Do you see what we see? The complex effects of perceptual distance between leaders and teams
Article Type: Abstracts From: Development and Learning in Organizations, Volume 23, Issue 5
Gibson C.B., Cooper C.D., Conger J.A. Journal of Applied Psychology (USA), January 2009, Vol. 94 No. 1, Start page: 62, No. of pages: 15
Purpose – Ascertains how team performance is affected by leader-team perceptual distance. Design/methodology/approach – Draws attention to how team members and team leaders opinions sometimes are not in agreement leading to organizational conflict. Applying the concept of leader-team personal distance(differences between a leader and a team in perceptions of the same social stimulus) and drawing on Zaccaro’s (2001) team leadership model, proposes an integrative theoretical framework to study this issue. Outlines a number of hypotheses proposing how leader-team’s perceptions of goal accomplishment,constructive conflict and decision-making autonomy will affect team performance. Tests these on data collected from teams working at five pharmaceutical and medical products companies. Findings – Reports how leader-team perceptual distance has a greater predictive capacity that did within-team perceptual distance; puts forward how leader-team perceptual distance resulted in effects for goal accomplishment and constructive conflict, while within-team perceptual distance among members failed to demonstrate any significant effects for any of the three phenomena. Research limitations/implications – Sample restricted to two industries; study a wide range of industry settings. Originality/value– Focuses on the role that perceptions play for teams.Article type:Research paper ISSN: 0021-9010 Reference: 38AH106
Keywords: Group dynamics, Leadership, Team management, Team performance, Teamwork
