Perceptions of leader charisma and effectiveness: The effects of vision content,delivery, and organizational performance

This study examined the effects of vision content, delivery and organizational performance on perceptions of leader charisma and effectiveness. Subjects included 304 undergraduates who were presented videotaped speeches by a bogus CEO of a software company. A 2 × 2 × 2 design was employed in which message content (visionary/non-visionary), delivery (strong/weak), and organizational performance (high/low) were manipulated. A modified, 7-item version of Meindl and Ehrlich's (1988) Romance of Leadership Scale (RLS-D) served as a covariate. A MANCOVA analysis indicated significant effects of delivery, content, and organizational performance on both perceived leader charisma and effectiveness. The RLS-D was unrelated to either dependent variable as a covariate. The results suggest that strength of delivery is an especially important determinant of perceptions' of leader charisma and effectiveness. Although speech content and organizational performance cues likewise accounted for variance in these perceptions, their effects were at times offset by those of delivery.     

Empathic emotion and leadership performance: An empirical analysis across 38 countries

The purpose of our research is to examine the relationship between subordinate ratings of a target-leader's empathic emotion and boss ratings of performance of that target-leader. Furthermore, using hierarchical linear modeling, we assess whether the cultural background of the target-leader moderates this relationship. Our results show that leaders who are rated by their subordinates as engaging in behaviors that signal empathic emotion are perceived as better performers by their bosses. In addition, we found that the GLOBE societal culture dimension of power distance was a significant cross-level moderator of the relationship between empathic emotion and performance. Implications for leading in cross-cultural and multicultural contexts are discussed.     

Deducing a taxonomy of perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness: a comparative study of effective and ineffective managerial behaviour across three EU countries

This qualitative multiple case derived etic study focuses on perceived managerial and leadership effectiveness. It explores what employees in various organizations, organizational sectors and culturally diverse nations perceive as effective and ineffective managerial behaviour. Empirical findings from six emic replication studies carried out previously within three European Union countries were subjected to cross-case, cross-sector, and cross-nation comparative analysis. High degrees of sameness and similarity were found. Further analysis led to the emergence of a behavioural taxonomy comprised of 10 positive (effective) and 9 negative (ineffective) behavioural criteria. We find that managers and non-managerial staff in British and Romanian public-sector hospitals, and in British and German private-sector companies, perceive effective and ineffective managerial behaviour in much the same way. Our findings challenge past literature which argues that managers need to adopt different managerial behaviours to be effective in different organizational sectors and countries.     

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.     

企业环境、领导行为、领导绩效互动影响分析

结合对价值观型领导理论的分析以及过去针对这一理论在中国所作研究的基本结论,将环境因素纳入到领导过程研究中,提出了一个关于企业竞争环境、价值观型领导行为以及领导绩效三者之间互动的理论模型并进行实证分析.结果显示:激烈的竞争环境会削弱企业内部的领导绩效,但实施价值观型领导,将有助于企业领导扭转不利局面,提升领导绩效,价值观型领导在严酷的竞争环境中适用.文章也讨论了此研究的局限性和未来的研究发展方向.     

Developmental leadership and organizational citizenship behavior: Mediating effects of self-determination,supervisor identification,and organizational identification

The authors investigate three levels of self-identity in the workplace—self-determination, supervisor identification, and organizational identification—for their mediating effects on developmental leadership and organizational citizenship behaviors. Data from 469 supervisor–subordinate dyads in two Chinese firms show that supervisor identification is the strongest mediator, self-determination is the second, and organizational leadership is the third. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Developmental stability and leadership effectiveness

Developmental stability is the degree to which we can withstand environmental or genetic stressors during development. Fluctuating asymmetry (FA), concerns the extent to which the right and left side of the body is asymmetrical and is one way to measure developmental stability. Two studies were carried out that examined both the predictive value of leader FA with leadership behaviors and its role in facilitating group performance. The first study examined the hypothesis that a leader's FA is correlated with scores on the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ). The results revealed individuals with a more asymmetrical morphology scored higher on the transformational, but not transactional, dimensions of leadership behavior. A second study examined the hypothesis that asymmetrical morphology and leadership effectiveness would share a positive relationship. In this study participants who led a business game exercise, revealed a positive relationship between FA and self-reported well-being and task satisfaction. Importantly, there was also a positive correlation between the leader's FA score and group performance. The role that developmental stability may play in leadership effectiveness is discussed in the wider context of evolutionary psychology.     

The new rules of leadership and organizational politics

As the health care industry continues to experience unprecedented change, organizational politics are also evolving. Major changes are underway in the rules of engagement and how management and workers behave on the job. The new rules of the game include: Practice leadership, not management; practice inclusion with a vengeance; practice modesty and consideration and demand both; act on rumor, don't await confirmation; aggressively collect allies; understand the politics of voice mail; and know that position power isn't personal power.     

The effectiveness and specificity of change management in a public organization: Transformational leadership and a bureaucratic organizational structure

There is an extensive private sector literature on organizational change management. However, recent studies have suggested that the specific context of public organizations may have consequences for the management organizational change. This study examines to what extent different change approaches and transformational leadership of direct supervisors contribute to the effective implementation of organizational change in public organizations, and to what extent the bureaucratic structure of public organizations makes the implementation of organizational change s3pecific. The implementation of an organizational change in a Dutch public organization is studied using quantitative methods and techniques. The results indicate that bureaucratic organizations may effectively implement organizational change with both planned and emergent change approaches. The contribution of transformational leadership depends on the type of change approach and organizational structure. Transformational leadership behavior of direct supervisors contributes little to planned processes of change, but is crucial in emergent processes of change in a non-bureaucratic context. Although the literature on change management mostly emphasizes the leadership of senior managers, the leadership role of direct supervisors should not be overlooked during organizational change in public organizations.     

A longitudinal study of the effects of charismatic leadership and organizational culture on objective and perceived corporate performance

We investigated the combined effects of charismatic leadership and organizational culture on perceived and objective company performance using a longitudinal design. Employees (N = 1214) in 46 branches of a large Dutch bank rated branch management on charismatic leadership, organizational culture in terms of work practices, as well as perceived organizational performance. Objective performance data were collected twice, two years apart. The split sample technique attenuated common source bias. Results of structural equation modeling, in which Time 1 financial performance measures were controlled, revealed that charisma increased financial performance; however culture did not do so. Culture and charisma were significantly related to perceived performance, and culture and charisma were interrelated. A longer time interval may be necessary before the effects of culture on financial performance become apparent. The findings are discussed against the backdrop of the value of intangible resources.     

How feedback about leadership potential impacts ambition,organizational commitment,and performance

In the present research we report results from two experimental studies that examine how feedback about leadership potential impacts leadership ambition, organizational commitment, and performance. Study 1 used an experimental vignette methodology that controls for prior performance. Results show that individuals who receive feedback that they have low potential to be a future leader have lower ambition and organizational commitment relative to those who receive feedback that they have high potential to be a future leader. Study 2 provides evidence of the causal behavioral effects of feedback about leadership potential using a real task effort environment. Results show that participants informed to be unlikely future leaders display lower performance in a subsequent task than participants informed to be likely future leaders. The findings from the two studies demonstrate that information about leadership potential affects subsequent ambition to become leaders as well as performance. We discuss the implications of these findings for the importance of followership, talent management, and leadership succession.     

Linking organizational effectiveness and environmental change

Advisors on strategic planning often give two separate pieces of advice to managers: first, managers must interact with rather than react to the external environment. That is, they should be proactive, not reactive. Second, the organizational effectiveness must be improved. However, seldom is any linkage established between these two pieces of advice. The first premise is primarily an external view, and the second is an internal view. If these two views are not linked, the results may range from slightly below optimum to bankruptcy. The purpose of this article is to show how these two views can be linked.     

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.     

Structural impacts on the occurrence and effectiveness of transformational leadership: An empirical study at the organizational level of analysis

This article empirically investigates the role of organizational structure in the transformational leadership (TFL) process. We examine organizational centralization, formalization, and size as antecedents of an organization's TFL climate, and as moderators of the relationship between TFL climate and productive organizational energy (POE). Hypotheses are tested using a sample of 125 organizations. Results show that both the centralization and size of an organization are negatively related to its TFL climate, whereas formalization has a positive association. Further, while there is a positive linkage between TFL climate and POE, both centralization and formalization moderate this relationship. The TFL climate–POE linkage is diminished under conditions of high centralization, and it is enhanced under conditions of high formalization. These findings point to the role of organizational structure as a boundary condition for both the occurrence and the effectiveness of TFL in organizations. The paper concludes by acknowledging its limitations and discussing its implications for practice and research.     

Human resource development,organization development,organizational learning,and organizational effectiveness: all needed more than ever

In this study the Job Demand-Control model was used to study the quality of working life of Dutch secondary teachers. The Job Demand-Control model of Karasek is a theoretical model in which stress and learning are both considered as dependent variables which are influenced by three different task characteristics: job demands, job control, and social support. This model was tested for Dutch secondary teachers (n = 542). Results shed light on the relationship between stress and learning, on the one hand, and the effects of task characteristics on work stress and on work-based learning, on the other hand. It is concluded that the relationship between stress and learning is mediated by the amount of job control as the model predicts. However, the results also reveal that the Karasek model is better suited for explaining stress than for explaining learning. To explain work-based learning variables other than task characteristics have to be taken into account.     

Individual value systems,organizational investments,and personal constraints as predictors of organizational commitment: Direct or indirect effects?

This study attempted to determine if individual value systems, organizational investments, and personal constraints affect organizational commitment directly or only indirectly through job satisfaction. Previous research has determined that certain job characteristics exert only indirect effects on the value or affective dimension of organizational commitment. The purpose of this study was to examine whether other categories of antecedents have any direct effects on value commitment. The study used hierarchical regression on data from 270 evening MBA students employed full-time in managerial or professional positions. Results showed that organizational investments and the Protestant Work Ethic both exerted significant direct effects on organizational commitment as predicted. Personal constraints showed a negative relationship with value commitment, opposite to the prediction, while the effect of the Materialistic Work Ethic was nonsignificant. However, job satisfaction showed a substantially higher correlation with value commitment than did any other antecedent.     

Perceptions of ethical climate and organizational justice as antecedents to employee performance: The mediating role of employees' attributions of leader effectiveness

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating role of employee attributions of leader effectiveness on relationships between perceptions of (a) ethical climate and (b) organizational justice and both positive and negative types of performance. We argue that these relatively under-investigated perceptions are critical antecedents to effective productivity in the workplace. Accordingly, this study is the first to examine the associations of both ethical climate and organizational justice on both positive and negative performance within the context of mediation via employee attributions of leader effectiveness. Based on online survey data from 2486 Romanian employees, our SEM-based findings reveal that the attribution of leader effectiveness functions as a mediator between the associations of ethical climate and justice perceptions on two distinct types of performance: (1) Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) and (2) Counterproductive Work Behaviors (CWB).Additionally, the results revealed that trait negative affect moderates the mediating role of leader effectiveness with OCB but not with CWB. This study contributes to the recent and growing interest in the mediating role of attributions regarding work performance. Several theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed concerning leader-specific attributions, employee empowerment, and employee performance. Most prominently, we discuss why individuals with strong trait negative affect may engage in CWB without the influence of ethical climate or organizational justice.     

A meta-analysis of humble leadership: Reviewing individual,team, and organizational outcomes of leader humility

Humility is a concept grounded in a self-view that something greater than oneself exists. A multitude of disciplines to date have sought to understand how humility impacts leaders, as well as the individuals, teams, and organizations they lead. Despite overlapping research questions, methodologies, and empirical contexts, studies examining leader humility have developed largely in isolation with little overlap between fields. This has created a fundamental divide between micro and macro researchers who suggest that humility is conceptualized as both a mutable behavioral state and a stable leader trait, respectively. We provide a systematic review of research on leader humility at multiple organizational levels of analysis to provide linkages across disciplinary and theoretical divides. We couple our systematic review with a meta-analysis of 212 unique studies, identifying 99 estimates for the relationships between leader humility and numerous individual, team, and organizational variables. Among all variables, we find humble leadership most strongly predicts followers’ satisfaction with the leader and the leaders’ participative decision making. We also find humble leadership does not affect their own job performance or the performance of organizations, but improves the performance of their followers and teams. Building on our results, we call for research across academic disciplines.     

Transformational leadership climate: Performance linkages, mechanisms, and boundary conditions at the organizational level

Transformational leadership (TFL) climate describes the degree to which leaders throughout an organization engage in TFL behaviors. In this study, we investigate performance linkages, mechanisms, and boundary conditions of TFL climate at the organizational level of analysis. In a sample of 158 independent organizations, 18,094 employees provided data on TFL climate, positive affective climate, trust climate, and employees' task performance behavior and organizational citizenship behavior. In addition, human resource managers rated overall employee productivity. Study results yielded a pattern of moderated mediation for overall employee productivity and employees' aggregate task performance behavior, in that an organization's TFL climate was indirectly (through positive affective climate) related with these outcome variables under conditions of high trust climate, but not under conditions of low trust climate. Further, we found an organization's TFL climate to indirectly relate with employees' aggregate organizational citizenship behavior through positive affective climate, largely independent of the level of trust climate.