Papers by Jonathan Gosling
ABSTRACT The paper presents the results of an exploratory international survey, excluding USA, of... more ABSTRACT The paper presents the results of an exploratory international survey, excluding USA, of postgraduate business students including MBAs. The central purpose was to consider the relationship between the propensity for wisdom and adopting an ecological perspective that is more compatible with long-term planetary sustainability. Other variables were considered. Students were more inclined to the New Ecological Paradigm [NEP], with a significant strong correlation between the level of wisdom and environmental concern. Stronger NEP and wisdom scores were positively correlated with subjective wellbeing and psychological wellbeing. Although there was no correlation between gender and wisdom, there was a positive correlation between wisdom and those with children as well as those who are partnered, suggesting the importance of experience in wisdom formation. Gender also did not correlate with environmental concern. Students reasonably strongly agreed with sustainability being a significant part of the Business degree curriculum. Further curriculum implications are provided.
Not all successful leadership is good leadership. As Peter Drucker once remarked, the 20th centur... more Not all successful leadership is good leadership. As Peter Drucker once remarked, the 20th century produced three great leaders: Hitler, Stalin and Mao. Conversely, many leaders who fail to achieve their aims nonetheless deserve respect and praise. In fact we can probably learn more about how to do good by studying those who struggle for it in almost impossible circumstances. This is what we had in mind when we first took a group of company executives to Sarajevo in 1996, shortly after the signing the ceasefire known as the Dayton Accord. The context was a short course on leadership of change and continuity, conceived by one of the authors, coordinated by the other and commissioned by British Aerospace plc (now BAE Systems plc). Our aim was to study what happens when 'transformation' becomes an overwhelming reality. We learned a good deal about change, continuity and leadership; but we learned more about this radical approach to management education, which is the focus of this paper.
Malaria Journal, 2020
Background: Focus for improved malaria programme performance is often placed on the technical cha... more Background: Focus for improved malaria programme performance is often placed on the technical challenges, while operational issues are neglected. Many of the operational challenges that inhibit malaria programme effectiveness can be addressed by improving communication and coordination, increasing accountability, maintaining motivation, providing adequate training and supervision, and removing bureaucratic silos. Methods: A programme of work was piloted in Zimbabwe with one malaria eliminating province, Matabeleland South in 2016-2017, and scaled up to include two other provinces, Matabeleland North and Midlands, in 2017-2018. The intervention included participatory, organization development and quality improvement methods. Results: Workshop participants in Matabeleland South reported an improvement in data management. In Matabeleland North, motivation among nurses improved as they gained confidence in case management from training, and overall staff morale improved. There was also an improvement in data quality and data sharing. In Midlands, the poorly performing district was motivated to improve, and both participating districts became more goal-oriented. They also became more focused on monitoring their data regularly. Participants from all provinces reported having gained skills in listening, communicating, facilitating discussions, and making presentations. Participation in the intervention changed the mindset of malaria programme staff, increasing ownership and accountability, and empowering them to identify and solve problems, make decisions, and act within their sphere of influence, elevating challenges when appropriate. Conclusions: This pilot demonstrates that a participatory, organization development and quality improvement approach has broad ranging effects, including improving local delivery of interventions, tailoring strategies to target specific populations, finding efficiencies in the system that could not be found using the traditional top-down approach, and improving motivation and communication between different cadres of health workers. Scale-up of this simple model can be achieved and benefits sustained over time if the process is imbedded into the programme with the training of health staff who can serve as management improvement coaches. Methods to improve operational performance that are scalable at the district level are urgently needed: this approach is a possible tactic that can significantly contribute to the achievement of global malaria eradication goals.
Managing Sustainable Business, 2018
This case enables students to explore and evaluate the ways in which Multinational Companies (MNC... more This case enables students to explore and evaluate the ways in which Multinational Companies (MNCs) implement their sustainability initiatives in China. The case begins with an overview of the Chinese dairy industry, followed by an introduction to Tetra Pak (TP) Global, Tetra Pak China and competition that Tetra Pak faces in China. Then the case introduces the service-based sustainability strategy at Tetra Pak China, with detailed explanation of three initiatives: FSC certification, pasture land management and creating a recycling system. The objective of the case is to show how pressures to improve environmental sustainability are driving new approaches to supply chain management. It provides students with the following frameworks to analyze the dissemination of sustainability initiatives in the supply chain: stakeholder theory, industrial ecology, recycling, and servitization. In addition, this case offers insights into the emerging market of China. The complexity of TP's initiatives and the innovative resulting supply chain practices (TP is involved in three supply chains: packaging, dairy and recycling) provides rich information for students to analyze.
BMC Public Health, 2022
Although it is widely recognized that strong program management is essential to achieving better ... more Although it is widely recognized that strong program management is essential to achieving better health outcomes, this priority is not recognized in malaria programmatic practices. Increased management precision offers the opportunity to improve the effectiveness of malaria interventions, overcoming operational barriers to intervention coverage and accelerating the path to elimination. Here we propose a combined approach involving quality improvement, quality management, and participative process improvement, which we refer to as Combined Quality and Process Improvement (CQPI), to improve upon malaria program management. We draw on evidence from other areas of public health, as well as pilot implementation studies in Eswatini, Namibia and Zimbabwe to support the proposal. Summaries of the methodological approaches employed in the pilot studies, overview of activities and an outline of lessons learned from the implementation of CQPI are provided. Our findings suggest that a malaria m...
List of Tables List of Figures Foreword by K. Grint Notes on the Contributors Introduction and Ac... more List of Tables List of Figures Foreword by K. Grint Notes on the Contributors Introduction and Acknowledgements J.Gosling & P.Case PART 1: PERSPECTIVES ON ADAIR'S WORK Strategos: An Exploration of John Adair's Influence on Strategic Leadership A.Cooper Bridging the Gap: A Perspective on the Contribution of John Adair J.Potter The Leaders and the Led: Dyadic Approaches to Leadership M.Witzel Gimme Five! Multi-disciplinary Perspectives on Leadership T.Harle PART II: Adair's Influence on Institutions Action-Centred Leadership in the Royal Air Force: Final Landing or New Horizon? Sir B.Burridge Public Sector Leadership Centres - a Variant of Groundhog Day? E.Wooldridge Leading the Way in Higher Education: A 20-year Journey from the University of Surrey to the Leadership Foundation R.Middlehurst, T.Kennie & D.Faraday John Adair and Church Leadership S.M. Gaskell PART III: Action-Centred Leadership (ACL) in International Contexts Functional Leadership in Australia - The Story ...
Journal of Business Ethics, 2019
This article introduces a non-Anglophone concept of gong qi (communal vessel, 公器) as a metaphor f... more This article introduces a non-Anglophone concept of gong qi (communal vessel, 公器) as a metaphor for 'corporation'. It contributes an endogenous perspective from a Sino-Japanese organizational context that enriches mainstream business ethics literature, otherwise heavily reliant on Western traditions. We translate the multi-layered meanings of gong qi based on analysis of its ideograms, its references into classical philosophies, and contemporary application in this Japanese multinational corporation in China. Gong qi contributes a perspective that sees a corporation as an inclusive and virtuous social entity, and also addresses the elusive, implicit, and forever evolving nature of organizational life that is rarely noticed. We propose gong qi can be applied in other organizations and wider cultural contexts to show a new way of seeing and understanding business ethics and organization. Rather than considering virtue as a list of definable individual qualities, we suggest that the metaphor of gong qi reveals how virtue can be experienced as indeterminate, yet immanently present, like the substance of emptiness. This, then allows us to see the virtue of immanence, the beauty of implicitness, and hence, the efficacy of gong qi.
Sustainable Champions, 2017
This background paper is a rapid synthesis of current evidence prepared for the Bill & Melind... more This background paper is a rapid synthesis of current evidence prepared for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to inform strategy development.
Journal of Business Ethics
Author Yuan Li declares that she has no conflict of interest. Author Robert Chia declares that he... more Author Yuan Li declares that she has no conflict of interest. Author Robert Chia declares that he has no conflict of interest. Author Jonathan Gosling declares that he has no conflict of interest.
Key Concepts in Leadership
The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
ABSTRACT. Leadership and management skills are critical for health programs to deliver high-quali... more ABSTRACT. Leadership and management skills are critical for health programs to deliver high-quality interventions in complex systems. In malaria-eliminating countries, national and subnational health teams are reorienting strategies to address focal transmission while preventing new cases and adapting to decentralization and declines in external financing. A capacity-strengthening program in two regions in Namibia helped malaria program implementers identify and address key operational, political, and financial challenges. The program focused on developing skills and techniques in problem-solving and teamwork, engaging decision-makers, and using financial evidence to prioritize domestic resources for malaria through participatory approaches. Results of the program included an observed 40% increase in malaria case reporting, 32% increase in reporting and tracing of imported malaria cases, 10% increase in malaria case management, integration of malaria activities into local operationa...
The pros and cons of a competency/standards approach to leadership and management development hav... more The pros and cons of a competency/standards approach to leadership and management development have been under debate for some time. Whilst many people now question the validity of this approach, organisations in all sectors continue developing their own frameworks and the government encourages and promotes occupational standards. In the current paper the authors draw upon their experiences of working alongside consultants developing the new National Occupational Standards in Management and Leadership, and a review of competency frameworks employed by leading private and public sector organisations in Europe, to present some theoretical and practical reflections on this approach. Our experiences have led us to conclude that whilst the development of competencies and standards can be a valuable way of encouraging individuals and organisations to consider their approach to management and leadership development, it is in their application that difficulties can occur. When working with c...
Sustainable Champions, 2017
‘Whether you are studying leadership, or doing leadership, this is a rollicking good read, and a ... more ‘Whether you are studying leadership, or doing leadership, this is a rollicking good read, and a fabulously rich book.’ - Ken Parry, Professor of Leadership Studies and co-Director of the Deakin Leadership Centre, Australia He came to France an immigrant and left an exile – but, in a career spanning just 35 years, he became general, consul and emperor. How did Napoleon’s name come to be synonymous with brilliance, legend and glory despite displaying opportunistic and manipulative tendencies, and repeatedly deserting those that followed him? 200 years after his defeat, what lessons can we learn from his successes and his failures? As the world marks the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, this fascinating study on leadership and power tackles the questions that continue to intrigue and mystify. As now, power was gained and held by political manipulation, patronage, fear, putsch, charisma, popular vote and the new idea of meritocracy. Through the inclusion of Reflections and Questions, Jones and Gosling also highlight some important lessons for current and future managers and leaders. Visit the authors’ website www.napoleonic-leadership.com for a Diagnostic Exercise, Power questions and Chronology of Leadership.
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Papers by Jonathan Gosling