Leader-member Exchange Quality Research Articles

Negative Antecedents of Affective Commitment of Filipino Call Center Workers

The study's primary purpose is to provide empirical information about the effects of perceived customer unfriendliness, emotional dissonance, and perceived stress on Filipino call center workers' affective organizational commitment. Also, the study aims to show how leader-member exchange (LMX) mediates the relationships between the three posited antecedents and affective commitment. The study proposed a hypothesized model based on insights from the literature. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used in testing the hypotheses using a dataset from a sample of 689 Filipino call center workers. The results revealed that emotional dissonance and perceived stress are consequences of perceived customer unfriendliness. They, in turn, have adverse effects on affective commitment. The results also indicated that LMX fully mediates the impact of perceived customer unfriendliness on affective commitment and partially mediates the stress-commitment relationship. The findings' discussion highlights the importance of stakeholders' intervention programs in reducing workers' emotional dissonance and perceived stress and implies that quality LMX initiated by the leaders may help reduce the adverse effects of customer-related stressors and psychological strains on the affective commitment of the call center workers.

High-contact services of the transient and high-uncertainty type: managing customer experience

PurposeMany small-to-medium sized service shops (e.g. jewelry shops, fine-dining restaurants etc.) operate in a unique service environment. They often face customers in transit (i.e. transient delivery) and with minimal information of their preferences (i.e. high uncertainty). This study investigates how such shops create service experience to customers by focusing on three constructs, namely, customer orientation, management commitment to service quality and quality of leader-member exchange in service systems with the uncertain and transient nature. Building on a systems approach of service experience design, the authors examine all possible effects (main effects and two-way and three-way interaction effects) on customer experience. Specifically, to frame the two-way and the three-way interaction effects, the authors adopt the contingency and configuration approaches, respectively.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs a multiple respondent approach involving managers, employees and customers to collect data from 225 service shops in Hong Kong. Hierarchically moderated regression analysis is employed to analyze the collected data.FindingsContrary to our initial conceptualization, most of the direct effects and two-way interaction effects among the three constructs are insignificant. The authors do, however, uncover a significant effect of the three-way interaction term. The authors analyze the results from the configuration perspective.Originality/valueThe finding suggests that the configuration approach is necessary to determine the configuration concerning how design elements align with one another to generate an integrative effect on customer experience. The authors conclude that for high-contact services of the transient and high-uncertainty type, all three constructs must operate simultaneously to evoke favorable customer experience. Customer experience is holistically developed in a service system with high-uncertainty and transient nature, requiring simultaneous alignment across a range of design choices among those involved in service delivery (manager, employee and customer).

The Strategic Role of Engagement and Positive Workplace to Sustain Employee Performance

Employee performance is an important factor for a company to achieve objectives, gain competitive advantage and finally winning the competition. Even for a company which has been established for more than 20 years, employee performance still becomes challenge. A good relationship between leader and member is one of the key factors to improve employee performance. A company needs to ensure that employees give their best performance and meet the expectation. The purpose of this study is to develop model to improve employee performance with high quality of Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) and Perceived Organizational Support (POS) which mediates by work engagement. Data were collected from 100 respondents of permanent employees in a teak furniture manufacturing company in Semarang, Central Java Province, Indonesia. The method used to analyze the hypotheses was Partial Least Square (PLS). This study concludes that positive workplace which contains Leader-Member Exchange (LMX), Perceived Organizational Support (POS), and Work Engagement, have a positive and significant influences on Employee Performance. Work Engagement also found has influence effect on mediating between LMX and POS with Employee Performance.

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.

Looking Beyond the Dyad: How Transformational Leadership Affects Leader–Member Exchange Quality and Outcomes

Despite the attention given to leadership and its understanding, the overwhelming number of approaches remain focused on one specific theory, resulting in minimal integration across theoretical borders. A leadership typology combining aspects of transformational leadership (TFL) with leader–member exchange (LMX) theory is presented in order to focus attention on the relationship between TFL behaviors and LMX outcomes. The typology demonstrates that LMX outcomes are contingent on context and develop within a richer pattern of behaviors, perceptions, and interactions than typically captured by a focus on dyadic interactions alone. LMX success thus can be seen as the result of a process that co‐evolves on the basis of interactions between leaders and followers by means of specific practices and perceptions.

My LMX standing with my leader as compared to my coworkers: conditional indirect effect of LMX social comparison

PurposeThe paper examines the effect of relative leader-member exchange (LMX) on follower's in-role performance, citizenship behaviour and cynicism via relational identification. Moreover, LMXSC (LMXSC) moderates the direct and mediating relationship.Design/methodology/approachBased on multi-level (individual and group level) model, dyadic data were collected from 298 employees working under 47 group managers in the banking sector in Pakistan.FindingsThe multi-level moderated mediation model tested in Mplus and HLM software showed the full support for direct, mediating and moderating hypothesized relationships; however, the moderated mediation hypothesis was partially supported. It reveals that relative LMX standing of followers predicted in-role performance, organizational citizenship behaviour at an individual level (OCB-individual) and cynicism. Relational identification with the leader mediated the relationship. Moreover, at high LMXSC, the relationship between relative LMX and relational identification and consequently the outcomes were stronger.Originality/valueLMX has widely been studied at dyadic level, despite the suggested high and low LMX quality relationships that exist in a workgroup. This study not only investigates the role of relative LMX on employee performance through relational identification but also reports that subjective evaluation of LMXSC plays a major role in promoting employee performance.

How leader–member exchange affects job embeddedness and job dedication through employee advocacy

PurposeCompatible with the principles of leader–member exchange (LMX) theory and social exchange theory (SET), the study explores the effect of LMX on job embeddedness and job dedication and the mediating role of employee advocacy.Design/methodology/approachThe data were gathered via a survey at four hotels in Izmir. To test the reliability and validity, 194 valid questionnaires were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesized relationships.FindingsThe results show that high quality LMX and employee advocacy increase the hotel employees' job embeddedness and job dedication. In addition, the results show that employee advocacy has a partial mediating effect on the relationships between LMX and job embeddedness, and between LMX and job dedication.Originality/valueAlthough past researches have examined both various determinants of employee job embeddedness and job dedication, and consequences of high-quality LMX, they have ignored a critical factor, which is employee advocacy. This current study addresses this research gap by investigating the interrelations between LMX and job embeddedness, and job advocacy through employee advocacy in hotels. Moreover, this research is the first empirical study that analyzes the relationships between LMX, job embeddedness, job dedication and employee advocacy in the same model. Therefore, this research contributes to hospitality literature by filling this gap.

Great minds think alike: does leader-follower similarity in construal level of the work enhance leader-member exchange quality?

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate whether leader-follower similarity in construal level of the work, which indicates the degree of abstraction applied to mental representation of the work, influences the quality of interpersonal relationship at work.Design/methodology/approachFirst, an interview study was conducted to adapt the work-based construal-level (WBCL) scale. Then, a survey study was conducted for hypothesis testing. Data collected from 245 matched supervisor-subordinate dyads were analyzed using multi-level modeling.FindingsResults revealed that dyadic similarity in work-domain construal level is positively related to leader-member exchange (LMX) quality. As a leader and a follower become similar to each other in terms of mental representation (i.e. construal level) of work, they experience higher relationship quality.Originality/valueThis study enhances the current knowledge of the role of cognition and cognitive similarity in leadership processes.

ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF WORKING PERIOD AND LMX QUALITY PERCEPTION ON JOB SATISFACTION AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT AND THEIR IMPACT ON OCB OF PT. ADHI PERSADA BETON IN ACEH

This study was conducted to determine and examine the analysis of the effect of working period and Perception of Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Quality on job satisfaction and organizational commitment and their impact on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) of employees of PT Adhi Persada Beton in Aceh Besar. The population was all employees of PT Adhi Persada Beton totaling 473 employees. The sample was determined using cluster random sampling and the Slovin formula and obtained 216 employees as a sample. Data was collected using a questionnaire through the google form application. The research model was analyzed using SEM-AMOS. The descriptive hypothesis test results show that all variables are good. The result of the direct influence hypothesis test shows that the working period affects satisfaction, LMX Quality Perception affects commitment, LMX Quality Perception affects OCB, satisfaction affects OCB, and commitment affects OCB. The result of the indirect effect hypothesis test proves that satisfaction mediates the working period affects OCB, and commitment mediates LMX Quality Perception affects OCB. Satisfaction and commitment are proven to function as partial mediators. Thus, the results prove that the OCB improvement model at PT. Adhi Persada Beton is a function of the length of the working period, improving LMX quality, increasing satisfaction, and strengthening commitment.

Leader-Member Exchange and learning climate in increasing employee motivation: a post-pandemic perspective

Purpose: The paper tries to answer the following question: what are the relationships between the quality of leader-member exchange (LMX), learning climate, and employee motivation in public administration? Its purpose is to identify the relationships between LMX, learning climate, and employee motivation in public administration organizations. Methodology: The paper presents the results of a survey carried out in the Górnośląsko- Zagłębiowska Metropolis (Metropolis GZM), i.e. the metropolitan association located in the area of Upper Silesia. The sample consisted of 153 employees in all of 41 municipal offices of the Metropolis GZM. A model of relationships between LMX, learning climate, and employee motivation was proposed and tested using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Findings: It was found that the quality of LMX positively affected learning climate, which in turn influenced employee motivation. Analysis proved that learning climate mediated the relationship between LMX and motivation of public administration employees. Research limitations/implications: The study focused only on the municipal offices in the Metropolis GZM and its results cannot be generalized. However, it implies that public administration organizations can create the learning climate by improving relationships between supervisors and subordinates to increase employee motivation. Practical implications: The results obtained indicate that in the contemporary public administration, a traditional approach to motivate employees should evolve and move towards an approach based on positive social relations, mutual trust, and leaders’ developmental support. Originality/value: This research has provided empirical evidence regarding the relationships between the quality of LMX, learning climate and employee motivation which was hitherto absent from public administration.

How are high-quality relationships created with dark leaders? An examination of leader and follower dark triad traits and leader-member exchanges

This study examines whether follower Dark Triad (DT) traits impact the quality of leader-member exchanges. Data was collected from 328 individuals who completed the Short Dark Triad instrument (SD3) for themselves and their supervisor, and the Leader-member Exchange instrument (LMX-7) to determine the quality of their relationship with their supervisor. A factorial ANOVA was performed to determine the impact of leader and follower DT traits on the quality of the leader-follower relationship. A simultaneous regression tested if the quality of the leader-follower relationship could be predicted from DT traits of follower and DT traits of leader. Results suggested that narcissistic and psychopathic DT traits of the follower, as well as the leader, did significantly impact the quality of the leader-follower relationship. Moreover, results from the regression determined 24% of the variance in the quality of a leader-follower relationship can be explained by DT traits of the leader and follower.

Developing organizational citizenship behaviour: organizational climate and leader-member exchange effects

Supervisory behaviour has influenced a better working climate, which has led to the employees' desire to achieve a favourable outcome for the business involved. If the leaders do not contribute constructive behaviour, the staff may desire a poor outcome. Banks were chosen because they participate in a high-quality endeavour to build leader-member exchange relationships among workers. By examining employees' citizenship behaviour, the findings of this study could be used to improve the quality of leader-member exchange and the work environment. An effective organizational climate must incorporate the leader-member exchange strategy to improve employees' working environments, leaders-followers relationships, and employees' citizenship behaviour. The importance of this study is to determine that organizational climate is a visible value that has been in existent within the employee's behaviour and action. This study aims to assess the mediating role of the organizational climate on the relationship between leader-member exchanges on organizational citizenship behaviour. Reviewing underpinning theories based on underlying concepts, theoretical background, current definitions, and various types of collaborative writing gathered from the educational setting resulted in a theoretical framework. The quantitative and purposive sampling methods have been used to achieve the research questions and hypothesis. Samples were taken that amounted to 384 respondents in the commercial banks, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Descriptive statistics analysed the variables, correlation and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) using IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and SMART PLS 3. Findings of this study reveal that organizational climate has a positive relationship with significant levels on the leader-member exchange and organizational citizenship behaviour. This study suggests that it be pursued further in the Asian and Western contexts due to the development of organizational citizenship behaviour. Because it is fundamental for many organizations to develop their company profile to achieve good changes so that human resource management is strategized in the hiring and retaining system for highly committed employees to organizations.

Deep-level dissimilarity and leader–member exchange (LMX) quality: the role of status

Purpose This study explores how status, demographic and positional, moderates the negative effect of deep-level dissimilarity on leader–member exchange (LMX) quality.Design/methodology/approach Data from three samples were analyzed using hierarchical linear regression and linear mixed-effects methods.Findings Results suggest that the negative effect of deep-level dissimilarity (perceived work-related attitude and perspective differences) on LMX quality is stronger when the LMX partner has low demographic status (e.g. the LMX partner is an African-American woman). This moderating effect was not significant when deep-level dissimilarity was extended to include differences in personality, interests and values. Results were mixed on whether low positional status (i.e. when the LMX partner is a member rather than a leader) strengthens the negative effect of deep-level dissimilarity on LMX quality.Practical implications This study may help leaders, organizational members and diversity managers better manage attitude and perspective dissimilarity in leader–member dyads.Originality/value This study expands research exploring interactive effects of dissimilarity and status on work-related outcomes. It is novel in that it explores status not in relative terms but at the societal level. It is also the first study to analyze the moderating effects of two types of status: demographic and positional.

How Internal Marketing Drives Employees' Internal Relationship Quality of Service Organizations Between Mainland China and Taiwan: The Moderating Roles of Internal Relationship Investment and Leader-Member Exchange.

Recently, issues of human resource management gradually attract a lot of attention from organizational behavior scholars, thus how to effectively improve service employees’ job attitude and performance to meet the needs of stakeholders is one of the key issues in internal marketing. Based on the perspective of internal marketing, the study transforms the relevant factors applied to maintaining external customer relations into internal employee-oriented factors, so as to increase the understanding of the relationship between internal service recovery and internal relationship quality (IRQ). This study aims to explore (1) whether internal service recovery enhances IRQ; (2) whether internal relationship investment (IRI) positively moderates relationship between internal service recovery and IRQ; and (3) whether effectiveness of internal service recovery differentiates under different exchange relationship (high/low quality leader-member exchange). In this study, a total of 206 Mainland China and 250 Taiwanese participants were collected. In this study, a variance-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was performed to test the proposed hypothesizes and conduct comparative analysis. Empirical results in both samples show that internal service recovery has positive and significant effects on IRQ; internal relationship investment and leader-member exchange (LMX) positively and significantly moderate the relationship between internal service recovery and IRQ. Finally, based on the results, this study provides some discussions, suggestions and managerial implications for future studies in organizational management.

Supportive leadership training effects on employee social and hedonic well-being: A cluster randomized controlled trial.

Drawing on conservation of resources theory, we developed and evaluated a supportive leadership training (SLT) intervention designed to teach leaders ways to be supportive of their employees. Given the important role of supportive leaders in helping employees deal with excessive workloads, we theorized that the beneficial intervention effects on employee well-being would be particularly evident for employees who perceive higher levels of quantitative and qualitative workloads prior to the intervention. Using a cluster randomized controlled field trial, we tested the effects of the SLT on employee social well-being in terms of leader-member exchange (LMX) quality and employee hedonic well-being, including positive affective well-being, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction. The participants in the training were directors of childcare centers in Germany. To rigorously evaluate the intervention effects at the employee level, we collected survey data at baseline, 1 month postintervention, and 6 months postintervention, and we used an intent-to-treat approach to analyze the data. A total of 496 employees from 77 childcare centers provided data at baseline, of whom 266 and 226 employees participated in the 1-month and 6-month surveys, respectively. Linear mixed-effects models showed that the effectiveness of the intervention in terms of LMX quality and emotional exhaustion varied depending on the employees' baseline perceptions of quantitative workloads, such that employees with higher quantitative workloads benefited more from the SLT. The findings of this study improve the understanding of the types of outcomes of SLT and contribute to clarifying for whom SLT is effective. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Composing the same song: when and how high-performance work systems can stimulate proactive behavior

PurposeDrawing on signaling theory, the purpose of this study is to explore how high-performance work systems (HPWS) interact with leader–member exchange (LMX) to predict employees' proactive behavior and job engagement. Moreover, the present study also proposes the mediating role of job engagement in the interactive effects of HPWS and LMX quality on proactive behavior.Design/methodology/approachThe data of this study include 228 customer-contact employees and 44 store managers from chain store enterprises in the service sector in Taiwan. The proposed models were tested with hierarchical linear modeling and Monte Carlo simulation.FindingsThe results show a significant interactive effect of HPWS and LMX on job engagement and proactive behavior. In addition, job engagement serves as a vital mechanism linking the interactive effect of HPWS and LMX quality on proactive behavior.Originality/valueThis study uses signaling theory to unpack the question when and how HPWS can be more influential on employees' proactive behavior. In particular, the positive effect of HPWS on proactive behavior is more prominent only when employees enjoy high LMX quality with their respective line managers. In addition, the interactive effects of HPWS and LMX quality on proactive behavior are mediated by job engagement. The findings provide valuable theoretical and managerial contribution by integrating HRM and leadership research.

The impact of supervisor–employee self‐protective implicit voice theory alignment

Self‐protective implicit voice theories (IVTs) represent individuals’ deeply rooted schemas regarding the risks and appropriateness of speaking up at work. Drawing from the behavioural confirmation model and expectancy violation theory, we argue that alignment (or congruence) between supervisors’ and employees’ self‐protective IVTs will result in higher quality leader‐member exchange (LMX) relationships. We also argue that higher quality LMX will, in turn, result in higher performance evaluations from those supervisors. Results from cross‐level polynomial regression analyses of a sample of 900 governmental employees with matched responses from their supervisors partially supported our predictions. We found evidence of congruence effects on job performance evaluations through LMX, particularly when employees and their supervisors had weaker self‐protective IVTs. We also found a strong but unexpected effect for employees’ self‐protective IVTs that indicated that the more self‐protective the employees’ IVTs, the lower the quality of the LMX they developed with their supervisors. Our findings have implications for the nascent literature on self‐protective IVTs and suggest potential benefits for employees who have fewer reservations about speaking up at work.Practitioner points Employees’ implicit, unconscientious beliefs about the potential risks associated with speaking up are formed well in advance of their employment yet they are important drivers of whether they withhold their ideas and suggestions or speak up at work. Although strong implicit voice theories should help employees avoid negative outcomes, they can hinder the development of high‐quality relationships with their managers. Managers’ implicit beliefs about speaking up can influence the outcomes their employees experience as a result of their own implicit beliefs about the risks associated with speaking up. Some of the best employee outcomes result from manager and employee pairs that share weak implicit theories about speaking up and manager and employee pairs in which employees have weak implicit theories about speaking up and managers have moderate implicit theories about speaking up.

Linking emotional intelligence to turnover intention: LMX and affective organizational commitment as serial mediators

PurposeThe present study attempts to examine the mediating effect of leader member exchange (LMX) and affective organizational commitment on the relationship between followers' emotional intelligence (EI) and their turnover intention.Design/methodology/approachUsing a cross-sectional design, survey data were obtained from 182 employees in Tunisia. Survey responses were analyzed using Model 6 in PROCESS (Hayes, 2017).FindingsAs predicted, LMX and affective organizational commitment were found to sequentially and totally mediate the causal relationship between EI and turnover intention.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations include using a cross-sectional design, convenience sampling and self-report measures for EI, LMX, affective commitment and turnover intention.Practical implicationsOrganizations need to encourage more emotionally intelligent responses in employees which improve the quality of their leader–follower relationships. The quality of LMXs enhances the affective commitment that drives lower turnover intention.Originality/valueWhile the relationship between EI and turnover intention has been theorized, this study is one of the first to enable us to explore the mechanisms underlying this relationship. Specifically, a sequential mediation model linking EI with turnover intention through LMX and affective commitment was proposed.

When Does the Leader’s Positive Expression Get a Positive Response From Members? The Three-Way Interaction Effects of Perceived Deep/Surface Acting, Positive Affect, and Quality of Leader-Member Exchange on Work Engagement

Although researchers have argued that a leader’s positive affective display effectively induces work motivation among members, it has not always resulted in desirable outcomes. This research addresses these critical issues and explains why individuals react differently, by considering the three-way interaction of the characteristics of expression, the positive affect of the members, and quality of leader-member exchange (LMX). To verify our hypotheses, 698days from 47 leaders and 146 members were collected through the Experience Sampling Method. The analysis was conducted using HLM, and the results showed that, for members with high quality LMX, the positive effect of perceived deep acting on work engagement was strengthened when positive affect was high, and the negative effect of perceived surface acting was weakened when positive affect was high. On the other hand, members with low-quality LMX showed a stronger positive effect of perceived deep acting on work engagement when positive affect was high, and the negative effect of perceived deep acting was mitigated when positive affect was low. These results demonstrate that quality of LMX serves as a context of the affective display between leaders and members, and the effect of displaying positive affect relies on members’ perception of the characteristics of the expression and the affective state.

Core self-evaluations and organizational citizenship behaviors: situational appraisals and actions

Since its introduction over two decades ago, core self-evaluations (CSEs) have received extensive consideration from management scholars. While CSEs have been directly linked to workplace outcomes, less is understood regarding the mediating mechanisms through which CSEs are related to workplace outcomes. In this study, we examine the process though which CSEs promote favorable outcomes by examining the mediating role of both leader-member exchange (LMX) quality and work engagement in the CSE—organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) relationship. We hypothesize that the relationship between CSEs and OCBs are mediated by the quality of the individual’s relationship with their leader (i.e., LMX quality) and their level of work engagement. Our results provide broad support for the hypothesized mediation relationships whereby CSEs are indirectly related to OCBs through both LMX quality and work engagement. A discussion of these findings and their implications for both theory and practice is provided.