How follower traits and cultural values influence the effects of leadership

How followers' perception of followership prototype-traits fit impacts their job performance: a moderated polynomial regression analysis

Introduction

Previous studies about the drivers of follower performance focused on leadership, and most followership studies have used a single perspective to investigate this topic from the followers' lens. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore whether, how, and when followers' perception of followership prototype-traits fit influences their job performance.

Methods

The study adopted a questionnaire survey (Study 1) and a scenario experiment (Study 2). First, in the questionnaire survey, we collected 72 leaders and 262 followers from 72 teams of 14 companies in China using a two-wave research design. Second, in the scenario experiment, we invited 160 undergraduates from a university in southwest China to participate in the experiment after verifying the effectiveness of the manipulated materials.

Results

(1) compared with the misfit, followership prototype-traits fit is more likely to stimulate followers' taking charge; (2) compared with low levels of fit, high-level followership prototype-traits fit is more likely to stimulate followers' taking charge; (3) compared with high followership prototype and low followership traits condition, low followership prototype and high followership traits condition is more likely to stimulate followers' taking charge; (4) followers' taking charge mediates the impact of the followership prototype-traits fit on followers' job performance; and (5) the impact of followership prototype-traits fit on followers' taking charge is more salient for male followers than for female followers.

Discussion

This study not only helps capture the bidirectional and complex process of the interaction between leaders and followers during the followership, but also obtains a more comprehensive understanding of how this interaction affects followers' behaviors and performance. The results have practical implications for improving followers' job performance by highlighting the effects of followership prototype-traits fit on followers' behaviors and performance.

Contagious charisma: the flow of charisma from leader to followers and the role of followers' self-monitoring

Charisma, the captivating attribute that endows an individual with the power to inspire and influence others, is frequently associated with possessing an attractive personality, effective communication skills, and the capacity to draw people in and lead them. The concept of the trickle-down effect in leadership theory suggests that the characteristics of a leader's style including perceptions, emotions, attitudes, and behaviors, have the potential to be "contagious" and spread to their followers. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether and when a leader's charisma may be transferred to followers, as charisma is predominantly a trait associated with the leader. Integrating insights from the social learning, emotional contagion, and self-concept theories, we propose that charisma can cascade downward from the leader to followers and that this effect is contingent on the individual follower's level of self-monitoring. Measuring a sample of 127 followers and 15 leaders in a large organization at two time points, we found that throughout time the leader's charisma indeed cascaded down to followers, i.e., followers of a charismatic leader were perceived as more charismatic throughout time. However, this effect was prominent only for low-monitoring followers. Novel insights into the flow-down effect of charisma, avenues for future research, and practical implications are discussed.

Energizing and depleting? The daily effects of organizationally focused citizenship behaviors

Purpose

Prior research suggests that organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) can have both positive and negative effects on employees; however, it is unclear about the mediating mechanisms of this relationship and how the effects of challenging and supportive OCB may differ. Drawing on the dual-pathway model of proactivity and OCB research, the authors derive a theoretical model that attempts to reveal how different types of employees' daily organizationally focused citizenship behaviors can affect employees.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors examine the relationships using a daily-diary study using experience sampling methodology (ESM). The survey includes 72 employees who completed three surveys a day for 10 working days resulting in 614 daily observations.

Findings

The authors find that advocacy participation increases perceptions of prosocial impact, which in turn increases daily job satisfaction; the authors also find that advocacy participation decreases ego depletion, which then reduces daily job stress. Daily voice likewise increases perceptions of prosocial impact, which in turn increases daily job satisfaction; however, unlike advocacy participation, voice increases ego depletion, which then increases daily job stress.

Originality/value

The study is one of the first studies to simultaneously examine the personal perceptions and emotions of engaging in daily organizationally focused OCB and recognize the fact that different types of prosocial behavior have differential outcomes. The authors also extend prior research by documenting the mechanisms by which OCB impacts employees.

COVID-19 and individual performance in global virtual teams: The role of self-regulation and individual cultural value orientations

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, global virtual teams (GVTs) have become increasingly important. Drawing on conservation of resources theory and self-regulation theory, we examined the mechanism and process underlying individuals' performance in GVTs in this specific situation. We posit that the local severity of the pandemic has a negative effect on individuals' performance in GVTs and that self-regulation functions as a coping mechanism in times of pandemic-related ambient stress, reducing its negative effect on performance. We suggest that three cultural value orientations, that is, uncertainty avoidance, collectivism, and long-term orientation, explain different levels of self-regulation, which in turn moderates the relationship between the local severity of the pandemic and individual performance in GVTs. Based on a sample of 2727 individuals from 31 countries participating in an international business consulting project during the early stage of the unfolding pandemic, we show that (a) the local severity of the pandemic had a negative effect on individuals' performance, (b) the negative effect of the pandemic on performance is weaker for individuals with high self-regulation, and (c) uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation are positively associated with self-regulation, which mediates the moderating relationship between the cultural value orientations and the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and individual performance in GVTs.

Breaking down walls, building bridges: the importance of transformational leadership considering contextual and individual factors in resistance to change

Purpose

This study aims to analyze the role of trust in the leader as a contextual factor and the personality of the employee as an individual factor in the relationship between transformational leadership (TFL) and resistance to change (RC).

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 170 surveys were applied to employees in two organizations that had recently implemented a change. Using hierarchical regression and Hayes’ PROCESS macro, both direct and indirect relationships were analyzed.

Findings

The results show that TFL is negatively related to RC. Nevertheless, such a relationship is partially mediated by trust in the leader and moderated by two employee personality traits (openness and neuroticism), both of which strengthen the relationship. Similarly, employee’s openness to experience is negatively related to RC.

Originality/value

This research contributes to understand the relationship between leadership and RC, incorporating both contextual and individual factors, as literature has debated over whether resistant to change obeys to factors surrounding the employees, or within them. While this research contributes to this approach, its contributions extend beyond the leadership–resistance relationship to include indirect (mediation and moderation) relationships. Consideration of the moderating role of the employee’s personality in the effect of the leader’s behavior on the employee’s resistance, for instance, contributes to the development of a theoretical logic that helps to explain the leader–follower interaction and its effect on the follower’s attitudes and behaviors.

Abusive leadership and proactive behaviours: Role of family motivation as a moderator

BACKGROUND: Negative impact of abusive leadership has always been the focus of attention for researchers, however, the asymmetrical relationship of abuse with its outcomes has never been studied. OBJECTIVE: Drawing on Affective Events Theory (AET), this study investigates the moderating role of family motivation (FM), a prosocial intent, in yielding positive behavioural reactions among individuals facing workplace abuse. Negative emotions (NE) are taken as a unique mediating factor between abusive leadership (AL) and proactive behaviours (PB). METHODS: Data were collected from 309 employees of Pakistani manufacturing organizations. SEM is used for studying the proposed relationships and Smart PLS is used for data analysis. RESULTS: Results of the study suggest that negative emotions mediate the indirect relationship between abusive leadership and proactive behaviours. Family motivation strongly moderates and strengthens the positive direct relationship of negative emotions and proactive behaviours, concluding that it has a strong influence in altering behavioural reactions in response to negative triggers. CONCLUSIONS: This research study adds to the body of knowledge in suggesting FM as a strong intrinsic factor to be considered while creating synergy between organizational and human resource strategies.