The article under analysis is “Charismatic leadership, change, and innovation in an R&D organization” by Paulsen, Maldonado, Callan, and Ayoko. It is a presentation of the investigation which goal is to discover the impact that the charismatic dimension of transformational leadership has on team processes and innovative results in research and development (R&D) organizations. The problem of research is to examine the influence of a team leader on its interaction in the context of an R&D organization. It is a quantitative research that is based on data obtained through a survey conducted among the staff members of a division in an R&D organization. The data were analyzed with the use of descriptive statistics and correlations. The major findings include the proof of the significance of managers with charismatic leadership style for innovation encouragement. Moreover, charismatic leaders proved to be able to support a sense of team identity and commitment through the promotion of team innovation. Thus, charismatic leadership has a strong correlation with team identity, cooperation, and innovation.
The article is properly structured, and its sections are logical. The introduction presents the concept of the research and development activity and the role of effective leaders. The researchers address previous studies on the problem and conclude that there is not enough evidence supporting the existence of links between leadership styles and the success of the innovative activity. Current research aims to bridge the gap in understanding the essence of correlations among the style of leadership, strategies of cooperation in teams, and group identification as indicators of successful innovation implementation. Thus, the article states its question in the beginning and explains its significance.
The article addresses previous studies that investigate the problems of leadership and collaborative work as well as their aspects. Based on the findings of earlier studies, the authors develop a model of team leadership. It involves such problems as transformational and charismatic leadership styles, the connection of leadership and team identity, the impact of leadership on team cooperation, and the relation of cooperation and team innovation. The researchers formulate six hypotheses that are expected to disclose the aspects mentioned above. Therefore, the article fits the other articles on the same topic and is expected to contribute to the problem of charismatic leadership and innovation.
The selected methods match the problem. The researchers used the multifactor leadership questionnaire to measure leadership styles. A publicly-funded R&D organization was involved as a research setting. It provides scientific research to develop innovative solutions and thus fits the goal of the current study. As a research sample, a division of 425 people was selected. This division was in the process of change and the introduction of new research teams. Therefore, it provided an opportunity to study the leadership styles and the teams involved in R&D activity.
The research findings are reported in a consistent and clear format. The selected measures are presented, and the process of data collection is described, which contributes to a better understanding of the research findings. The major results are presented in a table, which simplifies their interpretation. The use of descriptive statistics and correlations allows evaluating the significance of findings. All the important data about charisma, team identity, cooperation, and team innovation that are necessary to check the research hypotheses are presented.
The article includes all the necessary data to support the research findings. The final model statistics presented by the authors provide a picture of correlations among charismatic leadership, team identity, cooperation, and innovation. The discussion addresses previous studies, thus explaining how this research contributes to knowledge of the impact of charismatic leadership on team interactions and innovation in R&D organizations. The researchers also acknowledge the limitations of their study because it was conducted in a single R&D organization in the process of transformational change. Consequently, its results cannot be generalized and relevantly applied in other contexts. Also, the data were obtained only from the members of teams involved in the change process and can be subjective.
The article makes an impression of reliable research. The logical representation of information summarized from previous research findings provides a solid background for this study and explains the essence of the problem. Detailed and multi-sided hypotheses address every aspect of the research problem. The study is designed to find proof for all the hypotheses. The presented evidence looks trustworthy because it was obtained through the application of appropriate methods.
On the whole, the article contributes to knowledge of interrelation of leadership style, team identity, cooperation, and innovation. The research findings can be applied in contemporary R&D organizations while choosing the appropriate leadership styles. Still, the research can be improved by the change of the sample. Thus, in case more than one R&D organization was involved, the research findings could be generalized and be more valuable. Moreover, further research can comprise data not only from team members, thus providing a broader look at the problem of leadership style, team identity, cooperation, and innovation. Such an approach will contribute to the objectivity of research.