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- Title
Work-related Values and Leadership Styles in Developing Estonia.
- Authors
Tuulik, Krista; Kurvits, Mare; Õunapuu, Tauno
- Abstract
Values have been defined as principles or standards that people use, individually or collectively, to make judgments about what is important or valuable in their lives (McEwan, 2001). Values are broad feelings, often unconscious and impossible to vocalize, about what is good or what is evil, beautiful or ugly, rational or irrational, normal or abnormal, natural or paradoxical, decent or indecent. These feelings are present in most members of a culture, or at least in those people who occupy pivotal positions (Pucik et al., 1993: 141). In 2001, research investigating the work-related values of Estonian leaders and their subordinates and the employees' leadership perception was carried out by one of the authors of this article. By that time, Estonian society was on the verge of joining the European Union as one of the post-communist countries going through a transformation period. Estonia got their first economic lesson in the second half of the 1990s when the country suffered from the first bank crisis. This lesson was followed by rapid economic development. Rapid growth was followed by an economic recession in Europe and the entire world that started with the fall of Goldman Sachs in September 2008. Therefore, Estonia has now experienced a whole economic cycle; its impacts and its dangers (Arrak, 2010) Different periods of development require different approaches. When building an independent market-oriented state, the transformational period needs one kind of people and the development of the state and economy probably needs another kind of people. In 2001, using the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior (GLOBE) research tool, a survey of work-related values and leadership perception was carried out in 44 Estonian companies. In 2012, a new study was conducted among 33 Estonian enterprises using the same tool in order to get comparable results. The aim of the study was to find out whether the work-related values and the leadership situation in Estonia have changed during the ten years of development. For representatives of the Estonian business world, the article is beneficial in evaluating the work-related values of the local work force and seeing the trends of the last ten years. For international readers, an overview of workrelated values in the Estonian business world and trends could also be beneficial especially when communicating with Estonians. Both target groups can also benefit from knowing the true perception of leaders in Estonia. In addition, the knowledge can be used in teaching the future work force in universities and colleges because if we Estonians wish to change things in order to be competitive in the world economy, this has to start during the preparation process of future participants in business.
- Subjects
LEADERSHIP; COST of living; ORGANIZATIONAL behavior; BUSINESS cycles; ECONOMIC development; ESTONIAN economy; EUROPEAN Union; GOLDMAN Sachs Asset Management (Company)
- Publication
Journal of Management & Change, 2013, Vol 30/31, Issue 1/2, p82
- ISSN
2228-2181
- Publication type
Article