Leading local and expatriate humanitarian aid worker in the field: A case for intergroup leadership

Abstract

Leading local and expatriate humanitarian aid worker in the field: A case for intergroup leadership  Humanitarian organizations struggle with inadequate leadership at field-level. We study, via an online survey with 125 humanitarian workers, how leadership can tackle operational challenges of delivering aid effectively while leading a highly diverse workforce in humanitarian aid field offices. Our study empirically supports that leaders can improve effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian operations via enabling a positive and cooperative relationship inside a field office. Specifically, we focus on the improvement of inter-team relations and reduction of conflict between expatriate and local humanitarian workers as a key driver of operational performance in the field.

Biography

Mojtaba Salem is a PhD Candidate under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Maria Besiou (Kühne Logistics University), Prof. Dr. Niels Van Quaquebeke (Kühne Logistics University), and Prof. Dr. Jürgen Deller (Leuphana Universität Lüneburg) since December 2015. In his research, Mojtaba is interested in applying behavioral leadership theories in a humanitarian environment. More specifically, he seeks to examine the impact of humanitarian leaders on the performance of humanitarian development and relief aid operations.