Antioch University AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive Student & Alumni Scholarship, including Dissertations & Theses Dissertations & Theses 2019 The Good Bloke in Contemporary Australian Workplaces: Origins, Qualities and Impacts of a National Cultural Archetype in Small For-Profit Businesses Christopher George Taylor Antioch University - PhD Program in Leadership and Change Follow this and additional works at: https://aura.antioch.edu/etds Part of the Applied Behavior Analysis Commons, Australian Studies Commons, Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons, History of the Pacific slI ands Commons, Leadership Studies Commons, Literature in English, Anglophone outside British Isles and North America Commons, Literature in English, British Isles Commons, Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods Commons, Modern Languages Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Other History Commons, Other International and Area Studies Commons, Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, and the Sociology of Culture Commons Recommended Citation Taylor, Christopher George, "The Good loB ke in Contemporary Australian Workplaces: Origins, Qualities and Impacts of a National Cultural Archetype in Small For-Profit usineB sses" (2019). Dissertations & Theses. 506. https://aura.antioch.edu/etds/506 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student & Alumni Scholarship, including Dissertations & Theses at AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations & Theses by an authorized administrator of AURA - Antioch University Repository and Archive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. The Good Bloke in Contemporary Australian Workplaces: Origins, Qualities and Impacts of a National Cultural Archetype in Small For-Profit Businesses Christopher George Taylor ORCID Scholar ID # 0000-0002-6757-4637 A Dissertation Submitted to the PhD in Leadership and Change Program of Antioch University in partial fulfillment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy July 2019 This dissertation has been approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of PhD in Leadership and Change, Graduate School of Leadership and Change, Antioch University. Dissertation Committee: • Elizabeth Holloway, PhD, Committee Chair • Tony Lingham, PhD, Committee Member • Stephen Bygrave, PhD, Committee Member Copyright 2019 Christopher George Taylor All Rights Reserved Acknowledgements I want to acknowledge the support that I have had in completing this research over the past five years. To my good friend John Bourne of MarketIntel, your guidance, patience, and on-going support throughout my quantitative research phase was beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I know at times I pushed the boundaries of our mateship, but I have to say this dissertation would never have been completed if it wasn’t for you. To my editor, Dr Norman Dale, thank you. Having a Canadian as an editor was always going to be a challenge given the focus of my topic and the unique nature of its exploration. Your willingness to invest in me and my research goes beyond what I can adequately express in words. You are a gifted man who knows how to get the best out of people. More importantly, I think it is fair to say that no words can adequately express the influence you have had on me on this journey. The joy you infused into my topic and my life when things were dark was a gift that I will cherish forever. Your support in helping me shape my language and my expression was remarkable and poetic. Your sensitive feedback and considered voice have made my topic all the more meaningful to me, the author, and I thank you for that. I have always had a close affinity to Canadians, and I have to say you have enhanced my view on a people that I respect and hold close to my heart. This paper is as much yours as it is mine. I can never express how much you mean to me; you are a top bloke. To my Chair, Dr Elizabeth Holloway, your patience and guidance never faltered even when I did. I cannot thank you enough for everything. Having spent five years under your guidance has been a privilege; you have helped develop me as a scholar and as a leader. I will remain indebted to you for the rest of my days. Dr Stephen Bygrave, for your leadership and friendship I thank you. It is truly an honour to have a distinguished colleague such as yourself as my third reader on this dissertation. The i ongoing commitment you show in terms of enhancing the way energy is managed and your leadership in crafting conversations regarding alternate technologies is an inspiration that I draw upon in my everyday life. Dr Tony Lingham, I want to acknowledge your contribution to my learning and your support as my methodologist. Your advice and guidance helped shape both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of my research and for that I am thankful. To my cohort, thank you. Studying in the United States was always going to be interesting. Studying with this cohort proved that to be the case. I want to thank my colleagues for their friendship and support and look forward to the influence they will have on the world as their research comes to life. I want to thank my parents who always emphasized the importance of learning and growth. Both my mother and father sacrificed so much to support my brothers and me to have the opportunity to grow as individuals. I dedicate this research to them and can openly say that my father embodied the notion of the Good Bloke in everything he did. This dissertation is a bridge that I hope will bring your legacy to life through to your grandchildren. To my wife Jane and our three boys, Harry, George, and Jack: I simply say thank you and I love you. I wrote this for you. The support I have received and the care in which you have given it will stay in my heart forever. Jane, your support has been immeasurable. I cannot thank you enough for all the late nights you spent reviewing each phase of the study and each piece of the research that I completed over these past five years. This paper would not have been completed had it not been for you. I can promise you I will stop now. Lastly to the community in which I live, our mates in Byron Bay I say thank you. There is something wonderful about the people I know up here. I and my family are truly blessed to be ii surrounded by so many genuine loving and caring people, this place is the most wonderful place to raise a family and I thank you for all your mateship and unconditional love. iii Abstract This study explored the nature and significance of a common but widely misunderstood phrase encountered in Australia: The Good Bloke. Underlying this enquiry was awareness, based on the researcher’s personal and professional experience, that the idea of a Good Bloke powerfully influences individual perceptions of leaders in Australian small-to-mid sized for-profit firms. The study commenced with an exploration of the origins and history of the phrase, tracing it to the 1788 arrival of a disproportionately male Anglo-Celtic population was composed significantly of transported convicts. The language and mores of this unique settler population evolved for two centuries based on relationships, primarily among males, where Good Bloke characteristics were key to success and survival. This research entailed a qualitative phase leading to a detailed quantitative analysis. The qualitative Phase 1ncluded semi-structured interviews and focus group research to broadly identify ostensible characteristics and qualities of the Good Bloke. A survey was administered to 354 Australians. Results were subjected exploratory and then, confirmatory factor analysis, yielding three main factors of a Good Bloke: being relatable, fair/inclusive, and affable. A major additional finding was that while both men and women manifest these qualities, the Good Bloke still has an inherently gendered nature, a legacy of Australian history. A second survey of 301 Australians from small to medium enterprises was followed by structural equation modelling to explore the connection between Good Bloke factors and employees’ experiences of engagement, satisfaction, and commitment. Implications are discussed for the Good Bloke ideal’s continuing relevance, including appreciation of differential impact on gender and other categories that make many contemporary Australians less readily perceived as Good Blokes. I conclude that the term Good Bloke can have a constructive role in Australian culture. The key challenge is exploring how the positive nuances associated with the term become incorporated into the development of future generations whilst acknowledging and addressing the term’s iv limitations, in order to support fuller and more meaningful inclusion in Australian business and society. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and Ohiolink ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/ Keywords: Australia, Authenticity, Factor Analysis, Employee Engagement, Gender in the Workplace, Good Bloke, Leadership, Structural Equation Modelling, v Table of Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ i Abstract ........................................................................................................................................