Black-white differences in leader behavior related to subordinates' reactions.

Investigated differences in 4 managerial leadership measures (managerial support, goal emphasis, work facilitation, and interaction facilitation) among 72 Black, 36 White, and 15 Chicano subordinates of 16 Black and 17 White supervisors in 3 industrial plants. The 10 supervisory leadership questions used are part of a larger instrument, the Survey of Organizations. Findings were analyzed to determine whether or not the subordinates' reactions to their supervisors on each managerial leadership measure varied with (a) the race of the supervisor, (b) the race of supervisor and subordinates, and (c) the majority or minority numerical status of subordinates in work groups with supervisor of the same or different race. Results indicate that the behavior of supervisors toward their subordinates is a complex function of (a) the supervisor's own race and role in combination with (b) the race of subordinates and (c) the majority or minority positions of racial groups within the group supervised. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Integration of climate and leadership: Examination of a neglected issue.

The research domains of climate and leadership are implicitly entwined, yet there has been little theoretical development or empirical research directly addressing the linkage between these constructs. In this study we developed a framework integrating interactionist-based climate theory (B. Schneider, 1983) and the vertical dyad linkage theory of leadership (G. Graen, 1976; Graen and J. F. Cashman, 1975). Three propositions derived from the integrative framework were supported. Subordinates with high-quality supervisor relations had more positive climate perceptions, exhibited greater consensus on climate, and had perceptions more similar to those of their supervisors than did subordinates with low-quality relations. The value of a synthesis of the two research domains is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in the appropriateness of supervisory styles: A nonmanagement view.

Three different supervisory styles (directive, rational, or friendly) portrayed by male vs female supervisors were rated by 30 male, average age 27.9 yrs, and 30 female, average age 27.2 yrs, nonmanagement personnel. Ss evaluated the effectiveness of, and their satisfaction with, the various styles portrayed as though they were the subordinates. The directive style was rated least favorably when it is displayed by female supervisors. Results indicate that nonmanagement employees' sex role stereotypes merit further investigation. Also, a contingency view of leadership should take into account that the sex of subordinate and of supervisor jointly suggest the appropriate supervisory style. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Convergent job expectations and ratings of industrial foremen.

A significant positive correlation was hypothesized between evaluations of foremen made by superiors and subordinates and the degree to which foremen share and accurately predict superior-subordinate expectations regarding the foreman's job behavior. The Ss, (8 superiors, 32 foremen, and 377 subordinates) responded to a questionnaire composed of "consideration" and "structure" items yielding "expectation-convergence scores" which were correlated with evaluation measures. In a department providing close face-to-face interaction, a significant proportion of the variance in superior evaluations was accounted for by the hypothesis of expectation convergence. Implications for common personnel practices are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The moderating role of subordinate political skill on supervisors' impressions of subordinate ingratiation and ratings of subordinate interpersonal facilitation.

Nearly 2 decades ago, social influence theorists called for a new stream of research that would investigate why and how influence tactics are effective. The present study proposed that political skill affects the style of execution of influence attempts. It utilized balance theory to explain the moderating effect of employee political skill on the relationships between self- and supervisor-reported ingratiation. Additionally, supervisor reports of subordinate ingratiation were hypothesized to be negatively related to supervisor ratings of subordinate interpersonal facilitation. Results from a combined sample of 2 retail service organizations provided evidence that subordinates with high political skill were less likely than those low in political skill to have their demonstrated ingratiation behavior perceived by targets as a manipulative influence attempt. Also, when subordinates were perceived by their supervisors to engage in more ingratiation behavior, the subordinates were rated lower on interpersonal facilitation. Implications of these findings, limitations, and future research directions are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Servant leadership, procedural justice climate, service climate, employee attitudes, and organizational citizenship behavior: A cross-level investigation.

This study tests the influence of servant leadership on 2 group climates, employee attitudes, and organizational citizenship behavior. Results from a sample of 815 employees and 123 immediate supervisors revealed that commitment to the supervisor, self-efficacy, procedural justice climate, and service climate partially mediated the relationship between servant leadership and organizational citizenship behavior. Cross-level interaction results revealed that procedural justice climate and positive service climate amplified the influence of commitment to the supervisor on organizational citizenship behavior. Implications of these results for theory and practice and directions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Blacks supervising whites: A study of interracial difficulties in working together in a simulated organization.

Investigated interracial difficulties of blacks and whites working together, when blacks are in a supervisory position over whites. 45 groups of male undergraduates were supervised by blacks, and 45 were supervised by whites. In each group, 2 subordinates played a business game with either a black or a white supervisor and were observed by 2 white Os. Results indicate that (a) the performance ratings of black supervisors were significantly poorer than those of white supervisors; (b) subordinates supervised by blacks behaved differently than subordinates supervised by whites, and some of these behaviors appeared to hinder the effectiveness of the black supervisor; and (c) subordinates with negative racial bias gave poorer ratings to black supervisors than subordinates with liberal racial attitudes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-determination in a work organization.

Research testing self-determination theory was discussed in terms of recent work on intrinsic motivation, participative management, and leadership. On three occasions, managers' interpersonal orientations—toward supporting subordinates' self-determination versus controlling their behavior—were related to perceptions, affects, and satisfactions of the subordinates. Data from 23 managers and their subordinates in a major corporation showed that managers' orientations did correlate with the subordinate variables, although the magnitude of the relation varied, seemingly as a function of factors in the corporate climate. An organizational development intervention, focused on the concept of supporting subordinates' self-determination, was provided for the managers. Evaluation of the program showed a clearly positive impact on managers' orientations, though a less conclusive radiation to subordinates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Supervisors and peers as information sources, group supportiveness, and individual decision-making performance.

The use of the supervisor as a source of information for subordinates who are decision makers was investigated with 72 eligibility workers in a county welfare agency. Results show that work group supportiveness was highly associated with frequency of use and value attached by subordinates to supervisors as sources of information. Supportiveness was not related to decision-making performance. Reliance on the superior as an information source was inversely associated with errors. Decision-making performance was better with more frequent use of the supervisor as an information source. A clear pattern was evident: Supportiveness was positively associated with reliance on the supervisor, which in turn was associated with improved performance. These results are consistent with previous studies of organizational communication and individual decision making. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of performance on leadership, cohesiveness, influence, satisfaction, and subsequent performance.

200 management students role played the "Change of Work Procedure" case. Through changes in the foreman's roles, groups were assigned to a high performance, low performance, or control condition. High past performance increased leader supportiveness, interaction facilitation, goal emphasis, and work facilitation behaviors, as well as member influence, group cohesiveness, and satisfaction. Thus, theories of leadership should consider performance as a cause as well as an effect of leader behavior. (24 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An analysis of managers' reactions to their own performance appraisal feedback.

Individuals' reactions to their performance appraisal interviews were examined in two analyses of managers who appraised their subordinates. We hypothesized that managers' reactions toward their own appraisal interview would be influenced by both supervisor satisfaction and favorability of the feedback they received. We also hypothesized that managers' reactions would be affected by system satisfaction (i.e., their attitudes toward the system's ability to document the performance of their subordinates). Questionnaires were administered to managers in eight colleges and universities in one state system. Results indicated that managers distinguished between satisfaction with their own appraisal and its value in improving performance. Appraisal satisfaction was predicted by supervisor satisfaction and the recollection of their rating, but not system satisfaction. In a follow-up analysis, results were confirmed with managers in the original sample. The appraisal's improvement value was associated with supervisor satisfaction, and inversely related with performance rating. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal and interpersonal predictors of supervisors' avoidance of evaluating subordinates.

Supervisors' decisions about whether to formally evaluate their subordinates for each of 2 consecutive performance appraisal periods were found to be related to a linear combination of the following variables: subordinate's time under current supervisor, subordinate's job experience, subordinate–supervisor trust, supervisor's initiating structure behaviors, and subordinate's confidence in the operation of the performance appraisal system. A follow-up analysis, in which the criterion was the consistency with which subordinates were rated in both performance appraisal periods, suggested that relations among the predictors, relative to the criterion, may be quite complex. This complexity may reflect the decision strategy used by raters to combine information on the focal predictors when deciding whether to evaluate a particular subordinate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accounting for Subordinate Perceptions of Supervisor Power: An Identity-Dependence Model.

The authors present a model that explains how subordinates perceive the power of their supervisors and the causal mechanisms by which these perceptions translate into subordinate outcomes. Drawing on identity and resource-dependence theories, the authors propose that supervisors have power over their subordinates when they control resources needed for the subordinates' enactment and maintenance of current and desired identities. The joint effect of perceptions of supervisor power and supervisor intentions to provide such resources leads to 4 conditions ranging from highly functional to highly dysfunctional: confirmation, hope, apathy, and progressive withdrawal. Each of these conditions is associated with specific outcomes such as the quality of the supervisor-subordinate relationship, turnover, and changes in the type and centrality of various subordinate identities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Can Opposites Attract? Personality Heterogeneity in Supervisor-Subordinate Dyads as a Predictor of Subordinate Outcomes.

Unlike the majority of research hypothesizing that similarity between individuals results in positive individual outcomes, this article examines whether dissimilarity results in positive outcomes. On the basis of interpersonal interaction theory, the authors hypothesized that dissimilarity in the personality dimension of control within supervisor-subordinate dyads is positively associated with the subordinate's satisfaction with the supervisor; results obtained with polynomial regression techniques were supportive. However, for 2 other outcomes, organizational citizenship behaviors and work withdrawal, neither similarity nor dissimilarity within the dyad was important; subordinate level of control was related to organizational citizenship behaviors reported by subordinates, and supervisor level of control was related to work withdrawal reported by subordinates. These findings portray the importance of examining relationship complexities beyond similarity in organizational dyad research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Transformational leadership and moral reasoning.

Terms such as moral and ethical leadership are used widely in theory, yet little systematic research has related a sociomoral dimension to leadership in organizations. This study investigated whether managers' moral reasoning (n=132) was associated with the transformational and transactional leadership behaviors they exhibited as perceived by their subordinates (n=407). Managers completed the Defining Issues Test (J. R. Rest, 1990), whereas their subordinates completed the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (B. M. Bass & B. J. Avolio, 1995). Analysis of covariance indicated that managers scoring in the highest group of the moral-reasoning distribution exhibited more transformational leadership behaviors than leaders scoring in the lowest group. As expected, there was no relationship between moral-reasoning group and transactional leadership behaviors. Implications for leadership development are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The use of ultrasound biomicroscopy following trabeculectomy

In the current milieu of monumental change in medicine and the health sciences, effective leadership is needed from within the health care profession to address various challenges. A leader needs to be visionary, and must possess the ability to share this vision with others through effective communication. The leader should be fair, trustworthy, sincere, truthful, honest, courageous, and compassionate. He or she should be strong and resolute and be able to lead through persuasion rather than coercion. The leader should possess the attributes and skills to mold organizational change in the desired direction and to deal with reactions of individuals going through the change process. The democratic style of leadership appears to be the most effective, although the autocratic style may be needed occasionally to accomplish a specific task. The noncentered, laissez-faire style of leadership is generally not effective and results in significant frustration among subordinates. The most desirable type of power a leader can exercise over subordinates results from deep trust and effective communication, which make people follow the leader willingly. The health care profession needs to solicit the help of experienced members who have shown leadership to help guide various activities and to serve as mentors for the less experienced individuals. Special courses should be designed and implemented to develop specific leadership skills, which are applicable to various health care disciplines. Practical teaching models, including individuals from various disciplines working together in teams, with opportunities for leadership, should be implemented. Also, an appropriate culture that recognizes and rewards effective leadership in academe needs to be established within academic institutions.     

Leadership opinions as forecasts of supervisory success.

"The Leadership Opinion Questionnaire was administered to supervisors of a firm noted for its emphasis on progressive personnel relations and interest in the welfare of the individual employee. A correlation of .29 was found between the extent to which a supervisor believed he ought to be considerate of his subordinates and the extent to which he was rated a successful supervisor by his superiors two years later. No consistent relation was found between favoring Initiation of Structure and rated success." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Organizational citizenship behavior: Comparing perspectives of supervisors and subordinates across four international samples.

A total of 431 independent supervisor and subordinate dyads from the United States, Australia, Japan, and Hong Kong evaluated the perceived job role boundary of the subordinates. Participants rated the degree to which they agreed that the behavior described in the organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) scale developed by P. M. Podsakoff, S. B. MacKenzie, R. H. Moorman, and R. Fetter (see record 1993-03684-001) was an expected part of the subordinate's job. Each supervisor was paired with only one subordinate, and all participants held the same jobs in the same company but with branches in these 4 nations. The scale used was found to have conceptual equivalence across all subsamples. Results indicated that supervisors had broader definitions of job roles than subordinates. Participants from Hong Kong and Japan were also more likely to regard some categories of OCB as an expected part of the job than were participants from the United States and Australia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)