Disadvantages and advantages of paternalistic leadership

Is there research that documents the opposite of what the author is describing below?

For certain industries and countries paternalistic leadership is a benefit to both the organization and to society. Research conducted by Chen and Eberly found that the benevolence and morality dimensions of paternalistic leadership are positively correlated to performance within eastern civilizations. Here, Chen and Eberly revised data from 601 supervisor and subordinate relationships within 27 companies throughout the eastern half of the world. They found through their research that paternalistic elements of organization and leadership behavior have a positive correlation to overall performance outcomes. Likewise, more authoritarian or western approaches to business operations had a negative impact on overall corporate performance (Chen, 2014). From the research conducted by Chen and Eberly, they found that trust was the critical element within the success of paternalistic management systems. Here, eastern countries, due in part to their collectivistic nature, leverage trust as a means of encouraging employee engagement which is congruent with the finding of Lau and Li (Lau, 2020).

However research conducted by Lawal and Babalola reveals the negative psychological components of paternalistic leadership. For one, when trust is not established due to cultural or communication barriers, paternalistic leadership is not as effective (Lawal, 2017). For one, an employee may perceive the leader as being threatening and using corporate politics to enhance their own position at the expense of the employee. Likewise, for very talented employees, management may look to limit their responsibilities in order to lower their chances of success within the organizations. This occurs, because the manager may perceive the new, talented employee as a threat to their overall position. As a result, they could potentially elect to use paternalistic leadership as a means to inhibit the employees progress throughout the organization.

This is a negative element as it undermines the benefits of trust, which is a foundational principle of paternalistic leadership. Likewise, if trust is not established, employees could become resentful towards management and organization. Research conducted by Bhandarkar and Rai, found that under the principle of “reciprocity,” individuals who enjoy father-like care and support from their leaders will reciprocate with positive emotions and reactions. However, the opposite can also occur if they perceive gestures to be antagonistic or toxic (Bhandarkar and Rai, 2019). As a result, paternalistic leadership depends heavily on the ability of the leader to establish trust within a culturally diverse work environment. In addition, if leaders are unable to do so and their behaviors are seen as “fake” employees will ultimately be less productive and empowered within the organization. This also has the rippling effect of keeping unproductive leaders in power while simultaneously leaving promising employees at low level positions within the organizations. Ultimately this behavior can undermine the competitive position of the business can cause high turnover rates internally.