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1 – 10 of over 20000Amy McMillan, Hao Chen, Orlando C. Richard and Shahid N. Bhuian
The current study seeks to provide predictions for task conflict in supervisor‐subordinate dyads and to test empirically the mediation effects of task conflict between…
Abstract
Purpose
The current study seeks to provide predictions for task conflict in supervisor‐subordinate dyads and to test empirically the mediation effects of task conflict between organizational culture/subordinate values and subordinate outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
Structural equation modeling was employed to test the theoretical model.
Findings
It was found that task conflict mediates the relationship between a clan culture and intention to quit. Additionally, support was also found for the mediating effect of task conflict on the relationship between individualistic values and intention to quit.
Research limitations/implications
More research is needed to take into consideration the variables influencing task conflict in both vertical and horizontal dyadic relationships. A dynamic view of conflict may further contribute to the existing literature.
Practical implications
More remedies are needed in organizations to foster positive employees' attitudes and wellbeing through the generation of task conflicts. For example, fostering a clan culture instead of a hierarchy may be vital.
Originality/value
The current study demonstrates that organizational culture/subordinate's values may be linked to different subordinate outcomes through task conflict.
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Ghulam Hussain, Wan Khairuzzaman Wan Ismail and Muzhar Javed
The purpose of this paper is to compare the applicability of transformational leadership and substitutes-for-leadership theories in Malaysia’s and Pakistan’s work settings.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare the applicability of transformational leadership and substitutes-for-leadership theories in Malaysia’s and Pakistan’s work settings.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employed a survey-based approach using professional employees in both countries as respondents. In total, 215 responses to a web-based survey in Malaysia and 523 responses to a survey administered using personal methods in Pakistan were used for the analysis.
Findings
The results revealed that Malaysia’s leaders were rated high on the dimensions of transformational and transactional leadership. The transformational leadership dimensions produced desirable effects on subordinates’ outcomes in both samples, but the contingent punishment dimension of transactional leadership produced especially undesirable effects on subordinates’ outcomes. Substitutes for leadership also independently affected subordinates’ outcomes and produced similar effects on subordinates’ outcomes in both samples. In general, the effects in the Malaysian sample are larger than those in the Pakistani sample.
Research limitations/implications
The results suggest that the transformational leadership style is effective in both cultures, but the transactional leadership style is culturally contingent. While leaders in collectivist cultures like Malaysia and Pakistan should practice more transformational leadership than transactional leadership, leaders in Pakistan should be particularly careful while practicing transactional leadership because of the society’s high level of collectivism and moderately high-power distance orientation.
Practical implications
The results suggest that the transformational leadership style is effective in both cultures, but the transactional leadership style is culturally contingent. While leaders in collectivist cultures like Malaysia and Pakistan should practice more transformational leadership than transactional leadership, leaders in Pakistan should be particularly careful while practicing transactional leadership because of the society’s low power distance orientation.
Originality/value
Since this study is the first to compare the applicability of western theories in collectivist cultures that differ significantly in their power distance orientation, it contributes meaningfully to the cross-culture leadership field.
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Joshua Thomas Hanna, Alexandria K. Elms, Harjinder Gill, David J. Stanley and Deborah M. Powell
The purpose of this paper is to examine how leaders’ behaviour and subordinates’ personality can impact subordinates’ feelings of being trusted. Feeling trusted by one’s leader is…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how leaders’ behaviour and subordinates’ personality can impact subordinates’ feelings of being trusted. Feeling trusted by one’s leader is associated with increased performance, organisational citizenship behaviours and job satisfaction (Baer et al., 2015; Lester and Brower, 2003).
Design/methodology/approach
Participants read a vignette in which a leader’s behaviour was manipulated and then rated the extent to which they felt trusted. Participants in Sample 1 consisted of 726 undergraduate students with work experience, and Sample 2 consisted of 1,196 people with work experience recruited over CrowdFlower, a crowd-sourcing website.
Findings
Results from both samples indicate that a leader delegating a task increases subordinate felt trust, for Sample 1 p<0.001, d=0.75 and for Sample 2 p<0.001, d=0.90. Further, subordinate felt trust increases when the task delegated is of high importance, for Sample 1 p<0.001, d=0.42 and for Sample 2 p<0.001, d=0.58. The likelihood of the delegated task resulting in negative outcomes and subordinate propensity to trust have negligible effects on felt trust.
Originality/value
Despite the organisational benefits of felt trust, it is still unclear how to elicit subordinates’ felt trust. This study is one of the first to empirically examine leader behaviour that may lead subordinates to feel trusted in the workplace. These findings support theoretical underpinnings of the relational leadership model and the risk-based model of trust.
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Paul Harvey, Mark J. Martinko and Scott C. Douglas
The purpose of this article is to develop a conceptual model predicting the influence of biased causal explanations for subordinate behaviors and outcomes on a leader's…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to develop a conceptual model predicting the influence of biased causal explanations for subordinate behaviors and outcomes on a leader's functionality and the quality of leader‐member relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
Attribution theory is used to analyze the effect of leader perceptions and emotions on the functionality of leader‐member relationships. It is predicted that the negative emotions and expectancies stemming from biased leader attributions will promote dysfunctional leader behaviors. These dysfunctional behaviors, in turn, are believed to reduce the quality of leader‐member relationships.
Research limitations/implications
Although much of the proposed model is based on empirical evidence, it is acknowledged that some key relationships have not been tested directly in past research. It is suggested that future research can seek to validate these aspects of the model. It is also suggested that future research explore the role of subordinate, as well as leader, attributions in dysfunctional relationships.
Practical implications
Several implications of the model for promoting functional leadership in organizations are described. The importance of leaders being aware of their attributional biases is indicated and information provided on how to assess one's attribution style. Also discussed are implications for reducing situational ambiguity and increasing causal feedback in the workplace.
Originality/value
This paper builds on past attribution theory research to address a shortage of research on the cognitive, interpersonal aspects of functional and dysfunctional leadership.
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Steve Buchheit, William R. Pasewark and Jerry R. Strawser
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether audit professionals exhibit greater performance evaluation bias compared to non‐accounting professionals.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether audit professionals exhibit greater performance evaluation bias compared to non‐accounting professionals.
Design/methodology/approach
Both audit and non‐accounting professional subjects read a case study and evaluated the performance of a hypothetical subordinate. Two factors were manipulated the subordinate's work performance history and the subordinate's current performance relative to a budget.
Findings
It was found that reputation bias and hindsight bias are prevalent in both professional groups. The groups exhibit no difference with respect to reputation bias; however, it was found that public accountants exhibit significantly greater hindsight bias relative to non‐accounting professionals.
Practical implications
The paper provides evidence that accountants are relatively harsh critics of subordinate performance. Importantly, the paper investigates accountant vs non‐accountant comparisons where subordinates' ex ante decisions are consistent with superiors' ex ante guidance (i.e. ex post performance being either favorable vs unfavorable is purely outcome‐effect driven). If the findings are robust, this study provides a fundamental reason why employee retention in public accounting is relatively low.
Originality/value
This paper is the first to make direct comparisons of performance evaluation bias effects between auditors and similarly experienced working professions.
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Sheldon Carvalho, Fallan Kirby Carvalho and Charles Carvalho
Scholars in the feedback seeking domain have predominantly focused on subordinate feedback seeking. The authors still know very little about feedback seeking when the leader is…
Abstract
Purpose
Scholars in the feedback seeking domain have predominantly focused on subordinate feedback seeking. The authors still know very little about feedback seeking when the leader is the “seeker” and subordinates are the “targets” of such seeking. This paper aims to develop a theoretical framework that explores the potential benefits and costs of leader feedback seeking, specifically, leader feedback inquiry for subordinates.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw upon the transactional theory of stress to propose a framework in which leader feedback inquiry influences two subordinate behaviors (in-role and proactive skill development behaviors) via appraisal processes (challenge and threat appraisals). With insights from regulatory focus theory, the authors propose that individual characteristics, namely, the regulatory focus of subordinates (promotion and prevention focus), determine the appraisals of leader feedback inquiry, subsequently influencing subordinate behavioral outcomes.
Findings
The authors contend that leader feedback inquiry can be appraised as a challenge which then produces beneficial subordinate behaviors (i.e. higher in-role and proactive skill development behaviors). However, leader feedback inquiry can also be appraised as a threat which then elicits detrimental subordinate behaviors (i.e. lower in-role and proactive skill development behaviors). The authors then argue that subordinates with a high promotion focus appraise leader feedback inquiry as challenging, thereby enabling beneficial behaviors. Subordinates with a high prevention focus, by contrast, appraise leader feedback inquiry as threatening, thereby prompting detrimental behaviors.
Originality/value
The authors shed light on the benefits and costs of leader feedback seeking for subordinates. The resulting framework underlines the importance of including individual characteristics and cognitive appraisal processes in research investigating the effects of leader feedback inquiry on subordinate outcomes.
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Xi Wen Chan, Thomas Kalliath and David Cheng
Research has largely shown that supervisors' negative emotions lead to subordinates' negative emotions and detrimental work outcomes, but recent studies are showing that…
Abstract
Purpose
Research has largely shown that supervisors' negative emotions lead to subordinates' negative emotions and detrimental work outcomes, but recent studies are showing that supervisor negative emotions may yield both negative and positive subordinate behaviours. Drawing on the work–home resources model, this research sought to unpack the interpersonal, cross-domain effects of supervisor negative emotions on subordinate cognitive work engagement and family undermining through subordinate perceived leader effectiveness and self-efficacy to manage work and life.
Design/methodology/approach
To test the relationships, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were conducted on time-lagged dyadic data collected from 372 supervisor–subordinate pairs.
Findings
Results revealed that supervisor negative emotions led to higher levels of subordinate cognitive work engagement and family undermining.
Research limitations/implications
Supervisor negative emotions had unintended consequences on subordinates' work and family outcomes – they enhanced subordinates' cognitive work engagement (positive work outcome) but also increased subordinates' family undermining (negative family outcome). Future studies could benefit from a diary study with a within-subject design since emotions are known to fluctuate in a day.
Practical implications
This research provides supervisors with insights about the consequences of their negative emotions on their subordinates, calls upon organisations to provide cognitive regulation training, and encourages subordinates to develop self-efficacy in managing their work and life.
Originality/value
This study is among the first to incorporate self-efficacy to manage work and life as a personal resource and subordinate family undermining as an outcome of supervisor negative emotions, which enhances understanding of the resource allocation and loss processes between supervisors and subordinates.
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Dan Ni, Xin Liu and Xiaoming Zheng
This paper aims to examine how and when perceived narcissistic supervision influences subordinates' work engagement and counterproductive work behavior (CWB) based on…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine how and when perceived narcissistic supervision influences subordinates' work engagement and counterproductive work behavior (CWB) based on organizational justice theory.
Design/methodology/approach
Two-wave data were collected from 320 employees in a Chinese manufacturing company.
Findings
Subordinates' perceived interactional justice mediated the relationships between perceived narcissistic supervision and work engagement and CWB. Higher levels of subordinates' need for belonging strengthened the detrimental impacts of perceived narcissistic supervision on subordinates' outcomes.
Practical implications
Organizations should reduce the occurrence of narcissistic supervision, enhance subordinates' perception of interactional justice and pay more attention to subordinates' need for belonging in personnel and team arrangement.
Originality/value
Although research has documented the detrimental effects of perceived narcissistic supervision, little effort has been made to investigate how such effects occur and which factors might amplify such effects. This study identified the mechanism underlying the link between perceived narcissistic supervision and subordinates' outcomes and unpacked the moderating role of subordinates' need for belonging.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of “feeling trusted asymmetry” on work group performance and individual outcomes. The author adopts the term “feeling…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of “feeling trusted asymmetry” on work group performance and individual outcomes. The author adopts the term “feeling trusted asymmetry” to differentiate the subject from studies of trust asymmetry that consider differences in (mutual) ratings of trust between members of a dyad.
Design/methodology/approach
The author tested this effectiveness with data from a sample of 293 subordinate–supervisor dyads in 63 work groups from the People’s Republic of China.
Findings
Results of multilevel analysis reveal that group feeling trusted asymmetry (the degree to which subordinates differ in perceptions of the level of trust from their immediate manager in their group) lowers group performance. Furthermore, individual feeling trusted asymmetry (a subordinate perceiving more or less trust from their immediate manager than other subordinates in the group) affects employees’ workplace satisfaction, but not individual performance and creativity.
Originality/value
These findings have important practical implications, as they provide companies with a feasible way to manage employee’s relations based on their perception of trust from the direct supervisor.
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Dan Moshavi, F. William Brown and Nancy G. Dodd
This study explored the relationships between a leader’s self‐awareness of his/her leadership behavior and the attitudes and performance of subordinates. Following previous…
Abstract
This study explored the relationships between a leader’s self‐awareness of his/her leadership behavior and the attitudes and performance of subordinates. Following previous research, leaders were categorized as overestimators, underestimators or in‐agreement. Results indicate that subordinates of underestimators reported significantly higher levels of supervisory and job satisfaction than did subordinates of those who were in‐agreement, and both subordinates of underestimators and those in‐agreement reported significantly higher levels of supervisory and job satisfaction than did subordinates of overestimators. No significant differences were found between the self‐awareness categories and transfer intent. Finally, subordinates of underestimators and those in‐agreement achieved a significantly higher level of productivity than did subordinates of leaders who overestimated their leadership ability.
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