Bridge over troubled waters? Experimental evidence into the influence of leadership on employees' collaborative engagement

Abstract

It is not easy to secure and sustain efficient interorganizational collaboration in hierarchically demarcated and functionally specialized public sectors. This article investigates whether and how public leaders can motivate and catalyze their own employees to engage in behaviors that foster and support collaboration across organizational jurisdictions. Using survey data from 555 occupational therapists in Danish municipalities, we employed an innovative scenario‐based research design including video vignettes and a centipede game to mimic real‐life collaboration. We show that clear and collaboration‐focused leadership has a positive and substantial effect on employees' engagement in an interorganizational collaboration with a regionally employed nurse. Further, the effects are stronger for respondents with higher public service motivation, higher collaborative self‐efficacy, more tenure, and at a younger age. The findings contribute to understanding public leadership and employee engagement in interorganizational collaboration and emphasize that leaders should carefully consider their context and communication when engaging their employees.