The effects of empowerment at multiple leadership levels in the fire service: a moderated mediation model
International Journal of Emergency Services
ISSN: 2047-0894
Article publication date: 5 April 2022
Issue publication date: 9 August 2022
Abstract
Purpose
While uncertainty during emergency response operations necessitates adaptive performance, emergency response organizations, such as the fire service, tend to constrain adaptive behaviors due to their highly formalized bureaucratic structures. Structural theories suggest that leaders can empower employees to bypass these constraints.
Design/methodology/approach
Using survey data from four US fire departments, this research tests whether mid-level supervisors can empower firefighters by increasing their ability to improvise during complex emergency response operations, and whether this enhances department adaptive performance. Moderated mediation is also performed to assess whether senior leaders must also be effective, empowering leaders in order to achieve heightened levels of empowerment and subsequent adaptive performance, as many senior leaders in the fire service are criticized for being overly bureaucratic, risk averse, and resistant to change.
Findings
The findings support compensatory effects and show how immediate supervisors are key to overcoming senior leader deficiencies and producing adaptive performance during conditions of high uncertainty and complexity.
Originality/value
The lack of response organizations’ success during complex incidents is often attributed to senior leaders who are risk averse, overly bureaucratic, and resistant to change (Wankhade and Patnaik, 2020). This study is the first to show how empowering leadership can help overcome these constraints to enhance adaptive performance under complex conditions in the fire service.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding: This research was supported by the International Association of Fire Chiefs. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agency.
Citation
Huntsman, D., Greer, A., Murphy, H. and Li, X.(D). (2022), "The effects of empowerment at multiple leadership levels in the fire service: a moderated mediation model", International Journal of Emergency Services, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 338-360. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJES-07-2021-0042
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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