J. Mark Phillips, Jae Hyeung Kang, David Y. Choi and George T. Solomon
This study examines how transformational leadership on the part of senior attorneys in law firms may affect their subordinate attorneys' performance in an industry experiencing…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines how transformational leadership on the part of senior attorneys in law firms may affect their subordinate attorneys' performance in an industry experiencing both distinctive leadership challenges and widespread economic upheaval. Specifically, our multilevel theoretical model attempts to capture the moderated mediation relationships between transformational leadership, innovative climate, entrepreneurial orientation, and individual performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employs of a multilevel path analysis to examine the earlier described conceptual model utilizing primary data collected from 484 attorneys at 31 professional service firms.
Findings
The authors used multilevel path analysis to examine the existence and the extent of a multilevel mediation effect. They found that a firm's entrepreneurial orientation mediates the relationship between supervising attorneys' transformational leadership and individual attorneys' performances. The authors also found that the indirect effect of supervising attorneys' transformational leadership on individual attorneys' performances through entrepreneurial orientation is conditional on the degree of firm innovative climate.
Originality/value
The authors draw on theories of social learning to construct a dual-level theoretical model that connects domains within the leadership and entrepreneurship literatures. It does so by examining the relationships between the law firms' supervising attorneys' change-oriented leadership and their subordinate attorneys' billable hours during a period of severe economic disruption.
Details
Keywords
Sheetal Singh, Jae Hyeung Kang and Ravi S. Ramani
Drawing from affect as social information (AASI) theory, this study examines how the relationship between perceived passion, quality of the presenter and investment intention is…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing from affect as social information (AASI) theory, this study examines how the relationship between perceived passion, quality of the presenter and investment intention is influenced by emotional labor engaged in by the presenter. This study clarifies and deepens the understanding of how passion influences entrepreneurial success by studying the role of emotional labor in the relationship between passion and investment decisions.
Design/methodology/approach
This study tested the moderated mediation effects between perceived presenter passion and investor intention to invest using data from 62 presenters' and 169 judges' responses from the 31 judges during a business plan (or “pitch”) competition.
Findings
Results confirmed a positive indirect effect of perceived passion on intention to invest, as mediated by the investor's evaluation of the quality of the presenter. Emotional labor moderated the relationship such that low levels of emotional labor engaged in by the presenters strengthened the mediated relationship between perceived passion, quality of the presenter and intention to invest.
Originality/value
The findings suggest that the authenticity of passion (as measured by the degree of emotional labor engaged in by the presenter) influences this dynamic, such that displays of passion that are perceived as being authentic are more likely to lead to an investment decision. Using AASI, this study conceptualized and tested quality of the presenter as an important intervening variable that can help explain the lack of coherent findings. The results supported this conceptualization, providing empirical evidence for the oft-quoted adage “invest in people, not ideas.”