Philippines: Its Implications for Theory, Research and Practice Francis Thaise A. Cimene and Alan N. Aladano
Introduction
Classic leadership literature is replete with examples of leaders attempts
to predict, categorize, classify, and control for every variable imaginable within organizations. Most research in academia denes leadership as a behaviour, a relationship, and in some cases an activity. Leadership traits and styles also dominate in establishing leadership perspectives. But what if organizations were unpredictable and impossible to con- trol? More and more, organizational scholars are looking to theoretical constructs that paint a picture of leadership as uid, emergent, or connected, and the result is concepts of chaos theory. Over the years, leadership has been viewed from various angles and in different dimensions. It has gained the interests of graduate faculty and students, and business and government leaders to conduct and support research on leadership. The teaching about and research on leadership have surged, with many students majoring in the eld. Indeed, it has been an intriguing topic for centuries during which academicians have formulated many denitions and theories of leadership. Many scholars and practitioners alike are convinced that effective leadership is required to meet most organizational challenges. Hence many curricula in leader- ship and management schools now emphasize the development of such skills. Munro (2008:xvi) writes about the interface of person-as-leader, place, and participants, otherwise known as situated leadership, in her recent book entitled Organizational Leadership. This is a departure from other publications on leadership, which focus solely on the person as leader. The selected readings deal with organizational leadership issues from
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Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited 2013 Francis Thaise A. Cimene and Alan N. Aladano 49
multiple perspectives, believing that there is no single correct answer to
any of the questions raised. She emphasizes that from the perspective of situated leadership, the best answer is it depends. She goes on to say that Firm and fast rules or tried and true principles are less reliable when the focus shifts from solitary leader to interaction of key leader- ship factors. According to situational leadership theories, leaders work in complex settings where rules, players, problems, and objectives can change from hour to hour. It is unlikely that any one strategy or style will t all of these changing conditions. That is why the principle behind situational theories is that There is no one best way. Rather, the best way is contingent on the situation. Leadership in the Philippines even from the grassroots point of view is full of challenges considering that crisis penetrates all sectors of soci- ety. Political and educational crises are the most publicized because they affect the economy. It is common knowledge that the countrys economy is primarily supported by remittances from overseas foreign workers. However, this condition has resulted in the disintegration of families in particular and society in general. The greatest leadership chal- lenge for the government then is to provide employment for its people so that they dont have to work abroad. Moreover, the education sector has been characterized by yearly bud- get cuts, soaring tuition and other fee hikes, the highest dropout rate in recent years, unbridled and still unresolved cases of graft and corruption, and systematic government neglect of the education sector. Whether the qualitative standards are equally high is another issue. It is a dif- cult question to answer since there is little concordance between the aims and accomplishments of education in the Philippines. Since the entire worlds most prosperous industrial countries have a rather high proportion of educated citizens, it might be assumed that when this is the case a country will be prosperous. Unfortunately there is no guarantee that an expansion of schools will produce economic prosperity. The Philippines ranks much higher in education than in the income of its people. For instance, the percentage of literacy is prac- tically the same as in Singapore, but the Philippine per capita income is only one-eighth that of Singapore. This is just one of the many challenges that the countrys leaders are facing today. In the Philippines, establishing leadership perspectives means under- standing the culture and subcultures of the people. The manifestations of culture in the everyday socioeconomic and political life of the people are very evident. For instance, because the Filipinos are family-centred, organizational leaders and those who are led are looking for a work