Title: What do effective managerial leaders really do? Using qualitative methodological pluralism and analytical triangulation to explore everyday 'managerial effectiveness' and 'managerial coaching effectiveness'

Authors: Robert G. Hamlin, Rona S. Beattie, Andrea D. Ellinger

Addresses: Management Research Centre, University of Wolverhampton Business School Telford Campus, Shifnal Road, Priorslee, Telford, TF2 9NT, England, UK. ' Division of People Management and Leadership, Caledonian Business School, Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow, G4 OBA, Scotland, UK. ' Department of Human Resource Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 348 Education Building, MC-708, 1310 South Sixth Street, Champaign, IL 61820, USA

Abstract: The present study analyses the qualitative research methodologies used for several |emic| case-study explorations of managerial behaviours that we have carried out independently within various UK and US public, corporate/private and voluntary sector organisations. These results have subsequently been used for a collaborative cross-cultural |etic| study. The aim of each |emic| study was to identify either the criteria and/or behavioural indicators/categories of |managerial and leadership effectiveness|, or of |managerial coaching effectiveness|. The aim of our collaborative cross-cultural |etic| study was to search for evidence of commonalities and relative generalisations between the findings of our respective |emic| studies and, if possible, synthesise a |unified perspective| from the |multiple realities| identified. The main conclusion of the present article is that research designs embracing |qualitative methodological pluralism| and |rigorous analytical triangulation| can result in meaningful generalised findings, and these can lead to the production of |general knowledge| and |management theory|.

Keywords: management concepts; leadership; coaching; managerial effectiveness; qualitative methods; methodological pluralism; triangulation; managerial coaching; managerial behaviour; cross-cultural studies; management theory.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMCP.2007.015001

International Journal of Management Concepts and Philosophy, 2007 Vol.2 No.3, pp.255 - 276

Published online: 30 Aug 2007 *

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