Directive versus Empowering Leadership: A Field Experiment Comparing Impacts on Task Proficiency and Proactivity
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compared the impacts of directive and empowering leadership on customer-rated core task proficiency and proactive behaviors in a field experiment in the United Arab Emirates, and found that directive leadership enhanced proactive behaviors for work units that were highly satisfied with their leaders.
Abstract: Using a field experiment in the United Arab Emirates, we compared the impacts of directive and empowering leadership on customer-rated core task proficiency and proactive behaviors. Results of tests for main effects demonstrated that both directive and empowering leadership increased work unit core task proficiency, but only empowering leadership increased proactive behaviors. Examination of boundary conditions revealed that directive leadership enhanced proactive behaviors for work units that were highly satisfied with their leaders, whereas empowering leadership had stronger effects on both core task proficiency and proactive behaviors for work units that were less satisfied with their leaders. We discuss implications for both theory and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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TL;DR: This article reviewed the literature on less-hierarchical organizing and identified three categories of research: post-bureaucratic organizations, humanistic management and organizational democracy, using the term self-managing organizations to capture efforts that radically decentralize authority in a formal and systematic way throughout the organization.
241 citations
TL;DR: This paper reviewed and synthesized the empowering leadership literature and, as a result, suggest two new provocative lines of inquiry directing future research, and set an agenda for the next decade of research on empowering leadership.
Abstract: We review and synthesize the empowering leadership literature and, as a result, suggest two new provocative lines of inquiry directing future research. Based on a set of testable propositions, we first encourage researchers to answer the question of why empowering leadership occurs. Second, we encourage researchers to explore less positive and unintended, negative outcomes of empowering leadership. To identify opportunities for future work along these two lines, we use four theoretical perspectives including (1) person–situation interactions, (2) followership theory, (3) contingency approaches to leadership, and, (4) the too-much-of-a-good-thing effect. As a result, we set an agenda for the next decade of research on empowering leadership.
223 citations
Cites background from "Directive versus Empowering Leaders..."
...Thus, leaders may be highly transformational without exhibiting any empowering leadership and vice versa (Bass, 1997; Martin et al., 2013)....
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...Empowering leadership has been shown to have stronger effects on (a) both core task proficiency and proactive behaviors for work units that were less, rather than more, satisfied with their leaders (Martin et al., 2013) and (b) software team performance only under conditions of high task uncertainty or team expertise (Faraj & Sambamurthy, 2006)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the link between transformational leadership and job crafting and find that transformational leaders will stimulate employee job crafting (seeking resources, seeking challenges, and reducing demands) by increasing their adaptability; however, they find that they will be less effective when employees have higher levels of organizational identification.
219 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a meta-analysis investigating the effects of empowering leadership on employee work behavior is presented. But the authors focus on the individual and team levels and explore potential boundary conditions and the incremental contribution of EL over transformational leadership and leader-member exchange, concluding that both trust in leader and psychological empowerment mediated the relationships of EL with task performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and creativity.
Abstract: Summary
The concept of empowering leadership (EL) has seen increasing scholarly interest in recent years. This study reports a meta-analysis investigating the effects of EL on employee work behavior. On the basis of data from 105 samples, we found evidence for the positive effects of EL on performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and creativity at both the individual and team levels. We further examined these relationships by exploring potential boundary conditions and the incremental contribution of EL over transformational leadership and leader–member exchange. Furthermore, at the individual level, both trust in leader and psychological empowerment mediated the relationships of EL with task performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and creativity. We also found evidence that leader–member exchange was a significant mediator between EL and task performance. At the team level, empowerment mediated the effects of EL on team performance, whereas knowledge sharing showed no significant indirect effect. Our results have important theoretical and practical implications and suggest some areas that require further research.
195 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the effectiveness of leadership on service employees' work performance mediated by work-related tension, autonomy, and group cohesiveness in virtual work environments.
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has, besides the health concerns, caused an unprecedented social and economic crisis that has particularly hit service industries hard. Due to extensive safety measures, many service employees have to work remotely to keep service businesses running. With limited literature on leadership and virtual work in the service context, this paper aims to report on leadership effectiveness regarding employees' work performance in virtual settings brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.,Drawing on the input–process–outcome (IPO) framework, this research investigates the effectiveness of leadership on service employees' work performance mediated by work-related tension, autonomy, and group cohesiveness. Furthermore, this study explores moderating effects of the service provider's digital maturity. To test the derived model, the authors collected survey data from 206 service employees who, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, unexpectedly had to transform to a virtual work environment. The authors analyzed the data using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).,The results indicated that it took task- and relation-oriented leadership behavior to maintain service employees' work performance in a virtual environment during crisis situations. Further, results indicated mediating effects of service employees' individual job autonomy and team cohesiveness; surprisingly, work-related tension did not impact employees' work performance. Results offered service businesses guidance on how to effectively lead in times of crisis when service employees predominantly work in virtual environments.,This is the first empirical study to show how leadership affects service employees' work performance in a virtual work environment during crisis times. Thus, the study contributes to the scarce literature on the impact of leadership in service firms that have to operate in such a setting.
183 citations
References
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15,228 citations