Power, Governance and Boundary Spanning Leadership in Public Sector Organisations

The phenomenon of power and boundary spanning leadership in public sector organizations is the topic for the present workshop. In this workshop we present a practice perspective (Corradi, Gherardi and Verzelloni 2010) on the management
of power and boundary spanning leadership. We will focus on the practice that evolves on the boundaries that span occupational groups, departments and organizations. The workshop takes it’s starting point in an interdisciplinary Scandinavian research project which deals with the question of how power processes can promote, or hinder, boundary spanning leadership in public sector organizations. This research project has, among other things, highlighted the ways in which boundary spanning leadership can be related to establishing a shared pool of actions, knowledge, communication,
trust and identity in the organization. Furthermore, the research project stresses the fact that analysis of boundary spanning leadership and power relations is an essential, significant, and critical tool in questioning different forms of management in public sector organizations. The aim of the workshop is to investigate, elucidate and discuss management across organizational units. The general interest in this workshop, and the study of boundary spanning leadership and power in public organizations, is related to perspectives concerning the extent to which the quality of boundary spanning activities has significant spillover effects on the organization's productivity, job satisfaction and efficiency. The working method will be an interaction between interactive discussions, dialogue, reflection, and presentations.