Global Leadership Research & Publications
Nandani Lynton's researches and writes on the following topics:
- Top Management Diversity and Business Success. Given the complexity of the challenges and increased competition faced by global firms, success demands the best performance a corporate top management team can produce. Research indicates that a diverse team with the right process can reach performance heights in complex and uncertain environments that a homogenous team will never reach. In collaboration with the Accenture High Performance Institute, this ongoing project tracks levels of diversity and business outcomes to identify patterns of success in different types of organizations around the world. (in progress)
- Understanding Chinese Leadership. As Chinese increasingly acquire Western companies and global companies enter and expand in China, it becomes crucial to understand how Chinese leaders think and act. This research is based on interviews with Chinese organizational leaders, focused on understanding what they see as crucial competencies and behaviours for success and what aspects of the organization are most important to them. It is important to learn whether Western concepts such as transformational leadership, empowerment, and positivism are applicable in the Chinese environment. (Some publications 2007-2010 plus ongoing research)
- Sustainable Global Executive Performance. Some executives enjoy decades of success as global leaders, modelling responsible leadership in private and public realms without burnout or derailment. To make global leadership sustainable, we must understand what factors and skills enable long-term success and how these can be encouraged by organizations and developed by individuals. (In draft)
- Chinese Generation Y and its Impact on Organizations. Gen Y, born in the 1980's, makes up 41% of China's workforce and comprises about 220 million individuals. Given the demographic shifts, there is not enough Gen Y to replace those retiring in the coming years. Therefore, for all organizations, attracting, training, retaining, and above all managing Gen Y are crucial. This research is based on interviews and surveys of Chinese Gen Y to understand what motivates them, ascertain their values, and see how different they are from their parents. It looks at ways organizations must adjust to attract, retain, and use the creativity of this generation in China. (Published widely 2010, with new articles ongoing)
- Managing Generation Y in Emerging Markets. As the world is increasingly globalized, there is a widespread assumption that young people are developing a common global youth culture along the Western model. In order to conduct business, attract consumers and build organizations, we need to know whether this view is correct. Nandani Lynton's comparative research on Chinese, South African, Chilean and European Generation Y show that their deep values change very little. While there are some similarities, each nation's youth must still be motivated and managed according to its cultural context. (Publication expected 2011)
- Leadership and Spiritual Intelligence in East and West. Research on highly effective expatriate and Chinese leaders in China suggests that the two groups use the energy of passion and Spiritual Intelligence to attain extraordinary results at work but they use different methods based on their cultural contexts. Western leaders develop Spiritual Intelligence through reflection and use counterintuitive ways to create mindfulness while Chinese leaders draw on images of nature and traditional philosophy to set the frame of reference for their organizations. This research points to a new synergy emerging as executives combine conscious intention and action. (Published 2009)
- China Transforms an Executive's Mind. Highly effective expatriate executives in China learn to adapt their thinking in ways that actually changes their brains and not just their minds. Interviews with 35 executives found that the top-performing group has particular patterns of thought that create a new mindset and alter the brain. These leaders use practices they have learned from the Chinese. They just Go they switch between linear and holistic thinking modes they do not discuss emotions but attend to people they strengthen their attention and concentration and they are connected beyond themselves. Together these practices reflect a new way of approaching the world using both the right and left-brain more fully. (Published 2006, 2007, 2010)