In the late 1970s, leadership researchers Steven Kerr and John M. Jermier suggested that certain organizational characteristics could substitute for leadership. Recently, Eva et al. (2021) built on the idea of substitutes for leadership by exploring whether organizational structure components of formalization and centralization moderate the effects of servant leadership on follower job satisfaction. Their findings suggest that servant leadership behaviors will have a greater effect on followers in organizations with lower levels of organizational structure. More specifically, they found that formalization tends to serve as a substitute for servant leadership while centralization tends to neutralize the influence of servant leadership. These findings suggest that the popular servant-leadership approach will be most effective in organic organizations with less formalization and decentralized organizational structures.
400 – 600 Words
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Questions to Answer
- 1. How do the concepts of formalization and centralization in organizational structure influence the effectiveness of servant leadership in improving employee job satisfaction?
- 2. Consider the interaction between elements of organizational structure and discuss their potential to act as substitutes or neutralizers for servant leadership.
- 3. Based on Eva et al. (2021), what are the implications for organizations that operate with high levels of formalization and centralization in their structure? Discuss how these organizations can still leverage servant leadership to enhance job satisfaction among their employees despite the structural constraints.