Effects of cooperative and competitive interdependence and task complexity on subordinates' productivity, perception of leader, and group development.

Abstract
Leaders'' structuring of subordinates'' goal interdependence has been largely neglected in research and practice. College students (72) took the role of co-workers. The leader gave them either a complex or simple task and placed them in cooperation or competition. Participants in cooperation solved the complex task more effectively, considered the leader more supportive and came to like and trust each other more compared to participants in the competitive condition. Leaders who structured competition were seen as production oriented in the simple task condition. Results were interpreted as suggesting that leader''s structuring of cooperation can strengthen subordinates'' groups and induce these groups to complete challenging organizational tasks.

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