High-quality Leader-member Exchange Relationships Research Articles

‘To be a Player, not a Piece’: LMX-Relationships in Late-career Employment

This study employs qualitative interviews with employees (50+) and managers from Norwegian private companies to investigate how retirement age norms affect leader–member exchange (LMX) relationships in the late stages of employment.This research reveals that organizational practices incentivizing early retirement establish retirement age norms and create pressures that significantly impact the LMX dynamic. Employees perceive managers as key in alleviating these pressures. However, the ability of managers to shield employees from retirement pressures varies, as managers face several competing challenges, such as providing opportunities and development for younger employees. While high-quality LMX relationships are crucial in reducing retirement pressures for older employees, differing managerial practices lead to varied support levels within the same organization, putting older employees in precarious positions. The article advocates for policy reforms that limit organizational early retirement practices and promote extended working lives, ensuring a more supportive employment environment for aging workers in private organizations.

UMBLE LEADERSHIP PERSPECTIVE ON CREATIVE PERFORMANCE: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY CLIMATE AND THE MODERATING EFFECT OF LMX

This study aimed to investigate how humble leadership influences creative performance by mediating the psychological safety climate and the moderating role of leader-member exchange (LMX). We hypothesized that humble leadership could positively foster a psychological safety climate, thereby enhancing creative performance, and that LMX would strengthen this positive effect of humble leadership. Using quantitative research methods, this study surveyed 684 ordinary white-collar employees in China and analyzed the collected data using structural equation modeling and multiple linear regression. Overall, the results supported all of the hypotheses. Humble leadership had a positive effect on both psychological safety climate and creative performance. There was also a positive effect on psychological safety climate and creative performance. Finally, psychological safety climate acted as a mediator between humble leadership and creative performance. When LMX levels were high, the positive effect of humble leadership on psychological safety climate became more noticeable. The conclusions of this study indicate that humble leadership is an effective means to promote employees' creative performance as it operates through shaping a psychologically safe work environment, while high-quality LMX relationships can further enhance this effect.

A Purposeful Approach to LMX Differentiation: The Role of LMX With Key Members

A central idea in the leader-member exchange (LMX) literature is that leaders, due to the limited organizational and personal resources available to them, often struggle with developing and maintaining high-quality exchange relationships with all of their members. As a natural consequence, leaders typically form high-quality relationships with a select few members—often those who seem likable or are similar to the leader—while maintaining formal and distant relationships (i.e., low-quality LMX) with others. This form of differentiated treatment of members creates tensions in team dynamics. In this paper, we propose that leaders can mitigate the downsides of leader-member exchange differentiation (LMXD) for team dynamics by being more purposeful and strategic in how they differentiate in their treatment of members. Specifically, we posit that when leaders strategically develop high-quality LMX relationships with key members—individuals occupying influential positions in team social networks—such key members will engage in behaviors that buffer the negative impact of LMXD on team dynamics. Our framework integrates LMX theory with perspectives from social networks research to illustrate how strategic differentiation influences task and relational team dynamics. Finally, we discuss recommendations for empirically testing, theoretical extensions, and practical implications of this framework.

Examining the Relationship Between Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) and Subordinate Achievement Goal Orientations

ABSTRACT To date, organizational behavior and leadership scholars have placed a considerable amount of effort into understanding and expanding upon the LMX framework. One way that scholars have attempted to expand upon the LMX framework has been to examine whether certain moderators qualify the LMX process. This manuscript proposes that organizational members’ achievement orientations (i.e. mastery, performance-avoidance, and performance-approach orientations) constitute one likely set of member characteristics that qualify the effects of LMX. In testing this general proposition, a sample (N = 818) of organizational members from myriad organizations were sampled. Regression analyses suggested that those with mastery orientations perform exceedingly better in high-quality LMX relationships, whereas those with performance-approach orientations perform exceedingly worse. Alternatively, the effects of performance-avoidance orientations are direct and negative. Implications, future directions, and limitations are discussed.

The Impact of Leader Member Exchange (LMX) Theory on Employee Turnover Intention: An empirical study of employees at the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in Saudi Arabia

The purpose of this research paper is to investigate the impact of LMX on the turnover intention of employees. Research from both Western and Arabic contexts has shown that the quality of LMX relationships has a positive impact on turnover intentions i.e., the quality of LMX in an organization may encourage employees to stay longer with the current organization and reduce turnover intention. This research study used a quantitative methodology, distributing questionnaire surveys as the research tool to a sample of 297 participants. The participants were all employees at the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in Saudi Arabia, or who worked for associated companies at the Hajj and Umrah information center. The quantitative survey data was then analyzed to find the relationship between levels of LMX and employee turnover intention in this context. The findings show that high quality LMX relationships were positively correlated with employee decisions to stay with the organization, and indicate that well-functioning LMX may play a part in reducing employee turnover intention at the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah and its connected organizations.

Leader–member exchange and employee voice: Zhongyong thinking as a mediator

Existing research has established a link between leader–member exchange (LMX) and employee voice. However, there is still a wide scope for exploring the mechanisms of this relationship. From the perspective of traditional Chinese values, we investigated the mediating role of Zhongyong thinking in the relationship between LMX and employee voice. We conducted a field survey with 252 employees of a state-owned organization in China. Results of structural equation modeling show there was a significant and positive relationship between LMX and employee voice. Additionally, Zhongyong thinking was an important mediating mechanism. This study indicates voice behavior can be fostered by establishing a high-quality LMX relationship and cultivating Zhongyong thinking among employees. Suggestions for future research are offered.

Giving a Good Relationship and Taking Surrogacy: Exploring the Effects for Team Performance

The leader-member exchange (LMX) literature proposes that leaders tend to differentiate the quality of relationships among their followers, but it remains unclear how establishing high LMX with some followers may facilitate a positive image of a leader across all team members, and ultimately, a superior team performance. Drawing on data from a three-wave study with 249 healthcare professionals (physicians and nurses), we explore the impact of LMX on employees’ surrogate behaviors and, in turn, team performance. Specifically, using a social exchange perspective, we postulate that high-quality LMX relationships make employees especially motivated to build support for the leader through behaviors that reflect surrogacy (i.e., promoting the leader, defending the leader, and/or modeling followership) as a form of reciprocity. By managing others’ impressions of the leader, surrogate behaviors are able to eliminate many of the barriers that might hinder team performance. Our findings corroborate our theoretical model showing that LMX increases employees’ surrogate behaviors and, in turn, team performance. Moreover, the results indicate that the amount of prestige within the team is an important boundary condition of the LMX-surrogacy relationship, such that the effects of LMX on surrogate behaviors are stronger when employees have higher levels of prestige in their teams. Overall, the study provides evidence that the social facilitation and impression management effects of surrogacy phenomenon, enacted as a result of the “give and take” nature of LMX relationships, is associated to team performance.

I cannot be creative due to my exploitative leader! A moderated mediation interplay of leader–member exchange quality and knowledge hiding

PurposeWith an emphasis on displaced aggression theory and social exchange theory, this study aims to investigate the harmful effects of exploitative leadership (EL) on employee creativity (EC) through the mediating role of knowledge hiding (KH). Moreover, this study examines the boundary effects of leader–member exchange (LMX) to explore conditions under which KH is more or less likely to occur.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed time-lagged (i.e. three-wave), multisource (i.e. self-rated and peer-rated) research design to collect data from employees working in Pakistani service sector organizations. The study analyzed 323 responses using SMART PLS (v 3.3.3) to assess the measurement model and the structural model.FindingsThe findings reveal that EL is positively related to KH and negatively related to EC. The results also show partial mediating role of KH in the indirect relationship between EL and EC. Besides, the study also found that LMX moderates the positive relationship between EL and KH, and the negative relationship between EL and EC.Practical implicationsThe study divulges interesting findings that subordinates at high-quality LMX relationships (i.e. in-group members) are more susceptible to the harmful effects of supervisory unjust treatment than at low-quality LMX relationships (i.e. out-group members). Thus, occurrence context of KH, i.e. EL should be minimized through appropriate organizational interventions.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the leadership and knowledge management literature by testing a hitherto unexplored moderated mediation model.

“When” and “why” employees resort to remain silent at work? A moderated mediation model of social undermining

PurposeTo date, few empirical studies have explored the boundary conditions under which employees may choose to observe silence at work. Drawing on the conservation of resource (COR) theory, the present study bridges this gap by examining the interaction effect of leader-member exchange (LMX) on the relationship between social undermining and employee silence while considering the mediating role of emotional exhaustion.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 327 employees working in Pakistan's service sector through the purposive sampling technique and analyzed using PLS path modeling.FindingsThe findings support the authors’ projections such that social undermining, i.e., supervisor undermining, coworker undermining and customer undermining, are positively related to emotional exhaustion. Besides, emotional exhaustion partially mediates the associations between supervisor undermining and employee silence, coworker undermining and employee silence, and customer undermining and employee silence. Further, the results confirm the interaction effect of LMX. The harmful impact of social undermining is exacerbated in high-quality LMX relationships compared to those at low LMX relationships.Originality/valueThis study is one of the few efforts to understand the conditions under which employee silence is more likely or less likely to occur. The authors’ findings draw the attention of researchers and practitioners to understand the uniqueness of this linkage such that variations in leaders' behavior are more detrimental for “in-group” members than their counterparts (i.e. “out-group” members).

The antecedents of leader-member-exchange (LMX) relationships in African context: the influence of the supervisor’s feedback delivery-tactic

PurposeThe current paper aims to analyse the antecedents of leader–member exchange relationships (LMX) by specifically focusing on the influence of the supervisor’s feedback delivery tactic.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses qualitative research methods with primary interviews as the main data source. Primary interviews with 40 managers from top supermarkets in Nigeria, South Africa and the UK were undertaken.FindingsThe authors found that both high-quality positive feedback and constructive criticisms produced the same feelings – more positive interpersonal relationships with their supervisors, higher levels of commitment to their organisations, higher job satisfaction and thus, high-quality LMX relationships. Where criticisms were delivered without greater interpersonal treatment, feedback was perceived as negative, and participants revealed lack of job satisfaction, lack of commitment to their organisations, poor interpersonal relationship with their supervisors, high turnover intent and thus low-quality LMX relationship.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, the current paper is one of the first studies to highlight the consequences of different feedback delivery tactics on subsequent LMX quality particularly in African context. The authors specifically develop a process-based model of enhancing high-quality LMX, which shows the role of the supervisor’s feedback delivery tactic in the process. The authors also develop a process-based model that illustrates how negative/unconstructive feedback could result in a low-quality LMX. Finally, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is also one of the first to offer a comparative assessment between African and British (the UK) empirical settings and highlight some interesting dynamics concerning LMX quality and role of supervisor’s feedback delivery tactic.

The relationship between leader-member exchange and work engagement in social work: A mediation analysis of job resources

IntroductionThe working environment of social workers has become an important concern in research. Whereas studies typically focus on negative aspects of these environments, this study investigates the possibility of creating a positive environment by examining whether and how high-quality leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships are related to social workers' work engagement. It is hypothesized that particularly relevant job resources mediate the relation between LMX and social workers’ work engagement. MethodTo identify those job resources that are particularly important to social workers, a qualitative preparatory study was first conducted with social workers and social work executives. Based on that, study data were collected by administering an online survey among social workers. Both parts of the study were realized at twenty different advice centers for pregnancy issues of a leading social organization in Germany. The dataset for statistical analyses comprised 43 social workers in total. Regression analysis with parallel mediation was used to test the hypothesized relationships. ResultsSocial workers in high-quality LMX relationships operate in working environments with more abundant social and structural job resources: they experience the team atmosphere more positively and have greater work control. Further, it was found that experiencing a positive team atmosphere was associated with higher work engagement, with team atmosphere fully mediating the relationship between LMX and work engagement. Notably, high-quality LMX relationships do not seem to promote work engagement directly. DiscussionThe study underscores the relevance of high-quality LMX relationships in fostering a resourceful work environment. This, in turn, contributes significantly to a high level of work engagement. Organizations and managers in social work should therefore strengthen managerial relationships and create resourceful environments.

Does workplace fun affect employees' voice behavior? Leader–member exchange as a mediator

Although the relationship between workplace fun and employee performance is well-documented, research on the link between workplace fun and voice behavior is still in a nascent stage. Integrating workplace fun, leader–member exchange (LMX), and voice behavior theories, in the current research we examined LMX as a mediator of the link between workplace fun and voice behavior. We conducted a crosssectional survey with a sample of 307 subordinates and 82 supervisors employed by eight Chinese companies, and used structural equation modeling to analyze the data. Results show that workplace fun was related both directly and indirectly (via LMX) to employees' voice behavior. Our findings offer insight into the mechanistic processes through which workplace fun affects employees' voice behavior, and suggest that to promote employees' voice behavior, a fun work environment and high-quality LMX relationship should be established in organizations.

Linking leader–member exchange to employee voice behavior: The mediating role of self-efficacy

Previous studies have found a positive relationship between leader–member exchange (LMX) and employee voice behavior. However, little is known about the psychological mechanisms underlying this association. We examined self-efficacy as a mediator of the linkage between LMX and employee voice behavior by conducting a cross-sectional survey with a sample of 295 leader–follower dyads from a Chinese company. We performed structural equation modeling to analyze the data. Results show that LMX was positively related to employee voice behavior, and self-efficacy partially mediated the link between LMX and employee voice behavior. This research offers insight into the mechanistic processes through which LMX affects employee voice behavior, and indicates that organizations should pay attention to establishing high-quality LMX relationships to facilitate employee selfefficacy as well as voice behavior.

Leader mindfulness and employee creativity: The importance of leader–member exchange

The main objective of this study was to clarify the mechanisms through which leader mindfulness enhances employee creativity, and we proposed that leader–member exchange (LMX) would act as a mediator of this relationship. To test our hypotheses we conducted a survey with 329 subordinates and 51 supervisors employed at three large manufacturing companies in China. The results of structural equation modeling show that the association of leader mindfulness with employee creativity was positive, and that LMX partially mediated this link. This study provides useful insights in explaining the impact that leader mindfulness has on employee creativity by focusing on LMX as a mediator. Our findings indicate that organizations should take leader mindfulness into account, and that managerial interventions should be implemented to establish high-quality LMX relationship.

Does leader mindfulness influence voice behavior? Leader–member exchange as a mediator

In this study we identified leader mindfulness as a characteristic relevant to facilitating employee voice behavior, and examined leader–member exchange (LMX) as a mediator of this relationship. Via a field study of supervisor–subordinate dyads (197 subordinates and 62 supervisors) in a large retailing company in East China, we revealed a partial mediation model in which leader mindfulness was positively related to employee voice behavior both directly and indirectly through LMX. Our findings suggest that attention should be paid to mindfulness in organizations, and leaders should aim to develop highquality LMX relationships with their subordinates.

Predicting Leader-Member Exchange: Integrating Relational Cognition and Emotion

The role of the manager spans multiple levels of analysis as managers influence their individual subordinates, teams, and sometimes organizations as well as entire industries. When taking a dyadic perspective of management, the most prevalent theoretical framework is Leader-Member Exchange (LMX), which focuses on the quality of reciprocal exchanges within unique manager-subordinate relationships. High-quality LMX relationships are linked to beneficial outcomes for organizations; however, the LMX domain suffers from multiple theoretical and methodological issues, including a lack of dyadic research as well as a lack of focus on relational predictors that serve to develop and sustain high-quality LMX relationships. This work addresses this gap in the literature by drawing upon the multidisciplinary relationship sciences to examine relational cognition and emotion as predictive of both manager and subordinate LMX. We introduce the concept of communal relational motives to the LMX literature and examine its interplay with the emotional tone of the manager-subordinate relationship. We found that manager-subordinate agreement in the strength of their communal motive towards one another is predictive of manager LMX; while the manager-subordinate discrepancy in communal strength is more likely to influence subordinate LMX. However, the accumulated experience of positive emotions in the manager-subordinate relationship was the most important for predicting manager and subordinate LMX. Based on these findings, we discuss future avenues for research on manager-subordinate relationships.

Inclusive leadership and employees’ voice behavior: A moderated mediation model

The number of studies dedicated to organizational inclusion is rapidly growing. Using relational leadership theory (RLT) as the overarching framework, the current study aimed to examine how inclusive leadership indirectly influences the voices of Chinese employees via leader-member exchange (LMX). The boundary conditions of these relationships were also explored by using employee achievement values as a potential moderator. A total of 814 full-time Chinese employees were recruited. The results showed that LMX mediated the positive effect of inclusive leadership on employee voice behaviors. Specifically, inclusive leadership enhanced LMX, and employees were then more likely to express ideas in front of supervisors. Moreover, achievement values moderated the positive linkage of LMX–voice. When building the high quality LMX relationships, employees with higher achievement values were more willing to speak up compared to their counterparts holding lower achievement values. We further found that the magnitude of the mediating effect of LMX on the relationship between inclusive leadership and voice also relied on employee achievement values (i.e., a second-stage moderated mediation model). This indicates that the indirect effect was stronger when the employees had higher achievement values. The conceptual and applied implications of our findings are also discussed.

The Role of Feedback Quality and Organizational Cynicism for Affective Commitment Through Leader–Member Exchange

Affective commitment is crucial for employees to guarantee that they adhere to organizational interests and goals, but not self-evident for street-level bureaucrats who have a great deal of discretionary freedom in doing their work. Street-level bureaucrats can deviate from organizational goals during the execution of custom-fit solutions, and particularly so when they are cynical toward their organization. To increase affective commitment among street-level bureaucrats, leaders may play an important role by providing qualitative feedback and having a high-quality leader–member exchange relationship with their team members. We examined the cross-level interaction of leaders’ feedback quality and police officers’ organizational cynicism in relation with affective commitment through Leader–Member eXchange (LMX). Building on theorizing on human resource (HR) attributions and on the assumption in social exchange theory that individuals engage in different reciprocation efforts, we expected that police officers who are more cynical toward their organization would be hesitant to reciprocate with more commitment to their organization when their leader’s feedback quality is low. Our findings in a sample of 266 police officers nested in 71 teams supported this expectation. Hence, this study contributes to a better understanding of how to foster the affective commitment of employees who have discretion in their work. Feedback quality appears to be crucial, both for LMX and affective commitment, and this particularly for police officers who are more cynical about their organization.

Effect of Leader-Member Exchange Relationship on Occupational Stress in the Energy Sector of Pakistan: A Mediating Role of Job Involvement

The relationship between leader-member exchange (LMX) and occupational stress has gained substantial attention in recent years. The objective of this study is two folds: a) to analyze the impact of LMX on occupational stress; and b) to investigate whether job involvement mediates the positive relationship between LMX and occupational stress. A useable sample of 342 responses is drawn from a leading multinational engineering company of the energy sector in Pakistan. LMX is measured by four dimensions i.e. affect, loyalty, perceived contribution and professional respect, whereas three dimensions are used to measure occupational stress i.e. personal resources, personal strain and occupational role. A measurement model is constructed with high validity and reliability. Following a segmentation approach, four hypotheses are tested using latent variable scores (LVS) through a variance-based partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique. The findings suggest that a) LMX shows a significant but on contrary to our expectation, a positive effect on occupational stress; b) LMX has no statistically significant effect on job involvement; c) job involvement has significant positive effect on occupational stress; however, d) job involvement does not mediate the relationship between LMX and occupational stress. The significant original contribution of this study in the leadership and management literature is that a high-quality LMX relationship can substantially increase the level of occupational stress. This research finding is emerged from the employees working in a large multinational engineering company of a developing country. Findings and managerial implications are discussed.

Effects of Leader-Member Exchange on Employees' Creative Behaviour in Ghana’s Telecommunication Industry: The Mediating Role of Work Motivation

Faced with increasing global competition and fast developing technologies, more emphasis is being placed on employees to develop creative behaviours that helps their firms survive and remain competitive over the long term. The study was embarked upon to investigate the effect of leader member exchange on employee creative behavior. Using this baseline relationship, the study also sought to discover whether work motivation mediates the relationships outlined. A review of existing literature on the concepts of leader-member exchange, work motivation and employee creative behaviour was done. Three hundred and ten (310) questionnaires were administered to employees in the telecommunication industry in Ghana, working in the Greater Accra Region. Using structural equation modelling (SEM), the relationships between the constructs were established. The initial coding and raw data inputting was done with IBM SPSS as well as data cleaning before data was transferred to AMOS for further analysis. Findings established that a positive and statistically significant nexus exist between leader member exchange dimensions and employee creative behaviour. The study also showed that the contribution dimension strongly influences employee creative behavior, followed by professional respect, affect and loyalty. The results showed that work motivation had a partial mediating effect on the nexus between leader member exchange and employee creative behaviour. It is recommended that organisations note the importance of high-quality leader member exchange relationships, with emphasis on the contribution dimension, in creating conducive environments that foster creativity. Work motivation incentives are also important in augmenting employee creative behaviour.