How team helping influences abusive and empowering leadership: The roles of team affective tone and performance

Leaders' perceptions of their teams are critical sources of contextual social information influencing leadership behaviors. In this paper, we extend affect-as-social-information theory to understand how and why team helping behaviors predict leaders' mistreatment of their teams in the form of abusive supervision and positive leader behavior in the form of empowering leadership, both through leaders' perceptions of team positive affective tone. In addition, based on social information processing, we examine the cue of leaders' perceptions of team task performance as a factor that helps us understand when the relationship between positive affective tone and leadership behaviors may be attenuated. In two text-based scenario studies, a video-based scenario study, and a multisource field study, we found evidence that team helping behavior is antecedent to abusive and empowering leadership behaviors and that this relationship is fully mediated by leaders' perceptions of team positive affective tone. Moreover, our results support team task performance as a factor that decreases the degree to which affective tone is related to abusive supervision. We discuss our findings as a caution to scholars' assumptions about the directionality of leader-team influence, emphasizing the need to acknowledge upward effects in workplace mistreatment research in the leader–team relationship.     

The consequences of (not) seeing eye-to-eye about the past: The role of supervisor–team fit in past temporal focus for supervisors' leadership behavior

This study seeks to advance our understanding of the leadership consequences that may ensue when supervisors and their teams have similar versus differing orientations toward the past. Integrating a leader–team fit perspective with functional leadership theory, we cast incongruence between supervisor and team past temporal focus as a key antecedent of supervisors' active (i.e., task-oriented and relationship-oriented) and passive (i.e., laissez-faire) leadership behaviors toward the team. We tested our hypotheses in a team-level study that included a field sample of 84 supervisors and their teams using polynomial regression and response surface analyses. Results illustrated that supervisors demonstrated more task-oriented and relationship-oriented leadership when supervisors' and their team's past temporal focus were incongruent rather than aligned. Furthermore, in situations of supervisor–team congruence, supervisors engaged in less task-oriented and relationship-oriented leadership and more laissez-faire leadership with higher (rather than lower) levels of supervisor and team past temporal focus. In sum, these findings support a complex (mis)fit model such that supervisors' attention to the past may hinder their productive leadership behaviors in some team contexts but not in others. Hence, this research advances a novel, multiple-stakeholder perspective on the role of both supervisors' and their team's past temporal focus for important leadership behaviors.     

Antecedents and consequences of empowering leadership: Leader power distance,leader perception of team capability,and team innovation

The evidence that empowering leadership is an effective form of team leadership brings the question on what the antecedents of empowering leadership are into focus. We propose that empowering leadership is driven by considerations of the normative and situational appropriateness of empowering leadership that are associated with leader power distance value and leader perception of team capability. We propose that leader power distance and perceived team capability interact such that the influence of leader power distance on empowering leadership is stronger with higher perceived team capability. We extend our model to show that by affecting empowering leadership, the interaction of leader power distance and perceived team capability indirectly influences team innovation, an important team outcome associated with empowered teamwork. We tested our model in two multisource surveys in China: Study 1 of 84 technical teams and Study 2 of 83 financial service teams. We discuss how our study contributes to empowering leadership theory by providing a theoretical perspective that lends itself well to identifying other trait and situational antecedents of empowering leadership.     

Empirical analysis of shared leadership promotion and team creativity: An adaptive leadership perspective

Promoting shared leadership in teams and enhancing team creativity is aided by complementarity between leader and team member characteristics. We integrate insights from social learning theory and dominance complementarity perspective with the team leadership and creativity literature to explore the facilitating role of formal participative leadership for enhancing team creativity indirectly by promoting shared leadership. The relationships among formal participative leadership, shared leadership, and team creativity are bounded by team voice behavior and team creative efficacy. To test our theoretical model, we collected multisource and multiwave survey data from 382 members of 73 teams. Results revealed a significant positive relationship of participative leadership with shared leadership in teams, which in turn was positively associated with team creativity. Team voice behavior and team creative efficacy moderated these relationships, respectively, by strengthening the positive relationships. We discuss the theoretical contributions, practical implications, and future directions of our findings.     

A multilevel review of stressor research in teams

The contemporary work environment is characterized by an ongoing trend to embed employees in teams because of their expected abilities for handling complex tasks and integrating diverse sets of knowledge and skills. However, leveraging this potential is endangered by stimuli within and outside of teams that take a toll on cohesion and teamwork among team members. Understanding the role that stressors and demands play in the work-related functioning of teams and their members is therefore an increasingly important challenge in the organizational behavior literature. Whereas research on stressors and demands has primarily focused on the individual level, we expand the research scope by considering these phenomena to be multilevel. We perform an interdisciplinary review of the literature on these stimuli in teams and show how related research, such as that on destructive leadership, may benefit from a more balanced account and integration of frameworks on stressors. Our multilevel review is informative for the literature on stressors and demands at the individual and team levels, as it offers an important conceptual grounding for how and why various stimuli in this social environment differentially influence both the collective entity and its individual team members.     

Team knowledge exchange: How and when does transformational leadership have an effect?

In this study, we examined how and when transformational leadership affected team knowledge exchange. Taking a goal pursuit perspective, we hypothesized two parallel mediating mechanisms—team knowledge goal generation and team knowledge goal striving—linking transformational leadership to team knowledge exchange. In addition, we investigated whether team-level team-member exchange served as a boundary condition that qualified the effects of transformational leadership on team knowledge goal generation and striving. We tested our hypotheses using time-lagged data from 118 work teams of a large Chinese manufacturing firm. Our findings provided support for the proposed parallel mediating mechanisms (i.e., team knowledge goal generation and team knowledge goal striving) that linked transformational leadership to team knowledge exchange. In addition, we found that team-level team-member exchange could strengthen the positive effect of transformational leadership on team knowledge exchange via team knowledge goal generation. By taking the novel lens of team goal pursuit, this study contributes to the literature on leadership and teams by shedding light on how transformational leadership triggers the goal pursuit process of team knowledge exchange.     

Team mental models and their potential to improve teamwork and safety: A review and implications for future research in healthcare

The importance of team mental models (TMMs) - team members’ shared and organized understanding of relevant knowledge - for teamwork and team-performance, particularly in high-risk industries, has been recognized for almost two decades. In healthcare, however, systematic investigations on the influence of TMM on teamwork and team-performance had yet to be conducted at the time of this review, despite many authors considering the concept to be useful for medical teams. The lack of measurement procedures appropriate for settings as complex and dynamic as, for example, the operating room, represents a major obstacle for empirical research in healthcare. We systematically reviewed empirical studies on TMMs aiming to identify methods that could be applied in healthcare. In particular, we analyzed the methods used, and situations in which TMMs have been investigated. The reviewed studies were sorted according to task and team characteristics. We discuss the results of this review with regard to characteristics of healthcare teams including anaesthesia teams and teams of ward nurses. Each of these examples represents a distinct teamwork setting (e.g. long- vs. short-lived teams) and hence requires a different approach to TMM measurement (e.g. focus on task-model vs. focus on team-model). Implications for study design, feasible measurement approaches, and questions for future research on TMMs in healthcare are discussed. In sum, our findings highlight the possible significance of TMM research in healthcare and its potential benefits for team-performance and, ultimately, patient safety.     

An examination of shared leadership configurations and their effectiveness in teams

A key challenge in the shared leadership literature has been a limited understanding of how multiple leadership activities are shared across team members and roles. We address this issue by conceptualizing and operationalizing shared leadership using both its content (i.e., what leadership roles are shared) and distribution (i.e., how leadership is shared across members and roles). In an exploratory study comprised of 129 work teams, we use latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify multiple shared leadership configurations that vary in the extent of sharing. Our second study of 103 MBA teams supports these findings and further (a) considers what shared leadership configurations have the greatest influence on team effectiveness, (b) examines the mediating role of teamwork processes, and (c) investigates the moderating role of temporal dispersion. We advance current research by demonstrating that shared leadership typically manifests in collective (i.e., members share all leadership roles) and distributed configurations (i.e., members hold one leadership role while other members hold other leadership roles), which has implications for team processes and effectiveness. Specifically, we show that collective configurations have higher team effectiveness (compared to distributed configurations) owing to improved teamwork processes and observe that these effects are more pronounced when temporal dispersion is high.     

Leadership, psychological capital and safety research: Conceptual issues and future research questions

In this theory-driven literature review we examine how leadership and emerging research in positive organizational behaviour (POB) may inform our understanding of human mechanisms that affect safety outcomes. According to authentic leadership theory, leader self-awareness and self-regulation processes are vital mechanisms in the leader-follower exchange. From emerging research on authentic leadership, we propose that production management values, attitudes, and behaviour are linked to safety climate and safety outcomes in safety critical organizations (SCOs). According to recent developments in management theory, “psychological capital” is comprised of four distinct aspects that can be linked to desirable organizational outcomes and sustained high quality performance in individual workers. From this we offer a research model and five research propositions implicating that authentic leadership directly affects safety outcomes via promoting positive safety climate perceptions. Furthermore, we propose a second path where psychological capital mediates the relationship between authentic leadership, safety climate and safety outcomes in SCOs.     

A multilevel investigation of predictors and outcomes of shared leadership

For modern organizations, shared leadership becomes increasingly important. Knowledge on shared leadership may be limited, as past research often relies on cross-sectional data or student samples, and most studies neglect the multilevel nature of shared leadership. Our research model includes transformational leadership, trust, and organizational support as predictors of shared leadership. Furthermore, we analyze the influence of shared leadership on team performance and team creativity. In total, 160 teams with 697 employees participated in our field study. Data collection took place at three time points. To test our hypotheses, we used multilevel modeling with a Bayesian estimator. We found relationships of transformational leadership and trust with shared leadership at the team level and of transformational leadership, trust, and organizational support with shared leadership at the individual level. Furthermore, shared leadership fully mediated the effect of the three input factors on team performance and team creativity. This study contributes to the understanding of the antecedents and outcomes of shared leadership. Furthermore, the dynamic development of team processes based on an input–mediator–output model is explored. On the basis of the results, organizations can increase shared leadership behavior by focusing on transformational leadership and trust building.     

Measuring team trust: A critical and meta-analytical review

Team trust is gaining attention in research and practice due to its benefits for team performance, yet clarity about the intricacies of its measurement is needed. Therefore, we meta-analyzed 118 studies (N = 7,738) to untangle the role of measurement features by investigating the degree to which they influence the trust–performance relationship. Results showed that the trust–performance relationship is contingent upon time lag and source of measurement. Specifically, cross-sectional and single-source studies produced higher effect sizes than time-lagged and different-source studies. In contrast, the moderating roles of conceptualization–operationalization alignment and referent of trust measures were not supported. Post hoc analyses revealed that affective trust is more strongly related to global, versus specific team outcomes, and that mixed-referent items are particularly effective within intact teams, whereas the trust–performance relationship is constrained when direct consensus items are used within ad hoc teams. Furthermore, we provided a critical review that highlights the importance of composites, multilevel forces, and item content and wording. Finally, we clarified key gaps in the literature, calling for research where needed. This review serves as a bridge between conceptualization and measurement and lays the groundwork for advancing knowledge of team trust.     

Leadership and employees’ perceived safety behaviours in a nuclear power plant: A structural equation model

Leadership is considered an essential element in guaranteeing the safe running of organizations. The purpose of the present study is to find out how leader behaviours influence employees’ safety behaviours (perceived safety behaviours) in the nuclear field. In an attempt to answer this question, the authors of this research have considered the way this influence is exercised, taking into consideration some important factors like safety culture and safety climate. To achieve this, the empowerment leadership model, based on a behavioural approach to leadership, was used. The sample was made up of 566 employees from a Spanish nuclear power plant. The results indicated that when safety culture was strong, leader behaviour generated a higher safety climate among the members, which predicted their perceived safety behaviours. Support was found for a structural model linking leadership and safety behaviour to safety culture and safety climate. The implications of these findings for the theory of safety and the way they can be put into practice are outlined.     

Linking empowering leadership to safety participation in nuclear power plants: A structural equation model

IntroductionSafety participation is of paramount importance in guaranteeing the safe running of nuclear power plants.MethodThe present study examined the effects of empowering leadership on safety participation.ResultsBased on a sample of 495 employees from two Spanish nuclear power plants, structural equation modeling showed that empowering leadership has a significant relationship with safety participation, which is mediated by collaborative team learning. In addition, the results revealed that the relationship between empowering leadership and collaborative learning is partially mediated by the promotion of dialogue and open communication.ConclusionsThe implications of these findings for safety research and their practical applications are outlined.Impact on IndustryAn empowering leadership style enhances workers' safety performance, particularly safety participation behaviors. Safety participation is recommended to detect possible rule inconsistencies or misunderstood procedures and make workers aware of critical safety information and issues.     

班组长领导方式对矿工安全行为的影响 效用研究—基于调整焦点理论*

围绕班组长领导方式和矿工安全行为的内涵,通过文献分析与因子分析,剖析出班组长领导主要包含领导魅力、鼓励性激励、智力激发、个性化关怀、权变性奖励、积极例外管理和消极例外管理七种方式,矿工安全行为主要包含安全遵守与参与一种方式。以班组长七种领导方式为外在潜变量,矿工安全行为一种方式为内在潜变量,基于调整焦点理论下构建班组长领导方式对矿工安全行为的影响效用模型。运用SPASS17.0和AMOS7.0软件,探析班组长各领导方式对矿工安全行为的作用路径及其影响,从而为煤矿安全管理提出新思路。     

When is female leadership an advantage? Coordination requirements,team cohesion,and team interaction norms

This study seeks to understand to what extent and in what contexts women leaders may be advantageous for teams. More specifically, this study examines how team leader gender relates to team cohesion, cooperative learning, and participative communication. Furthermore, the study argues that advantages derived from female leadership may be contingent on teams' coordination requirements. I propose that as teams' coordination requirements increase (i.e., with functional diversity, size, and geographic dispersion), teams with women leaders report more cohesion and more cooperative and participative interaction norms than those with men leaders. I aggregated survey responses from the members of 82 teams in 29 organizations at the team level. Findings from hierarchical linear modeling analyses suggest that female leadership is more positively associated with cohesion on larger and more functionally diverse teams and more positively associated with cooperative learning and participative communication on larger and geographically dispersed teams. These results call for more research on boundary conditions on the relationship between leader gender and team outcomes, on the role of relational leadership on complex and diverse teams and, ultimately, on the potential mediating role of cohesion and team interaction norms on the relationship between leader gender and team performance. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bracketing team boundary spanning: An examination of task‐based,team‐level,and contextual antecedents

There is growing recognition that teams do not function in a vacuum and that external boundary activities are important predictors of team performance, effectiveness, and knowledge sharing. In the past, researchers have focused on the effects of team composition or task characteristics as antecedents of critical boundary spanning activities. However, less effort has been directed at understanding how antecedents at multiple levels can simultaneously influence boundary spanning behavior in teams. This paper takes stock of over 20 years of research on the topic of team boundary spanning. Adopting a “bracketing” approach etc., we develop a multi‐level theoretical model to guide future research on the determinants of team boundary spanning. This model specifies task‐based, team‐level, and contextual antecedents of team boundary spanning and outlines the contingencies shaping the emergence of effective boundary‐management behavior in teams. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Self-directed workteams and safety: a winning combination?

The organization of work into self-directed work teams (SDWT) has considerably changed the power structure within companies. In addition to carrying out the work, SDWT members make decisions that are traditionally the jurisdiction of first line supervisors. This exploratory research examines the impact of this type of group empowerment on the management of health and safety in twelve factories in Quebec. As expected, the management of health and safety is greatly modified when self-directed work teams are implemented. These teams play a major role in the planning, implementation and monitoring of corrective measures on the shop floor. Staff and management provide support and advice to the work teams, but make fewer and fewer decisions themselves. Peer pressure, when perceived as legitimate, is likely to positively influence the safety attitudes and behaviours of team members. Furthermore, the safety performance of these organizations is actually better than average. However, our respondents were concerned about the growing lack of health and safety leadership displayed by some managers. They worry about the definition of roles, integration of occupational health and safety (OHS) concerns and adoption of OHS measures by less mature work teams. Peer pressure is not always seen as legitimate, thereby causing tension. Finally, our respondents were concerned about the stress and health difficulties that may be related to group decision-making and added responsibilities.     

Differential treatment within sports teams,leader–member (coach–player) exchange quality,team atmosphere,and team performance

Using the leader–member exchange (LMX) theory as a theoretical framework, the present study focused on the occurrence of differential treatment by leaders on social and task‐related issues within teams. It was investigated whether team members' perceptions of the frequency and degree of social and task‐related differential treatment by the leader were associated with their evaluation of team atmosphere and team performance, in addition to the effects of the quality of their own working relationship with the leader (LMX quality). The context of this study consisted of interdependent sports teams. The participants were 605 players belonging to 69 amateur sports teams playing various team sports such as soccer, hockey, and basketball. Social differential treatment was negatively associated with team atmosphere and unrelated to team performance. In addition, it was found that the two forms of task‐related differential treatment included in this study were unrelated to team atmosphere and were differently associated with team performance. The results are discussed with reference to the existing leadership literature. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The challenge of being a young manager: The effects of contingent reward and participative leadership on team‐level turnover depend on leader age

Effective leadership requires a leader claiming as well as team members granting the leadership position. Contingent reward and participative leadership may both facilitate this mutual process. However, these behaviors differ in the degree to which they require a leader to have status and be prototypical. Their effectiveness might thus depend on the status‐related characteristics of the leader. In this respect, we propose that younger leaders, by deviating from the leader prototype in terms of age, lack a natural status cue, which will determine the effectiveness of these two leadership behaviors in shaping turnover. Two pilot studies (N = 113 and 121 individuals) confirm that younger leaders are perceived as less prototypical and to have lower status than older leaders. Examining 83 work teams, we show that leader age differently moderates the effects of contingent reward and participative leadership on time‐lagged team turnover. For younger (compared with older) leaders, contingent reward was effective as illustrated by decreased voluntary turnover and increased involuntary turnover, whereas participative leadership, which was associated with increased voluntary turnover and decreased involuntary turnover, was ineffective. These findings point to the importance of incorporating natural status cues of leaders for understanding the effectiveness of different leadership behaviors. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

安全标准化班组建设与管理研究

标准化班组建设在实现企业安全生产方面具有十分重要的意义。通过研究和分析现阶段各行业优秀班组的先进管理经验,总结出了一套安全标准化班组建设和管理的基本程序和方法,为现代企业班组安全管理提供有益的参考。