Honoring complexity: Set‐theoretic analysis as a complementary method in leadership research

Abstract

Purpose

Most micro‐oriented research has assumed that leaders operate within a formally designed, pre‐specified and stable structural hierarchy. In the emerging knowledge economy, however, the watchwords have become flexibility and speed. Today's business practices feature temporary task forces, project teams, joint ventures, and alliances. The authors aim to draw from the political science literature, presenting methodology for examining team leadership in context that augments and enhances the analyses that can be obtained with commonly used correlational/regression models.

Design/methodology/approach

More specifically, the authors will develop a detailed analysis of the potential applicability of the set‐theoretic approach for elucidating a configural analysis of team leadership, demonstrating that this method provides insight into the data that complements that provided by regression analysis.

Findings

The authors examine the findings from more traditional approaches to analysis, and set‐theoretic analysis, and demonstrate that set‐theoretic analysis provides additional insights into the phenomena in question.

Research limitations/implications

The possibilities for future research in the organizational leadership literature using set‐theoretic analysis are endless. The method is appropriate for theory development, theory confirmation, exploration, and more. Our current theoretical models are lacking in complexity, partly due to the limitations of existing methodology, and our advice to organizations would be significantly enriched were we able to establish that there are alternate means to the desired outcome, based on the context. Set‐theoretic methodology promises to enrich and enhance our field, particularly if we use it iteratively with the currently common methodologies, to develop richer and more contextually based theories.

Originality/value

Set‐theoretic methods may well provide an additional set of tools for better understanding leadership in the context in which it occurs.

Citation

Ford, L.R., Seers, A. and Neumann, J. (2013), "Honoring complexity: Set‐theoretic analysis as a complementary method in leadership research", Management Research Review, Vol. 36 No. 7, pp. 644-663. https://doi.org/10.1108/MRR-03-2012-0063