Member Exchange Relationships Research Articles

Work-related boredom, felt deprivation and employee dissatisfaction: is being closer to the leader a bane?

Purpose Job dissatisfaction is a prevalent, yet understudied phenomenon. This study aims to examine the determinants of job dissatisfaction among information technology (IT) professionals. Based on the relative deprivation theory and the social exchange theory, this study examines the complex linkage between work-related boredom, felt deprivation, leader–member exchange and job dissatisfaction. Design/methodology/approach The questionnaire-based survey data were collected from IT professionals working in Bangalore, India. Regression with process macro was used for data analysis. Findings This study found the predictors of job dissatisfaction and felt deprivation. It also found the path through which work-related boredom impacts job dissatisfaction (through felt deprivation). Furthermore, it found that the direct effect of boredom on felt deprivation is greater for employees in close relationships with the leader. Research limitations/implications Job dissatisfaction is one of the critical factors that has several adverse consequences for individuals and the organization. This study provides the antecedents, explains the path and suggests a boundary condition leading to job dissatisfaction. It further highlights the adverse consequences of work-related boredom on felt deprivation for employees having strong leader–member exchange relationships. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on job dissatisfaction, boredom, felt deprivation and leader–member exchange in the IT sector in an emerging economy. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is one of the early studies that explain the mechanism and the conditions leading to felt deprivation and job dissatisfaction.

Friend or foe in the eyes of the beholder? How and when LMX increases and decreases workplace ostracism

Purpose This study aims to build on social comparison theory to develop a theoretical model of leader–member exchange (LMX) relationship to workplace ostracism through perceived organizational status by coworkers and envy. This study further proposes that warmth and competence may potentially moderate these two indirect effects. Design/methodology/approach This study tested the hypotheses in a battery manufacturing company located in South China by a survey of 216 employees organized in 55 work teams, using different sources. Additionally, the authors conduct two online vignette experiments to test this study’s mediation, proving the causality. Findings The authors found that high-level LMX leads to both envy and perceived organizational status by coworkers, which results in a mixed blessing on workplace ostracism toward the employee with high-level LMX. The focal employee’s warmth and competence moderate these indirect relationships. Research limitations/implications The authors use LMX to explore antecedents of workplace ostracism and explain how and when these focal employees suffer workplace ostracism from their coworkers. The authors extend the research on LMX by examining the interpersonal risk of being a focal employee. The authors discover two critical boundary conditions – warmth and competence. Practical implications This study suggests that it is important to balance the level of the differential LMX; appropriately endorsing other members is a good way to avoid eliciting envy and opposition. Meanwhile, person-oriented citizenship behaviors such as demonstrations of concern or help may shortly build up an employee’s warm impression on their coworkers. Originality/value By discovering the bright and dark sides of LMX, this paper has the potential to advance theories on LMX and workplace ostracism. Therefore, the authors believe the current research will have an important impact on relevant research in the future.

‘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.

Pengaruh Team Member Exchange, Komptensi terhadap Produktivitas Kerja dengan Kepuasan Kerja sebagai Variabel Intervening

This research aims to analyses the influence of Team Member Exchange (TMX) and Competency on the Work Productivity of PT Techmicron Batam City with Job Satisfaction as an intervening variable. Data was collected from 100 employees of PT Techmicron Batam City using a questionnaire. The data analysis techniques used are multiple linear regression and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The research results show that Team Member Exchange (TMX) has a positive but not significant effect on Employee Work Productivity, Team Member Exchange (TMX) has a positive and significant effect on Job Satisfaction, Competency has a positive and significant effect on Employee Work Productivity, Competency has a positive and significant effect on Employee Job Satisfaction, Job Satisfaction has a positive and significant effect on the Work Productivity of PT Techmicron Batam City Employees. The implications of this research are the importance of compensation in building job satisfaction so that it can increase employee work productivity, as well as the importance of building Team Member Exchange (TMX) relationships in increasing employee job satisfaction.

Leadership Member Exchange Relationships on the Work Engagement of Physical Education Teachers

This study tries to take the group of physical education teachers in Zhaoqing City as the research object, focuses on the two variables of physical education teachers' leadership member exchange and work input, and researches the current situation of their variables, to find the correlation between the leadership member exchange of physical education teachers in Zhaoqing City and physical education teachers' work input with the help of the theory of leadership exchange and explores the optimization countermeasures of the leadership member exchange on the work input of physical education teachers as a guide to enhance the motivation of physical education teachers to work, provides a price basis for the promotion of the relationship between physical education teachers and leaders.

Voice Behaviours within Cooperatives. The Importance of the Relational Aspects of Leadership and Integrative Mechanisms for Loyalty

AbstractThis study explores the dynamics of cooperatives, with a focus on the internal challenges associated with sustaining democratic governance and promoting active member participation. The emphasis is on individual-level participation within the workplace, an often-neglected aspect in cooperative literature. An empirical model examines how member loyalty influences constructive and destructive voice behaviours. Leader–member exchange (LMX) relationship and integrative mechanisms are the proposed mediators in this context. Analysing data from 301 members of 19 worker cooperatives in Italy revealed different mediating effects through LMX, integrative mechanisms and a combined sequence. These findings enrich the cooperative literature by highlighting the importance of loyalty and voice behaviours in regenerating cooperative principles and member participation. The study also underscores the role of interpersonal relationships in affecting operational processes and explaining members’ loyalty and participation dynamics, proposing suggestions for cooperative management upholding democratic governance rooted in trust-based relationships, organic organisational models and mutual values.

Mindfulness and creative process engagement: the mediating role of workplace relational systems

PurposeDespite widespread recognition of the importance of mindfulness in organizational science literature, little is known about how mindfulness motivates individuals to configure information processing and team member exchange relationships to increase creative process engagement. Drawing on motivated information processing theory, this study conceptualizes and empirically examines whether and how mindfulness motivates individuals toward creative process engagement.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected data through an online survey from 311 respondents working in the Research and Development (R&D) departments of organizations in multiple industries in Pakistan. For analytical purposes, the authors have applied the structural equation modeling technique.FindingsThis study advances a different view of individual mindfulness on the creative process engagement in the following ways. First, mindfulness enables individuals to self-regulate in specific situations and become effective in fostering creative process engagement. Second, this study extends research on relational information processing by linking it to mindfulness and creative process engagement. Relational information processing partially mediates the relationship between mindfulness and creative process engagement. Third, this study highlights that mindfulness motivates individuals to focus more on developing quality working relationships, but they seem less willing to participate in idea generation and problem-solving solutions.Originality/valueThe study findings provide implications for research on mindfulness, creativity and motivated information processing to enhance individuals’ creative process engagements. The authors also discuss the implications for executives on the relational and creative benefits of mindfulness.

Does Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Ambivalence Influence Employees' Constructive Deviance?

The ambivalent experience of superior-subordinate relationships is widespread in organisations and has gradually become an important factor influencing employees to actively engage in extra-role behaviours. However, employees' constructive deviance is extremely important for organisational development as they are important extra-role behaviours for organisational innovation and change. Owing that academic research on the antecedents of employees' constructive extra-role behaviours has lacked attention to individual emotional variables such as the leader-member exchange ambivalence, by drawing on self-control resource theory and social cognitive theory, this study examined the effects of leader-member exchange ambivalence on employees' constructive deviance, as well as the role of ego depletion and role-breadth self-efficacy. Based on a two-point questionnaire survey of 332 employees from different industries in China, the study tested hypotheses with SPSS 27 and AMOS 27 and found that the more leader-member exchange ambivalence, the less likely they were to engage in employees' constructive deviance, leader-member exchange ambivalence affected employees' constructive deviance through ego depletion, and when role-breadth self-efficacy is high, the lower the ego depletion of employees with leader-member exchange ambivalence, the more likely they are to engage in employees' constructive deviance. This study is intended to guide organisations to pay attention to the problem of individual internal conflict arising from superior-subordinate relationships, to remove the barriers to constructive transgression by individuals, and to truly exploit the innovative capacity of individual organisations. The study suggests that managers should pay attention to the negative effects of employees' perceived ambivalent experiences of supervisor-subordinate relationships, maintain consistency, and build positive social exchange relationships with their employees. Organisations should strengthen the training of leaders and employees to eliminate the serious internal attrition that organisations face from social network relationships. And employees should face the limitations of resources and reduce dependence on the leader-member exchange relationship as the dependence for their work attitudes and behaviours.

Leading for growth: a daily investigation of affiliation resources provided by the leader and nonwork mastery

PurposeAlthough nonwork mastery generates personal resources and improves employee well-being and performance, employees must invest personal resources to experience mastery during nonwork time. Drawing on conservation of resources theory and resource exchange perspectives, the purpose of this study is to examine the role of day-to-day provisions of affiliation resources by the leader in generating the personal resources necessary for employees to engage in nonwork mastery.Design/methodology/approachDaily diary data were collected from 198 employees (768 days). The proposed model was tested using Bayesian multilevel path analysis.FindingsThe results showed that on days when employees perceived that their leader provided more affiliation resources, they reported higher self-esteem and work engagement and, in turn, experienced higher levels of mastery. Furthermore, employees in high-quality (vs low-quality) leader–member exchange (LMX) relationships benefitted more from the affiliation resources provided by their leader in terms of work engagement.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that leaders can actively manage their employees' daily experience and functioning through seemingly ordinary demonstrations of warmth, care, and positive regard.Originality/valueThis study highlights the important role of leaders in improving employee daily work and nonwork experience and functioning and sheds light on the tangible resource provisions in the work context and the associated personal resources that account for daily variations in mastery. By distinguishing between daily affiliation resources and general perceptions of LMX relationship quality, this study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the implications that resource provisions by the leader have for employees.

Do employees dare to improvise under authoritarian leadership? A conditional indirect effect depending on relationship and task environment

Abstract To understand the extent to which employees choose to improvise under authoritarian leadership, we applied social information processing theory to examine the mechanisms and boundary conditions of such leadership’s influence on subordinates’ perceptions of managerial intolerance of errors and their improvisation from the perspective of negative leadership. Data from a multi-wave questionnaire survey of 319 frontline teams analysed using SPSS and Mplus revealed that authoritarian leadership can have an inhibitory effect on subordinates’ improvisation due to perceiving managerial intolerance of errors. Even so, the negative mediating effect is significantly weakened by the moderating effect of a leader–member exchange (LMX) relationship and task complexity. That is, when the level of the LMX relationship or task complexity is high, it mitigates authoritarian leadership’s indirect inhibitory effect on subordinates’ improvisation via their perceptions of management’s intolerance of errors.

More isn’t always better: exploring the curvilinear effects of telework

While telework has become a popular occupational mode, research has found both positive and negative effects on employee outcomes. To reconcile these inconsistent findings, we apply the job demands–resources model and investigate the possible curvilinear effect of telework on innovative and counterproductive work behavior. Analysis of two-wave survey data from South Korean public officials indicates that the relationship between the extent of telework and employee work attitudes is not always positive or negative. We find that telework can be a job resource promoting positive work attitudes, but this beneficial impact decreases and can eventually become negative as employees telework more extensively. Additionally, leader–member exchange relationships play an important moderating role. A high-quality employee–supervisor relationship can enhance the benefits of extensive teleworking, but a low-quality relationship can make the downsides of telework even worse.

Exploring the limits of mindfulness during the COVID-19 pandemic: qualitative evidence from African context

PurposeThis paper is one of the first studies to examine specificities, including limits of mindfulness at work in an African organisational context, whilst dealing with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It specifically addresses the role of organisational and managerial support systems in restoring employee wellbeing, social connectedness and attachment to their organisations, in order to overcome the exclusion caused by the ongoing pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a qualitative research methodology that includes interviews as the main data source. The sample comprises of 20 entrepreneurs (organisational leaders) from Ghana and Nigeria.FindingsThe authors found that COVID-19-induced worries restricted the practice of mindfulness, and this was prevalent at the peak of the pandemic, particularly due to very tough economic conditions caused by reduction in salaries, and intensified by pre-existing general economic and social insecurities, and institutional voids in Africa. This aspect further resulted in lack of engagement and lack of commitment, which affected overall team performance and restricted employees’ mindfulness at work. Hence, quietness by employees even though can be linked to mindfulness was linked to larger psychological stress that they were facing. The authors also found leaders/manager’s emotional intelligence, social skills and organisational support systems to be helpful in such circumstances. However, their effectiveness varied among the cases.Originality/valueThis paper is one of the first studies to establish a link between the COVID-19 pandemic and mindfulness limitations. Moreover, it is a pioneering study specifically highlighting the damaging impact of COVID-19-induced concerns on leader–member exchange (LMX) and team–member exchange (TMX) relationships, particularly in the African context. It further brings in a unique discussion on the mitigating mechanisms of such COVID-19-induced concerns in organisations and highlights the roles of manager’s/leader’s emotional intelligence, social skills and supportive intervention patterns. Finally, the authors offer an in-depth assessment of the effectiveness of organisational interventions and supportive relational systems in restoring social connectedness following a social exclusion caused by COVID-19-induced worries.

What happens when leader is ambivalent and employee is indifferent? A moderated mediation model of LMX ambivalence and employee creativity

PurposeLeader–member exchange (LMX) relationship is a crucial context for individuals’ generation of creative ideas. Unlike the fruit research between LMX quality and employee creativity, the relationship between LMX ambivalence and employee creativity is scarce. This study thus aims to examine the effect of LMX ambivalence on employee creativity.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducted an on-site survey of research and development teams in China and distributed paired questionnaires with a time lag of one month. Data from 116 leaders and 484 subordinates were collected and analyzed.FindingsThe results showed that LMX ambivalence was directly negatively or indirectly negatively related to employee creativity via self-efficacy. Employee cynicism acted as a potential personal moderator of the effect of LMX ambivalence, specifically, employee cynicism attenuated the negative influence of LMX ambivalence on employee creativity via self-efficacy.Originality/valueThis study extends our knowledge of the complex effects of LMX relationships by empirically exploring whether and how LMX ambivalence influences employee creativity, with self-efficacy introduced as one crucial underlying mechanism. Meanwhile, this study enriches the existing cynicism literature by demonstrating the role of employee cynicism as a buffer in the relationship between LMX ambivalence and employee creativity.

Bringing contribution–receipt (im)balance to team–member exchange research: A moderated mediation model

SummaryWhile emerging studies pay much attention to the team–member exchange (TMX) relationship, they have produced mixed findings on TMX consequences. To clarify such inconsistencies, our research highlights the importance of distinguishing TMX contribution from TMX receipt and investigates the influence of TMX contribution–receipt (im)balance. Specifically, drawing upon conservation of resources (COR) theory and the TMX literature, we examine the impacts of TMX contribution–receipt (im)balance on emotional exhaustion and subsequently on silence. We also investigate the moderating role of authoritarian leadership in the aforementioned mediation model. Our pilot study demonstrated sufficient distinction between TMX contribution and TMX receipt scales. Two independent field studies consistently showed that compared with imbalanced situations, TMX contribution–receipt balance was associated with lower emotional exhaustion. In balanced situations, emotional exhaustion was lower when the balance was at a high rather than a low level (Study 1). Regarding imbalanced scenarios, a high contribution–low receipt condition was related to greater emotional exhaustion than a low contribution–high receipt condition (Study 2). Both studies also showed that the indirect effect of TMX contribution–receipt (im)balance on silence through emotional exhaustion was more pronounced when authoritarian leadership was high rather than low.

Disability Severity, Professional Isolation Perceptions, and Career Outcomes: When Does Leader–Member Exchange Quality Matter?

Employees with disability-related communication impairment often experience isolation from professional connections that can negatively affect their careers. Management research suggests that having lower quality leader relationships can be an obstacle to the development of professional connections for employees with disabilities. However, in this paper we suggest that lower quality leader–member exchange (LMX) relationships may not be a uniform hurdle for the professional isolation of employees with disability-related communication impairment. Drawing on psychological disengagement theory, we predict that employees with more severe, rather than less severe, communication impairment develop resilience to challenges in lower quality LMX relationships by psychologically disengaging from professional connections and, in turn, bear fewer negative consequences of professional isolation on career outcomes. In two studies of deaf and hard of hearing employees, we find that in lower quality LMX relationships employees with more severe communication impairment perceive being less isolated than employees with less severe communication impairment, and, in turn, report better career outcomes. Overall, our findings suggest that employees with more severe communication impairment may develop effective coping strategies to manage challenges of perceived professional isolation for career outcomes when in lower quality LMX relationships.

The dynamic nature of leader–member exchange relationships in health-care organizations

PurposeThis study aims to make visible the dynamic nature of leader–member exchange (LMX) in the changing realm of health-care leadership.Design/methodology/approachThe qualitative study used an open questionnaire, which was distributed amongst nursing staff and managers at a Finnish public university hospital.FindingsThe participants described partly LMX theory, but the leader-member relationship was also influenced by the organizational culture and the existing management practices. Nursing staff were found to have a more variable and dynamic role in the LMX relationship than has previously been reported. The research therefore provided novel information for the field of health-care research.Research limitations/implicationsThe presented research was limited by the content of the data, as the collected single narratives were rather short; however, the fact that a large number of narratives were collected from diverse participants strengthened the ability to reliably answer the research questions.Practical implicationsAlthough the participants described partly LMX theory, the leader–member relationship is also influenced by the organizational culture and existing management practices; the finding that nurses have more variable roles in LMX relationships in the health-care context was new insight in this field. Therefore, the presented findings can help decision-makers change the current, perhaps antiquated, leadership practices at health-care organizations.Originality/valueThis study provides new insight into the field of LMX research in terms of the important role of nursing staff, the organizational factors that influence the LMX relationship and the dynamic nature of LMX relationships.

A relational perspective on supervisor‐initiated turnover: Implications for human resource management based on a multi‐method investigation of leader–member exchange relationships

AbstractDespite the great emphasis organizations and human resource management (HRM) research place on turnover issues, one turnover phenomenon has received only limited attention so far: joint leader–member turnover. This research examines supervisor‐initiated turnover (SIT) (i.e., employees' decision to quit their employer to follow a former supervisor to a new organization) and develops a comprehensive model of the SIT decision process, grounded on conservation of resources (COR) theory, that delineates the resource evaluation, conservation and investment deliberations of employees. We take a relational perspective and particularly focus on the leader–member relationship as an important antecedent of SIT and thereby respond to the call for more critical investigations of leader–member exchange (LMX) and corresponding HRM implications. Our three studies (survey, scenario experiment, and dyadic interview study) demonstrate that LMX positively affects SIT intentions (SITI) and that supervisor commitment represents an important mediating mechanism of the LMX–SITI relationship. Our interview study with 46 leader–member dyads identifies relational factors that promote or hinder SIT beyond the leader–member relationship. We discuss the theoretical contributions and practical implications for HRM.

Individual Variation in Responding to Leader–Member Exchange Differentiation: The Moderating Roles of Internal Locus of Control and Self-Efficacy

This study examines how differentiation in leader–member exchange relationships (LMXD) provokes different individual responses depending on personal dispositions—internal locus of control and self-efficacy. Further, we identify three types of individual behavioral responses to LMXD: in-role and extra-role performance as self-focused responses, impression management toward the leader as a leader-focused response, and social undermining of coworkers as a coworker-focused response. Analysis of data from a survey conducted in South Korea demonstrates cross-level interaction effects between LMXD and the two dispositional variables on these behavioral responses of individuals. Specifically, LMXD is more positively related to in-role and extra-role performance and impression management toward the leader for individuals high than low in internal locus of control and for individuals high than low in self-efficacy. However, the cross-level interaction effects are not supported regarding social undermining of coworkers. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Supervisors' overtime hours, abusive supervision and leader–member exchange: How supervisors' long work hours harm their relationships with subordinates

AbstractThe current research examines the consequences of supervisors' overtime hours on subordinates. Drawing upon the stressor‐emotion model of counterproductive behaviors, we argue that supervisors' overtime hours positively relate to abusive supervision behaviors through negative emotions, which in turn undermine leader–member exchange relationships. We further posit that this process is exacerbated among subordinates with a strong relational self‐concept. Multisource multilevel data collected from an organizational sample of 181 employees and longitudinal data from 416 employees from multiple organizations support our predictions. This research indicates that the consequences of working overtime extend beyond supervisors, as subordinates may be negatively affected when their supervisors work long hours. We discuss implications for both theory and practice.

Leader's Implicit Followership and Employees' Innovative Behavior: Chain Mediation Effect of Leader-Member Exchange and Psychological Empowerment.

In the Chinese society, where power distance is high, leaders’ attitudes and behavior toward employees determine their career development as well as affect the entire team’s performance. Therefore, exploring the kind of employees that leaders expect in China is essential. Based on implicit followership theory perspective, this study considers leaders’ positive implicit followership (LPIF) as the main research variable and examines its influence on employees’ innovative behavior (EIB). Moreover, it explores the multiple mediation effect of the leader–member exchange (LMX) relationship and psychological empowerment (PE) in this influence mechanism. The study sample comprised 389 leaders and their direct employees at 45 large- and medium-sized enterprises in Shandong, Beijing, Hebei, Shanghai, Shanxi, Zhejiang, and other regions of China. We used the leader–employee 1:1 matching questionnaire, and the longitudinal research design was adopted to avoid homology variance, making the study results more realistic and reliable. This study used the SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 26.0 statistical software to verify the hypotheses. Our findings show that LPIF has a significant positive effect on EIB, and LMX and PE have multiple mediation effects on the relationship between LPIF and EIB. When the level of LPIF is high, LMX and PE are also enhanced, which in turn promotes the increase in EIB. This study provides a new perspective for subsequent research on the psychological mechanism of employees and suggests an important method for understanding leadership and following processes in an organization. It plays a guiding role for the management practice of an enterprise, selection of leaders, and training of employees.