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TopIntroduction
Review of research performed by Carson, Marrone and Tesluk, (2007) indicates that little research addresses the shift to internally distributed forms of shared leadership. Some research, however, does encourage shared leadership amongst team members. Gibb's (1954) argument that a group should contain leadership qualities was the first of its kind and was known as “distributed leadership” (Carson et al., 2007, p. 1217). Furthermore, research shows that businesses can gain a competitive edge, as it increases commitment for personal and organizational resources that take on complex tasks by sharing information and being open to mutual influences (Carson et al., 2007, p. 1218).
Koschzeck’s (2009) research finds that organizations with shared leadership perform better than those relying on single individuals for leadership. One concludes that organizations perform more efficiently when implementing shared leadership. These opinions challenge conventional thoughts about leadership, however, review of existing research demonstrates a gap in empirical work on shared leadership.
Problem Background
Investigative research hasn't been conducted on the relationship between shared leadership and internal, and external team environmental conditions and shared leadership. The relationship between internal and external environmental conditions on shared leadership dynamic in real-world Six Sigma teams as they relate to team dynamics also isn't researched.
Thus, this research studies the relationships between input environmental conditions and shared leadership in real-life Healthcare industry Six Sigma teams. The problem statement incorporates the need for a longitudinal study by stating, in the context of Healthcare Six Sigma teams, there exists a relationship between shared leadership and each phase of the DMAIC structure. In addition, input environmental conditions of “internal team environment” and “external coaching” have relationships with the degree of shared leadership present. The key metrics to measure the outcome of this research include: the centralization level of interactions between team members and the perceived influence that members have on each other, satisfaction levels with the internal team environmental conditions, and the level of internal member satisfaction with the external environmental conditions.