The role of inspirational leadership and technology support for contextualization on psychological contract in distributed teams

Abstract

This study investigates how inspirational leadership and technology support for contextualization influence individuals' psychological contract and knowledge sharing in distributed teams. Drawing on the intersection between social identity, psychological contract and leadership theories, the current research highlights the importance of inspirational leaders who foster two kinds of psychological contract obligations, namely commitment and reciprocity. The results show a significant impact of inspirational leaders on psychological contract obligations. The impact of inspirational leadership on obligations of reciprocity is strengthened when there is technology support for contextualization. Our findings suggest that psychological contract obligations can motivate employees to engage in knowledge sharing. This provides interesting implications for theory and practice in distributed teams.