The combined influence of top and middle management leadership styles on absorptive capacity

Peter Y. T. Sun, Marc H. Anderson · 2011 · Management Learning

Summary. This study examines how leadership styles of top and middle managers together influence organizational absorptive capacity—the ability to learn and apply new knowledge. The research finds that different management style combinations work best for different learning types: exploratory learning requires both levels to use transformational leadership, transformative learning works when top management uses transformational and middle management uses transactional styles, and exploitative learning succeeds when both use transactional styles. Organizational context attributes also affect how well these leadership combinations perform.

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Sun, P. Y. T., & Anderson, M. H.. (2011). The combined influence of top and middle management leadership styles on absorptive capacity. Management Learning. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350507611405116

@article{sun-2011-combined-influence-top-middle-management,
  title   = {The combined influence of top and middle management leadership styles on absorptive capacity},
  author  = {Peter Y. T. Sun and Marc H. Anderson},
  journal = {Management Learning},
  year    = {2011},
  doi     = {10.1177/1350507611405116},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1177/1350507611405116}
}

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TI  - The combined influence of top and middle management leadership styles on absorptive capacity
AU  - Peter Y. T. Sun
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Details

DOI: 10.1177/1350507611405116
Countries: New Zealand, United States
Regions: Oceania, North America
Categories: innovation-theory, innovation-networks, general-innovation
Added: 2026-04-28