Investigating the Role of Psychological Safety and Inclusive Leadership in Enhancing Team Collaboration in Technology-Intensive Work Environments: A Study of Chandigarh's IT Sector
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64297/jmrsmet.v2i2.52Keywords:
Inclusive Leadership, Psychological Safety, Team Collaboration, Technology Sector, Quantitative StudyAbstract
This study investigates the interplay between inclusive leadership, psychological safety, and team collaboration within the technology-intensive work environments of Chandigarh, India an emerging Tier-2 IT hub that has received limited empirical attention. Despite growing theoretical consensus that inclusive leadership fosters collaborative team climates, the mechanisms through which this effect operates in non-Western, high power-distance contexts remain underexplored. This study addresses that gap by proposing and testing a mediation model in which psychological safety links inclusive leadership to team collaboration. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was employed, collecting data from 385 software developers, project managers, and IT professionals in technology firms at Chandigarh’s Rajiv Gandhi Technology Park. Validated scales measured all three constructs (Carmeli et al., 2010; Edmondson, 1999; Hoegl & Gemuenden, 2001). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and regression-based mediation analysis (Hayes, 2018). Results indicated that inclusive leadership was significantly associated with psychological safety (β = 0.62, p < .001) and team collaboration (β = 0.45, p < .001), and that psychological safety was significantly associated with team collaboration (β = 0.58, p < .001). Bootstrapped mediation analysis (5,000 resamples) confirmed a significant indirect effect of inclusive leadership on team collaboration via psychological safety (B = 0.30, 95% CI [0.23, 0.37]), with the direct effect remaining significant (B = 0.15), indicating partial mediation. These findings suggest that psychological safety is a key interpersonal mechanism through which inclusive leadership translates into collaborative team behavior, particularly in hierarchical organizational cultures. Implications for leadership development and team design in the Indian technology industry are discussed.
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