Thomas Jønsson, Christine Unterrainer, Hans-Jeppe Jeppesen and Ajay Kumar Jain
The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate an instrument that can measure distributed leadership (DL) as employees’ active participation in DL tasks. The authors…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate an instrument that can measure distributed leadership (DL) as employees’ active participation in DL tasks. The authors designate this as the distributed leadership agency (DLA).
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected throughout all departments and occupational groups at a merged centralized hospital setting in Denmark. A total of 1,774 employees from 24 hospital departments and 16 occupational groups completed our survey. Structural equation model and confirmatory factor analyses were applied to identify appropriate items and a test for measurement invariance, predictive, discriminant and convergent validity, and ANOVAs were applied to analyse group differences in DLA.
Findings
The identified unidimensional questionnaire consists of seven items, as it is different from, but associated with, empowering leadership, organizational influence, attitude to participation and trust in management. As theoretically predicted, DLA is positively related to self-efficacy, job satisfaction and innovative behaviour. Chief physicians, permanent employees and employee representatives scored higher on the scale than the rest of their respective counterparts.
Practical implications
The survey offers a method to assess a distribution of leadership agency in hospital organizations. Such assessment may provide a basis for organizational and leadership development.
Originality/value
The present study provides a reliable and valid quantitative instrument that measures how much employees at all hierarchical levels are involved in concrete leadership activities in the hospital context. Taking a normative perspective the authors could show that DL – measured with the DLA-questionnaire – has positive effects on employees’ behaviour.
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Thomas Jønsson and Hans Jeppe Jeppesen
The purpose of this study is to elucidate the relationship between perceived employee influence and organizational commitment by applying a multidimensional approach that includes…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to elucidate the relationship between perceived employee influence and organizational commitment by applying a multidimensional approach that includes influence perceived to stem from the individual and the team, as well as affective and normative commitment.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 526 out of a population of 732 employees (72 percent reply rate) from four Danish companies in different industries and with different types of teams participated in the questionnaire study.
Findings
Results of bootstrapping mediation analyses reveal that a relationship between perceived influence of the team and affective commitment is fully mediated by perceived individual influence. Results of multiple regression analyses show a positive relationship between team and individual influence, and that normative commitment moderated the relationship negatively. The results are to suggest that influence of the team may stimulate employees’ individual influence, and in turn their affective commitment, if their normative commitment is not very high.
Research limitations/implications
Generalization of the results to cultures, which are dissimilar to the Danish should be cautiously considered and further studies are needed to elucidate causality between the variables.
Originality/value
The identification of normative commitment as a variable that can potentially hinder that employees experience their teams to enhance their individual freedom elucidates the conditions that may be behind different current findings in the literature. The finding that suggests that employees need to perceive that they benefit from their team's influence in order to feel more affective committed to their organization adds to knowledge about team work's possible effects for employee attitudes.
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Maj S. Fausing, Hans Jeppe Jeppesen, Thomas S. Jønsson, Joshua Lewandowski and Michelle C. Bligh
Previous studies show that sharing leadership in teams offers potential performance benefits across various contexts. This paper aims to investigate moderators of the…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous studies show that sharing leadership in teams offers potential performance benefits across various contexts. This paper aims to investigate moderators of the effectiveness of shared leadership. In particular, it seeks to explore the moderating effects of team work function – manufacturing versus knowledge team work – and team autonomy.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to test the hypotheses, the authors conducted hierarchical regression analyses and ran moderated two‐way regression analyses using a field sample of 552 employees comprising 81 teams in a Danish manufacturing company.
Findings
Contrary to expectations, the results demonstrated a non‐significant relationship between shared leadership and team performance. However, as expected, work function significantly moderated this relationship such that shared leadership exhibited a negative relationship with manufacturing team performance and a positive relationship with knowledge team performance. Moreover, team autonomy was positively related to performance, and it significantly moderated the relationship between shared leadership and team performance.
Research limitations/implications
The study provides a potentially useful framework for understanding boundary conditions for the effectiveness of shared leadership. However, since the design of the study is cross‐sectional, direct causation cannot be inferred. Moreover, the study took place within a single organization in a Danish context and, therefore, care must be taken in generalizing the findings without additional evidence from further research.
Originality/value
To the authors' knowledge, the study is the first to obtain evidence which indicates that the success of shared leadership may depend on the team work function and the level of team autonomy.
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Ajay K. Jain and Hans Jeppe Jeppesen
The purpose of this paper is to measure employees’ attitude toward distributed leadership (DL) practices and investigate the challenges involved in implementing DL practices in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to measure employees’ attitude toward distributed leadership (DL) practices and investigate the challenges involved in implementing DL practices in Indian organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is conducted within an exploratory research framework. The data were collected from 180 young middle-level executives from a diverse group of industry sectors belonging to private and multinational organization located in northern part of India. Unstructured (personal interviews and focus group interviews) and structured interview schedule (questionnaire) were administered to measure employees’ attitude and challenges of implementation.
Findings
The qualitative and quantitative analytic strategies were adopted to analyze the data. Results of exploratory factors analysis showed the existence of five underlying dimensions about the significance of DL practices, namely, self-initiatives, improved functioning, achieving organizational goals, accountability and mutual respect. Furthermore, results showed the importance of contextual factors in implementing DL practices namely horizontal structure, professionalism, work commitment and power sharing. Also, the attitudinal dimensions were found to be positively correlated with the dimensions of implementing DL practices in Indian work context.
Research limitations/implications
This study strengthens the importance of measuring employees’ attitudes that can be a good predictor of implementing best practices in organizations. The major limitation of this study is of the small sample size and has been limited to young managers.
Originality/value
This is an original paper based on the empirical data from Indian managers. No study is conducted on the concept of distributing leadership in Indian work context on a similar or related theme.
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Kristina Schoemmel, Thomas Skriver Jønsson and Hans-Jeppe Jeppesen
In order to contribute to the understanding of affective commitment towards distinct workplace targets, the purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a Multitarget…
Abstract
Purpose
In order to contribute to the understanding of affective commitment towards distinct workplace targets, the purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a Multitarget Affective Commitment Scale (MACS) through two data collections. The MACS uses similarly worded items for distinct targets and reflects the most recent theoretical development of affective commitment.
Design/methodology/approach
In the first data collection, items from previous commitment scales were tested through the social network service Facebook (n=305). The second data collection was conducted in the healthcare system of Denmark (n=496) using survey questionnaires.
Findings
In Study 1, exploratory factor analyses were conducted to reduce the items based on the Facebook data. In Study 2, the authors confirm the findings of Study 1 and further reduce the items based on the healthcare sample. The healthcare sample is also used in Study 3, where the authors validate the MACS by investigating its relationship with predictors, correlates, and outcomes.
Originality/value
The results suggest that the MACS are a reliable and valid measure of affective commitment compatible with the diverse targets to which affective commitment often occurs. Consequently, the MACS is applicable for research investigating multiply affective commitments, thereby advancing the understanding of interactions between affective commitments and diverse targets, among other applications.
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Ajay K. Jain and Hans Jeppe Jeppesen
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the cognitive styles of leaders on knowledge management practices in a public sector organisation in India.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the cognitive styles of leaders on knowledge management practices in a public sector organisation in India.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were gathered from 210 middle and senior managers who were employed in different projects across the country. Self‐reported questionnaires were administered to collect the data on the cognitive styles of leaders and knowledge management practices.
Findings
The results of exploratory factor analysis showed three significant factors of cognitive styles – i.e. radical, innovative‐collaborator, and adaptor. The knowledge management questionnaire had five dimensions – i.e. KM process, KM leadership, KM culture, KM technology, and KM measurement. The results of regression analysis showed a negative impact of the radical and innovative‐collaborator styles, while the adaptor style had a positive impact on knowledge management practices.
Research limitations/implications
This study was conducted in a large thermal power generation organisation in India. Hence, its generalisability is limited to other similar contexts. Public sector work norms and organisational size may influence the interpretation of the results.
Practical implications
The results show the relevance of the adaptor style of thinking in promoting knowledge management practices, which is consistent with the prevailing public sector work norms in India, which do not support any radical changes in their ways of working and solving problems.
Originality/value
This is an empirical study about the relationship between cognitive styles of leaders and knowledge management practices in the Indian work context, and no such study exists in the literature.
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Thomas Faurholt Jønsson, Christine Maria Unterrainer and Helena Grøn Kähler
Employees constitute an important source of innovation in organizations. Innovation management strategies often include attempts of stimulating employees' innovative contribution…
Abstract
Purpose
Employees constitute an important source of innovation in organizations. Innovation management strategies often include attempts of stimulating employees' innovative contribution by instilling managerial trust and granting job autonomy. However, the authors suggest and investigate the role of employees' distributed leadership agency (DLA) in hospital employee-driven innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors tested the hypotheses using survey data from 1,536 nonmanagerial employees at a hospital in Denmark. In order to deal with a methodological risk of survey designs, the authors assessed and adjusted the results for common method variance (CMV).
Findings
The authors validated a DLA measurement instrument and found an indirect relationship between job autonomy and trust in management on the one hand, via DLA, and with idea generation, promotion and implementation on the other hand. In addition, the results showed a small direct relationship between job autonomy and the three innovative behaviors. The results showed that CMV did bias relationships and reliabilities but only little.
Practical implications
The study introduces distributed leadership to the field of innovation management and confirms that this concept is highly relevant for employee innovation. In order to strengthen an organization's innovative potential, leaders may not only need to grant autonomy and instill trust in their employees, but also gain from employee innovation by distributing leadership tasks to employees.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first to introduce distributed leadership to the field of employee innovation management. By identifying distributed leadership as a key variable, the findings add to one’s extant understanding of how employee involvement encourages employee innovation.
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Team autonomy involves empowering employees to achieve greater control over organizational dynamics. Such empowerment may augment the employees’ vigor, dedication and absorption…
Abstract
Purpose
Team autonomy involves empowering employees to achieve greater control over organizational dynamics. Such empowerment may augment the employees’ vigor, dedication and absorption at work. However, there is limited evidence on the contents of the relationship between team autonomy and work engagement. This paper aims to fill in this gap, shedding light into the manifold implications of team autonomy on employees’ work engagement.
Design/methodology/approach
A serial mediation analysis was designed to collect evidence of the effects of team autonomy on work engagement. Drawing on self-determination theory, social comparison theory and social facilitation theory, team member-supervisor exchanges and organizational climate were contemplated in the analysis as mediating variables. An ordinary least square regression-based model relying on 5,000 bootstrap samples was implemented. The study focused on a large sample of Europeans employed in the manufacturing sector (n = 4,588).
Findings
Team autonomy had tiny, but statistically significant effects on work engagement. Good relationships between team members and supervisors positively mediated the effects of team autonomy on work engagement. Conversely, the organizational climate did not have a significant mediating role. A statistically significant serial mediation effect linked team autonomy and work engagement via team member-supervisor exchanges and organizational climate.
Practical implications
Team autonomy contributes to increasing the employees’ vigor, dedication and absorption at work. The enhancement of team member-supervisor relationships fosters the engagement of team members who experience a greater autonomy at work. The effects of team autonomy on organizational climate are ambiguous and mediated by an improvement of the relationships between team members and supervisors.
Originality/value
The paper originally investigates the implications of team autonomy on work engagement, emphasizing the importance of social exchanges at work to realize the full potential of team autonomy.
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Qiwei Zhou, Qiong Wu, Yuyuan Sun and Kathryn Cormican
Shared leadership has received significant empirical and theoretical attention in the project management literature. However, a dearth of studies reveals how shared leadership…
Abstract
Purpose
Shared leadership has received significant empirical and theoretical attention in the project management literature. However, a dearth of studies reveals how shared leadership promotes project performance. Drawing on the theory of conservation of resources, this research proposes a serial mediation model that investigates the relationship between shared leadership and project performance through team failure learning and team resilience.
Design/methodology/approach
A field study was conducted that surveyed 79 project teams in various industries (comprising 380 project team members and 79 project managers) using a multisource, time-lagged survey design.
Findings
Our findings show that shared leadership has a positive impact on project performance. More importantly, team failure learning and team resilience play sequential mediating roles in the relationship between shared leadership and project performance.
Practical implications
This research offers new ways for project managers to manage project performance effectively. Project managers are encouraged to recognize the benefits of shared leadership. To do this, they should facilitate team failure learning and improve team resilience, which serves to boost project performance.
Originality/value
This research provides a novel perspective on how shared leadership influences project performance. To the best of our knowledge, we are among the first to explore the serial mediating effects of team failure learning and team resilience on the relationship between shared leadership and project performance.
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Qiong Wu, Qiwei Zhou and Kathryn Cormican
Shared leadership is an effective mechanism for managing project teams. Its performance-enhancing benefits have been demonstrated in many studies. Nonetheless, there is an obvious…
Abstract
Purpose
Shared leadership is an effective mechanism for managing project teams. Its performance-enhancing benefits have been demonstrated in many studies. Nonetheless, there is an obvious silence about how to promote shared leadership in Lean Six Sigma (LSS) project teams. To address this deficit, the purposes of this study are to investigate the influence of shared leadership on LSS project success and to explore how team psychological safety, project task complexity and project task interdependence influence shared leadership.
Design/methodology/approach
A multi-source, time-lagged survey design with a four-month interval was conducted. To do this, the authors collected data from 71 project teams (comprising 71 project managers and 352 project members) using LSS approaches in the manufacturing and service industries.
Findings
The findings show that shared leadership positively influences LSS project success. The authors also found that team psychological safety fosters the development of shared leadership and, more importantly, these effects are stronger when the tasks are more complex and more interdependent.
Practical implications
These findings advance our understanding of the factors that enable shared leadership and equip LSS project managers with practical techniques to improve shared leadership for the success of their projects.
Originality/value
This study extends the theory of shared leadership to the context of LSS project management and is among the first, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to theoretically propose and empirically validate how to promote shared leadership in LSS project teams.