The Impact of Organizational Characteristics on Leadership Effectiveness Models: An Examination of Leadership in a Private and a Public Sector Organization

Abstract

Researchers have been criticized for applying generic organization and management theories to public sector organizations on the basis that such theories ignore significant public-private differences. To examine the extent to which generic theories can help us better understand public-private differences, the authors applied a generic leadership theory to both a private and a public sector organization and found interesting differences between the two organizations. The authors concluded that generic theories serve the useful purpose of allowing researchers to compare and contrast public sector management issues with those of other types of organizations. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.