The Effects of Emergent Leader on Team Cognitive Complexity and Team Performance

From a cognitive perspective, this study investigates the role of emergent leaders in developing team cognition and affecting team performance. With application of the cognitive complexity theory, this study hypothesizes that emergent leaders’ cognitive complexity will be positively associated with team cognitive complexity, and that team cognitive complexity will be positively associated with team performance. In addition, team cognitive complexity is hypothesized to mediate the effect of the cognitive complexity of emergent leaders on team performance. To test the research hypotheses, data were obtained from 100 teams comprising a total of 339 undergraduate students who participated in a business simulation game. The findings of this study suggests that the cognitive complexity of emergent leaders is a significant predictor of team cognitive complexity, and that team cognitive complexity is positively related to team performance. Moreover, team cognitive complexity significantly mediates the effect of emergent leaders’ cognitive complexity and team performance.