Leadership as an Emergent Feature in Social Organizations: Insights from A Laboratory Simulation Experiment

Abstract

Recent theoretical contributions have suggested a theory of leadership that is grounded in complexity theory, hence regarding leadership as a complex process (i.e., nonlinear; emergent). This article tests if complexity leadership theory promotes efficiency in work groups. 40 groups of five participants each had to complete four decision making tasks using the city simulation game SimCity4. Before engaging in the four decision making tasks, participants received information regarding what sort of leadership behaviors were more adequate to help them perform better. Results suggest that if complexity leadership theory is applied, groups can achieve higher efficiency over time, when compared with other groups where complexity leadership is not applied. This study goes beyond traditional views of leadership as a centralized form of control, and presents new evidence suggesting that leadership is a collective and emergent phenomenon, anchored in simple rules of behavior.

There Is Light and There Is Darkness: On the Temporal Dynamics of Cohesion, Coordination, and Performance in Business Teams

“…It is as if living-social systems need to alternate between moments of high and low performance in order to secure systems’ sustainability in the long term. This idea finds support in an accumulating body of empirical evidence showing that the dynamics of change in team performance over time have chaotic properties in the sense that change in the level of team performance has sensitiveness to initial conditions and follows a nonlinear trend (e.g., Guastello, 2010; Ramos-Villagrasa, et al, 2012; Guastello et al, 2013; Curral et al, 2016; Ramos-Villagrasa et al, 2018).…”

“…It is the existence of a minimum number of behavioral options that allows tCAS to be effective (Arrow et al, 2000). Interestingly, although high performance is often regarded as the most desirable outcome in the teamwork literature, the minimum entropy principle suggests that some variability in performance is what allows the system to thrive in the face of change and uncertainty (Ramos-Villagrasa et al, 2012; Guastello et al, 2013; Curral et al, 2016). It is as if living-social systems need to alternate between moments of high and low performance in order to secure systems’ sustainability in the long term.…”

Trabalho em equipa em Portugal: Uma década de progresso

“…Esta relação é totalmente explicada pelo desenvolvimento da eficácia coletiva, enquanto mediadora. Um outro estudo feito por Curral et al (2016) procurou testar a aplicação dos princípios da teoria do caos à liderança de equipas -teoria da liderança de complexidade. Segundo esta teoria, as equipas com maiores níveis de eficácia são aquelas, cuja distribuição de papéis e responsabilidades permite maior flexibilidade aos membros da equipa para se reorganizarem em função das exigências da tarefa.…”

“…No âmbito da Psicologia das Organizações, Curral et al (2016) testaram laboratorialmente a teoria da liderança de complexidade (para uma revisão, ver Uhl-Bien et al, 2007). Os resultados deste estudo mostram que, em ambientes onde as equipas têm de processar grandes quantidades de informação para tomar decisões complexas, a forma mais eficiente de liderança é descentralizada e ancorada em regras simples de comportamento.…”

Senso de justiça e comprometimento na decisão em grupo: análise do apoio de método multicritério baseado na teoria dos jogos

“…Haneke e Saddi (1995); Binmore (1999); Camerer (2011); Bianchi e Silva Filho (2001); Leoneti, de Sessa e Marques (2015); Han et al (2015); Curral et al (2016).…”