Examining the Moderating Effects of Work Unit Size and Task Analyzability in the Relation Between Leader’s Communication Style and Leader-Member Exchange

Carmen Paz-Aparicio,Ofelia Brown

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.619060

Carmen Paz-Aparicio, Ofelia Brown

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.619060

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Abstract

There is a consensus regarding the impact of the leader’s communication on the relationship with their followers and on the achievement of organizational outcomes. This study seeks to contribute to clarifying the impact that contextual factors have on the leader’s communication in order to know how leaders should adjust their communication style, depending on the job characteristics, to build high quality relationships with their followers. Therefore, the current research examines the moderating role of two context factors in the effectiveness of leaders’ communication in generating the leader-member relationship. Through a moderation analysis on a sample of 149 white-collar workers, this research study analyzes how work unit size and task analyzability interact regarding six dimensions of leader communication style in relation to LMX. Results suggest that the work unit size moderates the relationship between two dimensions of leader’s communication style (preciseness and verbal aggressiveness) and LMX. Specifically, the positive effect of preciseness on LMX smooths as the work unit size increases. The negative effect of verbal aggressiveness on LMX becomes more intense as work unit size increases. Furthermore, task analyzability moderates the positive relationship between emotionality and LMX for low levels of task analyzability. As a result, this study contributes by deepening on why leaders’ communicative behaviors can have favorable/unfavorable results in specific contexts and on how a leader can modulate his/her communication style according to the context, in order to improve the LMX. Implications are discussed.

Highlights

Communication plays a crucial role in management (Christensen and Cornelissen, 2011; Taylor, 2011)
We propose the following hypothesis: Hypothesis 1a (H1a): work unit size (WUS) moderates the positive relationship between expressiveness and Leader-Member Exchange Theory (LMX) in such a way that the relationship is weakened when WUS is higher
We propose the following hypothesis: Hypothesis 1b (H1b): WUS moderates the positive relationship between preciseness and LMX in such a way that the relationship is weakened when WUS is higher

Summary

Introduction

Communication plays a crucial role in management (Christensen and Cornelissen, 2011; Taylor, 2011). How leaders should adapt their communication style to different situations and work. This study seeks to contribute to clarifying the impact that contextual factors have on the leader’s communication in order to know how leaders should adjust their communication style, depending on the characteristics of the work unit and the task, in order to build high-quality relationships with their followers. The leadership relationship is created and maintained through day-to-day interactions in the executions of their roles (Fairhurst, 1993). Leader and followers use the available means depending on if the job is executed in physical or remote working, e.g., face-to-face, telephone conversations, text messaging, physical and virtual meetings, emails, chats, videoconferencing, social media, and other formal and informal channels in the organization

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