Reflections on ‘Mobilizing leadership in cities and regions’

Full Te ms & Condi ions o access and use can be ound a h p://www. and online.com/ac ion/jou nalIn o ma ion?jou nalCode= s s20 Download by: [Tampe e Uni e si y] Da e: 11 Oc obe 2016, A : 22:53 Regional S udies, Regional Science ISSN: (P in ) 2168-1376 (Online) Jou nal homepage: h p://www. and online.com/loi/ s s20 Re lec ions on ‘Mobilizing leade ship in ci ies and egions’ Ma kku So a au a To ci e his a icle: Ma kku So a au a (2014) Re lec ions on ‘Mobilizing leade ship in ci ies and egions’, Regional S udies, Regional Science, 1:1, 28-31, DOI: 10.1080/21681376.2013.869431 To link o his a icle: h p://dx.doi.o g/10.1080/21681376.2013.869431 © 2014 The Au ho (s). Published by Rou ledge Published online: 07 Feb 2014. Submi you a icle o his jou nal A icle iews: 1109 View ela ed a icles View C ossma k da a Ci ing a icles: 4 View ci ing a icles COMMENTARY Reflec ions on ‘Mobilizing leade ship in ci ies and egions’ Ma kku So a au a* Uni e si y o Tampe e, Tampe e, Finland Place-based leade ship –unde s udied bu impo an And ew Bee and Te y Clowe , in hei a icle ‘Mobilizing leade ship in ci ies and egions’in his issue, begin hei impo an e iew on leade ship as so many ha e done be o e hem: by finding he concep en icing bu elusi e. B oadly speaking, leade ship demands us o ake a look a i again and again, in di e en en i ons and a di e en imes. Such ques ions as: Do we ac ually need leade s? Why do some people become leade s and some o he s do no ? How do leade s influence communi ies and o wha ? and Why do some leade s seem o p oduce good esul s while some do no ? a e exam- ples ha dese e o be posed epea edly. In e es ingly, hese kinds o ques ions ha e aised only a limi ed in e es in he egional s udies and egional science communi ies. As Bee and Clowe say, he dominan egional de elopmen heo ies and models ha e ecen ly mo e o en han no emo ed pu posi e agency om he local/ egional economic de elopmen equa ion. Addi ionally, ai ly o en such concep s as powe and influence, o mo e b oadly poli ics, a e le o o he disciplines o add ess. The e o e, he link be ween leade ship and local/ egional economic de elopmen emains some- hing o a black box. Pe haps egional s udies schola s igno e leade ship and powe because hey do no ma e much, o , mo e likely, we igno e hem as hey ma e so much ha we do no e en da e o hink abou di ing in o he spide y webs o powe and influence. O cou se, hese issues ha e been s udied ex ensi ely in he pas (e.g., Logan & Molo ch, 1987) and he e a e also no able examples o enewed in e es (e.g., Collinge, Gibney, & Mabey, 2010). How o app oach place-based leade ship I is easy o ag ee wi h Bee and Clowe ha hinking abou leade ship migh empowe us o open new ho izons bo h in academic esea ch on local/ egional economic de elop- men and in ela ed p ac ices, and i is also easy o ag ee wi h hei claim ha he e is a need o concep ual discussion on place-based leade ship. Addi ionally, i would be mo e han imely o ini ia e a me hodological discussion wi h he ollowing aims: (1) e hink wha we need case s udies o (Fly bje g, 2006), (2) launch compa a i e case s udies, and (3) each beyond case s udies and expe imen wi h o he o ms o enqui y oo. The me hodological issues a e le aside he e, bu a ew eflec ions on he concep o leade ship a e aised ins ead. *Email: ma kku.so a au a@u a.fi © 2014 The Au ho (s). Published by Rou ledge. This is an open-access a icle dis ibu ed unde he e ms o he C ea i e Commons A ibu ion License h p://c ea i ecommons.o g/ licenses/by/3.0/, which pe mi s un es ic ed use, dis ibu ion, and ep oduc ion in any medium, p o ided he o iginal wo k is p ope ly ci ed. The mo al igh s o he named au ho (s) ha e been asse ed. Regional S udies, Regional Science, 2014 Vol. 1, No. 1, 28–31, h p://dx.doi.o g/10.1080/21681376.2013.869431 Bee and Clowe quo e S ough, DeSan is, S imson, & Robe s (2001, p. 77) and main ain ha ’leade ship is he endency o he communi y o collabo a e in a sus ained, pu pose ul manne o enhance economic pe o mance o economic en i onmen o i s egion’, and u he , quo ing S imson, S ough, & Robe s (2002, p. 279), hey say ha ’leade ship o egional economic de elopmen will no be based on adi ional hie a - chical ela ionships; a he i will be a collec i e ela ionship be ween ins i u ional ac o s […]’. I would no be wise o disag ee wi h he impo ance o collabo a ion o he impo ance o new modes o go e nance, bu i migh be wise o ake a s ep o wo backwa ds and econside i hese no ions eally help us o find a oo defini ion o place-based leade ship. O cou se, place-based leade ship is by necessi y an in e depen- den p ocess, and consequen ly place-based leade ship is usually a sha ed and/o dis- pe sed p ocess. Le us ca y ou a small hough expe imen and change ‘leade ship’ o ‘pa ne ship’and ‘go e nance’and see whe he he defini ions would also make sense wi h enewed ph asing. I we defined pa ne ship as ‘ he endency o he communi y o collabo a e’and go e nance by saying ha ‘i will no be based on adi ional hie a chi- cal ela ionships’, all his would make a lo o sense, would i no ? How does leade ship di e om pa ne ship o go e nance? In spi e o he ac ha collabo a ion eme ges in many s udies as c ucial in place-based leade ship, pe haps we ough no o define leade ship h ough i . In ce ain places, a ce ain imes, we may find a he oic leade who using a adi ional hie a chy makes a di e ence in he communi y. Consequen ly, o find answe s o he ques ion wha place- based leade ship ac ually is, and how i plays ou in di e en ins i u ional con ex s, we migh need o adop an al e na i e pa h o ollow. Pe haps we could (1) see wha he ela ed fields migh p o ide us wi h (s udies on policy ne wo ks, ne wo k managemen and leade ship in ne wo ks, o example), (2) elabo a e in wha ways ci y and egional economic de elopmen is a unique en i onmen o s udy leade ship, and (3) ca y ou bo h heo e ical and empi ical s udies o find mo e specificdefini ions and insigh s ha would fi bo h he di e ing scales and ins i u ions o places. Pe haps, in he end, we migh be able o flesh ou wha leade ship is like in ou field o enqui y and p oduce con ingen ypologies. As he aim he e is no o sea ch o defini ions bu o eflec Bee and Clowe ’s pape , i migh be enough o say ha leade s a e ac o s who ha e a g ea e ange o asse s han o he s in he communi y o s e ching beyond cons ain s (Samuels, 2003). O cou se, a whole ange o ques ions begins o eme ge: Why do hey ha e g ea e asse s? Wha kind o local se ings incuba es good leade s? How do leade s use hei asse s and o wha ? How do hey mobilize o he ac o s? e c. How does place-based leade ship di e om o he o ms o leade ship? Business and poli ical s udies on leade ship, gene ally speaking, end o ag ee ha leade s (1) ha e ollowe s, (2) p oduce esul s, (3) in ol e and mobilize people, (4) make people wo k o each and ag ee on goals, (5) p o ide he ollowe s wi h a ision o wo k owa ds, and (6) build o ganiza ions whe e ollowe s’capabili ies a e ully nu u ed and used (Bennis, 1999; D ucke , 1998; Samuels, 2003; Senge, 1990; So a au a, 2005). Many case s udies show ha place-based leade ship, unlike mo e con en ional o ganiza ionally o ien ed leade ship app oaches, is by na u e collec i e, dis ibu ed, bo om-up, acili a i e and eme gen . Place-based leade ship is no based Regional S udies, Regional Science 29 only on o mal posi ions bu also on he oles ac o s ha e and/o ake in he communi y, and he ways hey beha e and influence complex ne wo ks, while in o ganiza ional se ings he o mal posi ion, and au ho i y de i ed om i , plays a mo e di ec ole. The e o e, place-based leade ship is by necessi y mo e collec i e in na u e as nobody usually has au ho i y o e he issues impo an o a espec i e ci y o egion. Conse- quen ly, leade ship canno ely on con ol; mo e acili a i e and gene a i e o ms o i a e needed. As Bee and Clowe obse e, leade ship is mo e ans o ma ional han ans- ac ional, and hus i is o en di ficul o say a p io i who will ake a leade ship posi ion, wha i is based on and why i eme ges om whe e i eme ges. I is he eme gen p ope y o place-based leade ship ha makes i so ascina ing an objec o s udy. Simul aneously, i is his e y p ope y ha also wa ns us agains adop ing a p esc ip i e defini ion; i calls o a sha p oo defini ion o wo k wi h. O he wise, we migh see wha we a e inclined o see bu no all he nuances o leade ship in p ac ice. All his sugges s ha we ough also o see beyond simplified op-down and bo om-up dicho omies, as place-based leade ship may be a complex ‘middle- ound-up-down’ p ocess a he han a e ical one. Consequen ly, many o he ob ious concep s o leade - ship s udies ough o be e hough , o example: he ela ionship be ween leade s and ollowe s is no s aigh o wa d bu ambiguous as a leade may lead some issues bu end up being a ollowe in o he s, and some o he ollowe s may in some o he occasion be leade s; leade s need o each beyond hose o ganiza ions ha au ho ize hem and influence whe e hey ha e no o mal posi ion o do so. Thus, leade s need also o lead o he leade s, and a ision may be mo e a o um o discussion, o a way o lea n new ocabula y and abou o he ac o s, han a fi s s ep in a o mal planning p ocedu e. Which is wo se –bad leade ship o absence o leade ship? Bee and Clowe make an explici case o compa a i e s udies on leade ship in di e en ins i u ional se ings. E en mo e so he call o be e unde s andings abou leade ship in di e en ypes o coun ies and egions is implici ly embedded in be ween he lines o hei pape . In a way, Bee and Clowe emphasize mo e he need o mobilize place-based leade ship han he ways local/ egional leade s mobilize o he ac o s and en i e communi ies. I may be ha his ells us mo e abou he coun ies he au ho s wo k and li e in han place-based leade ship mo e b oadly. Ob iously, libe al ma ke economies a e ins i u ionally hinne han coo dina ed ma ke economies in hese espec s. Addi ionally, as Pa kinson e al. (2012) show, in cen alized coun ies he e is no space o place-based leade ship o eme ge and manoeu e, and con e sely mo e decen alized coun ies wi h s ong place-based leade ship capaci y ha e shown s onge economic de elopmen and inno a i e capaci y han he mo e cen alized ones. In e es ingly, d awing om hei expe ience om ins i u ionally hin egions, Bee and Clowe a gue ha he g ea es isk o places is no poo leade ship bu he absence o leade ship. Howe e , we migh say ha some o he mos no o ious dic a o s ha e been e ec i e leade s as hey ha e mobilized en i e coun ies o implemen hei ision as well as coo dina ed and con olled he implemen a ion o designed plans wi h hea y hands. Howe e mo ally appalling he isions and s a egies o hese dic a o s may ha e been, hey ha e aken a leade ship posi ion, bu no o good. The e is a need o open, democ a ic place-based leade ship, bu we need o be awa e also o bad place-based leade ship, ha e concep ual and me hodological ools o de ec ing i , and e eal wha he ou comes o bad leade ship may be wi hou being apped by ou no ma i e wishes. Bad leade ship may be as ha m ul o egions as he absence o leade ship. 30 M. So a au a In conclusion, Bee and Clowe ’s con ibu ion p o ides us wi h good ood o hough , and se e al imely ques ions o wo k wi h. I would be impo an o shed mo e on leade ship local/ egional economic de elopmen , bu i we ended up p oducing some hing use ul o leade ship s udies oo, ha would be a nice bonus. Re e ences Bennis, W. (1999). The leade ship ad an age. Leade o Leade , 12(Sp ing), 18–23. Collinge, C., Gibney, J., & Mabey, C. (2010). Leade ship and place. Abingdon: Rou ledge. D ucke , P. (1998). Managing in a ime o g ea change. T uman Talley/Plume. Fly bje g, B. (2006). Fi e misunde s andings abou case-s udy esea ch. Quali a i e Inqui y, 12, 219–245. Logan, J. R., & Molo ch, H. L. (1987). U ban o unes: The poli ical economy o place. Be keley, CA: Uni e si y o Cali o nia P ess. Pa kinson, M., Meegan, R., Ka echa, J., E ans, R., Jones, G., So a au a, M., Ruokolainen, O., & …Hall, P. (2012). Second ie ci ies in Eu ope: In an age o aus e i y why in es beyond he capi als? Li e pool: Li e pool John Moo es Uni e si y. Samuels, R. (2003). Machia elli’s child en: Leade s & hei legacy in I aly & Japan. I haca, NY: Co nell Uni e si y P ess. Senge, P. M. (1990). The fi h discipline: The a & p ac ice o he lea ning o ganiza ion cu ency? New Yo k, NY: Doubleday. So a au a, M. (2005). Sha ed leade ship and dynamic capabili ies in egional de elopmen . In I. Sagan & H. Halkie (Eds.), Regionalism con es ed: Ins i u ion, socie y and go e nance (U ban and Regional Planning and De elopmen Se ies). Bodmin, Co nwall, UK: Ashga e. S imson, R. J., S ough, R. R., & Robe s, B. H. (2002). Regional Economic De elopmen : Analy- sis and Planning S a egy. Be lin, Heidelbe g: Sp inge -Ve lag. S ough, R., DeSan is, M., S imson, R., & Robe s, B. (2001). Leade ship in egional economic de elopmen s a egic planning. In A. Edging on, C. Fe nandez, & C. Hoshino (Eds.), New egional de elopmen pa adigms, (pp. 175–192) Vol. 2. London: G eenwood. Regional S udies, Regional Science 31