When is authoritarian leadership appropriate

One aspect good leadership is being prepared to listen to feedback from those you are in charge of, even if you choose to ignore it. Being seen to listen makes staff feel that their views are important and of potential value to your company. It shows that you have the maturity to understand that you do not hold the answer to every business challenge your company is facing, and that sometimes workers on the shop-floor have valuable insights into how improvements can be made.

Lewin identified other leadership styles that you might find more suitable for certain situations. It is wise to be flexible in your approach to achieving your goals in the most effective way and so leading your workforce in a more participatory and democratic manner might produce better results.

This approach works well in situations where every team member has an independent and valued contribution to make in achieving goals. Any form of change brings both achievement and crisis. For example, when the decision-making process is centralized coercion, employees believe their leaders have made sensible and correct decisions. Authoritarian leaders with high levels of expertise may lead employees to success in organizational change, consequently satisfying the needs of subordinates.

Because employees in emerging markets place great importance on monetary rewards, they are willing to participate in the exchange with their capable supervisors for purely economic reasons Blau, ; Du and Choi, ; Yoshikawa et al.

Thus, the final hypothesis is proposed:. Hypothesis 3. The present data were collected from supervisors enrolled on a training program in a Chinese university.

Supervisors who had engaged in implementing organizational change e. To protect the confidentiality of responses, each respondent received an envelope to seal the completed questionnaire. Records with unsealed and broken-seal envelopes, unmatched supervisor—subordinate pairs, less than 1 year of company tenure, and groups with fewer than three members were eliminated Du and Choi, This screening procedure resulted in a final analysis sample of employees from 39 work teams.

This sample consisted of The average organizational tenure was 3. The empirical distinctiveness of the study variables, i. The CFA results are shown in Table 1. The means, standard deviations, and inter-scale correlations for all study variables are reported in Table 2.

Table 1. Therefore, a multilevel analytic approach was employed [hierarchical linear modeling HLM , Raudenbush and Bryk, ] that considered shared variance among employees from the same team as well as non-independence of employee ratings offered by the team leader. The group mean centering method was adopted for both independent variables and moderators Du and Choi, Thus, Hypothesis 1 is supported. This hypothesis was tested in Model 2 in Table 2.

The significant interaction was plotted by simple slope analysis Aiken and West, This pattern confirms Hypothesis 2. These results demonstrate that employees with high cognitive trust in the leader showed less negative reactions to authoritarian leadership, confirming Hypothesis 3.

The results of the model integrating authoritarian leadership, perceived job mobility, cognitive trust in the leader, and the interaction terms between these factors see Model 4 in Table 2 supported all hypotheses. This study involved the HLM analysis of employees from 39 work teams in China.

Based on intrinsic motivation theory, researchers have identified the negative influence of authoritarian leadership on employee outputs in the workplace Zhang et al. However, practitioners in emerging markets continue to rely on authoritarian leadership with varying levels of success Pellegrini and Scandura, ; Shen et al.

Drawing from exchange theory Blau, , this study demonstrated that the positive relationship between authoritarian leadership and employee active support for organizational change support is possible. Followers would likely to follow their authoritarian leaders to obtain the valuable job security and financial rewards. Recent studies indeed found various influences of authoritarian leadership utilizing different theoretical explanations.

Bodla et al. Using supervisor—subordinate dyads data, they indeed found that authoritarian leadership is positively associated with employee performance and learning goal orientation mediates this relationship Wang and Guan, Future research should shed light more on the effectiveness of authoritarian leadership using various theories. The present study focused on both leader-centered and follower-centered perspectives. Regarding leader-centered perspective, this study proposes that cognitive trust to leaders is the general willing-to situation under which the negative authoritarian leadership effectiveness was diminished.

The expertise of a supervisor can breed cognitive trust in the leader among subordinates, thus compensating for the shortcomings of authoritarianism by providing a promising future. This mechanism may not only apply to authoritarian leadership but may also act as a functional situational condition for other styles of leadership, such as abusive leadership Tu et al.

In terms of follower-centered perspective, the present study considers perceived job mobility as a have-to situation under which authoritarian leadership would like to positively influence followers. Exchange theory has generally been viewed voluntarily e. The have-to situation indicates that leadership effectiveness is likely to be constrained by follower work environment as well, besides the favorable leader—member relationship. Thus, in addition to voluntary exchanges with supervisors, there are situations in which subordinates are compelled to show exchange behaviors Trevor, ; Wheeler et al.

These findings reveal a new research field of non-spontaneous or non-voluntary exchange behaviors in have-to situations in relation to leadership effectiveness. Power distance and leader benevolence may enhance the acceptance of authoritarian leadership in emerging markets Farh et al. The present study proposes perceived job mobility as an additional explanation of the greater prevalence of authoritarian leadership in emerging markets. However, it is important to note that emerging markets are becoming more efficient, resulting in a narrowing range of applications of authoritarianism.

Therefore, we see more leadership transferring from authoritarianism to transformational style. Our findings suggest that expertise and work competence are critical for effective leaders. Scholars indeed have identified the three leadership skills including conceptual skills, technical skills, and human skills Harrison et al.

Employees high in cognitive trust are more likely to follow their leaders because of the greater possibility of success and rewards. This study has several limitations that should be considered in interpreting its findings. First, the sample included only employees from 39 work teams in China, which may limit the generalizability of the results to other cultural contexts Harms et al.

Replicating the present investigation in different cultures and work settings with larger samples and pursuing further validation of the present findings would be worthwhile.

Second, the present study utilized cross-sectional data and thus failed to support definite conclusions about causation or rule out the possibility of reverse causation. Employee displays of willingness or compliance may reinforce the representation of the authoritarianism of their leaders.

Future research should use a longitudinal research design to evaluate the issue of causation. The result? Impasse, suboptimal deals, or retaliation by the less powerful.

They are less prepared. The key to negotiation success is preparation, yet powerful negotiators often tend to undervalue the need to thoroughly prepare to negotiate, according to Tenbrunsel. The powerful, including authoritarians, may also end up being out-strategized by counterparts who spent more time preparing to negotiate.

They fail to anticipate a backlash. Power can trigger resentment, jealousy, and competitiveness in those with less power. As a result, parties with less power are likely to approach negotiations with more powerful parties more aggressively than they would negotiations with less powerful parties.

But the powerful are often unaware that they tend to inspire animosity, Tenbrunsel and Messick found in their research; in fact, the more powerful people are, the more trustworthy they expect others to be. Yet those with an authoritarian leadership style are unlikely to take the time needed to build trust with negotiating partners. As a result, they could find that their counterparts are less trustworthy than they expected them to be. For these reasons and others, an authoritarian leadership style is typically antithetical to effective negotiation.

The respondents were assured of confidentiality and that nobody else in their teams would have access to their individual responses. To maximize the response rate, managers were contacted through a follow-up phone call or email 2 weeks after the initial distribution of the survey.

Out of distributed questionnaires 40 to supervisors and to subordinates , questionnaires representing supervisor-subordinate dyads were returned, giving a response rate of These omissions resulted in a usable sample of supervisor-subordinate dyads. In the employee sample, Except for the items on authoritarian leadership, all the measures used in this study were adopted from English literature.

In accordance with Brislin et al. Next, the primary researcher and another researcher with human resource management experience in the Chinese workplace both checked the translation for accuracy, identified problematic areas, and improved the translation through an iterative process.

Finally, the translation was validated by a Ph. To measure authoritarian leadership, we used nine-item scale developed by Cheng et al. Learning goal orientation was assessed using nine items scale developed by VandeWalle We measured power distance using a six-item measure developed by Dorfman and Howell for use in Taiwan. The team managers were asked to provide a performance rating for each individual employee. We used three items from a scale developed by Heilman et al.

Prior research has found that demographic variables gender and age may influence employee performance Shore et al.

In addition, we controlled for leader-member exchange as it has shown a positive relationship with employee performance Dulebohn et al. Leader-member exchange was measured using seven items scale developed by Scandura and Graen We conducted confirmatory factor analyses CFA in Mplus 7 to test the distinctiveness of the variables included in the study: authoritarian leadership, learning goal orientation, power distance, and employee performance.

Against this baseline model, we test three alternative models: a three-factor model combining authoritarian leadership and learning goal orientation into one factor; a two-factor model combining authoritarian leadership, learning goal orientation, and power distance into one factor; and a single-factor model combining all four variables into one factor.

Thus, we retained the hypothesized four-factor model for our analyses. Then, we tested for common method variance CMV with a CFA model wherein all the items loaded on the respective factors and a common method factor Podsakoff et al. Also, based on the work of Williams et al. This method uses a marker variable that is theoretically unrelated to the substantive variables in the proposed model to test the CMV. We selected hindrance stressor Cavanaugh et al. Therefore, there is no severe CMV in our study.

To test the main and mediation effects, we used the path analysis model conducted in Mplus 7, which estimate both the path coefficients and the indirect effects with bootstrapping. These findings support Hypotheses 1 and 2. Model results. Hypothesis 3 proposes the moderating effect of power distance on the relationship between authoritarian leadership and learning goal orientation.

We examined this hypothesis by adding an interaction term of authoritarian leadership and power distance into the model predicting learning goal orientation. To further interpret the nature of this significant interaction, we plotted the relationship between authoritarian leadership and learning goal orientation at 1 SD above and below the mean of the moderator Aiken and West, Furthermore, we examined whether power distance moderated the indirect effect of authoritarian leadership on employee performance through learning goal orientation.

Therefore, the results are consistent with Hypothesis 3. Interaction between authoritarian leadership and power distance on learning goal orientation. The primary goal of our research is to examine how, why, and under what condition authoritarian leadership may exert a positive effect on employee performance.

In particular, we proposed and tested the mediating role of learning goal orientation on the relationship between authoritarian leadership and employee performance.

We then examined the moderating effect of individual power distance on the impact of authoritarian leadership on learning goal orientation. Authoritarian leadership is widely considered as the exemplar of detrimental leadership behaviors.

Previous studies of authoritarian leadership have primarily emphasized and highlighted its negative features Chan et al.

However, recent studies have started to explore the potential positive influence of authoritarian leadership Huang et al. Our study attempted to address the lack of consensus on whether authoritarian leadership is beneficial for or detrimental to employee performance. Our findings indicate that authoritarian leadership is positively related to employee performance Hypothesis 1.

This result is consistent with previous research findings and the argument that employees in Chinese organizations may consider authoritarian leadership behavior to be the norm and show greater tolerance for this type of leadership behavior Cheng et al.

In addition, despite theoretical arguments that authoritarian leadership may promote positive outcomes Cheng et al. In this respect, our study offers a fresh insight into the performance implications of authoritarian leadership and contributes to authoritarian leadership research.

Prior research has generally examined the effect of leadership e. This study extends the scope of this approach and suggests that learning goal orientation plays a mediating role in the relationship between authoritarian leadership and employee performance. Building on goal setting theory, we argued that employees would be motivated to enhance their competence and performance under the specific and difficult goals offered by authoritarian leaders. Third, our findings indicate that the positive relationship between authoritarian leadership and learning goal orientation is enhanced when employees hold higher levels of power distance and mitigated when they hold lower levels.

Consistent with the work of Schaubroeck et al. Individual power distance has great implications for the ways in which authoritarian leaders are evaluated by employees. Employees with higher power distance are inclined to consider authoritarianism as reasonable and, therefore, more favorably interpret of authoritarian leadership behavior. Our work, thus, provides further evidence of the favorable role of power distance in the process of authoritarian leaders exerting influence on employees, and develops our understanding of the complex effects of authoritarianism.

Our research also has several managerial implications. Although some studies have shown negative effects on employees who experience authoritarian leadership, managers need to be aware that authoritarian leadership may also motivate employees to enhance their performance; this is particularly the case in Chinese organizations.

Indeed, some scholars have already suggested the positive effect of authoritarian leadership on firm performance when firms operate in resource—scarce environments Huang et al. Leaders who focus on discipline and rules may motivate their subordinates to enhance their abilities and performance in Chinese organizations. We also found that the association between authoritarian leadership and employee outcomes may vary depending on individual power distance.

For employees higher in power distance, authoritarian leadership could exert a more positive effect on employee performance; however, for individuals lower in power distance, the positive effect may be weaker. Despite some notable contributions, this study has several limitations that indicate future research avenues. First, we used a Chinese sample, which might limit the generalizability of the research findings to other cultural contexts Pellegrini and Scandura, Therefore, it would be valuable for future studies to verify our findings in different cultural contexts.

Second, results based on the technology company employees we surveyed may not be generalizable to other work settings. Some research showed that specific conditions such as uncertainties Rast et al. Thus, it is worthwhile for future research to extend the current analysis to other types of industries e.

Third, our research used a cross-sectional design and self-reported individual-level measurements of the independent, mediating, and moderating variables. However, future research could use longitudinal designs to examine the causal relationships and further reduce the possible influence of CMV. In addition to these limitations, we also suggest some new directions for future research.

First, future studies could build on our work by further exploring how authoritarian leadership affects other employee outcomes. For example, it would be interesting to investigate whether authoritarian leadership could benefit employees through enhancing their job focus and work engagement.

Second, while we test the mediating role of learning goal orientation in the process of authoritarian leadership affecting employee outcomes, future study could expand the range of potential mediators to consider other self-related constructs, such as core self-evaluation Kacmar et al. Based on social identity theory, recent study has already examined the mediating role of perceived insider status between authoritarian leadership and employee outcomes Schaubroeck et al.

Third, we have made assumptions about the moderating role of individual power distance.