Understanding dysfunctional leader-member exchange: antecedents and outcomes (original) (raw)
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Leader-member exchange-subordinate outcomes relationship: role of voice and justice
Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 2007
Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to explore, deriving from social exchange theory, the process paths between leader-member exchange (LMX) and subordinate outcomes (satisfaction and commitment). LMX is conceptualized as a two-dimensional construct, consisting of LMX-Contribution and LMX-Affect. The two dimensions are hypothesized to have differential impact on subordinate outcomes. Procedural and distributive justice perceptions are hypothesized to mediate the relationship of LMX with subordinate outcomes, and voice is hypothesized to mediate the relationship of LMX with procedural justice. Additionally, alternate models based on the primacy of the procedures are tested. Design/methodology/approach -The study reports responses of 295 professionals from 30 software organizations operating in different parts of India. Data were collected by means of a structured questionnaire containing standard scales of LMX, distributive, and procedural justice, voice, satisfaction and commitment. After establishing the psychometric properties of the measures, path analysis of the hypothesized and alternate models was conducted using structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings -Overall, results provided support for most of the hypotheses with a few exceptions. Specifically, LMX led to distributive justice through procedural justice -a finding consistent with the "procedural primacy hypothesis". Research limitations/implications -The results have implications for LMX interventions. However, the results are to be viewed in the light of common method variance and same source bias. Originality/value -The paper is of value in that its results indicate that the negative effect of work-group differentiation can be neutralized if the leader uses voice mechanisms for improving procedural justice. Also, this study adds to the literature by testing the proposed model in the Indian setting, thus providing some empirical cross-cultural validity to LMX-subordinate outcomes relationships.
Reversing the lens: How followers influence leader–member exchange quality
Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 2019
Building on Foa and Foa's (1974) resource theory, this study explores why, how, and when followers' proactive engagement in taking charge behaviours can drive leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships. Through a three-wave multi-rater field survey among 230 leader-follower dyads in China, we found that follower taking charge is positively related to LMX after accounting for the effect of in-role performance. Our results suggest leader perceived service resources (i.e., the efforts and actions carried out by the focal follower that make the leader's work more effective) as the underlying mechanism of this relationship. Further, our findings demonstrate that achievement-goal-striving leaders are more likely to recognize the service value of taking charge followers and subsequently develop high-quality LMX relationships with them. This study moves LMX theory forward by investigating follower-driven LMX development. It also contributes to the emerging work on followership by 'reversing the lens' between leadership practice (in terms of LMX) and follower behaviour (in terms of taking charge). Practitioner points Leaders should be aware of the valuable service resources associated with followers' taking charge attempts. Followers who work under achievement-goal-striving leaders should be more proactive in building high-quality relationships with their bosses by taking charge at work. To benefit from high-quality LMX relationships, organizations should train leaders to appreciate followers' taking charge endeavours. Concrete research evidence has accumulated to show that leader-member exchange (LMX), defined as the quality of the resource-based exchange relationship in a leaderfollower dyad (Sparrowe & Liden, 1997), brings vast benefits for employees (for systematic reviews, see Bauer & Erdogan, 2016; Erdogan & Bauer, 2014). The consistency *Correspondence should be addressed to Zhenyao Cai, SHU
Meta-Analytic review of leader-member exchange theory: Correlates and construct issues
Journal of Applied Psychology, 1997
The leader-member exchange (LMX) literature is reviewed using meta-analysis. Relationships between LMX and its correlates are examined, as are issues related to the LMX construct, including measurement and leader-member agreement. Results suggest significant relationships between LMX and job performance, satisfaction with supervision, overall satisfaction, commitment, role conflict, role clarity, member competence, and turnover intentions. The relationship between LMX and actual turnover was not significant. Leader and member LMX perceptions were only moderately related. Partial support was found for measurement instrument and perspective (i.e., leader vs. member) as moderators of the relationships between LMX and its correlates. Meta-analysis showed that the LMX7 (7-item LMX) measure has the soundest psychometric properties of all instruments and that LMX is congruent with numerous empirical relationships associated with transformational leadership. Within the broad area of organizational leadership, leader-member exchange (LMX) theory has evolved into one of the more interesting and useful approaches for studying hypothesized linkages between leadership processes and outcomes. First proposed by Graeri and colleagues (Dansereau, Cashman, & Graen, 1973; Dansereau, Graen, & Haga, 1975; Graen, 1976; Graen & Cashman, 1975), LMX is distinguished from other leadership theories by its focus on the dyadic relationship between a leader and a member. Unlike traditional theories that seek to explain leadership as a function of personal characteristics of the leader, features of the situation, or an interaction between the two, LMX is unique in its adoption of the dyadic relationship as the level of analysis. Although the theory has been modified and expanded
A fundamental tenet of Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory is that leaders develop different quality relationships with their employees. There have been many years of studies that have shown the benefits of LMX differentiation in isolation; however, little research has investigated the impact of LMX differentiation on employee attitudinal and behavioural outcomes when employees work in groups. If there is a group of followers, a hierarchy of relationships will form. This results in a mean level of relationship quality with an individual’s relative position (RLMX) being higher or lower. RLMX creates outcomes in followers’ performance and organisational citizenship behaviours (OCBs) with those who are above the mean level observing more positive outcomes. This paper will present some of the psychological processes that explain these positive outcomes. Additionally, relationships are formed and create positive outcomes for leaders and followers but, I argue, relationship quality can subsequently change based on the emotional responses within a workgroup. This presents that idea that relative relational positioning is not static and high-quality relationships may be lost if they are not attended to. Three crafted stories from an independent primary school in South Australia will contextualise these theoretical positions and present that the idea that to support the improvement of followers’ performance and OCBs it is important to raise the quality of leader-member relationships and reduce the amount of relational differentiation.
Journal of International Management, 2020
We examine the direct relationships for both individual values and organizational-level culture on the quality of leader-member exchange (LMX) in a multilevel, multi-society study. In addition, we investigate the moderating roles of organizational-and societal-level cultures. Using 2343 respondents from 12 samples, we performed hierarchical linear modelling analysis and found that individual-level collectivism and organizational-level clan and hierarchy cultures were positively related to LMX, while individual-level individualism and organizational-level market and adhocracy cultures were negatively related to LMX. None of the organizational culture types or societal cultures had any moderating effects. One implication of the lack of moderating findings is that the main effect findings may be global, suggesting that they are not constrained by the organizational culture or societal culture in which they are embedded. We discuss additional implications for these findings.
The Leadership Quarterly, 2009
Using a sample of 285 matched pairs of employees and supervisors, we explore the extent to which congruence in leader and follower ratings of LMX quality is related to follower job performance and work attitudes. An original conceptual model is introduced that identifies four combinations of leader and follower LMX ratings: balanced/low LMX (low leader and follower LMX), balanced/ high LMX (high leader and follower LMX), follower overestimation (low leader LMX/high follower LMX), and follower underestimation (high leader LMX/low follower LMX). As expected, balanced/low (high) LMX relationships were associated with relatively low (high) levels of follower job performance, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction, while the incongruent combinations generally yielded intermediate levels of follower outcomes. However, follower underestimation was also related to high levels of follower job performance, whereas follower overestimation was associated with high levels of follower satisfaction and organizational commitment. Implications of these findings for future LMX research are considered.
Where do I stand? The interaction of leader–member exchange and performance ratings
Asian Business & Management, 2014
The congruence model of leader-member exchange (LMX) quality predicts that agreement between leader and members regarding relationship quality is associated with follower performance. However, questions remain over how cultural relational norms influence congruence. This study, based on a government-linked international joint venture in Malaysia, investigates cultural relational norms in relation to leader-member agreement on relational quality and leader evaluation of member performance. Our findings revealed that LMX quality agreement was related to in-role and extra-role performance among dyadic relationships conforming to Malaysian cultural norms. This study contributes to understanding how cultural relational norms provide conditions to the congruence model of LMX.
Malaysian Management Journal, 2020
This paper attempts to test the quality of relationship between superiors and subordinates as indicated in leader-member exchange (LMX) theory on superior communication behavior: The results of this study indicate that there are no significance differences between out-group and in-group members. However when in-group members were compared to mid-group members the result reveals significance differences between these two groups.
Leader–member exchange, shared values, and performance: Agreement and levels of analysis do matter
The Leadership Quarterly, 2010
In this study, we first investigate the levels of analysis at which leader-member exchange (LMX) operates; second, we examine the nature of the LMX-performance relationship when a superior and a subordinate agree as compared to disagree concerning the quality of their exchange; third, we test the effect of superior-subordinate agreement about work values on the LMX-performance relationship; and fourth, we simultaneously consider the effects of LMX agreement-disagreement and values agreement-disagreement on the LMX-performance relationship. Our findings indicate that LMX operates primarily at the independent dyad level of analysis. We also found that LMX and performance are most strongly related and display the strongest dyadic-level effects when superior and subordinate assessments of LMX and values are in agreement.