The Impact of Perceived Work Complexity and Shared Leadership on Team Performance of IT Employees of South African Firms

ABSTRACT

This article investigates how work complexity, as perceived by Information Technology (IT) employees, influences team performance, and examines the role played by shared leadership. The findings of this study that collected data from 204 IT employees in South Africa show that perceived work complexity negatively predicts team performance while shared leadership negatively predicts perceived work complexity and positively predicts team performance.

KEYWORDS:

• Perceived work complexity
• shared leadership
• team performance
• software development

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christiaan Philippus Storm

Christiaan Philippus Storm holds a Masters degree in Commerce from the University of the Witwatersrand and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS). He is a software engineer and has experience in managing software development teams, both in South Africa and Southeast Asia.

Caren Brenda Scheepers

Caren Brenda Scheepers is an Associate Professor in Contextual Leadership; Organisational Development and Strategic Implementation at GIBS. She is a registered psychologist with the Health Professions’ Council of South Africa and an accredited Professional Coach with the International Coaching Federation. She publishes in academic journals and case study publications, as well as practitioner-orientated books.