TREAT Leadership Framework: A Knowledge-Based Theory of the Global Firm

Abstract

Knowledge work is defined as anything where the acquisition and exploitation of knowledge is central to an organization’s competitive advantage. The study proposes a new model of leadership—TREAT—for knowledge-based organizations. Based on a mixed-methods research design, the study also proposes a new measurement of TREAT leadership. The first part of the study involved the development of TREAT leadership model and generation of survey items. Next, data was collected from 584 scientists working in 11 R&D laboratories in five different Indian cities. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis performed on the data revealed five leader behaviors, namely, task orientation (T), relation orientation (R), empowering (E), authenticity (A), and team building (T). The nomological validity test of the TREAT leadership instrument confirmed the validity of the measure. Implications for theory and practice toward the impact of increasing globalization and the advent of knowledge-based organization are discussed.