Communication and leader-member exchange

Abstract

This study partially replicated similar research conducted by Yrle, Hartman & Galle(2002:262) and Yrle, Hartman & Galle (2003:95-96) in the United States (US), whichexamined the correlations between communication style and leader-member exchange(LMX) in the South African context. It also took into consideration the potential impactof aspects such as gender, demographics and diversity on supervisor-subordinate LMXand communication considering the uniqueness of the South African environment.The research was conducted among supervisors and their subordinates at a South Africangovernment department. Forty-nine supervisors and subordinates, effectively representing27 organisational dyads, were able to participate in this study. It yielded some interestingresults, the most important of which is that the Pearson correlation coefficient statisticalanalysis supported the proposition that there is a correlation between LMX andcommunication in dyadic relationships.