Participative leadership and unit performance: evidence for intermediate linkages

This study aims to examine the intermediate links and boundary conditions between unit-level participative leadership and unit-level unit performance. The study collects multiple resource data from 174 units in 75 high, medium, and low technology firms. In particular, unit-level co-worker knowledge sharing is found to partially mediate the relationship between unit-level participative leadership and unit-level performance. Unit-level absorptive capacity also positively moderates the positive relationship between unit-level participative leadership and unit-level co-worker knowledge sharing, as well as positively moderating the concept that unit-level co-worker knowledge sharing mediates the positive relationship between unit-level participative leadership and unit-level performance. The theoretical contributions of this study are in its attempts to use organisational learning theory to comprehensively understand the intermediate links and boundary conditions between participative leadership and performance. This study has two practical implications: 1) human resources practitioners in each firm should arrange specific educational trainings for each unit; and 2) firms should establish a knowledge exchange platform for every unit.