2018-05-07
On the Effects of Authority on Peer Motivation:Learning from Wikipedia
Publication
Publication
Research Summary: We investigate the conditions under
which authority can be deployed without reducing subordinate
motivation. We show that lateral authority, the
legitimacy to resolve task-specific problems, is welcomed
by members of an organization in the resolution of coordination
conflicts, the more so (a) the fiercer the conflict to
be resolved, (b) the higher the competence-based status of
the authority, (c) the lower the tenure of, and (d) the more
focused the organizational members are. Analyzing the
discussion behavior of members of Wikipedia between
2002 and 2014, we corroborate our allegations empirically
by analyzing 642,916 article–discussion pages. Our findings,
obtained for a modern collective production community,
provide learning opportunities for how traditional
organizations may want to govern activities of their idiosyncratically
motivated staff.
Managerial Summary: When managers use their (legitimate)
power to take decisions on behalf of their staff, they
risk setting back employees and making them detach from
the firm. This danger is particularly salient whenever
highly motivated teams of staff autonomously work on
corporate problems and are used to governing themselves.
Examples range from skunkwork initiatives within traditional
firms to entire team-based organizations, such as
Valve or Zappos. When and how managers can add value
by resolving conflicts within and across these teams once
their self-organization fails is what we study in this article.
Inspired by data from Wikipedia, we suggest that managers
should not intervene prematurely, benefit from visible
competence, and are respected most for their actions
by specialized peers who recently joined the organization.
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doi.org/10.1002/smj.2909, hdl.handle.net/1765/106214 | |
Strategic Management Journal | |
Organisation | Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), Erasmus University |
Klapper, H., & Reitzig, M. (2018). On the Effects of Authority on Peer Motivation:Learning from Wikipedia. Strategic Management Journal. doi:10.1002/smj.2909 |