Managerialism and Leadership

Abstract

The term managerialism has been used for a long time. Yet, managerialism lacks theory development and models explaining how it spreads through organizations and how it is linked to management leadership. In recent years, several conceptual frameworks of managerialism have been constructed. These enable the building of managerialism models and connecting them to managerial leadership. Three key models of managerialism have been developed: (1) organizational model, (2) global model, and (3) trident model. This chapter explains these models and links them to managerial leadership. Developing a conceptual model of managerialism might allow us to ascertain the impact of managerialism on organizations, workers, and the environment. They may provide preliminary elements in the development of a theory of managerialism. The link between these models and managerial leadership is discussed by highlighting two versions of managerial leaders: corporate apparatchiks and the apostles of managerialism. This is applied to managerial leadership working in two distinctly different spheres.