Age-based Faultlines and Perceived Productive Energy : The Moderation of Transformational Leadership
Journal
Small Group Research
ISSN
1046-4964
ISSN-Digital
1552-8278
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2010-08-18
Author(s)
Abstract
This paper addresses the role of age-based faultlines in relation to the perceived productive energy of work teams, and transformational leadership as a potential moderator of this relationship. Based on social identity and social categorization theory teams that have strong age-based faultline, defined as age subgroup formation that is reinforced by internal alignment with other demographic characteristics (tenure and sex ) should show a lower level of perceived productive energy than do teams that have weak faultlines. In teams with high levels of perceived transformational leadership, this effect should be reversed. Study hypotheses were tested on a sample of 664 individuals in 72 teams from a multinational company. Results showed a marginally significant negative relationship between age-based faultlines and teams' productive energy, while the moderation effect of transformational leadership was found to be significant. These results point toward transformational leadership as a promising strategy for overcoming the negative effects of age-based faultlines in team settings.
Language
English
Keywords
Faultlines
transformational leadership
productive energy
moderation
demographic change
team
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Sage Publishing
Publisher place
London UK
Volume
41
Number
5
Start page
593
End page
620
Pages
28
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
59853