Multi-level issues in evolutionary theory, organization science, and leadership

Multi-level issues are critical in the physical, social, and behavioral sciences. We articulate issues related to multiple levels of analysis in theory building and theory testing and explore them from evolutionary theory (ET) and organization science and leadership (OSL) perspectives. Specifically, analogous multi-level concepts and notions in ET and OSL are identified, aligned, and illustrated. Ideas from evolutionary psychology are included in the ET perspective, while notions from the varient approach are included in the OSL perspective. Several exemplars in OSL that incorporate ET and multi-level perspectives are presented. Numerous examples and lessons learned from ET and implications of multi-level issues and multiple levels of analysis for future theory building and theory testing in OSL are discussed as well.     

Behavioural determinants of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness in Argentina

The purpose of this empirical study was to explore the perceptions of Argentinean managers and non-managerial employees about managerial and leadership effectiveness, and the extent to which the findings are generalized to other countries. The central research question addressed was as follows: How do people employed in Argentinean companies behaviourally distinguish effective managers from ineffective managers, and to what extent are the findings culture-specific or context-general? A total of 42 employees from private and public sector organizations in Cordoba, Argentina, were interviewed using critical incident technique. The interviews generated 302 critical incidents of which 155 were examples of positive (effective) managerial behaviour, and 147 of negative (ineffective) managerial behaviour. The findings suggest that Argentineans perceive as effective those managers who are supportive, considerate, motivating, caring, good decision makers, approachable, participative, fair-minded, communicative, actively involved, and who act as role models. This challenges the widely held belief that Argentineans prefer authoritarian managers over democratic ones.     

Advancing the science of 21st-century leadership development: Theory,research, and practice

Leadership development seeks to understand, predict, and intervene effectively in addressing the questions of how individuals develop as leaders and how collections of individuals develop a capacity for leadership. These questions are attracting scholars interested in the factors and processes involved in developing leaders and leadership. Presented in the special issue is a set of state-of-the-science empirical studies and theory development articles representing 21st century leadership development. We also provide a brief overview of issues related to the leadership development field – broadly construed to include individual leader development – that are especially pertinent and where the research evidence is scarce or contradictory. These areas are theoretical foundations of leadership development, practices and methods of development and talent selection for development, accurately estimating return on investment for leadership development initiatives, the role of time in developing leaders and leadership, understanding and remedying biases and inequities in leadership development, and the role of development in mitigating the so-called dark side of leadership. Although we have learned much about leader and leadership development over the past 20 years, there is an ongoing need for more research and theory development especially with respect to identifying causally and practically relevant knowledge able to inform policy.     

Social network analysis and the evaluation of leadership networks

Leadership development practitioners are increasingly interested in social networks as a way to strengthen relationships among leaders in fields, communities, and organizations. This paper offers a framework for conceptualizing different types of leadership networks and uses case examples to identify outcomes typically associated with each type of network. Evaluating leadership networks is a challenge for the field of leadership development. Social network analysis (SNA) is an evaluation approach that uses mathematics and visualization to represent the structure of relationships between people, organizations, goals, interests, and other entities within a larger system. In this article we describe core social network concepts and the application of them to illuminate the value of SNA as an evaluation tool.     

A comparative study of three leadership approaches in India

We examined the validity of three leadership approaches in an organization in India. We used a multi-theory and multi-method design to competitively test transformational leadership theory, the nurturant–task leadership model, and a local organization-specific leadership model. Transformation leadership theory is one of the most widely studied and accepted theories in Western countries and is viewed as a universalistic leadership approach. The nurturant–task leadership model was developed in India and viewed as a culture-specific leadership approach. We also developed a local leadership model, called RDO, a pseudonym for the organization, and viewed it as an organization-specific leadership approach, using a qualitative analysis of interview data. The overall results of our qualitative–quantitative work provide strong support for the RDO leadership model, some support for a nurturant–task leadership model, and minimal support for transformational leadership theory. These results suggest that research designs that include a multi-theory, multi-methods approach in a single culture have the potential to increase our understanding of leadership processes.     

The heritability of emergent leadership: Age and gender as moderating factors

In this study, we examined the moderating influences of gender and age with respect to testing the heritability of leadership emergence. A large data base of 12,112 twins from Sweden was used in the current study to decompose the variance of emergent leadership into an unobservable genetic component and environmental components that are either common or unshared among twin pairs. Consistent with prior leadership research on genetics, we found that a genetic factor is able to explain a significant proportion of the variation across individuals in predicting how twins perceive their emergent leadership behavior (about 44% for women and 37% for men). Furthermore, we also found that the magnitude of genetic influence on emergent leadership varied with age, but only for women with the heritability estimate being highest for the mid-age women versus lowest for the older women. Implications for advancing research on the genetic and environmental influences on leadership emergence are discussed.     

Developments in implicit leadership theory and cognitive science: Applications to improving measurement and understanding alternatives to hierarchical leadership

After reviewing key findings regarding leadership categorization theory, we develop new perspectives regarding the design of behavioral measures of leadership and the implications of shared leadership and complex adaptive leadership conceptualizations of leadership. In particular, by applying recent developments in cognitive science, we explain how an understanding of symbolic, connectionist, and embodied representations of knowledge can benefit behavioral measures of leadership. Additionally, we address some practical issues associated with the measurement of leadership and argue that ratings which tap episodic memory at the event level may be more meaningful than ratings based on semantic memory. Finally, we discuss how notions of shared leadership and of leaders as catalysts for complexity can create unique complications for leadership perceptions, coordinated behavior within a group, and the measurement of leadership.     

Work-related and individual determinants of the three burnout dimensions

Applying the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory as a framework, this study among Dutch nurses (n=156) first tested whether work-related demands, resources and self-esteem were differentially associated with the three burnout dimensions (emotional exhaustion, personal accomplishment and depersonalization), respectively. In addition, the current study investigated the interrelationships between the burnout dimensions and the hypothesized moderating effect of self-esteem. As expected, emotional exhaustion was primarily associated with job demands (i.e. work overload) and-to a slightly lower extent-with resources such as social support and self-esteem. In contrast, but also according to the authors' predictions, depersonalization and personal accomplishment were not associated with job demands. Emotional exhaustion was, as predicted, an important correlate of depersonalization, whereas reduced personal accomplishment was negatively associated with self-esteem and with quality of work content, a resource. In line with earlier findings but contrary to some recent propositions, reduced personal accomplishment was positively associated with depersonalization. Finally, self-esteem did not moderate the relationships between the selected work factors and the burnout dimensions. The limitations of the study are discussed and directions for future research are proposed.     

Economic perspectives on leadership: Concepts,causality, and context in leadership research

The fields of leadership and economics have interacted very little until now. The aim of this special issue on “economics and leadership” is to demonstrate the potential benefits of paying attention to and incorporating economic perspectives and methods into leadership research. Specifically, we argue that the field of economics can advance leadership research on three main topics: concepts, causality and context. For each topic, we summarize the state-of-the-art literature and showcase important insights, tools and findings. We also discuss possible critiques of the economic perspective on leadership. The timeliness of this issue is evident from recent discussions on the three C's within the field of leadership research, not least within The Leadership Quarterly itself. Our paper as well as the other six papers in this issue demonstrates that narrowing the gap between economics and leadership is not only beneficial and feasible, but also crucial for the progress of leadership research.     

Emergence of shared leadership networks in teams: An adaptive process perspective

Adaptive leadership theory suggests that shared leadership networks grow in a complex manner. We propose that leadership decentralization (the dispersion of leadership), leadership density (the total amount of leadership), and situationally-aligned leadership (SAL: leadership transitions to those who fit situation requirements) are distinct aspects of a shared leadership network and should be examined together to capture the development of shared leadership process. Through a study of 450 participants in 90 teams, we find that each of these three aspects of shared leadership plays a different role during shared leadership network emergence. Specifically, transactive memory systems (TMS) contribute to decentralized leadership structures, which in turn precipitate more dense leadership networks. We also find that TMS contributes to the most situationally aligned team member engaging in leadership. Both leadership density and SAL predict team performance. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these results.     

The social structure of leadership and creativity in engineering design teams: An empirical analysis

Creativity is essential for research and development efforts. Unfortunately, little is known about how the role of team leaders determines the team’s creativity. Based on a sample of 39 engineering design teams in the space industry, this study examines the effects of leader position within different flows of communication on team creativity. The results indicate that the balance between holding a central or a peripheral position indeed determines the creativity of such teams. Specifically, very central and very peripheral positions of team leaders within the work-flow and awareness network hamper team creativity, whereas peripheral situated team leaders within the information network propel the creativity. In addition, team leaders stimulate creativity when they stay central in the external information network. In managerial terms, the analyses implicate that stimulating engineering design team creativity requires team leaders to smartly limit their involvement in communication and mainly act as gatekeepers to external sources of information.     

Bounded leadership: An empirical study of leadership competencies,constraints, and effectiveness

Contrary to the previous leadership theories, which focus on specific and narrow aspects of leadership such as employee characteristics, leader’s authenticity, or boundary spanning, the bounded leadership theory is a broad and complex concept. It takes simultaneously many constraints, which are related to activities on an individual, team, organization, and stakeholder level. This study applies the bounded leadership theory to analyze the leadership constraints as the mediator of the relationship between leadership competencies and effectiveness. Our findings show that leaders’ competencies are not enough for them to be effective. Specific competencies enable leaders to overcome the set of constraints and then to increase their effectiveness.     

Psychopathy and leadership effectiveness: Conceptualizing and testing three models of successful psychopathy

Research on the relationship between psychopathy and leadership effectiveness has adopted very different perspectives on psychopathy. To advance this field of research, the current paper introduces an overarching framework of “successful psychopathy” (Lilienfeld, Watts, & Smith, 2015) to the leadership domain, comprising three conceptual models (the differential-severity model, the moderated-expression model, and the differential-configuration model) and their “hybrid” forms, which are combinations of two or three models. We test the three alternative conceptual models and four hybrid models in two independent samples of leader-subordinate dyads (N₁ = 178 and N₂ = 668) whereby leaders’ self-reported psychopathy is related to a range of subordinate-rated effectiveness criteria, including three performance dimensions and charismatic leadership. A recurrent pattern of findings across both studies provides evidence for differential effects for the various psychopathy subdimensions, whereas little support was found for the models assuming curvilinear and/or moderated effects. Implications for research on leader psychopathy are discussed.     

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.     

Organizational innovativeness: Exploring the relationship between organizational determinants of innovation, types of innovations, and measures of organizational performance

This research study examines the relationships between innovativeness of firms, their organizational characteristics, and organizational performance. Previous studies that have examined these relationships have yielded conflicting results. A fundamental assumption of this research is that these conflicting results may be due to a narrow definition of the construct of innovativeness. This research demonstrates that by using a multidimensional measure of innovativeness, the reasons for the conflicting findings of past research becomes evident. The results of this study show that substantive relationships do exist between organizational factors, organizational innovativeness, and organizational performance. These relationships, however, are complex, and can only be detected if innovativeness is measured as a multidimensional construct. Each of the organizational factors examined in this study showed significantly different effects on each dimension of two types of organizational innovativeness — technical and administrative innovativeness. Further, the results show that innovativeness does improve organizational performance. However, each dimension of the two types of innovativeness affects different aspects of organizational performance.     

Contextual leadership,transformational leadership and the performance of international innovation seeking alliances

In this paper, we examined aspects of contextual leadership [Osborn, R. N., Hunt, J. G., & Jauch, L. R. (2002). Toward a contextual theory of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 13, 797–837] and transformational leadership [Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: Free Press] by alliance heads and by executives in the sponsoring firms for a sample of innovation seeking U.S./Japanese alliances in research-intensive sectors. We identified three aspects of performance (a) alliance innovation, (b) the strategic contributions to the U.S. sponsor and (c) the strategic contributions to the Japanese sponsor. We found that (a) knowledge/ information based (contextual dimensions) leadership by the alliance head was associated with higher innovation and strategic contributions to the sponsors and (b) transformational leadership by sponsoring executives was dysfunctional for alliance innovation but contributed positively to the strategic contribution the alliance provided a sponsor and, (c) the linkage between leadership by the alliance head and performance was much more important for some types of alliance governance (administrative) structures than others. That is, we argue that appropriate leadership is embedded in its context.     

Values and behavior orientation in leadership studies: reflections based on findings in three German-speaking countries

The article focuses on two sets of concepts commonly used in the explanation of leadership behavior, including values in one area and behavioral intentions in the other. Most leadership researches concentrate exclusively on one or the other area and there are few integrative approaches. The literature also shows that there are often implicit assumptions of a direct and linear relationship between the two sets of concepts. We introduce a model reflecting this research dichotomy by differentiating between “far-from-action” concepts like values or leadership ideals and “close-to-action” concepts like intended behavior. In a next step, we question the assumption of a direct and linear link between the two sets of concepts and discuss two studies in order to find out whether there is empirical support for our argument. We compare empirical findings on leadership ideals (GLOBE study) and intended leadership behavior (Vroom/Yetton study) collected from managers in the German-speaking countries Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. The results show inconsistencies that suggest quite complex intrapersonal processes influenced by cultural factors. We conclude that the link between “far-from-action” and “close-to-action” concepts is worth pursuing further and expands the initial model, thus paving the way for a more holistic understanding of the intrapersonal processes on which leadership behavior is based. Finally, we discuss the consequences of these processes for the stability of leadership behavior.     

Determining causal relationships in leadership research using Machine Learning: The powerful synergy of experiments and data science

Machine Learning (ML) techniques offer exciting new avenues for leadership research. In this paper we discuss how ML techniques can be used to inform predictive and causal models of leadership effects and clarify why both types of model are important for leadership research. We propose combining ML and experimental designs to draw causal inferences by introducing a recently developed technique to isolate “heterogeneous treatment effects.” We provide a step-by-step guide on how to design studies that combine field experiments with the application of ML to establish causal relationships with maximal predictive power. Drawing on examples in the leadership literature, we illustrate how the suggested approach can be applied to examine the impact of, for example, leadership behavior on follower outcomes. We also discuss how ML can be used to advance leadership research from theoretical, methodological and practical perspectives and consider limitations.     

Incorporating social networks into leadership development: A conceptual model and evaluation of research and practice

Multilevel and relational views of leadership are expanding the focus of leadership development beyond individuals' knowledge, skills, and abilities to include the networked patterns of social relationships linking members of dyads and larger collectives. In this review, we present a conceptual model explaining how three distinct approaches for network-enhancing leadership development can improve the leadership capacity of individuals and collectives. We then present a review of the leadership development literature and the results of a survey of 282 practitioners to assess the extent to which these approaches have been examined in research and implemented in practice. Our review revealed that leadership research and leadership development practice are outpacing leadership development research in terms of incorporating networks. We aim to spur future research by clarifying the targets, objectives, and underlying mechanisms of each network enhancing leadership development approach in our conceptual model. Further, we identify additional literature, not traditionally considered within the realm of leadership development that may help advance empirical examinations of these approaches.