| Shared leadership is a concept that has only recently emerged in the organizational literature and for which varied definitions exist. This study was designed with two goals in mind. First, it attempted to reconcile the varied definitions of shared leadership by proposing and testing an integrated model. In addition this study explored the relationship between vertical leadership, shared leadership, team learning orientation and team effectiveness.;Participants in the study were 520 members of 51 cross-functional New Product Development (NPD) teams in a large defense contracting organization. The ability of NPD teams to leverage the expertise of a variety of members has resulted in an increased use of NPD teams in the organizational setting. In fact, they are now the preferred method for organizing to develop new products or services.;The nature of NPD teams, however, poses challenges particularly with regard to leadership. In addition, because the nature of their work is fundamentally novel or exploratory, the need of NPD teams to balance learning with performance is critical. To provide insight into these challenges, this study employed structural equation modeling techniques to explore hypothesized casual models at both the individual and group levels of analysis.;Four surveys were used to measure the identified constructs: The Leadership Profile (TLP), Team Distributed Influence Assessment (TDIA), a modified version of the Organizational Action Survey (OAS) and the Team Effectiveness Survey (TES). While goodness-of-fit statistics tentatively confirmed a complex Full-LV model at the individual level of analysis, results failed to confirm a less complex path model at the group level. However, this study displayed evidence of significant relationships between shared leadership and the phenomena of vertical leadership, team learning orientation, and team effectiveness. While the relationship between shared learning and team learning orientation was unclear, this study did take the first step toward greater understanding.;In summary, through an examination of shared leadership in the team setting, this study provided greater insight into the nature of this construct. In addition, it took steps toward understanding the relationship between vertical leadership, shared leadership, team learning orientation and team effectiveness. |
