Group performance as a function of leadership behavior and task structure: Toward an explanatory theory☆

Abstract The need to incorporate task effects in leadership theories has long been recognized, yet few studies are directed toward this endeavor. The present study addresses this need by developing a cognitively based theory specifying the relations among task structure, leadership behavior, and group performance. The theory assumes that a common problem space facilitates group problem solving. Two testable hypotheses are suggested: (1) task structure and the leadership behavior of developing orientation have similar effects on problem space communality and, thus, are inversely related, and (2) the instrumentally of developing orientation is an inverse function of task structure. These hypotheses were examined in a laboratory experiment investigating problem solving behavior on six tasks varying in structure. Findings support the first, but not the second hypothesis. These results led to a more sophisticated performance theory which was supported by a path analysis. The potential moderating effects of other task characteristics were discussed, and several means of dealing with methodological difficulties arising from the interactive effects of task characteristics were suggested.

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