Businesses are being urged to hire bosses that have worked their way up in an industry, rather than those who are generalists, grapevine.com reports.
In these times of uncertainty, having the right leader at the helm is essential for prospering in austerity. Now, new research has found that a leader with core business experience is twice as likely to steer a company to success. Two separate surveys carried out by the Cass Business School and University of Sheffield suggested this to be the case.
Firstly, an analysis of 18,000 Formula One races revealed that the teams which were led by a former engineer or driver won twice as many races as those that were headed up by someone who was merely qualified in engineering or was a general manager. A second study showed that of 300 US hospitals, those run my doctors performed better.
The reason for this is that 'expert-leaders', naturally, have knowledge of the industry and of particular roles that allow them to make more informed decisions and formulate winning strategies, says management-issues.com. Furthermore, a manager with such experience is deemed far more credible to the workforce, potentially inspiring them to develop themselves.
Co-author Dr Amanda Goodall said that businesses had turned away from hiring expert-leaders over the last 30 years, but the research showed that this practice should change: "being a capable general manager alone is not sufficient," she said.