Context and Charisma: A “Meso” Level Examination of the Relationship of Organic Structure, Collectivism, and Crisis to Charismatic Leadership

Abstract

This research presents a “meso” level approach that models charismatic leadership in organizations as a function of contextual factors (such as work unit structure, work group collectivism, and crisis), an issue that has rarely been explored in charismatic leadership research. Data were collected from 596 managers and subordinates embedded in 101 work units in a large, complex organization and were analyzed at the individual, group, and cross-levels of analysis. Results indicate that organic structure and collectivistic cultural orientation were positively associated with the emergence of charismatic leadership, whereas perceptions of crisis were negatively related to charismatic leadership. Further, subordinates' ratings of leader charisma were related to leader ratings of work unit performance. The implications of these results for research and practice are discussed.