Knowledge Resources - Research Reports

• Emerging Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations: Myths, Meaning, and Motivations
  In 2010, American Express and the Center for Creative Leadership embarked on research efforts to advance the understanding of, and to promote excellence in the field of, nonprofit leadership by focusing on the needs of emerging leaders. (more...) (PDF, 2.3 MB)
• Youth Leadership Summit 2011
  Reflections and Insights from Youth Leadership Summit 2011 held March 23-25 at the Center for Creative Leadership headquarters in Greensboro, NC. (more...) (PDF, 2.2 MB)
• Leadership Across Differences: A Report on Research and Findingsl
  The data shared in this report are drawn from the Leadership across Differences research project. We wanted to better understand what contributed to social identity tensions and conflicts in organizations and explore what leadership responses were desired and which were used. A total of 3,041 individuals across 10 ten countries participated in the survey, representing 21 organizations. (more...) (PDF, 4.9 MB)
  Printed Copy Available for Purchase.
  Leading Across Differences Facilitator's Guide Set Available for Purchase.
• Developing Future Leaders for High-Growth Indian Companies: New Perspectives
  For businesses within and outside India, an exhilarating era of expansive global growth has arrived. Specifically in India, many home-grown businesses are seeking to double, triple and quadruple their revenues over the next decade, if not sooner. Companies are therefore beginning to show great interest in leadership development and corporate India is increasingly investing in leadership training and development. But where and how are the most important "lessons of leadership" learned and what are those lessons? This report describes the results of investigating these important questions in an Indian context. (more...) (PDF, 309 KB)
• Developing Chinese Leaders in the 21st Century
  All around the world, better leadership is needed, and more so in growing economies like China. How can we develop more effective leaders for China-based companies? Are there experiences that would better prepare them? What lessons would they need to learn to become effective managers? To address these issues, we present relevant research findings and implications for leadership development from the Lessons of Experience-China research project. (more...) (PDF, 735 KB)
• Developing Public Service Leaders in Singapore
  How can we develop leaders for public service? Are there experiences that would prepare them? And what lessons would they need to learn to become effective public servants? To address this issue, we present relevant research findings and implications for leadership development from the Lessons of Experience - Singapore Public Service research project. (more...) (PDF, 346 KB)
• Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Business: A Guide to Leadership Tasks and Functionsa
  Organizations have developed a variety of strategies for dealing with the intersection of societal needs, the natural environment, and corresponding business imperatives. At one end of the continuum are organizations that do not acknowledge any responsibility to society and the environment. And on the other end of the continuum are those organizations that view their operations as having a significant impact as well as reliance on society at the economic, social, and ecological levels. This sourcebook presents current knowledge related to what has become known as "corporate social responsibility" (CSR). Ongoing research reveals that a variety of strategies, alliances and partnerships, and approaches are being used around the globe to respond to issues of CSR. The aspiration of many corporations to contribute to a better world is great, but translating that aspiration into reality remains a challenge for organizations the world over. (more...) (PDF, 1.9 MB)
  Printed Copy Available for Purchase.
• Interdependent Leadership in Organizations: Evidence from Six Case Studiesa
  In September 2005, the Connected Leadership Project Team at the Center for Creative Leadership undertook to design and implement a case study research project to better understand "interdependent" leadership in organizations. Our assumption was that for organizations to deal effectively with increasing complexity in their environments, new approaches to leadership are needed-approaches that are themselves more complex than current approaches. This report outlines the theoretical frameworks and the research questions that guided our inquiry, then describes our methods and results. (more...) (PDF, 779 KB)
  Printed Copy Available for Purchase.
• Should 360-Degree Feedback Be Used Only for Developmental Purposes?a
  With the growing use of 360-degree, or multi-rater, feedback in organizations today, there is much disagreement over how it should be employed: strictly to help the manager develop or also to help those who work with the manager decide such issues as pay and promotion. The articles in this publication, authored by professionals who have extensive experience with 360, span the range of the discussion. (more...) (Adobe PDF, 123 KB)
  Printed Copy Available for Purchase.
• Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Business: A Guide to Leadership Tasks and Functionsa
  Organizations have developed a variety of strategies for dealing with the intersection of societal needs, the natural environment, and corresponding business imperatives. At one end of the continuum are organizations that do not acknowledge any responsibility to society and the environment. And on the other end of the continuum are those organizations that view their operations as having a significant impact as well as reliance on society at the economic, social, and ecological levels. This sourcebook presents current knowledge related to what has become known as "corporate social responsibility" (CSR). Ongoing research reveals that a variety of strategies, alliances and partnerships, and approaches are being used around the globe to respond to issues of CSR. The aspiration of many corporations to contribute to a better world is great, but translating that aspiration into reality remains a challenge for organizations the world over. (more...) (Adobe PDF, 1.9 MB)
  Printed Copy Available for Purchase.
• Choosing 360: A Guide to Evaluating Multi-rater Feedback Instruments for Management Developmenta
  Because of the availability of so many feedback instruments, finding the best instruments for an organization's needs is difficult. This volume, an update of Feedback to Managers, Volume I: A Guide to Evaluating Multi-rater Feedback Instruments (CCL, 1991), presents a step-by-step process that shows how to evaluate multiple-feedback questionnaires intended for management development. The steps take you through such issues as instrument development, consistency of score, validity and reliability, feedback display, scoring strategies, and cost. (more...) (Adobe PDF, 815 KB)
  Printed Copy Available for Purchase.
• Interdependent Leadership in Organizations: Evidence from Six Case Studiesa
  In September 2005, the Connected Leadership Project Team at the Center for Creative Leadership undertook to design and implement a case study research project to better understand "interdependent" leadership in organizations. Our assumption was that for organizations to deal effectively with increasing complexity in their environments, new approaches to leadership are needed-approaches that are themselves more complex than current approaches. This report outlines the theoretical frameworks and the research questions that guided our inquiry, then describes our methods and results. (more...) (Adobe PDF, 779 KB)
  Printed Copy Available for Purchase.
• The Realities of Management Promotiona
  Promotions are among the most significant rewards a manager can receive. They are also important events for an organization. Yet little is known about what goes into the actual promotion decision. This report documents a study of how the promotion decisions of senior-level employees in three Fortune 500 companies were actually made. A clearer picture is gained through interviews with those involved in the process and through access to performance appraisals and succession-planning documents. (more...) (Adobe PDF, 496 KB)
  Printed Copy Available for Purchase.
• An Evaluation of the Outcomes of a Leadership Development Programa
  How did a program designed for school superintendents in Florida affect the 38 individuals who participated? This report is an evaluation of one run of the Chief Executive Officer Leadership Development Program, developed by the Center. (more...) (Adobe PDF, 610 KB)
  Printed Copy Available for Purchase.
• Choosing Executives: A Research Report on the Peak Selection Simulationa
  Failure rate for senior executives is high; consider the frequent stories in the press about yet another CEO who has been fired or has resigned prematurely. Hypothesizing that the selection process is inadequate, CCL researchers used the Peak Selection Simulation to ask 621 decision-makers specific questions about how they use interviews, HR information, and search firm reports to select top-level candidates. (more...) (Adobe PDF, 179 KB)
  Printed Copy Available for Purchase.
• A Glass Ceiling Survey: Benchmarking Barriers and Practicesa
  The authors report here on the Glass Ceiling Benchmark Survey, which asked human resources professionals about the importance of diversity to their organization, the organization's effectiveness in achieving diversity, the effect of barriers on the upward mobility of nontraditional managers, and the prevalence and importance of key practices for supporting workforce diversity. (more...) (Adobe PDF, 568 KB)
  Printed Copy Available for Purchase.
• A Cross-National Comparison of Effective Leadership and Teamwork: Toward a Global Workforcea
  What does managerial effectiveness look like in the new global business environment? This research report presents the findings of a two-year study that compared managers' views on effective leadership in Europe and the United States. Perceptions of work-related values of effective leaders and team members in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States were measured using SYMLOG, a group-level assessment tool, and the results were analyzed for similarities and differences. (more...) (Adobe PDF, 843 KB)
  Printed Copy Available for Purchase.
• International Success: Selecting, Developing, and Supporting Expatriate Managersa
  When managers in multinational companies are not properly prepared for assignments in foreign countries, the costs are great - for the managers themselves, for their organizations, and for their home countries. But how can expatriates prepare for such assignments? The selection-development-support framework described in this report not only identifies the important factors to consider when working overseas but also specifies ways to develop a talent pool of effective expatriates. (more...) (Adobe PDF, 1.2 MB)
  Printed Copy Available for Purchase.
• Helping Leaders Take Effective Action: A Program Evaluationa
  In 1989 CCL developed LeaderLab, a program that aims to help individuals take effective and sustained action in their leadership situations. A subsequent evaluation of the program assessed its effectiveness. This report discusses an important question that arose out of that assessment: Do action-oriented programs help participants take more effective action in their leadership situations? (more...) (Adobe PDF, 529 KB)
  Printed Copy Available for Purchase.
• Executive Selection: A Research Report on What Works and What Doesn'ta
  Over a span of two years, researchers at the Center for Creative Leadership conducted in-depth interviews with 325 senior executives who had personally taken part in choosing someone for a top-level position. The findings, reported here, illuminate (1) how executive selection takes place in modern organizations, (2) what factors determine whether organizations look inside or outside for candidates, and (3) how selected executives are defined as successful or unsuccessful. (more...) (Adobe PDF, 909 KB)
  Printed Copy Available for Purchase.
• Managerial Promotion: The Dynamics for Men and Womena
  Although women have made considerable progress into management ranks in the last 20 years, it is generally acknowledged that the rate of their advancement has not kept pace with their increasing educational achievements and career commitments. One organizational practice affecting the mobility of women, which has received relatively little research attention, is the decision process used in promotions. (more...) (Adobe PDF, 778 KB)
  Printed Copy Available for Purchase.
• Key Events and Lessons for Managers in a Diverse Workforce: A Report on Research and Findingsa
  The survival of an organization often depends on its developing effective leaders. Along with formal executive training efforts, job experiences and assignments are also crucial to managerial development and career success. Just as the workplace continues to change, the experiences that managers see as key to their own leadership development are also changing. (more...) (Adobe PDF, 180 KB)
  Printed Copy Available for Purchase.
• Managerial Effectiveness in a Global Contexta
  In 1998 the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) embarked on a research study designed to understand the capacities of individuals who are effective in global roles. It was created to examine the relationship between measures of effectiveness and the individual's background, personality, learning skills, knowledge of the job, and the enactment of role behaviors. Seen from a larger perspective, the study worked within the scope of more than a decade of reports, books, articles, and other work devoted to answering the questions of what individuals need to be effective managing and leading global organizations. (more...) (Adobe PDF, 286 KB)
  Printed Copy Available for Purchase.

Back to Previous Page