Malaysia Education: Explanations From the Perspective of Leader-member Exchange Theory

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to examine the leadership practices in unique Eastern perspectives of Malaysian educational institutions through the lens of Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory.
 Methodology: A survey using LMX 7 questionnaire was used to obtain LMX explanations among Malaysian educational sector workers, determining whether they belong to either in-group or out-group in their workplace setting.
 Results: Although the research found descriptive classifications of the workers as followers in the leadership setting, there are cultural factors inherent in the result leading to the significance of the research in Malaysia as a unique multi-cultural country in the East.
 Implication: The study is useful for the policy makers so they can formulate better policies through clear identification of followers’ types in leadership setting. For the practitioners, this study adds to the knowledge to better delegation of the followers in regards to responsibility and administrative sharing of tasks. This paper gives valuable reference to educational practitioners especially the managers to enlighten on the suitable practice of leadership style grounded on the unique cultural context in Malaysian education.