EFFECTS OF LEADERSHIP-STYLE AND PROBLEM STRUCTURE ON WORK GROUP-PROCESS AND OUTCOMES IN AN ELECTRONIC MEETING SYSTEM ENVIRONMENT

Organizations are increasingly utilizing electronic meeting systems to enhance work group process and outcomes. Because leadership is a key group attribute, it is important to examine how behaviors of leaders i nfluence work groups using electronic meeting systems. Results of a la boratory experiment indicated that (a) Participants made more supporti ve remarks under a consultative form of participative leadership than directive leadership; (b) Participants proposed more solutions and mad e fewer critical remarks for a fairly structured problem than for a mo derately structured problem; (c) Participative leadership was more con ducive to proposal of solutions for a moderately structured problem, w hile directive leadership was more conducive for a fairly structured p roblem; and (d) Frequency of solution proposals in turn affected group productivity and satisfaction. Implications for personnel practitione rs and research on leadership in electronic meeting environments are p resented.