I am looking for online sources of information for research on how
military leadership theories could be applied to business. I am
particularly interested in British Military leadership although all
military thinking is of interest.

I am not looking for a polished answer at this stage, more a list of
sources that I can look into as I develop a thesis around this area.

(The background is that I am trying to come up with a proposal for an
MBA dissertation, and my initial idea is to take the book given to
officers when they leave Sanhurst - "Serve to Lead" - and see if I can
apply it to business)

Hello spurr-ga,

I think that these four sources will get you started.

The first source considers lessons for business leadership from the
British military and from an episode in the American Civil War.

"Learning from best practice - leadership in the military
environment", by Robert Oxborough, TSOC Associate Consultant
TSO Consulting
http://www.tsoconsulting.co.uk/military.html

The second source has two pages that specifically address the lessons
of "Serve to Lead" for management of a business organization.

"3. Using Management Tools" [pages 31-32 of PDF file (pages 1304-05 of
text)]
Engineering Systems Management: ISE-1016
Engineering Management Research Laboratory
Western Michigan University
http://www.wmich.edu/~emrl/vt/pdf/book/4016/3.0.0-3.1.5.3.pdf

The third source is a basic introduction to the topic of how military
leadership lessons can be applied to business leadership.

"Military Leadership: Lessons to be Applied to Business Leadership",
by Steve Hallam
Colloqium in Leadership
College of Business Administration
The University of Akron
http://www3.uakron.edu/cba/lead/military.pdf

Finally, the fourth source explains how some Wharton students learned
leadership from exposure to military situations.

"To earn to lead, Wharton students travel far from the classroom", by
Miriam Hill (The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 17, 2002)
Center for Leadership and Change Management
The Wharton School [University of Pennsylvania]
http://leadership.wharton.upenn.edu/l_change/trips/Philly_Inq_2002.shtml

I hope that this information is helpful.

- justaskscott-ga


Search terms used on Google:

business leadership "royal military academy"
business leadership "british military"
business leadership military
business "serve to lead" "royal military academy"

For a look inside a U.S. military academy you might try this book:

"The West Point Way of Leadership" by Col. Larry R. Donnithorne
(retired)

The book provides a detailed look at the training of U.S. Army cadets
and explains why they teach the way they do and how it builds
character and leadership abiliy. I thought it was an interesting book.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0385417039/qid=1051598495/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-8864083-8405613?v=glance&s=books