Leadership, group behavior, and density of instrumental ties in organizational groups

This article introduces a model of the development of social network structures inside organizational groups. We provide a theoretical framework and empirically test a series of hypotheses pertaining to the relationships between socialized charismatic leadership (SCL) and its consequences in terms of group norms. We then examine whether norms predict the density of instrumental ties inside groups and, consequently, their performance. Our findings, based on assessments of 70 leaders that included data from over 500 of their subordinates, colleagues, and supervisors, show that SCL is associated with heightened norms of cooperation and reduced norms of enforcement in formal groups. Norms of cooperation, in turn, were associated with group density of instrumental ties. Our findings also demonstrate that when groups are characterized by more face-to-face work arrangements, group density of instrumental ties is associated with group performance. The study contributes to an understanding of the consequences of group social psychological processes on the development of instrumental social networks inside formal organizational groups. Specifically, the investigated framework examines the processes of leadership and norm development to understand the genesis of group social networks.