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Research: Leadership Versus Management

The following links are some of our favorite research articles on the topic of leadership versus management. Please share your favorites with us as well by either posting your favorites on our LinkedIn group, or by sending them to ppl@louisville.edu.


  1. Alvesson, M., & Sveningsson, S. (2003). Good visions, bad micro-management and ugly ambiguity: contradictions of (non-) leadership in a knowledge-intensive organization. Organization Studies, 24(6), 961-988. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0170840603024006007?casa_token=NgR98p1IA80AAAAA:eY5vZyRVWmXtFneCno2bylz7Te7nDdafZeraxf1KOayJZTlQ_HpHUzjbIXnI6nXx8TNqKd8oy7n4wg
  2. Ashford, S. J., & Sitkin, S. B. (2019). From problems to progress: A dialogue on prevailing issues in leadership research. The Leadership Quarterly, 30(4): 454-460. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1048984318305575
  3. Bennis, W., & Nanus, B. (1985). Leaders: Strategies for Taking Charge. New York: Harper & Row Publishers. https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Strategies-Collins-Business-Essentials/dp/0060559543
  4. Carroll, B., & Levy, L. (2008). Defaulting to management: Leadership defined by what it is not. Organization, 15(1), 75-96. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1350508407084486?casa_token=sjaOE9WBoTwAAAAA:gp71xBZUrFIgevSnOmvZZefFQUClztNMrG9zah3sn3uWIXAljccpjP-AsvPpo6Xbgr8duBG5ud_Kcg
  5. Kniffen, K. M., Detert, J. R., & Leroy, H. L. (2020). On Leading and Managing: Synonyms or Separate (and Unequal)? Academy of Management Discoveries. https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amd.2018.0227
  6. Kotter, J. P. (1990). Force for change: How leadership differs from management. New York: Free Press. https://www.amazon.com/Force-Change-Leadership-Differs-Management/dp/0029184657/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Force+for+change%3A+How+leadership+differs+from+management&qid=1582922114&s=books&sr=1-3
  7. Mintzberg, H. (1973). The Nature of Managerial Work. New York: Harper and Row. https://www.amazon.com/Nature-Managerial-Work-Henry-Mintzberg/dp/0060445564/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Nature+of+Managerial+Work&qid=1582922138&s=books&sr=1-1
  8. Rost, J. C. (1991). Leadership for the twenty-first century. Westport, CT: Greenwood. https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Twenty-First-Century-Joseph-Rost/dp/027594610X/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Leadership+for+the+twenty-first+century&qid=1582922157&s=books&sr=1-3
  9. Zaleznik, A. (1977). Managers and leaders: Are they different? Harvard Business Review, 55(3), 67-78. https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/55640617/Abraham_Zaleznik_1977.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DManagers_and_Leaders_Are_They_Different.pdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A%2F20200228%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20200228T203739Z&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=fd5b65f38ff22a9e1322a75b9e5f5c59c09080d1c6e3eb29524d124643bf50fa