When Discretionary Boundary Spanning Relationships Cease Becoming Discretionary: The Impact of Closed Ties on Informal Leadership Perceptions

• 成果类型: Article; Early Access
• 署名作者: Guo, Zhiya (Alice); Heidl, Ralph A.; Hollenbeck, John R.; Yu, Andrew; Howe, Michael
• 署名单位: Michigan State University; Michigan State University's Broad College of Business; University of Oregon; University of Melbourne; Iowa State University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-9010
• DOI: 10.1037/apl0000911
• 发表日期: 2021
• 关键词: Simmelian Tie Theory; discretionary boundary spanning; informal leadership; inter-unit coordination

摘要

Organizations have recognized that effective informal leadership is a source of competitive advantage and invest heavily in leadership development efforts. Moreover, because of historical shifts in the nature of work, this informal leadership often takes the form of inter-unit boundary spanning. Because of these two developments, discretionary boundary spanning (DBS) between units has increasingly become a critical, dynamic, bottom-up activity where individuals lacking formal authority step up and take on informal leadership responsibilities. In this study, we draw upon Simmelian Tie Theory (STT) to examine the relationship between different types of DBS and formal leaders' perceptions of a subordinate's informal leadership and performance. We empirically document that a small number of closed task-oriented and closed friendship-oriented DBSs are instrumental in helping individuals demonstrate informal leadership. However, we also show that DBS places constraints on informal leadership when closed ties become too numerous. This results in an inverted-U relationship between the number of closed DBS ties and perceptions of leadership where the apex (i.e., point of over-embeddedness) emerges at a smaller number for friendship-oriented DBS relative to the apex for task-oriented DBSs. We discuss the theoretical implications of these results, as well as the practical implications for managers of organizations.