How Empowerment Congruence Impacts Performance in Cross-Functional Project Teams: A Polynomial Regression Analysis

This study deduces the empowerment alignment in project governance through examining the roles of (in)congruence between empowering leadership and psychological empowerment in informal leadership emergence, creativity, and performance outcomes. Using the data from 210 members from 69 cross-functional project teams, the results of polynomial regression and response surface analyses indicate that the high congruence between empowering leadership and perceived empowerment enhances informal leadership emergence, then promotes creativity to facilitate performance outcomes eventually. Informal leadership emerged under the insufficient empowerment condition with higher psychological empowerment rather than the excessive empowerment condition with higher empowering leadership. The study added to the project governance body of knowledge by confirming the promoting mechanism for project performance from the congruence perspective of leader-given and subordinate-perceived empowerment.