychology. Beyond attitudes and behaviour. London: Sage .
39.
Prior, L.1997`Following in Foucault's footstep. Text and context in qualitative research', in Qualitative research. David Silverman (ed.). London: Sage .
40.
Senge, Peter1996`The leaders' new work: building learning organizations', in How organizations learn. Ken Starkey (ed.). London: Thomson Business Press .
41.
Smircich, Linda , and Gareth Morgan1982`Leadership: The management of meaning' . Journal of Applied Behavioural Science18: 257-273 .
42.
Strauss, A. , and J. Corbin1994`Grounded theory methodology: an overview', in Handbook of Qualitative Research. N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln (eds). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
43.
Trice, H. M. , and J. M. Beyer1993The culture of work organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall .
44.
Trevelyan, R.2001`The paradox of autonomy: a case of academic research scientists' . Human Relations54/4: 495-525 .
45.
Watson, Tony1994In search of management. London: Routledge .
46.
Whittington, Richard1993What is strategy and does it matter?London: Routledge .
