Trust in Leader and Multilevel Performance: Empirical Study Based on Knowledge Work Teams

The present study examined the effects of trust in leader on individual task performance, organizational citizenship behavior and team performance in knowledge work teams. The survey was conducted in 68 knowledge work teams of high-tech organizations from ten cities in China. The results of hierarchical regression showed that trust in leader had a positive effect on individual-level performance, including team member´s task performance and organizational citizenship behavior. cognition- based trust had stronger effect on team member´s task performance, while affect-based trust showed stronger effect on organizational citizenship behavior. In team level, organizational citizenship behavior partially mediated the relationship between trust in team leader and team performance.