Leadership of High-Potential Security Talents (eBook)

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Relevance

Companies across global industries must manage wide-ranging security risks that have to be managed appropriately. The expertise required to perform such complex tasks may not be available in the company or on the market due to skill shortages. No company can afford to neglect security within their products or services throughout the entire life cycle as it holds essential relevance and is indispensable for maintaining corporate reputation.

Top management has to fulfil their security requirements of different national and international laws as well as regulatory/industry standards. Of course, management itself is not in the position to implement security measures. They must assign the responsibility to respective security functions in order to ensure proper oversight and implementation. If the security function is not equipped with the necessary people, management might be exposed to liability risks.

The aim of this master thesis is to reach a common understanding between line managers, security professionals and the Human Capital (HC) department by demonstrating how security personnel should be lead. Security staff will be attracted from a suitable working environment which applies for hiring, promoting and retaining them. The employer’s working environment is influenced by various factors such as a Talent Management Programme (TMP) that includes performance appraisals and promotions.

1.2 Research Objectives and Questions

The master thesis should offer line managers and the HC department the possibility to understand high-potential security talents and deduce how they must be managed from functional as well as hierarchical perspective. Management of security staff1 implies leading, developing and promoting them based on their skills and potential. The research question of the master thesis is: How should high-potential security talents be led? Sub-research questions are defined to subdivide the main research question:

1.3 Research Design and Methods

The research design is based on the 4-D model2 for business and management research [25] and contributes to the development research activity. The research theme is composed of the following dimensions: context (multinational companies), discipline (human resource management), problem (leading high-potential security talents) as well as social group (individuals and organisations).

The thesis is conducted in the area of social sciences and therefore draws on the ethnographic method with the inherent inductive logic. The research methods used are documentation analysis and interviews in order to ensure data viability. The qualitative research designs offers the possibility for a multidimensional iterative analysis of the research questions.

The design science in information systems research method [19] outlined in Figure 1.1 is used to answer the research question.

First, a profound literature analysis was conducted to establish the foundation. Second, research propositions were made for preparing the empirical part. Third, expert interviews are performed in order to justify the research questions. Finally, conclusions and recommendations are drawn from the research findings.

Qualitative research data was collected via six semi-structured remote interviews, each one lasted about 45 minutes on average. The purposive sampling involves security experts in managerial position including disciplinary supervision from various industries presented in Section 1.3.2 Interview Partners. The interviews have been performed after the literature review and are based on predefined questions related to the research question listed in Appendix A Sample Interview Questions. The interviews were audio recorded with permission by the respective interviewee and transcribed in Appendix B Summary of the Interviews.

The thesis fulfils the design science guidelines as outlined in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1: Design Science Approach

1.3.1 Literature Search

The literature search was conducted in the area of the conceptional framework outlined in Figure 1.2 with a mix of the keyword and snowball method.

The following significant databases were searched during the literature search:

■ WU Catalog, https://katalog.wu.ac.at/

■ Google Scholar, https://scholar.google.com/

■ IEEE Explore, https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/

■ Springer Link, https://link.springer.com/

■ ElgarOnline, https://www.elgaronline.com/

■ ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/

The following keywords were used to obtain the literature results: leadership, talent, security, career, management, risk, threat, fraud, military, espionage, cyber, recruiting, performance, 360-degree-feedback, skill, team, high-performance, development, challenge and sustainability.

The literature holds high significance in the justification of underlying causes. The contribution to answering the research questions is given, as only highly qualitative information has been integrated into the thesis. The outcome of the literature review allowed systematic preparation for interviews because the interview participants could be asked relevant questions.

The research subject on the interconnection between high-potential security talent, line managers, and the HC department requires a literature analysis on each domain. The integration of the areas is reached by a mutual understanding of the specific peculiarities and the identification of commonalities, enabling new insight as results are brought together comprehensibly.

1.3.2 Interview Partners

Interview Partner #1

Interview Partner 1, Lieutenant General, was chief of the Swiss Armed Forces and reported directly to the head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS). Since 2017, he has been involved in various foundation boards, is a special envoy of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy as well as a coach and trainer. Interview Partner 1 studied business economics, attended the military school of the ETH Zurich and completed his Executive MBA at the University of Zurich.

Interview Partner 1 has over 40 years of leadership experience and knows how-to manage security talents as he had responsibility over 140’000 soldiers. The combination of economic and military background enables insights into the interconnected topic. He understands the development of response strategies, especially for emerging threats. A systematic approach for problem solving, as he applied during his career, is also a key component for evaluating high-potential security talents.

Interview Partner #2

Interview Partner 2 holds the professorship for comparative military leadership education of the Austrian Armed Forces and is chairman of the European Initiative for the Exchange of Young Officers...