Table 3 Levels of analysis and thought... | Emerald Publishing

Table 3

Levels of analysis and thought leadership tensions

Level of analysis	Tensions with thought leadership
Individual (micro-level)	Individual tension 1. How can individuals balance the risk of thought leadership with the safety of thought followership so they do not damage their reputation among salient stakeholders? Individual tension 2. How do individuals balance using the thought leadership derived from client engagement, with the restrictions of client confidentiality and intellectual property? Individual tension 3. If thought leadership is supposed to be rare, how can it become common for individuals to consistently produce?
Organisational (meso-level)	Organisational tension 1. How can organisations effectively navigate the tension between promoting “me” and “we”? Organisational tension 2. How should organisations decide which and how much thought leadership to commission and co-brand (buy-in) versus incentivise employees to develop (buy-out)? Organisational tension 3. How do organisations weigh up which outcomes are worth the time and cost of measuring, and how can they be attributed to thought leadership activities to establish a return on investment?
Industry (macro-level)	Industry tension 1. How do knowledge-based industries navigate longer term knowledge advancement for wider stakeholder benefit compared to the narrower and short-term interests of satisfying the immediate needs of customers and clients? Industry tension 2. How can knowledge-intensive industries balance sharing thought leadership with protecting proprietary knowledge? Industry tension 3. Because tacit knowledge requires different dissemination mechanisms, how can knowledge-intensive industries effectively communicate thought leadership stemming from tacit knowledge?

Level of analysis	Tensions with thought leadership
Individual (micro-level)	Individual tension 1. How can individuals balance the risk of thought leadership with the safety of thought followership so they do not damage their reputation among salient stakeholders?Individual tension 2. How do individuals balance using the thought leadership derived from client engagement, with the restrictions of client confidentiality and intellectual property?Individual tension 3. If thought leadership is supposed to be rare, how can it become common for individuals to consistently produce?
Organisational (meso-level)	Organisational tension 1. How can organisations effectively navigate the tension between promoting “me” and “we”?Organisational tension 2. How should organisations decide which and how much thought leadership to commission and co-brand (buy-in) versus incentivise employees to develop (buy-out)?Organisational tension 3. How do organisations weigh up which outcomes are worth the time and cost of measuring, and how can they be attributed to thought leadership activities to establish a return on investment?
Industry (macro-level)	Industry tension 1. How do knowledge-based industries navigate longer term knowledge advancement for wider stakeholder benefit compared to the narrower and short-term interests of satisfying the immediate needs of customers and clients?Industry tension 2. How can knowledge-intensive industries balance sharing thought leadership with protecting proprietary knowledge?Industry tension 3. Because tacit knowledge requires different dissemination mechanisms, how can knowledge-intensive industries effectively communicate thought leadership stemming from tacit knowledge?