Emma Soane, Christina Butler and Emma Stanton
Effective leadership is important to performance in both organisational and sporting arenas. The authors theorised that follower personality would influence perceptions of…
Abstract
Purpose
Effective leadership is important to performance in both organisational and sporting arenas. The authors theorised that follower personality would influence perceptions of leadership, and that perceived effective leadership would be associated with performance. The authors drew on Social Identity Theory (Tajfel and Turner, 1986), Transformational Leadership and personality theory to develop a research model designed to assess leadership effectiveness and performance. The purpose of this paper is to test the research model in a sporting context.
Design/methodology/approach
The context of the research was a round the world sailing race, a ten-month competitive circumnavigation with ten identical boats. Quantitative data were gathered concerning participants’ personality, their perceptions of transformational leadership and boat performance. Qualitative data on transformational leadership and leadership effectiveness were gathered from a subsample of crew members.
Findings
Results showed that transformational leadership was associated with leadership effectiveness and performance. Personality influenced perceptions of leadership and, for moderate performing boats, there were associations between perceptions of leadership and performance.
Research limitations/implications
The data have implications for the extension of transformational leadership theory. Further consideration of follower personality could enhance leadership effectiveness. A limitation is the relatively small scale of the study.
Practical implications
The main implication is that leaders should take follower personality into account, and adapt their leadership style accordingly. Doing so has consequences for performance.
Originality/value
This novel study examined personality, leadership, and performance and has implications for enhancing leadership and performance in sports and business.
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Valentina Cucino, Nicola Del Sarto, Alberto Di Minin and Andrea Piccaluga
This paper combines the literature on knowledge transfer and that on organizational behavior to analyze how perceived empowerment and perceived engagement affect knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper combines the literature on knowledge transfer and that on organizational behavior to analyze how perceived empowerment and perceived engagement affect knowledge transfer offices’ (KTOs’) performance, measured in terms of the number of license agreements.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors measured the cognitions which constitute perceived empowerment and perceived engagement through a survey sent to Italian KTOs’ professionals. The authors performed “fuzzy set qualitative analysis” to investigate if this cognition, together or in isolation, may influence KTOs’ management performance, measured by the number of license agreements.
Findings
The results highlight the role of individual cognitions in influencing KTOs’ performance. Furthermore, an important finding from the analysis of the main configurations is that the co-presence of perceived engagement and perceived empowerment leads to more license agreements only in the presence of specific individual cognitions. More precisely, the level of organizational citizenship behavior, the degree to which an individual influences results at work (degree of impact) and the value of a work goal (degree of meaning) are the cognitions which lead to a higher number of license agreements.
Originality/value
Despite the growing interest in the investigation of the determinants of KTOs’ performance, a relevant research gap still concerns the explanation of KTOs’ performance considering individual cognitions such as attitudes, norms, perceived behavioral control and intentions. This study looks at the combined effect of the individual cognition of perceived engagement and perceived empowerment on KTOs’ performances.
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Georg Hauer and Ann-Kathrin Beschle
This paper aims to explore how homeworking influences employee engagement in a German service company during the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide recommendations for organisations…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how homeworking influences employee engagement in a German service company during the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide recommendations for organisations on how to secure employees’ engagement remotely.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts a qualitative research design in a case study setup with a German service company. A refined framework links homeworking and engagement based on the data collected from interviews and surveys.
Findings
This paper identifies several factors that affect engagement whilst homeworking, such as work–life balance, family, work intensification, team environment, leadership, organisational activities and flexible working arrangements. The paper also proposes a refined framework that links homeworking and engagement and offers practical implications for organisations.
Research limitations/implications
This paper is based on a small and homogeneous sample from one service company in Germany, which limits the generalisability of the findings. Future research could use larger and more diverse samples, longitudinal designs and quantitative methods to examine the impact of homeworking on engagement.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the scarce literature on homeworking and engagement by providing new and up-to-date insights into the homeworking experience and its effect on engagement in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper also offers useful suggestions for organisations on how to adapt their practices and policies to secure engagement in a remote work environment.