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Beyond the Boss: Rethinking Leadership Through Followership in Transnational Organized Crime

Feike, Lucia Skane Piyanah LU and Arroba Caballero, Maria Belen LU (2026) BUSN49 20261
Department of Business Administration
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how former members of transnational organized crime organizations experience followership in relation to their leaders, challenging assumptions present in criminological research by integrating organizational constructionist perspectives.
Methodology: Guided by abductive reasoning, we studied the narratives of former
members of organized crime groups, their roles, and their relationships with leaders in transnational organized crime. We are drawing on social constructionism and a broader interpretivist tradition. Our data was collected from 13 video-podcast interviews.
Theoretical Framing: Our literature review presents existing research on the topics of organized crime, transnational... (More)
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how former members of transnational organized crime organizations experience followership in relation to their leaders, challenging assumptions present in criminological research by integrating organizational constructionist perspectives.
Methodology: Guided by abductive reasoning, we studied the narratives of former
members of organized crime groups, their roles, and their relationships with leaders in transnational organized crime. We are drawing on social constructionism and a broader interpretivist tradition. Our data was collected from 13 video-podcast interviews.
Theoretical Framing: Our literature review presents existing research on the topics of organized crime, transnational organized crime, leadership and
followership.
Contributions: Our study makes three theoretical contributions: conceptualizing
pre-entry followership as an analytical category, challenging leader centric assumptions by showing followership can be directed toward
collective rather than individual actors and demonstrating that
follower-leader relationships are dynamic rather than static. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Feike, Lucia Skane Piyanah LU and Arroba Caballero, Maria Belen LU
supervisor
organization
course
BUSN49 20261
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Organized Crime, Transnational Organized Crime, Leadership, Followership, Follower-Leader Relationship, Social Constructionism
language
English
id
9231667
date added to LUP
2026-06-18 16:39:20
date last changed
2026-06-18 16:39:20
@misc{9231667,
  abstract     = {{Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how former members of transnational organized crime organizations experience followership in relation to their leaders, challenging assumptions present in criminological research by integrating organizational constructionist perspectives. 
Methodology: Guided by abductive reasoning, we studied the narratives of former 
members of organized crime groups, their roles, and their relationships with leaders in transnational organized crime. We are drawing on social constructionism and a broader interpretivist tradition. Our data was collected from 13 video-podcast interviews. 
Theoretical Framing: Our literature review presents existing research on the topics of organized crime, transnational organized crime, leadership and 
followership. 
Contributions: Our study makes three theoretical contributions: conceptualizing 
pre-entry followership as an analytical category, challenging leader centric assumptions by showing followership can be directed toward 
collective rather than individual actors and demonstrating that 
follower-leader relationships are dynamic rather than static.}},
  author       = {{Feike, Lucia Skane Piyanah and Arroba Caballero, Maria Belen}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Beyond the Boss: Rethinking Leadership Through Followership in Transnational Organized Crime}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}