
Mats Alvesson
Professor

Good visions, bad micro-management and ugly ambiguity: Contradictions of (non-)leadership in a knowledge-intensive organization
Author
Summary, in English
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.
Department/s
- Department of Business Administration
Publishing year
2003
Language
English
Pages
961-988
Publication/Series
Organization Studies
Volume
24
Issue
6
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Topic
- Business Administration
Keywords
- leadership
- management
- ambiguity
- identity work
- knowledge-intensive firms
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1741-3044