Journal of Business Research 68 (2015) 1283–1290

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Business Research

The impact of World Café on entrepreneurial strategic planning capability

Wen-Long Chang a, Shih-Ting Chen b,⁎
a
Department of Business Administration, Shih Chien University, No.70, Dazhi St., Zhongshan Dist., Taipei City 104, Taipei, Taiwan
b
Department of Technology Applications and Human Resources Development, National Taiwan Normal University, No.162, Sec. 1, Heping E. Rd., Da’an Dist., Taipei City 106, Taipei, Taiwan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The World Café has been used to develop business and organizational strategies, to enhance safety performance,
Received 17 June 2013 to support executive education, to foster community development, and for a host of other specific applications.
Received in revised form 21 November 2014 However, is the World Café superior to traditional strategy workshop techniques in terms of increases in partic-
Accepted 24 November 2014
ipant knowledge and understanding? Up to now there has been no absolute no answer to this question. This
Available online 24 December 2014
study examines and compares how the World Café and Strategy Workshops influence the development of entre-
Keywords:
preneurs in the writing of business plans and as a means to model learning behavior. This study also investigates
World Café which kinds of leadership styles (transactional leadership or transformational leadership) can simultaneously
Entrepreneur benefit learning performance. A quasi-experimental design is utilized which includes pre–post tests. 120 partic-
Strategic planning ipants attending an entrepreneurial program held by the government are observed. The results indicate that the
Leadership style World Café strategy has a significantly higher positive effect on their strategic planning capability than with tra-
ditional Strategy Workshops. Second, the leadership style of the focus leader can significantly increase the
entrepreneur's strategic planning capability. Finally, in the discussion of World Café, the effects of transactional
leadership on the entrepreneur's strategic planning capability is found to be greater than the effects of transfor-
mational leadership.
© 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Good strategic planning can assist in the startup of an organization
and improve organizational performance (Balabanis & Spyropoulou,
2007). Strategic planning instruments can be categorized into three
types: the first involves general internal and external analysis and
includes SWOT, BCG, PESTLE (Armstrong & Brodie, 1994; Hill &
Westbrook, 1997; Jarratt & Stiles, 2010). The second relies on technolo-
gy, such as simulations performed by computer (Drozdow & Carroll,
1997), to assist in personal or organizational development. The last
utilizes group discussion, work-shops, and brainstorming to encourage
different kinds of thinking for the planning of strategies (Dyson, 2004;
Hodgkinson, Whittington, Johnson, & Schwarz, 2006; Spee &
Jarzabkowski, 2009). In the last few years, the “group wisdom” discus-
sion mode has attracted considerable attention. This can include various
activities for further analysis and exploration related to the topic at
hand, designed to assist participants in developing a macro-
perspective viewpoint. Thus, numerous organizations have adopted
this discussion mode.
⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Technology Applications and Human
Resources Development, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei 114, Taiwan.
Tel.: +886 953 985768.
E-mail addresses: wenlong@mail.usc.edu.tw (W.-L. Chang),
tinating001@yahoo.com.tw (S.-T. Chen).
The World Café is a typical example of the group wisdom discussion
mode, an expansion of the traditional workshop modes outlined by
Brown and Isaacs (1998). It is a discussion strategy comprising small
flexible group discussions and conversation in a relaxed atmosphere
aimed at uncovering group wisdom. Discussion can bring out synchro-
nized dialogue, aid in reflection on issues, encourage the sharing of
knowledge, and even uncover new opportunities for action. An increas-
ing number of enterprises now use the World Café to explore operation-
al strategies. The difference between ordinary strategy workshops and
the World Café is that, in the World Café, group members are changed
or rotated out and assistance is needed to transform ongoing thinking
into a systematized outline, as a reference for discussion. This type of
outline thinking is a utilization of what academics often refer to as a
mind map, which can help to focus the discussion while enabling
team members to use logical thinking and pay more attention to the
details of strategic planning. The World Café is used widely as an instru-
ment for strategy workshops (Carter & Swedeen, 2012; Fouche & Light,
2011; Hodgkinson et al., 2006; Johnson, Prashantham, Floyd, & Bourque,
2010; Schieffer, Isaacs, & Gyllenpalm, 2004); however, the question
remains: Is this instrument effective in assisting strategic organization
development? No previous studies have been performed to determine
whether this is the case. An instrument must be implemented and ver-
ified to confirm its validity. The host (table leader) in the World Café
plays an important role as facilitator. The host is expected to create a
welcoming atmosphere and listen to the real meaning behind different
comments, then transform those comments into a discourse that

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2014.11.020
0148-2963/© 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
1284 W.-L. Chang, S.-T. Chen / Journal of Business Research 68 (2015) 1283–1290
creates resonance. In other words, the host must find a balance between
dynamic participation and mutual reflection. Thus, the leadership style
of the host can determine whether the activity succeeds or fails.
Shonk (1982) discovered that, to create a successful group, leaders
have to provide clear prospects and participate positively. Many studies
have shown that leaders have a crucial influence on group performance
and effectiveness (Morgeson, 2005; Zaccaro & Klimoski, 2002).
Katzenbach and Smith (1993) investigated the importance of group
leaders through two dimensions. Internally: Group leaders must improve
the procedures used in group activities while teaching and supporting
group members in the development of creative options for the resolution
of problems. Externally: Group leaders must deal with the problems of
group boundaries, such as coordinating with other groups or senior
members of the organization as well as searching for information and re-
sources required by the group. Leadership style is clearly a key factor af-
fecting the effectiveness of any type of group discussion.
Leadership style has been widely discussed by researchers of organi-
zational and operational performance. Various types of leadership style
have been identified, including charismatic leadership (House, 1996),
the full range of leadership (Sivasubramaniam, Murry, Avolio, & Jung,
2002), transformational leadership (Bass, 1985), counseling style lead-
ership, guided leadership, authorized style leadership and teaching-
leadership. However, transformational and transactional leadership
are the most important and broadly utilized methods in current studies
(Dvir, Eden, Avolio, & Shamir, 2002).
Transformational leadership increases member confidence and value
through excitation, in which members are motivated to work harder
and contribute more to the organization. Excitation includes ideological
influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individu-
alized considerations. Transactional leadership focuses on expedient re-
wards or punishment, through role definition and task distribution, to
encourage members to achieve goals. The focus is on contingent rewards,
active management by exception and passive management by exception.
This study focused on participants in government-funded business
planning classes in Taiwan, to determine the effectiveness of the
World Café when applied to processes associated with entrepreneurial
strategic planning. We also investigated the role played by table leaders.
The objectives of this research are as follows:
1. To investigate the effects of various types of discussion mode on
entrepreneurial strategic planning;
2. To observe how the leadership style of the facilitator affects entrepre-
neurial strategic planning;
3. To determine whether the relationships among various modes of
discussion and leadership style influence entrepreneurial strategic
planning.
According to the results, we provide suggestions for World Café
users to further develop discussion modes, and outline means to
increase the effectiveness of this method for strategic planning.
2. Literature review
2.1. Relevance of World Café to strategic planning
World conversations are based on seven core design principles and
the assumption that people already have within them the wisdom and
creativity to confront even the most difficult challenges. These seven
principles include: 1. setting the context, 2. creating a hospitable
space, 3. exploring questions that matter, 4. encouraging contribution
from everyone involved, 5. connecting diverse perspectives, 6. listening
together for patterns and insights, and 7. sharing collective discoveries.
When used in combination, these principles provide useful guidance for
anyone seeking creative ways to foster authentic dialogue in which the
goals are thinking together, accessing collective intelligence, and creat-
ing actionable knowledge (Brown, 2001).
World Café dialog focuses on group discussion and rotation, the
adoption of new perspectives to maximize the effects of brainstorming,
and finally the creation of collective wisdom. The style of discussion is
appreciative inquiry, which draws on discussing issues more than
once, encouraging members to share their personal perspectives, and
listening to others to discover the context and deep problem of multiple
perspectives.
In the second half of such discussions, participants devise plans for
group activities based upon collective wisdom. Groups exchange ideas
by changing their seats and using different directions to discuss ques-
tions. This method can expand small ideas to a big organization, elicit
new conversations, and initiate collective activities.
Brown (2005) reflected on the World Café, remarking that it has
spread and now includes supporters ranging from CEOs to government
ministers, senior managers, academics, journalists, and the founders of
think-tanks. The World Café has expanded this way because its use
has been shown to assist in solving problems quickly and easily.
Fullarton and Palermo (2008) compared two workshop techniques:
one based on the World Café and the other using large group facilitation
(LGF). Their results indicate that the World Café is superior to LGF in
terms of enhancing the knowledge and understanding of participants.
Participants in the World Café were also far more likely to express the
belief that this approach was beneficial to their learning, compared to
those who took part in the LGF.
The World Café approach facilitates a series of small- and large-group
conversations intended to spur asset-based thinking, generate local solu-
tions, and identify new partners associated with an issue of importance to
a particular community. It has been used in a wide range of corporate and
community contexts including the development of strategies (Bertotti,
Adams-Eaton, Sheridan, & Renton, 2009; Fullarton & Palermo, 2008;
Latham, 2008), the enhancement of safety performance, as a support for
education, as a means to foster community development, and for a host
of other applications (Ritch & Brenan, 2010; Schieffer et al., 2004).
The World Café is particularly effective in dealing with strategy-
related issues that require collective wisdom and discussion. This ap-
proach enables access to the thoughts of masses of people, and expands
marginal ideas to larger groups. This study compares the World Café
with conventional strategy workshops with regard to the enhancement
of strategic planning capability.
2.2. Relevance of strategy workshops in strategic planning
Strategy workshops are another tool used to develop operational
strategies within an organization (Bourque & Johnson, 2008; Hendry
& Seidl, 2003; Hodgkinson et al., 2006). The strategy workshops are de-
signed to foster discussion and analysis of a topic in a profound way
through various activities, to help participants develop a macro-
perspective related to the topic at hand (Bourque & Johnson, 2008).
Strategy workshops focus on facilitating individual growth by im-
proving understanding through work with small groups. In this scenar-
io, the leader sets aside immediate work-related concerns and gathers
subordinates for one or two days to discuss topics related to strategy
(Johnson et al., 2010). Strategy workshops encourage members to es-
cape the framework and structure of the organization and brainstorm
with others to discover alternative ways of achieving goals and resolv-
ing difficulties. One survey revealed that 77% of enterprises conduct
strategic planning through strategy workshops (Jarzabkowski & David,
2008). Traditional strategy workshops are an integrated concept,
collecting participants’ opinions and inspiring resonance towards the
discussion topic through discussion, speech and lectures. Moreover,
participatory group discussion is often applied in strategy workshops,
which is regarded as an important means affecting the effectiveness of
hosting strategy workshops.
Entrepreneurial proposals were used as instruments to measure the
strategic planning capability of the participants. The role played by the
table leader in strategy workshop discussions differs from that of the
 W.-L. Chang, S.-T. Chen / Journal of Business Research 68 (2015) 1283–1290
World Café. In strategy workshops, the leader focuses the discussion on
a specific topic; however, in the World Café, the leader focuses on listen-
ing to all of the participants to maximize the effectiveness of brain-
storming. Therefore, this study proposes the following hypothesis:
H1. The choice of discussion mode (World Café and strategy work-
shops) influence the strategic planning capability of entrepreneurs. Fur-
thermore, the World Café discussion mode is superior to that of strategy
workshops.
2.3. Leadership style
Bryman (1992) organized leadership theory into four groups: Trait
Theories; Theory of Planned Behavior (1940-1960), Contingency Theo-
ry (1960-1980); and Interactionism. In Interactionism, the key point
was the importance of current leaders understanding their role in trans-
formation activities with regard to leadership behavior and the subordi-
nates. These studies have prompted leaders to correct their behavior in
order to enhance the effectiveness of their leadership.
Transactional leadership and transformational leadership are com-
monly in the spotlight. Robert and Angelo (1995) categorized theories
on traditional leadership, such as Trait Theory, the Theory of Planned
Behavior and Contingency Theory, as theories related to transactional
leadership. Konovsky and Pugh showed that transactional leadership
is based on job requirements and exchanges, in which a simple econom-
ic relationship is maintained with an emphasis on rewards when goals
are achieved. Employees are concerned with fairness in the workplace;
therefore, any hint of bias can undermine trust in leadership. Transfor-
mational leadership focuses on using leaders to build prospects, to es-
tablish important values, characteristics, beliefs and behavior for these
prospects through care for the needs of each subordinate, actively im-
proving their intelligence, and guiding them to transform their benefits
and seek organizational prospects (Piccolo & Colquitt, 2006; Sosik,
Godshalk, & Yammarino, 2004). Bennis and Nanus (1985) discovered
that the relationship between transformational leaders and subordi-
nates is actually a partnership, such that leaders develop an understand-
ing of the needs and wants of their subordinates. This causative
relationship helps develop an organizational system in which subordi-
nates gain power and are encouraged to seek values such as fairness,
justice, freedom, and self-realization. Strauss, Griffin, and Rafferty
(2009) found that transformational team leaders assist their subordi-
nates by enhancing their confidence to initiate change.
Transformational leaders can enhance the sense of value a subordi-
nate attaches to work goals, which can strengthen the link between ef-
fort and performance, help subordinates to recognize the contribution
of their leaders, and embrace organizational goals (Bono & Judge,
2003; Herrmann & Felfe, 2012; Shamir, House, & Arthur, 1993).
Yammarino, Spangler, and Bass (1993) found that transactional leaders
simply exchange benefits with their subordinates with the only concern
being whether goals are completed on time and whether the work con-
forms to expectations. Transactional leaders provide rewards to estab-
lish an atmosphere in which an employee reaches the goal to get the
rewards and puts in efforts to avoid punishment. Affective commitment
will decrease via the effort of transactional leaders. Ponder (2001) noted
that transactional leadership is oriented toward employee needs and re-
quires standard procedural control. This leadership style emphasizes
benefit exchange.
A number of studies on leadership behavior have described the im-
pact of positive affection on the relationships between subordinates
and leaders. Some researchers have ventured to assert that transforma-
tional leadership is better than transactional leadership (Bass, Avolio,
Jung, & Berson, 2003; Judge & Piccolo, 2004; Whittington, Goodwin, &
Murray, 2004). The adoption of a transformational leadership style
can enhance the creativity and satisfaction of subordinates, thereby en-
hancing performance and service quality (Bass & Avolio, 1994;
1285
Eisenbeib & Boerner, 2013; Herrmann & Felfe, 2012). Transactional
leadership is hindered by insufficient time spent clearly explaining
goals to subordinates, imperfections in reward systems, disharmony be-
tween leaders and subordinates, a lack of leadership skills, and limited
resources (Bass & Avolio, 1990). However, in situations involving re-
peated mechanical work within a stable environment or a personnel-
oriented organization, transactional leadership can produce better re-
sults than transformational leadership (Bass, 1998). Hence, we propose
the following hypothesis:
H2. The leadership style (transactional or transformational) adopted by
the table leader can affect the ability of new entrepreneurs to develop
skills for strategic planning. Furthermore, transactional leadership is su-
perior to transformational leadership in enhancing these skills.
H3. The leadership style adopted by the table leader under different
discussion modes can affect the ability of new entrepreneurs to develop
skills for strategic planning.
3. Research design and implementation
3.1. Samples
The Taiwanese government encourages young people to establish
their own businesses by launching classes for prospective entrepre-
neurs. This study focuses on the 120 participants who attended the
June 2012 entrepreneurial class sponsored by the Taiwanese govern-
ment with the aim of starting their own businesses within three years.
3.2. Methodology
This study adopted a quasi-experimental design to explore the influ-
ence of leadership style (transactional and transformational) and dis-
cussion mode (World Café and strategy workshop) on the strategic
planning skills of new entrepreneurs. To ensure that participants in
the control group (strategy workshop) and experimental group
(World Café) had comparable a priori entrepreneurial knowledge, an
18 hour entrepreneurial course was offered over a period of three
days prior to the workshops (refer to Table 1).
3.3. Variables and operational definitions
This study adopted discussion mode (World Café and strategy work-
shops) and leadership style (transactional and transformational) as in-
dependent variables and strategic planning capability as a dependent
variable. The operational definition of each study variable is outlined
in the following:
3.3.1. Discussion mode
The study conducted experiments based on two different discussion
modes, World Café and strategy workshops. The World Café uses group
discussion and rotation to promote brainstorming in order to tap into
collective wisdom. Strategy workshops focus on better understanding
to achieve individual growth through small group experiences. In this
study, the greatest difference between strategy workshops and World
Café is that members of the World Cafe took turns as table leader.
3.3.2. Leadership
Transactional leaders exchanged real benefits with their subordi-
nates (such as controlling the business plan scores of the subordinates),
in exchange for the completion of tasks assigned. Transformational
leaders encouraged their subordinates to achieve higher goals, tasks,
or visions.
1286 W.-L. Chang, S.-T. Chen / Journal of Business Research 68 (2015) 1283–1290

Table 1 were conducted in three rounds; however, members did not

Content of entrepreneurial training course. move to new groups until the end of class.
Time Class name Content

Day 1
09:00–12:00 Analysis of entrepreneurial 1. Entrepreneurial strategies and
trend and operational trends
resources 2. Industry selection & structure of
proposal
3. Entrepreneurial resources
14:00–17:00 Youth entrepreneurship 1. Youth entrepreneurship loan
loan program proposal proposal writing practice
writing & case study 2. Entrepreneurial management
planning
Day 2
09:00–12:00 Entrepreneurial tax laws & 1. Business registration process
regulations 2. Business regulations
3. Lease signing & precautions
4.Tax management
14:00–17:00 Entrepreneurial capital 1. Entrepreneurial capital funding
planning 2. Key the successful financing
3. Financial revenue and
expenditure control and financial
planning
Day 3
09:00–12:00 Entrepreneurial marketing 1. Entrepreneurial market data
collection and analysis of
competitors
2. District positioning and
marketing strategies for the
customer
3. Service tools and brand loyalty
modeling
14:00–17:00 Entrepreneurial Goods and 1. Planning the basic principles &
Service Management Data Management
2. Price positioning and cost
control
3. Channel planning and
logistics/Cash flow management of
purchasing and inventory
management
3.3.3. Strategic planning capability
Strategic planning capability refers to the ability of an entrepreneur
to make plans regarding the future operation of a company. The testing
index includes whether the business plan is reasonable or competitive.
3.4. Experimental design
The discussions in the control group and experimental group were
conducted at the same time but in different classrooms. Classes in the
experimental group were divided into 2, 3-hour segments for discus-
sion. The topics of discussion included strategic planning, group team
members, financial assessments, market assessments, etc. In the first
half, the experimental group focused on discussions of topics 1 to 3,
while the second half focused on topics 4–6.
2. Pre-Test:
Members of the experimental and control groups began by present-
ing entrepreneurial proposals and the scores they obtained were
taken as the pre-test result to confirm their prior knowledge and
the initial abilities of the students.
3. Prior Knowledge
A presentation was given to ensure that the participants understood
the rules of World Café as well as the characteristics of a good table
leader. Participants were then invited to engage in a practice discus-
sion using World Café. The presentation included role playing as a
table leader as well as tips on hosting a meeting and guiding subordi-
nates, including the rules of presentation, the importance of remain-
ing impartial, assisting group members and listening to them
carefully, maintaining focus on the discussion issue, ensuring mutual
respect between group members, and making sure that all group
members join the discussion.
3.4.2. Experimental stage
1. Experimental Group
The experimental group adopted a World Café dialog style for their
discussions. Each group was assigned a table leader and a recorder.
Three 50-minute discussions were conducted in each course. Group
members moved to new groups after each round; however, the
table leader remained in the same group. After each round of discus-
sions, the table leader was given the task of summarizing the point of
the discussion topic. An assistant outlined the key points of the dis-
cussion and wrote them on a discussion board for the table leader
to supplement later. Finally, each table leader assembled a summary
of key conclusions and gave a 5-minute oral presentation at the end
of the three rounds of discussion.
2. Control Group
The control group adopted the strategy workshop dialog style for
their discussions. Each group was assigned a table leader and a re-
corder. Three 50-minute discussions were conducted in each course.
The group members did not change between rounds. After the three
rounds of discussion, each group elected one person to give a 5-
minute oral presentation.
3. Discussion topics
Topic 1: Grouping strategic planning team members
Topic 2: Assessment of pre-strategic planning – operations of depart-
ments
Topic 3: Assessment of pre-strategic planning – financial assessment
Topic 4: Assessment of pre-strategic planning – market assessment
Topic 5: Assessment of pre-strategic planning – competitive advan-
tage analysis
Topic 6: Assessment of pre-strategic planning – expected benefits
analysis

3.4.1. Pre-operation
1. The study randomly assigned participants to the experimental group
(60 persons), and a control group (60 persons).
(1). Experimental group (World Café)
The students were divided into 6 groups of 10 individuals each.
The instructor randomly distributed the members and assigned
one of the members as the table leader. Group discussions
were conducted in three rounds and members changed to new
groups in each round.
(2). Control group (strategy workshops)
The students were divided into 6 groups of 10 individuals each.
The instructor randomly distributed the members and assigned
one of the members as the table leader. Group discussions
3.4.3. Post-test
Following the experiment, the author presented the entrepreneurial
proposal for a second time, the results of which were adopted as post-
test results.
3.5. Instruments of measurement
An entrepreneurial proposal was evaluated to compare the efficacy
of World Café and strategy workshops in the enhancement of entrepre-
neurial strategic planning capability. Proposal writing was selected as
an instrument to measure strategic planning capability because strate-
gies must be developed before startup (Chang & Lee, 2013; Li &
Atuahene-Gima, 2001; Song, Droge, Hanvanich, & Calantone, 2005), in
 W.-L. Chang, S.-T. Chen / Journal of Business Research 68 (2015) 1283–1290 1287

the hopes of enhancing the performance of the business and an entre- Table 3
preneurial proposal is an important reference blueprint for the develop- Analysis of t-tests on the influence of strategic planning for differences in table leaders’
leadership style.
ment of business strategy. Klinger and Schündeln (2011) emphasized
that proposal writing is a key point in entrepreneurial training and a Leadership style Average Standard deviation t-Value Sig.
guiding principle for startup strategy planning. Transactional 3.913 4.023 2.114 0.032⁎
In assessing the pros and cons of the written business plans, we Transformational 2.175 3.642
referred to Mason and Stark (2004) who used the concept of investors ⁎ p b 0.05.
as the basis for assessment. In each round of assessment, every business
plan was quantitatively rated on seven dimensions: ability of operation, progress score among World Café participants was 3.68, which is signif-
completeness, market orientation, realism, consistency, competitive ad- icantly higher than that obtained among participants of the strategy
vantage, and definitude. The scores ranged from 60 to 100 (60 and workshops (1.933). These findings indicate that the World Café discus-
below = very incomplete proposal statement, 100 = very complete sion mode is better able to improve the strategic planning capability of
proposal statement). In an attempt to provide clear evaluation criteria new entrepreneurs, thereby supporting Hypothesis 1. (See Table 2.)
for all participants, the instructor explained the assessment process in As shown in Table 3, leadership style had a significant influence on
great detail prior to the implementation of the courses. In addition, sam- the development of strategic planning capability (t = 2.114, p b 0.05).
ple business plans and comments were provided as an aid for the clari- The average progress score under transactional table leaders (3.913)
fication of criteria. was significantly higher than the scores obtained under transformation-
al table leaders (1.933). Thus, Hypothesis 2 is supported. These results
3.6. Data treatment demonstrate that under transactional leadership, strategic planning ca-
pability can be improved more effectively than what can be achieved
This study used a quasi-experimental design and the data was ana- under transformational leadership.
lyzed using a t-test to evaluate the effects of different discussion We also analyzed the effects of leadership style and discussion mode
modes, and multivariate analysis of factors. Different styles of leader- on the development of strategic planning capability among new entre-
ship (transactional and transformational) were observed in the context preneurs. As shown in Table 4, the results of 2x2 factorial analysis on
of different discussion modes (World Café, strategy workshops) in order business plan writing performance indicates a significant interaction
to examine the effect of each on the dependent variables. between leadership style and discussion mode (F = 15.30, p b 0.01).
After confirming an interaction between leadership style and discus-
4. Results and discussion sion mode, we implemented analysis on simple main effects. The results
in Table 5 reveal that in the World Café, transactional leadership had a
4.1. Descriptive statistics greater impact than did transformational leadership on the develop-
ment of strategic planning capability among new entrepreneurs (t =
Background data indicated that all 120 participants wanted to start 6.426, p b 0.0000). In addition, under transactional leadership, the
their own businesses within 3 years. Those aged below 30 years World Café discussion mode had a greater impact on the development
accounted for 32%, those aged 30–35 years accounted for 50%, and of strategic planning capability among new entrepreneurs, compared
those aged from 35–40 years accounted for 8% of the participants. In ad- to the same leadership mode within a traditional strategy workshop
dition, 36% were female; 62% had undergraduate college degrees; 32% (t = 3.863, p b 0.000). These findings support Hypothesis 3.
held masters or doctorate degrees; 40% were majoring in business;
46% were science and engineering majors, while other fields accounted
for 14%. Among the table leaders, 48% adopted a transformational lead- 4.3. Discussion
ership style and 52% adopted a transactional leadership style.
Our results confirm the practicability of the World Café strategy. This
4.2. Results is consistent with other studies (Carter & Swedeen, 2012; Fullarton &
Palermo, 2008; Ritch & Brenan, 2010; Schieffer et al., 2004), which indi-
The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of discussion cated that the discussion mode employed in the World Café can en-
mode (World Café & strategy workshops) and leadership style (trans- hance understanding and the utilization of knowledge by encouraging
formational & transactional) on the development of strategic planning interaction among various groups of people. In this study, these charac-
capability among new entrepreneurs. Prior to statistical analysis, the teristics did indeed lead to significant improvements in strategic plan-
study first conducted tests on data homogeneity to evaluate whether ning capability. In addition, the World Café assigns assistants to
the data gathered conformed to the homogeneity hypothesis. Our re- outline important ideas, vocabulary, and concepts during discussion as
sults indicate that the p-value of 0.111 N 0.05 is below the level of signif- reference materials for the other attendees. The diagram used to visually
icance, therefore, the homogeneity of variance is accepted and the data outline this type of information is called a Mind Map, and it can be used
conforms to the basic hypothesis. to enhance communication and learning (Eriksson & Hauer, 2004;
This study employed a dependent sample t-test to investigate the in- Mueller, Johnston, & Bligh, 2002).
fluence of discussion mode on the development of strategic planning ca-
pability among new entrepreneurs. As shown in Table 3, discussion
Table 4
mode had a significant influence on the development of strategic plan- Summary of 2×2 factorial designs on the business plan writing performance.
ning capability (t = 4.142; p b 0.001). We also know that the average
Source Type III Sum of Df Mean F Sig.
Squares square
Table 2 Leadership style 15.408 1 15.408 1.309 .255
Analysis of t-test results on the influence of strategic planning between the two different Discussion mode 226.875 1 226.875 19.277 .001⁎⁎⁎
discussion modes. Leadership style * 180.075 1 180.075 15.300 .001⁎⁎⁎
Discussion mode
Discussion mode Average Standard deviation t-value Sig.
Error 1365.233 116 11.769
World Café 3.683 3.529 4.142 0.001⁎⁎⁎ Total 3101.000 120
Strategy workshop 1.933 3.741 Corrected total 1787.592 119
⁎⁎⁎ p b 0.001. ⁎⁎⁎ p b 0.001.
1288 W.-L. Chang, S.-T. Chen / Journal of Business Research 68 (2015) 1283–1290
Table 5
Simple main effects on business plan writing performance.
Source t-value Significance Comparison
Leadership style
Transactional 6.426 0.001 World Café N Strategy workshop
Transformational 0.314 0.755 ---
Discussion mode
World Café 3.863 0.001 Transactional N Transformational
Strategy workshop 1.830 0.072 ---
***p b 0.001.
These results also suggest that under transactional leadership, the
improvements in strategic planning capability were more pronounced
than those observed under transformational leadership. This could be
explained by the fact that the World Café lessons are only one day
long, which could make it difficult to influence attendees, provide
them with clear vision, and develop mutual trust. This may also explain
why transactional leadership style is sometimes superior to transforma-
tional leadership, particularly when used in short-term situations.
In World Café discussions, transactional leadership had a more pro-
nounced impact on the development of strategic planning capability
than did transformational leadership. We believe that the operation
mode of the World Café could be a reason for this result. The table leader
plays a key role in these discussions by providing guidance, moving the
discussion in the right direction, and helping attendees to stick to the
original discussion topic. This kind of discussion mode could be de-
scribed as “active management-by-exception”, as emphasized in the
transactional leadership style. Bass (1985) claimed that transactional
leaders give guidance during work and adopt methods to ensure that
work is completed efficiently. Therefore, in the World Café discussion
mode, transactional leadership style has a greater impact on strategic
planning capability than does transformational leadership.
Under transactional leadership, the World Café showed a greater im-
pact on strategic planning capability, compared to strategy workshops.
According to Yammarino et al. (1993), transactional leaders maintain
a lower level of transaction with staff. In other words, transactional
leaders only care about whether the objectives are being met on time
and whether the anticipated outcome for the job is achieved. This is
similar to the operational patterns observed in the World Café. During
discussions, the responsibilities of the table leaders include guiding
the team to complete six different topics of discussion and then summa-
rizing each discussion.
In other words, “obtaining a better score in business plan writing”
was the main objective for both the table leaders and team members.
During the discussion, the table leaders had to remind the team mem-
bers to discuss each topic within the time given and centralize their
speech in order to obtain better scores. This is consistent with the find-
ings of Konovsky and Pugh (1994), in which it was noted that transac-
tional leadership is based on the exchange of subordinates fulfilling
job requirements and employers providing compensation. This results
in an economic relationship with an emphasis on rewards given for
goals accomplished, leading to higher productivity. This is the reason
that the World Café proved more effective than did the strategy work-
shops when organized under transactional leadership.
Finally, the reasons for the insignificant result were also investigat-
ed. According to Bono and Judge (2003), transformational leaders pro-
vide a vision for the staff and have strong expectations and confidence
in their staff’s abilities. They also try to influence the staff through the in-
ternalization of values. Due to the time limitations of the government
lessons, the discussion time was limited to just six hours a day, which
was insufficient for the leaders to influence attendees. Thus, transforma-
tional leadership did not present significant advantages over strategy
workshops when employed in the World Café in this study.
The leader in a strategy workshop is not as involved as the table
leaders in the World Café. In a strategy workshop, the main
responsibilities of the leader include maintaining team harmony and
guiding attendees to remain on the topic of discussion. Thus, in a tradi-
tional workshop, leadership style did not exercise a significant effect on
the development of strategic planning capability.
5. Conclusions and suggestions
The World Café is commonly used for strategy development in a
range of operations. However, the effectiveness of this tool has seldom
been examined in detail. This study compared the efficiency of two dis-
cussion modes (World Café and strategy workshops) and observed
their impact on the development of strategic planning capability,
when administered under two styles of leadership (transactional and
transformational). Our results demonstrate that the World Café played
a significant role in improving the strategic planning capability of new
entrepreneurs.
Second, leadership style was shown to have a significant impact
on the development of strategic planning capability. Transactional
leaders were shown to be far more effective than transformational
leaders in facilitating improvements in strategic planning capability
among team members. Third, under transactional leadership, the
World Café was shown to be a more effective environment than
strategy workshops. Finally, during the World Café discussion, it
was found that transactional leadership had a greater impact than
did transformational leadership on the development of strategic
planning capability.
It has been noted that the attendees of the World Café are not always
able to focus on the topic of discussion or provide specific solutions. This
is most likely due to the leadership style of the table leaders. In this
study, it was noticed that although transformational leaders tend to cre-
ate a friendly environment for discussion and tend not to restrict the
topic being discussed, discussions can move off topic under transforma-
tional leadership, such that the goals established in the first place cannot
always be met.
On the other hand, transactional leadership is goal oriented, such
that the discussion remains on the problem, which in this case
enabled team members to learn more effectively. Thus, we recom-
mend that focus leaders possess full understanding of the discussion
topics and consider their leadership style when working in the
World Café.
6. Limitations
6.1. Students may not have started with a clear understand of the operation
mode of World Café
The World Café is widely applied by enterprises or organizations for
practical discussion; however, it is rarely applied in schools. As a result,
this mode of discussion may have been new to the students. Nonethe-
less, the author has frequently adopted this approach to teaching and
attended numerous discussion activities outside the campus. This
made it possible to ensure that the students were fully aware of the
World Café protocol.
6.2. The grading of entrepreneurial proposals is easily affected by teacher
bias, which may skew the results
This entrepreneurial course is practice-oriented, and the evaluation
of entrepreneurial proposals could be affected by the instructor.
To reduce subjective bias, we obtained appropriate evaluation indexes
in advance to enable teachers to make unbiased evaluations. In addi-
tion, students were graded by two teachers and the final score was
averaged.
 W.-L. Chang, S.-T. Chen / Journal of Business Research 68 (2015) 1283–1290
Appendix A
Fig. 1. Group member distribution in the 3 rounds.
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Wen Long Chang is the Director of Academic Research, Office of Research & Development,
at Shih Chien University, Taipei, Taiwan. He received his BA degree from Baker University
of Kansas in the United States, MBA degree from National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan,
and PhD degree in Industrial Education, from National Taiwan Normal University. His cur-
rent research interests include entrepreneurship education, strategic management, and
human resource management.
Shih-Ting Chen is a project manager in the Taiwan Province Industry Association. She is
also a doctoral student in the Department of Technology Application and Human Resource
Development at National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan (ROC). Her current research
interests include entrepreneurship education, strategic management, and human resource
management.