Leadership in Organizations
© National College for School Leadership 2003 1
Leadership in Organizations
Gary Yukl
2001, Prentice Hall
Gary Yukl is Professor of Management and Leadership at the State University of New York in
Albany, and a board member of the Leadership Quarterly journal. He is a well-known scholar and author on leadership. Leadership in Organizations was first published in 1981. This fifth edition was published in 2002, and the formerly 19 chapters have been consolidated into 15
(which includes a new chapter on ethical leadership and diversity). This has been done in order to accommodate a 15-week course.
Each chapter covers a particular aspect of leadership research study, with a concluding summary and questions for further discussion. Key terms are highlighted, and there is at least one case study at the end of each chapter. The book is accompanied by an instructor’s manual which is used in conjunction with the case studies and also contains exercises and role-playing activities. The 508 pages of Leadership in Organizations include an extensive references section. Leadership in Organizations has a specific focus on managerial leadership in large organisations and is an attempt at bridging the gulf between academics and management practitioners. However, as each chapter begins with a list of learning objectives, the bias appears to tend towards a more academic audience (particularly students of the subject), rather than towards practising managers.
The author covers a broad survey of theory and research of leadership in formal organisations of the last 50 years, and though Yukl states that the book “focuses on the 20 per cent of literature that appeared to be the most relevant and informative”, he has provided an in-depth and comprehensive analysis and appraisal of that literature in a clear and moderately accessible language. From the first, introductory, chapter about the nature of leadership, Yukl writes what is
Leadership in Organizations
Gary Yukl
2001, Prentice Hall
Gary Yukl is Professor of Management and Leadership at the State University of New York in
Albany, and a board member of the Leadership Quarterly journal. He is a well-known scholar and author on leadership. Leadership in Organizations was first published in 1981. This fifth edition was published in 2002, and the formerly 19 chapters have been consolidated into 15
(which includes a new chapter on ethical leadership and diversity). This has been done in order to accommodate a 15-week course.
Each chapter covers a particular aspect of leadership research study, with a concluding summary and questions for further discussion. Key terms are highlighted, and there is at least one case study at the end of each chapter. The book is accompanied by an instructor’s manual which is used in conjunction with the case studies and also contains exercises and role-playing activities. The 508 pages of Leadership in Organizations include an extensive references section. Leadership in Organizations has a specific focus on managerial leadership in large organisations and is an attempt at bridging the gulf between academics and management practitioners. However, as each chapter begins with a list of learning objectives, the bias appears to tend towards a more academic audience (particularly students of the subject), rather than towards practising managers.
The author covers a broad survey of theory and research of leadership in formal organisations of the last 50 years, and though Yukl states that the book “focuses on the 20 per cent of literature that appeared to be the most relevant and informative”, he has provided an in-depth and comprehensive analysis and appraisal of that literature in a clear and moderately accessible language. From the first, introductory, chapter about the nature of leadership, Yukl writes what is