Henry P. Sims

Vertical Versus Shared Leadership as Predictors of the Effectiveness of Change Management Teams: An Examination of Aversive, Directive, Transactional, Transformational, and Empowering Leader Behaviors

This study investigated vertical versus shared leadership as predictors of the effectiveness of 71 change management teams. Vertical leadership stems from an appointed or formal leader of a team, whereas shared leadership (C. L. Pearce, 1997; C. L. Pearce & J. A. Conger, in press; C. L. Pearce & H. P. Sims, 2000) is a group process in which leadership is distributed among, and stems from, team members. Team effectiveness was measured approximately 6 months after the assessment of leadership and was also measured from the viewpoints of managers, internal customers, and team members. Using multiple regression, the authors found both vertical and shared leadership to be significantly related to team effectiveness ( p .05), although shared leadership appears to be a more useful predictor of team effectiveness than vertical leadership. The increasing use of empowered teams and concomitant flattening of organizational structures (Mohrman, Cohen, & Mohrman, 1995) brings into question the more traditional models of leadership. What kind of leadership is more appropriate for this new team-based environment? Pearce (1997), Yukl (1998), Pearce and Sims (2000), and Pearce and Conger (in press) have suggested that shared leadership—leadership that emanates from the members of teams, and not simply from the appointed team leader— may provide the answer to this question. Thus, we investigated this issue within the context of change management teams (CMTs). The CMTs in this study are teams that, while not fully self-managing, have a very high degree of decision-making latitude for improving the operations in their respective areas of responsibility. Thus, our results are most applicable to highautonomy teams that engage in complex tasks, and they may not generalize to traditional work groups. The teams in this study are also all drawn from one organization, which helps to control for situational variables that might influence team effectiveness (e.g., organizational culture) but may limit the generalizability to alternate organizational contexts. More specifically, we explored how the behavior of the appointed team leaders (vertical leadership) versus distributed influence from within the team (shared leadership) accounted for the effectiveness of the CMTs. In this article, we briefly review the behavioral model of leadership that forms the basis of this study and then review literature related to the shared leadership process. We offer several hypotheses regarding the potential role of team leadership in team effectiveness. Subsequently, we describe our methods, present our results, and offer a discussion and conclusion.

Top management team diversity, group process, and strategic consensus

This study integrated concepts from upper echelons, group process and social cognition theories to investigate how demographic diversity and group processes influence strategic consensus within the top management team (TMT), where strategic consensus is defined as the degree to which individual mental models of strategy overlap. Data from 76 high-technology firms in the United States and Ireland were used to examine three alternative models. The results showed that while demographic diversity alone did have effects on strategic consensus the overall fit of the model was not strong. Adding two intervening group process variables, interpersonal conflict and agreement-seeking, to the model greatly improved the overall relationship with strategic consensus. For the most part, TMT diversity had negative effects on strategic consensus. The model with superior fit showed both direct and indirect effects of diversity on strategic consensus. Copyright

Just and Unjust Punishment: Influences on Subordinate Performance and Citizenship

This justice-theory-based study of punishment surveyed supervisors and their disciplined subordinates about specific punishment events. Path analysis results suggested that two personality traits—belief in a just world and negative affectivity—were associated with the subordinates perceptions of the events. Perceived harshness, a distributive characteristic of the events, was associated with the supervisors perceptions of the subordinates subsequent performance. Subordinate control, a procedural characteristic of the events, was associated with the supervisors perceptions of subsequent citizenship behaviors.

Transactors, Transformers and Beyond. A Multi-Method Development of a Theoretical Typology of Leadership.

Extends the transactional‐transformational model of leadership by deductively developing four theoretical behavioral types of leadership based on a historical analysis of leadership literature. Then, in an exploratory empirical phase, uses two data sets to inductively develop alternative models of leadership types. Finally, with a third data set, tests several theoretically plausible typologies using second‐order confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The results of the CFA generally support the existence of four leadership types: directive leadership, transactional leadership, transformational leadership, and empowering leadership.

Nationality and work role interactions: A cultural contrast of Israeli and U.S. entrepreneurs' versus managers' needs

Abstract The globalization of business ventures and the parallel search for sources of international competitive advantage have stimulated research relating cultural differences to entrepreneurial and managerial behaviors. Recent work by McGrath, MacMillan, and Scheinberg (1992) encouraged studies of managers and entrepreneurs in different cultures, suggesting that these comparisons may “… shed additional light into the interrelations between social structure, wealth creation, and cultural beliefs” (McGrath el at. 1992, p. 116). This study follows that advice. Cultural differences are powerful determinants of behavior, and many studies support the notion that managerial behavior must adapt to the national cultural setting to achieve success. A growing stream of entrepreneurial behavior research has explored differences in motivational needs between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs of different countries, and found parallel differences across cultures. Given these views, we might expect to find need differences between entrepreneurs and managers within countries however, some entrepreneurship researchers have concluded that U.S. managers and entrepreneurs are more alike than different. To better understand need profile differences between and within cultures, we use a theory that suggests that culture is an important determinant of work behavior. The process through which culture affects work behaviors is described in “Cultural Self-representation Theory” (Erez and Earley, 1993). Based upon this theory, inferences from the entrepreneurial archetype, and analysis of the contrast between the cultures of Israel and the U.S., we propose that: (1) entrepreneurs and managers have different motivational needs within some national cultures, and (2) across national cultures there are systematic differences in motivational needs. Based on these premises, an interaction hypothesis between work role and nationality is suggested because of the importance of both culture and work role in determining motivational need differences. Data are collected from over 370 Israeli and U.S. entrepreneurs and managers. Results support cultural self-representation theory for the Israeli-U.S. and entrepreneur-manager case, because interactions between nationality and work role are exposed for various needs. This finding suggests that cultural differences are indeed important for understanding management motivational needs in different nations, and that the effectiveness of entrepreneurial approaches to management may be culture-sensitive. The study illustrates work-role differences between Israeli managers and entrepreneurs. We confirm past conclusions about U.S. entrepreneur-manager need similarities, and suggest that these need similarities are supported by the individualistic culture within U.S. organizations.

Contingent Leadership and Effectiveness of Trauma Resuscitation Teams

This research investigated leadership and effectiveness of teams operating in a high-velocity environment, specifically trauma resuscitation teams. On the basis of the literature and their own ethnographic work, the authors proposed and tested a contingency model in which the influence of leadership on team effectiveness during trauma resuscitation differs according to the situation. Results indicated that empowering leadership was more effective when trauma severity was low and when team experience was high. Directive leadership was more effective when trauma severity was high or when the team was inexperienced. Findings also suggested that an empowering leader provided more learning opportunities than did a directive leader. The major contribution of this article is the linkage of leadership to team effectiveness, as moderated by relatively specific situational contingencies.

The forgotten follower: a contingency model of leadership and follower self‐leadership

Purpose – Seeks to examine the interaction effect of leadership and follower characteristics on follower self‐leadership, using hierarchical linear modeling.Design/methodology/approach – Longitudinal data were collected using a questionnaire at two points in time, with ten weeks between each collection. These data facilitate the causal inference between leadership and follower need for autonomy (wave 1) and follower self‐leadership behaviors (wave 2). Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to analyze the hierarchical structure data.Findings – Both empowering and directive leadership (group level) interacted with followers need for autonomy (individual level) to enhance subsequent follower self‐leadership (individual level). That is, empowering leadership had a stronger positive effect on followers who were high on the need for autonomy, and directive leadership had a stronger negative effect on followers who were high on the need for autonomy. In summary, the influence of leadership on follower self...

Matching Leadership Styles with Employment Modes: Strategic Human Resource Management Perspective

Researcher have spent considerable efforts to identify means of using human resource management practices to effectively utilize human capital. At the same time, it has been well recognized that leadership plays a critical role in effective management of employees [Burns, J. Z., & Otte, F. L., Hum. Resour. Dev. Q. 10 (1999) 225; Sims Jr., H. P., & Manz, C. C. (1996). Company of heros: Unleashing the power of self-leadership. New York: Wiley]. However, scant research exists that integrates these two seemingly disparate streams of research. By drawing on strategic human resource management and leadership literatures, we provide a typology of employment mode - leadership style fit that matches leadership styles with the requirements of different employee groups. Building on strategic human resrouce management, we recognize that different groups of employees are managed differently and may require different leadership styles. Based on contingency approaches to leadership, we explore leadership style most consistent with the underlying objectives and psychological obligations underlying different groups of employees. Implications of this fit for researchers and managers as well as directions for future research are discussed.

Communication and Cognition in Appraisal: A Tale of Two Paradigms:

This research explores the basic question: Are there shared cognitive structures (scripts) underlying common organizational events? Linguistics and social cognition were used to fashion a framework for the interpretation and analysis of videotaped appraisal interviews, which were coded via speech act analysis and then computer-mapped to create a graphic display of each appraisal interaction. Interpretive analyses of these maps revealed a common behavioural script, which implied the existence of a consensual cognitive script for enacting the appraisal interviews. Additionally, the approach and findings of this study, which is based on an interpretive research paradigm, are contrasted with a companion study (Gioia and Sims 1986), which was based on a positivist paradigm. The comparison of two studies investigating the same set of events from alternative paradigmatic perspectives reveals not only convergent and divergent findings, but also suggests that when one adopts different lenses with which to view ostensibly the same organizational phenomena, one simply sees different things.

Are We On the Same Page? Effects of Self-Awareness of Empowering and Transformational Leadership

This study examines the effects of leaders self-awareness of their own leadership on followers satisfaction, self-leadership, and leader effectiveness. A leaders self-awareness was conceptualized as the degree of similarity between the leaders self-description and his or her followers descriptions of leader behaviors. Transformational and empowering leadership are measured from 48 leaders and 222 of their followers. Results from confirmatory factor analyses provide support for two types of leadership: transformational and empowering. Results from polynomial regression analyses indicate that self-awareness of transformational leadership is related to leader effectiveness and followers supervisory satisfaction. In contrast, self-awareness of empowering leadership is related to followers self-leadership. These effects of leadership self-awareness extend beyond the direct effect of leadership on the outcome variables.