An Exploratory Investigation of the Relationship between Leaders' Characteristics and Dimensions of Work Groups

1987 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 839-846
Author(s):  
Edward J. Inderrieden
Keyword(s):  
Work Groups ◽  
Work Group ◽  
Personality Characteristics ◽  
Exploratory Investigation ◽  
Structural Dimensions ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Group Characteristics

To study the relationship between personality characteristics of work-group managers and aspects of the work-group including task, contextual and structural dimensions, work groups from three organizations were investigated. Results indicate that personality characteristics of the managers were most strongly related to those work-group characteristics assessing work responsibilities. Implications for further research in leadership are discussed.

The Friendship Group as a Protective Environment for Political Deviants

1974 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 607-625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ada W. Finifter
Keyword(s):  
Work Groups ◽  
Work Group ◽  
Party Identification ◽  
Affiliative Behavior ◽  
Critical Function ◽  
Protective Function ◽  
Friendship Group ◽  
Social Insecurity ◽  
Protective Environment ◽  
The Relationship

This is a study of the relationship between partisan preference and social integration in natural work groups in several automobile plants. The basic finding is that the number of work group friends increases from the Democratic to the Republican end of a standard party identification scale. Since the political context of the study sample is heavily Democratic, attention is focused on the fact that Republicans in this environment are political deviants. It is suggested that friendship integration is a function of perceived deviance in that deviating from group norms leads to social insecurity, cognitive dissonance, and a need for opinion evaluation, all of which motivate affiliative behavior. Several hypotheses are deduced from this proposition. The first is that Republicans have less political contact in nonwork contexts, but more in the work group, than Democrats do. Second, the relationship between partisanship and friendship integration should be greater for members of social groups in which the pro-Democratic norm is stronger than for those in which this norm is weaker. Third, strength of identification with the norm-bearing group ought to be positively related to friendship integration among deviants, since identification would make the group's norms more salient and increase the deviant's discomfort. Fourth, political deviants should tend to choose each other as friends to a greater extent than political conformers do. Finally, since friendship alliances apparently serve a protective function for political deviants, it is hypothesized that among deviants (but not among conformers), friendship integration should be related to political participation. All the hypotheses are supported. The results are interpreted in terms of the critical function of social support for political deviants in pluralist societies. Since pressures for conformity are strong, it is important to understand the ways in which minorities deal with them. Friendships in work groups, ostensibly nonpolitical, therefore have important political functions.

The moderating effects of status and trust on the performance of age-diverse work groups

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cara-Lynn Scheuer ◽  
Catherine Loughlin
Keyword(s):  
Group Performance ◽  
Work Groups ◽  
Work Group ◽  
Moderating Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Age Diversity ◽  
The One ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Status Differences ◽  
Work Group Performance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to help organizations capitalize on the potential advantages of age diversity by offering insight into two new moderators in the age diversity, work group performance relationship – status congruity and cognition-based trust.Design/methodology/approachThe authors surveyed 197 employees and 56 supervisors across 59 work groups to test for the moderating effects of status congruity and cognition-based trust on the age diversity, work group performance relationship.FindingsThe results demonstrated, on the one hand, that under conditions of status congruity (i.e. when there were high levels of perceived status legitimacy and veridicality) and/or when perceptions of cognition-based trust were high within the group, the relationship between age diversity and work group performance was positive. On the other hand, under conditions of status incongruity and/or low levels of cognition-based trust, this relationship was negative.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings contribute to the literature by being the first to provide empirical evidence for the theorized effects of status on the performance of age-diverse work groups and also by demonstrating the effects of cognition-based trust in a new context – age-diverse work groups.Practical implicationsArising from the study’s findings are several strategies, which are expected to help organizations enhance perceptions of status congruity and/or trust and ultimately the performance of their age-diverse work groups.Originality/valueThe paper is the first to empirically demonstrate the moderating effects of status congruity and cognition-based trust on the age diversity, work group performance relationship. The study also establishes important distinctions between the effects of objective status differences vs status perceptions.

Seizing the benefits of age diversity: could empowering leadership be the answer?

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 495-515
Author(s):  
Cara-Lynn Scheuer ◽  
Catherine Loughlin
Keyword(s):  
Transformational Leadership ◽  
Group Performance ◽  
Work Groups ◽  
Work Group ◽  
Empowering Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Age Diversity ◽  
Indirect Relationship ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeAcknowledging that only examining the main effects of diversity may be limiting, the authors explore integrating van Knippenberg et al.'s (2004) categorization–elaboration model (CEM) of workgroup diversity as a linchpin in the relationship between empowering leadership and performance in age-diverse work groups. While prior research has focused almost exclusively on the impact of transformational leadership in diverse contexts, few studies have found the positive effects of transformational leadership to be diminished in certain age-diverse contexts. Consequently, the authors investigate whether empowering leadership may be a better approach in this context due to its emphasis on accommodating and participative behaviors.Design/methodology/approachUsing survey data gathered from work group members across a wide array of industries (N = 214), the authors test for the moderating effects of empowering leadership on the relationship between age diversity and work group performance and its indirect relationship via information elaboration (while controlling for transformational leadership).FindingsEmpowering leadership positively moderated the direct relationship between age diversity and work group performance and the indirect relationship via information elaboration, whereas transformational leadership had the opposite effect. “Coaching” and “showing concern/interacting with the team” drove the positive effects of empowering leadership, and “personal recognition” and “intellectual stimulation” predicted the negative effects of transformational leadership.Practical implicationsThis research offers insights into how managers can lead age-diverse work groups more effectively (i.e. by utilizing an empowering as opposed to a transformational leadership approach, with a particular emphasis on “coaching” and “showing concern/interacting with the team” behaviors).Originality/valueThe study identifies an “alternative” moderating contingency to the age diversity–performance relationship (empowering leadership).

Impact of highly and less job-related diversity on work group cohesion and performance: a meta-analysis

2001 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheila Simsarian Webber ◽  
Lisa M. Donahue
Keyword(s):  
Work Groups ◽  
Work Group ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Group Cohesion ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Different Types ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Performance Results ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

A meta-analysis of the data from empirical investigations of diversity in work groups was used to examine the impact of two types of diversity attributes, highly job-related and less job-related, on work group cohesion and performance. This distinction was used to test the proposition that different types of diversity will differentially impact work group cohesion and performance. In addition, type of team was examined as a possible moderator of the relationship between diversity and performance. Results showed that neither type of diversity had a relationship with cohesion or performance. Explanations and directions for future research are offered.

The contamination of trauma. Traumatized minds, broken families and dysfunctional work groups: Organizational and interpersonal dynamics in complex child welfare court proceedings

2021 ◽  
pp. 053331642110150
Author(s):  
Stuart Stevenson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Work Groups ◽  
Work Group ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Organizational Dynamics ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
History Of ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Court Proceedings

Professional work groups engaging with traumatized and dysfunctional families are presented with a disproportionate challenge to an already inevitably painful process that can be an obstacle to balanced decision-making in the children’s best interests. Trauma, abuse and neglect can influence the professional culture that condenses around these families. This occurs more often with the most challenging families with a possible history of professional failure resulting in professional conflict, impulsive and poor decision-making due to the occasions that these destructive dynamics have become unmanageable. Serious case reviews into the deaths of children regularly outline professional failures relating to a breakdown in communication within the professional system and essential and potential lifesaving information having been lost or failing to have been acted upon. The ability to understand complex group and organizational dynamics and the ability to manage relationships with traumatized adults and children, as well as within traumatized work groups is, therefore, an essential skill set for professionals working with the most vulnerable children and families. This article explores trauma and its impact on a work group and why this process was disturbed by uncontained anxiety resulting in professional conflict.

Client-Clinician Relationships and Concomitant Factors in Stuttering Therapy

1966 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene B. Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Therapeutic Relationship ◽  
Graduate Student ◽  
Adult Male ◽  
Personality Characteristics ◽  
Young Adult Male ◽  
Concomitant Factors ◽  
Client Progress ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
As If

Interrelationships among client progress in stuttering therapy, the nature of the affect interchange between client and clinician, and certain personality characteristics of both client and clinician were studied. Sixteen young adult male stutterers and their 11 graduate student clinicians served as subjects. Results support observations that the clinicians' and clients' personalities are significant variables in the stuttering therapy situation, support observations that important similarities exist between stuttering therapy and psychotherapy, and suggest that it is more accurate to note stages in the therapeutic relationship, rather than to characterize the relationship as if it were the same throughout therapy.

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