Authentic leadership and positive organizational behavior: A meso, multi-level perspective

Authentic leadership (AL) and positive organizational behavior (POB) are two important emerging approaches in the organizational sciences. To date, published work on AL and POB has been primarily leader-focused and based on individual differences. In this article, after verifying this individual-level focus via content coding of AL articles, AL and POB are explicated and integrated using a meso, multi-level perspective. Essentially, viewed in terms of multiple levels of analysis, AL promotes various multi-level “primary” criteria and outcomes of POB that, in turn, enhances various multi-level “secondary” criteria and outcomes of performance. Direct effects of AL on performance at multiple levels of analysis also are plausible. Implications for future meso perspectives on leadership theory and research in general and on AL and POB in particular are discussed.     

Use and misuse of levels of analysis in leadership research: An illustrative review of leader–member exchange

Prior reviews have focused on if leadership literature pays homage to levels of analysis; our purpose is to take stock of how well and in what ways levels issues are implemented in theory and hypotheses formulation, construct conceptualization, measurement, and data analysis. To illustrate these notions, we provide an in-depth review of 163 multi-level empirical leader–member exchange (LMX) and vertical dyad linkage (VDL) studies published between 1972 and 2012. Our findings indicate that the volume of multi-level studies in LMX has drastically increased recently and the majority of these studies cast theory and hypotheses at the same level. With regard to alignment of levels of theory/hypotheses with measurement and with data analyses, however, roughly one out of two published studies suffers from misalignment of levels. Most of this misalignment occurs in studies where the dyad level of analysis, a key component of LMX, is an explicit or implicit focus. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for the LMX literature, and present recommendations to guide multi-level leadership research.     

多层次导向的真实型领导对员工与团队创新的影响机制研究

"德才兼备"是中国评价领导者的重要内容,学者多关注团队领导者的"才"对创新的影响,鲜有研究探讨领导者的"德"与创新的关系。真实型领导与德才兼备中的"德"有着较好契合,本研究以113个研发团队的领导者及其574名员工为被试,运用多层次研究方法,探究真实型领导对创新的作用及机制。结果表明,个体导向的真实型领导透过上级支持对员工创新结果具有显著促进作用;团队导向的真实型领导透过团队协力对员工个体创新行为和团队整体的创新均有显著促进作用。本文提供了在中国情境下真实型领导对创新的多层次影响机制。     

A journey around decision-making: Searching for the “big picture” across disciplines

This paper carries out an interdisciplinary literature review to develop an updated framework that integrates all aspects of decision-making. It proposes a framework that combines the evolutionary perspective with the complexity theory to integrate the ontological communalities between the examined disciplines (operational research, psychology and management). Decision-making is regarded as a systemic, multi-tiered information-based process, founded on the interaction of the decision-maker with the environment in a sort of learning path which co-evolves through variation–selection–retention mechanisms nourished by environmental feedback.Such a complex-coevolutionary perspective provides valuable insights concerning some as-yet-unexplored aspects of decision-making, such as inter- and intra-individual differences in decision-making, as well as the interaction of ‘rational’ and ‘intuitive’ processes or some contradictory evidence (regarding ‘fractionated expertise’ and ‘escalation of commitment’).Practical implications on management education are highlighted, as well as methodological limitations and needs for further studies. The journey is not yet over and probably never will be, but, from an evolutionary perspective, it is the journey, not the arrival, that matters.     

The multifaceted nature of social practices: A review of the perspectives on practice-based theory building about organizations

A vibrant body of literature on social practices has developed rapidly in recent years. However, a systematic analysis of the underlying perspectives that shape the way practice-based scholars contribute to theory building about organizational phenomena has escaped scholarly attention. It is of pivotal importance to examine the multifaceted nature of social practices and understand the process by which new practice-based knowledge is developed. Our study addresses this gap by disentangling how researchers have adopted the knowledge, materiality, ethics, and politics perspectives that – as past influential work has informed us – are particularly relevant to practice-based theory building. In so doing, we categorize the body of literature into themes that correspond to the organizational phenomena examined by social practice scholars: practice boundaries and coordination of work, technology at work, strategy formation, local particulars structuring everyday work, and transformation of work practices. By uncovering how scholars adopt the four perspectives within each theme, our review shows that scholars (i) predominantly adopt the knowledge perspective, (ii) neglect the politics perspective when looking ‘inside’ a social practice, (iii) strikingly de-emphasize the ethics perspective, and (iv) isolate each of the four perspectives used in theory building. We then examine in detail the implications of our work for future research on social practices and conclude with a number of theoretical and methodological suggestions.     

Charisma as signal: An evolutionary perspective on charismatic leadership

We present an evolutionary perspective on charismatic leadership, arguing that charisma has evolved as a credible signal of a person's ability to solve a coordination challenge requiring urgent collective action from group members. We suggest that a better understanding of charisma's evolutionary and biological origins and functions can provide a broader perspective in which to situate current debates surrounding the utility and validity of charismatic leadership as a construct in the social sciences. We outline several key challenges which have shaped our followership psychology, and argue that the benefits of successful coordination in ancestral environments has led to the evolution of context-dependent psychological mechanisms which are especially attuned to cues and signals of outstanding personal leadership qualities. We elaborate on several implications of this signaling hypothesis of charismatic leadership, including opportunities for deception (dishonest signaling) and for large-scale coordination.     

The impact of life stage and societal culture on subordinate influence ethics: A study of Brazil,China, Germany,and the U.S.

In this paper, we investigate the effects of societal values and life stage on subordinate influence ethics. Based on the evolving crossvergence theory of macro-level predictors of values evolution, we demonstrate the applicability of crossvergence theory in the micro-level context. Furthermore, our study provides the first empirical multi-level analysis of influence ethics utilizing a multiple-country sample. Thus, we illustrate how the breath of crossvergence can be expanded to provide a multi-level theoretical foundation of values and behavior evolution across cultures. Specifically, we integrate micro-level life stage theory and macro-level societal culture theory to concurrently assess the contributions of each theory in explaining subordinate influence ethics across the diverse societies of Brazil, China, Germany and the U.S. Consistent with previous research, we found significant societal differences in influence ethics. However, we also found that life stage theory played a significant role in understanding influence ethics. Thus, our findings expand the crossvergence perspective on societal change, indicating that key micro-level predictors (e.g., life stage) should be included in cross-cultural research.     

Incorporating multiple levels of analysis into occupational stress research

In recent years, more and more research in the organizational sciences has incorporated a multiple levels of analysis perspective (e.g. individual, group and organizational) into models of organizational behaviour. The study of occupational stress, however, has continued to focus almost exclusively on the individual level of analysis. In this paper, the authors contend that incorporating a multi-level perspective in the study of occupational stress has theoretical as well as practical value. The authors illustrate their position using results from an occupational stress research programme conducted by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.     

The evolution of organizations and leadership from the ancient world to modernity: A multilevel approach to organizational science and leadership (OSL)

The purpose of this paper is to offer an initial theory, timeline, and taxonomy for discussing and researching the evolution of types of organizations and the concomitant context they provide for leadership. Specifically, leadership roles in the ancient world and modernity are contrasted and found to be almost diametrically opposed. To arrive at this conclusion, this work draws upon current extensions of evolutionary theory from biology and psychology to organizational studies and leadership (Yammarino & Dansereau, 2011). This framework is then contrasted with Kellerman (2012) who calls for an end to leadership studies. The question this paper attempts to address is: from a multi-level perspective, how have evolutionary changes in the types of commercial organizational structures led to differing dominant leadership styles? Without having to call for an end to leadership studies, an understanding of ancient forms of organization can lend insight into a number of contemporary business and geopolitical conflicts where tribalism is a factor.     

Age Work in Organizations: Maintaining and Disrupting Institutionalized Understandings of Higher Age

Age diversity research calls for new approaches in explaining the persistence of age inequalities, which integrate different levels of analysis and display greater context sensitivity. Concurrently, neoinstitutionalist research interested in social inequalities calls for merging institutional theory with critical perspectives and to account for issues of power. In this study, we address the calls of both research streams through developing the concept of ‘age work’: the institutional work actors undertake on age as a social institution. Applying our novel concept to a multi‐actor study of four German organizations known for their age management, we come across a counterintuitive insight regarding actors’ age work: maintaining stereotypical age images can serve to counter age inequalities, whereas deconstructing age images can reinforce age inequalities. The multi‐actor perspective of our study allows us to categorize different forms of power‐laden and interest‐driven age work and to portray the reproduction of age inequalities as a result of actors’ age work, embedded in different contexts and complex power relations. Comparing employees’ forms of age work across sectors and organizations, we detail how notions of masculinity as well as income and job security shaped the categorized forms of age work.     

Kinship ties and employee theft perceptions in family-owned businesses

Family business research typically views family firms using the frameworks developed for non-family businesses (e.g., agency theory, institutional theory). Thus, using an evolutionary perspective on family may help address gaps in the family business literature, particularly regarding deviance. In the current study, we use kin selection theory to predict that family members receive preferential treatment and this history of privileges can create entitlement and lead genetically-related employees to misuse company resources. Using an experimental vignette methodology and data from 161 people recruited from an online panel, we found that the participants’ purported genetic relatedness to the owner of a business increased their theft intentions and decreased their expected severity of sanctions and likelihood of being reported. Biological sex moderated the relationships between genetic relatedness and theft intentions, as well as between expectations of punishment and theft intentions. Specifically, when females expected higher severity of sanctions or likelihood of whistleblowing, they were less likely to report theft intentions, compared to males. The results of this study suggest that family business owners should protect against theft by all employees, including genetic relatives. Future research using field samples would help provide context for these findings.     

Understanding founder–CEO’s replacement in venture-backed companies: A theoretical and empirical analysis

This research provides an accurate picture of situations in which founder–CEOs are replaced (or not) by venture capitalists. Our analysis aims to go further than the schematic case of the founder being simply dismissed by investors in a conflictual context. We first review the literature dedicated to this subject in the light of the agency theory (AT) and the resource-based view (RBV). However, the limits of these theoretical frameworks lead us to investigate their extensions: the entrenchment theory (ET), the dynamic capabilities approach (DCA) and the cognitive governance perspective (CGP). In a second phase, in order to decode the replacement process, we designed an exploratory methodology based on qualitative data, thus deepening our understanding of the issues it entails in venture-backed companies. Finally, this field analysis allows us to build a typology of replacement scenarii, with each scenario being interpreted by combining relevant theories to explain all aspects of it. In line with the AT, the ET focuses on the FCs strategy to retain their position. The DCA analyses the CEOs’ resources from a dynamic angle, in accordance with the RBV. The CGP is mobilised to characterise a conflict originating in a lack of skills. These results lead us to rethink the role of time and the nature of conflicts in the relationships between FCs and venture capitalists.     

价值与风险感知对好评返现行为影响的演化分析

为探究C2C平台在线评论中好评返现行为的演化机制，将前景理论和风险感知因素引入演化博弈过程，构建了有别于传统收益矩阵的收益感知矩阵，以更好地刻画奖惩机制设置下买家和商家行为决策的动态演化过程。从前景理论和风险感知的视角诠释最优演化结果难以实现的原因，通过仿真收益和价值感知等不同参数对演化结果的影响，有针对性的提出治理好评返现的措施。研究结果表明：决策者的认知偏差、乐观偏见、确定和反射效应将使系统难收敛于最优演化稳定点；提高决策者对"收益"和"损失"的价值感知及损失规避程度有助于系统演化至最优结果；当博弈双方的初始选择概率，买方的客观差评收益、道德成本、公共利益感知和卖方的好评返现运营成本、抢占市场收益等参数围绕阈值变动时能够改变策略的演化倾向和稳定性。     

Moderating role of subordinates' attitudes on transformational leadership and effectiveness: A multi-cultural and multi-level perspective

We conducted the current multi-cultural, multi-level study with three objectives in mind. First, we examined the association of transformational leadership and leader effectiveness across two different cultures, the United States (U.S.) and Korea, with three followers' attitudes toward their leader (trust in the leader, loyalty, and value congruence) as moderators of this association. Second, we conceptualized followers' collectivistic orientation as a personal value, regardless of their nationality, and tested its moderating effect on the leadership–effectiveness association. Finally, we employed a multi-level approach throughout to examine whether transformational leadership processes, and in contrast individualized leadership, operated at different levels of analysis across different countries. Results from WABA and regression analyses indicated that transformational leadership operated at the individual level of analysis in both samples and was effective across different cultures. Specifically, followers' attitudes served as moderators of the transformational leadership–effectiveness association only in the U.S. sample, while collectivistic orientation had a significant moderating effect in both samples. Results from WABA also indicated that individualized leadership operated at the dyadic level for the U.S. sample and at the individual level for the Korean sample. Several theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.     

共享单车用户机会主义行为的演化博弈分析

目前为止,共享单车用户的机会主义行为是共享单车能否发展的关键制约因素之一。基于此,尝试用演化博弈理论建立共享单车企业与用户间的演化博弈模型发掘用户的机会主义行为动因及利益相关者作用。研究表明:用户收益是其行为选择的决定性因素,用户机会主义行为收益大于规范行为收益是机会主义行为的产生根源;共享单车企业的激励约束可对用户行为起到调节作用,约束强度将对用户机会主义行为的程度产生负向影响。最后,针对演化博弈模型分析结果,提出了相应管理对策建议。     

LMX and welfare trade-off ratios: An evolutionary perspective on leader-member relations

A growing stream of theory and research in evolutionary psychology proposes that people mentally represent dyadic relationships through an internal regulatory variable, the “Welfare Tradeoff Ratio.” I introduce welfare tradeoff theory and indicate how it speaks to the problematic distinction between social exchanges and relationship quality in Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory and research. I then address issues related to leader-member agreement, LMX development, upward impression management, emotions in leader-member relationships and LMX differentiation from the perspective of welfare tradeoffs. Implications and consideration of measurement also are discussed.     

基于前景理论的LSSC服务质量管控策略的演化博弈分析

物流服务的完成质量依赖于物流服务供应链（LSSC）中集成商（LSI）与提供商（FLSP）的共同努力。本文基于决策者有限理性的假设，将前景理论与演化博弈相结合，分析物流服务供应链中服务质量管控活动，讨论提供商服务策略与集成商管控策略的博弈过程，通过仿真揭示损失规避系数、感知价值的敏感系数、竞争替代效应、责任分担比率对演化结果的影响。本文的创新与特色在于：一是借助前景理论中的价值函数与决策权重函数修正传统演化博弈中的支付矩阵，扩展了物流服务供应链中关于博弈者风险态度、损益感知价值等心理因素的讨论。二是通过考虑集成商间的竞争替代效应，丰富了现有文献中对集成商监管策略影响因素的探讨。研究结果表明：提升提供商对违约成本的感知价值、发挥集成商间的竞争替代效应是系统达到最优均衡点的有效途径；增强提供商与集成商对违约后果的认知程度、提高双方的风险意识能有效抑制服务违约行为；各核心要素对系统演化的影响方式不同，通过模型与仿真结果可解释由责任分担不当诱发的LSSC服务质量管控不利的问题。     

Transactive Goal Dynamics Theory: A relational goals perspective on work teams and leadership

Transactive Goal Dynamics (TGD) Theory is a multi-level, relational theory of goal pursuit that can be used to understand behavior within organizational teams. The theory describes the nature of goal-related interdependence (called transactive density) within dyads and groups, and predicts when transactive density will have positive versus negative consequences for goal-related outcomes. TGD Theory states that within many close dyads and teams, individuals’ goals, pursuits, and outcomes come to affect each other in a dense network of goal-related interdependence, with the individuals possessing and pursuing goals oriented toward themselves, other members of the system, and the system as a whole. This article discusses novel implications of the theory for the understanding of organizational teams and team leadership, and constraints on relational dynamics within organizational contexts.     

以知识为视角的跨国公司理论演化过程分析

跨国公司理论由垄断优势理论和内部化理论强调的市场交易性失效观点过渡到了知识基础观理论强调的市场在能力上的不完善源于对知识特征看法的演变。因此以知识为着眼点在MNCs理论领域描绘一个清晰的研究纲要,系统地梳理各理论对知识属性看法以及其对跨国公司本质分析的演变,对于构建在跨国公司领域更加折中的分析框架是有益的。     

A 25-year perspective on levels of analysis in leadership research

The purpose of this article is to present a comprehensive 25-year review of the incorporation of levels of analysis into conceptual and empirical leadership research published within Leadership Quarterly throughout its history. We assessed the population of Leadership Quarterly's research (790 research articles) on four key levels of analysis-based issues: (1) explicit statement of the focal level(s) of analysis; (2) appropriate measurement given level of constructs; (3) use of a multi-level data analysis technique; and, (4) alignment of theory and data. Prior reviews regarding levels of analysis incorporation into leadership research have been limited to major research domains. Results revealed that while both conceptual and empirical articles only explicitly state the focal level of analysis in approximately one-third of the articles, appropriate levels-based measurement and alignment between theory and data are relatively strong areas of achievement for the articles within Leadership Quarterly. Multi-level data analysis techniques are used in less than one-fifth of all articles. Although there is room for improvement, there is evidence that Leadership Quarterly is a premier outlet for levels-based leadership research. Given the increasing complexity of organizational science with regard to groups, teams and collectives, Leadership Quarterly has an opportunity to model for organizational research on how to build and test complicated multi-level theories and models.