IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pdn/dispap/173.html

A Neo-Configurational Perspective on Implicit Motives and Leadership Effectiveness

Author

Listed:
  • Katharina Agethen

    (Paderborn University & OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts)

  • Sonja K. Ötting

    (OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts)

  • Barbara Steinmann

    (Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and Arts)

Abstract

This study aims to deepen the understanding of motivational drivers that shape leadership effectiveness by adopting a neo-configurational perspective. Drawing on McClelland’s theory of human motivation, we investigate how need for power (nPow), need for achievement (nAch), need for affiliation (nAff), and activity inhibition (AI) combine within leaders to enable two outcomes of leadership effectiveness: leadership satisfaction and career success. Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis on data from 70 leader-follower dyads, we identify multiple alternative motive configurations that contribute to leadership effectiveness. Specifically, two configurations—termed the Bureaucratic (nPow, ~nAch, AI) and the Relaxed Leader (~nPow, nAff, ~AI)—are sufficient for very high leadership satisfaction. For career success, we find three sufficient configurations, each highlighting the presence of either AI, nPow, or nAff which are complemented by the absence (~) of other motives or AI. These results demonstrate that leadership effectiveness is driven by multiple distinct configurations of motives, underscoring the causal complexity inherent in motivation-based leadership effectiveness. In doing so, this study contributes to motivation literature by reframing McClelland’s theory as a neo-configurational theory.

Suggested Citation

  • Katharina Agethen & Sonja K. Ötting & Barbara Steinmann, 2025. "A Neo-Configurational Perspective on Implicit Motives and Leadership Effectiveness," Working Papers Dissertations 173, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:pdn:dispap:173
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://groups.uni-paderborn.de/wp-wiwi/RePEc/pdf/dispap/DP173.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • M54 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Labor Management
    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pdn:dispap:173. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: WP-WiWi-Info (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fwpadde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.