In this paper we ask whether leaders can serve as institutionally imposed solutions to the problem of trust. After briefly reviewing the problematic and fragile nature of trust and cooperation, we argue that leaders can encourage the formation of trust among a group of followers. Their ability to do so, however, is contingent on the willingness of followers to offer their trust to leaders. We t...

Virtual communities are the uppermost communication spaces and channels for online word-of-mouth. And opinion leaders are the most important group for enterprises’ word-of-mouth communication. As enterprises are engaged in online word-of-mouth marketing activities, the key is to find out the opinion leaders in virtual communities. In this paper, after affirming the effects of opinion leaders an...

This article examines the differences between men and women leaders with respect to their transformational leadership behaviors. Subordinates of the leaders rated the frequency of use of transformational leadership behaviors from five different categories. The five behavior categories and the instrument used (The Leader Behavior Inventory or LBI) to rate those behaviors were developed in severa...

Leadership positions are still stereotyped as masculine, especially in male-dominated fields (e.g., engineering). So how do gender stereotypes affect the evaluation of leaders and team cohesiveness in the process of team development? In our study participants worked in 45 small teams (4-5 members). Each team was headed by either a female or male leader, so that 45 leaders (33% women) supervised...