The effect of product and process complexity on participative leadership style

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of process and product complexity on participative leadership style (i.e. perceptions of the primary decision maker in a resource allocation decision. Data from a descriptive judgment task provide evidence that product and process complexity operate as antecedents to choosing differential participative leadership decision styles. Analysis uses the Vroom Jago model (1988) to show that situations characterized by high (low) process complexity provide an increased (decreased) incentive to employ participative leadership styles. However, situations characterized by high (low) product complexity do not appear to significantly affect choices regarding participative leadership style.