Is Paternalistic Leadership a Double-Edged Sword for Team Performance? The Mediation of Team Identification and Emotional Exhaustion

Abstract

Drawing on social identity theory and the conservation of resources theory, this study proposes a research framework to reconcile the arguments in previous findings regarding how paternalistic leadership affects team performance. Data from team workers with a variety of professional expertise and skills across 66 high-tech teams in Taiwan were analyzed. The empirical results of this study demonstrate authoritarianism as a double-edged sword for team performance in which authoritarianism positively relates to team performance through team identification but negatively relates to team performance through emotional exhaustion. At the same time, morality positively relates to team performance through team identification, whereas benevolence positively relates to team performance through emotional exhaustion. Based on the findings, theoretical implications, managerial implications, and research limitations are discussed.