Participative Leadership and Team Learning: A Moderated Mediation Model of Team Reflexivity and Task Complexity

Abstract

Since organisations and their teams operate in increasingly changing environments, it is important to find ways to stimulate team learning, so teams can adapt better to this environment and stay effective. Previous research has suggested that participative leadership may be able to encourage learning behaviors among teams. However, research findings are mixed and studies on the subject scarce. Therefore, this research aimed to study this relationship. Furthermore, research indicated that team reflexivity is key to team learning, and that participative leadership can create an environment that stimulates team reflexivity. This research investigates whether team reflexivity is a mediator in the relationship between participative leadership and team learning. Lastly, the moderating effect on this mediated relationship is studied; previous research has suggested that the relationship between participative leadership and team learning might be stronger for teams working with complex tasks. Results show that participative leadership is indeed related to team learning. Additionally, as hypothesized, team reflexivity partially mediated this relationship. Results also indicated that the relationship between participative leadership and team reflexivity was indeed stronger for higher levels of task complexity. Furthermore, the covariate age appeared to be negatively correlated to team reflexivity for two different age groups, suggesting that both the youngest and oldest team members engage less in reflexive behaviors. The results imply that participative leadership should be encouraged in organizations in order to enhance team learning, especially for teams working with complex tasks. However, special attention needs to be given to the youngest and oldest team members in order to convince them of the importance of team reflexivity; voluntary reflexive behavior should be stimulated. Organizations could encourage reflexive and team learning behaviors by creating rooms for team members to consult each other. Lastly, since team reflexivity was only a partial mediator, future research should focus on possible other mediators such as perceived task interdependence and team commitment.