Benchmarking the presidential election of Barack Obama

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the range of benchmark applications associated with the historical event of Barack Obama being elected as the 44th US president. Design/methodology/approach - Collection and critical analysis of secondary data from relevant publications analyzing the results of the 2008 presidential elections. Analysis of organizational behavior theories have been utilized in order to benchmark leadership attributes. Findings - The paper concludes that Obama's presidential victory is influenced by several factors which included leadership traits, leader-follower identification, and postmodernism. Research limitations/implications - The paper examines benchmarking applications that are exclusively relevant in a public sector environment. Practical implications - There are several implications for researchers and practitioners related to how future political strategies for US presidential elections might be planned. Originality/value - This paper is significant because it presents a theoretical framework for interpreting the 2008 presidential election and setting the benchmark for the application of future presidential elections.