Executive leadership in New Zealand: A monocultural construct

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to report on a 'comeback theme' in a study that examined the chief executive officer (CEO) role in New Zealand. This context-specific study was approached from a constructivist grounded perspective. The study sample comprised 30 participants: 22 CEOs and 8 non-CEO executives. The criterion for inclusion was that the individual was currently or had previously been a CEO in a large New Zealand organisation. The findings identifed an absence of any reference to Maori CEOs or executive leaders. In the study, the CEO role surfaced as a monocultural construct framed by the exogenous models of leadership that have developed from the research conducted in North America and Europe. The role is also framed by the narratives and frameworks that have emerged from European colonisation processes and from twentieth-century industrial models. The findings have implications for the ease with which talented Maori could be excluded from CEO roles and for the acquisition, retention and enactment of effective CEO leadership in the future. There are also implications for how sampling processes are carried out in research of this nature. There is an identified need for more reflection and research on what CEO leadership really means in New Zealand.