The implications of perceived leader favouritism in the context of leader-member exchange relationships

Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory suggests that supervisors have relatively high-quality exchange relationships with some employees and relatively low-quality relationships with others. Prior investigations indicate that employees who have high-quality LMX relationships with their supervisors benefit in terms of more positive work attitudes and higher performance than those who do not. However, when employees feel like their supervisors are favouring some employees over others, it is likely to undermine the positive effects of LMX (even among employees who have high-quality exchanges with their supervisor). Using data from 305 employees and their coworkers, we found that the positive effects of LMX (regarding organizational citizenship behaviour, withdrawal behaviour, and relative deprivation regarding one’s career) were weakened by perceived leader favouritism. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Supervisors' upward exchange relationships and subordinate outcomes: testing the multilevel mediation role of empowerment

This study empirically examined the proposition that supervisors' exchange relationships with their own supervisors (i.e., leader-leader exchange, or LLX) are related to their subordinates' work-related outcomes through 3 mechanisms: (a) leaders modeling their LLX to develop and maintain their exchange relationships with their subordinates (i.e., leader-member exchange, or LMX), (b) motivating the team and its members, captured by team and individual empowerment, and (c) facilitating the relationships between LMX and individual outcomes. Analyses of multisource and lagged data from 104 team supervisors and 577 subordinates showed that LMX mediated the positive relationship of LLX on subordinates' individual empowerment. Furthermore, team empowerment and individual empowerment sequentially mediated the positive relationships between LLX and subordinates' job satisfaction and job performance. The authors also found that the indirect relationships of LMX with job satisfaction and job performance via individual empowerment were stronger when LLX was higher. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

The interaction between leader–member exchange and perceived job security in predicting employee altruism and work performance

This study investigated the relationships among leader–member exchange (LMX), perceived job security, and employee performance. Drawing on the job demands–resources model and conservation of resources theory, we expected both LMX and perceived job security would affect employee altruism and work performance in a positive manner. In addition, LMX and perceived job security were expected to interact to predict the two outcome variables. The hypotheses were tested with a sample of 184 employees in a state‐owned enterprise in China. Our results showed that LMX, but not perceived job security, was positively related to employee altruism and work performance. Additionally, the effect of LMX on altruism was stronger for employees perceiving less job security. The findings indicated that LMX as a job resource becomes more impactful to altruistic performance when employees feel less secure at work.     

服务型领导对员工建言行为的影响:领导-成员交换和学习目标取向的作用

通过对191名员工及其领导的配对问卷调查,探讨了服务型领导对员工建言行为的作用机制。结果发现:(1)服务型领导对员工建言行为有积极影响;(2)服务型领导通过领导-成员交换的中介效应影响员工建言行为;(3)员工的学习目标取向对领导-成员交换与建言行为之间的关系具有调节效应,即员工的学习目标取向越强,领导-成员交换对建言行为的影响越大;(4)学习目标取向调节了领导-成员交换对服务型领导-建言行为的中介作用。     

A Structural Equation Model of the Effects of Negative Affectivity,Leader-Member Exchange,and Perceived Job Mobility on In-role and Extra-role Performance: A Chinese Case

In this paper, we contrast the effects of leader-member exchange (LMX) with the effects of perceived job mobility on in-role performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). We further model negative affectivity as the antecedent of both LMX and perceived job mobility and suggest that LMX and perceived job mobility mediated the relationship between negative affectivity and performance. We obtained matching data from supervisor and subordinates in a major battery manufacturing company in southern China. Subordinates provided the negative affectivity, perceived job mobility, and LMX assessment, and their immediate supervisors provided the in-role performance and OCB assessment. Results from a structural equation analysis show that both LMX and perceived job mobility predicted OCB. Instead of being a direct antecedent of OCB, the relationship between negative affectivity and OCB is found to be mediated by LMX and perceived job mobility. Theoretical implications of the results are discussed.     

From self‐defeating to other defeating: Examining the effects of leader procrastination on follower work outcomes

This research examines the influence of leader procrastination on employee attitudes and behaviours. While previous studies have typically viewed procrastination as a form of self‐defeating behaviour, this research explores its effects on others in the workplace. In Study 1, using data collected from 290 employees, we demonstrate the discriminant and relative predictive validity of leader procrastination on leadership effectiveness compared with laissez‐faire leadership and directive leadership. In Study 2, based on dyadic data collected in three phases from 250 employees and their 23 supervisors, we found that leader procrastination was associated with follower discretionary behaviour (organizational citizenship behaviour and deviant behaviour). Additionally, job frustration was found to mediate the relationship between leader procrastination and follower outcomes. The quality of the leader–follower relationship, as a boundary condition, was shown to mitigate the detrimental effects of leader procrastination. Together, the findings suggest that leader procrastination is a distinct form of negative leadership behaviour that represents an important source of follower job frustration.

Practitioner points

• Leader procrastination is different from laissez‐faire and directive leadership and can be detrimental to followers.
• Job frustration mediates the relationship between leader procrastination and follower discretionary behaviour.
• Organizations should facilitate high‐quality LMX relationships as a method for mitigating the negative effects of leader procrastination.

     

Support from the top: supervisors' perceived organizational support as a moderator of leader-member exchange to satisfaction and performance relationships

The authors hypothesized that supervisors' perceived organizational support (POS) would moderate the relationships between leader-member exchange (LMX), job satisfaction, and job performance. On the basis of social exchange theory, supervisors' exchanges with the organization and subordinates should be interconnected. The authors expected that supervisors with high POS would have more resources to exchange with subordinates. Thus, supervisor POS should enhance the relationships between LMX and job satisfaction and LMX and job performance for subordinates. Hierarchical linear modeling analysis provided support for the hypotheses in a sample of 210 subordinates and 38 supervisors of a grocery store chain. The positive relationship between LMX and job satisfaction was stronger when supervisors had high POS. Moreover, LMX was related to performance only when supervisors had high POS.     

Supervisors' Attitudes About the Early Retirement of Subordinates1

This article presents the results of a study among 273 supervisors regarding the early retirement of older subordinates. The assumption is that attitudes of supervisors will stimulate early retirement in downsizing organizations and organizations where the employees are exposed to physical pressures. Next, the performance of older employees and supervisors' expectations regarding future performance are deemed important. The results show that supervisors are not in favor of encouraging large numbers of older employees to continue working until official retirement age (65 years). The results suggest that supervisors' attitudes are only weakly influenced by overall corporate goals, such as achieving a younger work force and decreasing employment, and that expectations regarding the loss of human capital and health and sickness absenteeism are important in retirement/retention recommendations.     

Social exchange relationships and exchange ideologies of employees and supervisors: A three-way interaction toward employee creativity

This study aims to better understand the effects of social exchange relationships between employees and their organizations (perceived organizational support [POS]), and their leaders (leader–member exchange [LMX]) on their creativity. To this end, we investigated how exchange ideologies of employees and supervisors affect the relationship between POS/LMX and employee creativity using a three-way interaction test. Building on the social exchange theory, the results from our sample of 254 leader–employee dyads indicated that the relationship between POS/LMX and employee creativity is significantly more positive for an employee with strong exchange ideology than for an employee with weak exchange ideology. Moreover, POS and LMX had the strongest positive relationships with creativity when both employees and supervisors had higher levels of exchange ideology. The implications of our results and future research directions are discussed.     

From ideal to real: a longitudinal study of the role of implicit leadership theories on leader-member exchanges and employee outcomes

The results of the present longitudinal study demonstrate the importance of implicit leadership theories (ILTs) for the quality of leader-member exchanges (LMX) and employees' organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and well-being. Results based on a sample of 439 employees who completed the study questionnaires at 2 time points showed that the closer employees perceived their actual manager's profile to be to the ILTs they endorsed, the better the quality of LMX. Results also indicated that the implicit-explicit leadership traits difference had indirect effects on employee attitudes and well-being. These findings were consistent across employee groups that differed in terms of job demand and the duration of manager-employee relation, but not in terms of motivation. Furthermore, crossed-lagged modeling analyses of the longitudinal data explored the possibility of reciprocal effects between implicit-explicit leadership traits difference and LMX and provided support for the initially hypothesized direction of causal effects.     

Boundaryless LMX: Examining LMX's Impact on External Career Outcomes and Alumni Goodwill

Research has convincingly shown that leader–member exchange (LMX) is associated with a range of beneficial outcomes for employees within organizations. As employees increasingly pursue boundaryless careers that straddle multiple organizations, it is important to ask: Do advantages from LMX extend beyond the current organization and persist even after employees have left it? We propose that employees in higher quality LMX relationships with their managers benefit from stronger professional development, which can pay off in the form of better career outcomes on the external job market. Further, after leaving, whether or not ex‐employees (i.e., alumni) harbor goodwill toward their former organizations is likely to depend on their LMX quality prior to leaving. Alumni goodwill matters because organizations can potentially reap important strategic benefits from their alumni. Using time separated data including alumni interviews conducted by third‐party consultants, we find that, among employees who quit, pre‐turnover LMX is positively related to higher salaries and greater responsibility in their next jobs and is also positively related to alumni goodwill. Moreover, the strength of the LMX–alumni goodwill relationship depends on whether managers made robust retention efforts after employees communicated their decisions to quit.     

The Effects of Leader and Subordinate Characteristics in the Development of Leader–Member Exchange Quality1

This study investigated the contribution of both subordinate and leader characteristics in the development of leader-member exchange (LMX) quality. Data from 56 subordinate-superior dyads working at a large West-coast media company revealed that subordinates high in work self-efficacy were liked more by their supervisors, perceived to be more similar to their supervisors, experienced more positive LMX quality, and were rated as better performers than subordinates low in self-efficacy. Previous job experience, was related only to one outcome; supervisor's liking of the subordinate. Subordinates initially low in self-efficacy benefited from high LMX, as evidenced by increased end-of-program self-efficacy. Perceptions of similarity between supervisor and subordinate were found to be more important to LMX quality than actual demographic similarity. Leader self-efficacy and optimism predicted subordinates' ratings of LMX quality only for female supervisors. Unexpectedly, leader self-efficacy and optimism were related to the leaders' own ratings of LMX and subordinate performance.     

Are emotional display rules formal job requirements? Examination of employee and supervisor perceptions

This study explored whether emotional display rules are perceived by part‐time employees and their supervisors as formal job requirements. Results showed that display‐related behaviours were thought to be required activities (i.e. in‐role) by the majority of the sample, and that employees and supervisors generally agreed in this perception. Job‐based differences in interpersonal requirements predicted the extent to which employees and supervisors categorized display‐related behaviours as required, with more interpersonal requirements being associated with greater in‐role categorization. Job‐based differences in interpersonal requirements also predicted the level of agreement between employees and supervisors in categorizing display‐related behaviours as in‐role or extra‐role. Finally, job satisfaction and job involvement predicted the extent to which employees categorized emotional display behaviours as being required in their jobs, with more satisfied and more involved individuals rating emotional display behaviours as in‐role at a higher rate than less satisfied and less involved individuals.     

“激将法”会激发还是打击员工?感知能力不被领导信任的“双刃剑”效应

感知能力不被领导信任是信任研究的重要内容。已有研究普遍认为感知不被领导信任会对员工的自我产生不利影响。相反, 传统领导方式“激将法”则认为领导的不信任可以刺激员工展现更好的自我。为了解释上述矛盾, 本研究基于自我评价理论和心理逆反理论, 采用实验研究和多源多时间点问卷调查研究方法, 探讨了感知能力不被领导信任对员工自我的“双刃剑”效应及边界条件。研究结果表明, 当员工感知领导能力较强时, 感知能力不被领导信任会通过降低员工的工作效能感削弱员工的工作努力和绩效表现; 当员工感知领导能力较弱时, 感知能力不被领导信任会通过增强员工证明自我能力动机提升员工的工作努力和绩效表现。     

THE ROLE OF JOB EMBEDDEDNESS ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE: THE INTERACTIVE EFFECTS WITH LEADER–MEMBER EXCHANGE AND ORGANIZATION‐BASED SELF‐ESTEEM

Although job embeddedness was originally conceptualized to explain job stability or “why people stay” in their organizations, this investigation examines the role of job embeddedness as a hypothesized moderator of relationships among leader–member exchange (LMX), organization‐based self‐esteem (OBSE), organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), and task performance. Findings from 2 studies involving 367 employees and 41 supervisors, 1 in a telecommunications company and another in a manufacturing setting, support hypotheses concerning job embeddedness as a moderator of the relationship between (a) LMX and task performance within a telecommunication sample and LMX and OCBs in a sample of manufacturing employees, and (b) OBSE and OCBs in a manufacturing sample. Further, a hypothesized 3‐way interaction involving job embeddedness, LMX, and OBSE on task performance was found in a sample of manufacturing employees. The implications of these findings for studying and managing job embeddedness in relation to employee performance are discussed.     

Heroic or hubristic? A componential approach to the relationship between perceived transformational leadership and leader–member exchanges

Using an interpersonal approach to self-perceptions, we broke down leaders’ self-perceptions of their transformational leadership behaviour into three components: a target effect (i.e., how leaders are perceived by followers), a perceiver effect (i.e., how leaders perceive followers), and a self-enhancement effect (i.e., idiosyncratic positivity bias in how leaders perceive themselves), and then examined the relationships between these components and the quality of exchanges between leaders and followers (LMX). In a survey study among 60 leaders with 286 followers, we found the target effect in leaders’ self-perceptions of their transformational leadership to be positively related to the quality of LMX, whereas the perceiver effect and self-enhancement effects were negatively associated with LMX. Follower extraversion intensified the positive role of the target effect and the negative role of the self-enhancement effect in the leader–follower exchanges.     

组织中的社会交换：由直接到间接

社会交换理论被引用来研究组织中的两种交换：员工与所在组织之间的交换——“感受组织支持”（POS）和员工与直接上司之间的交换——“领导—成员交换”（LMX）。以往的研究侧重于“直接交换”,即：从POS和LMX到员工工作产出的直接回归。该文以员工的组织情感承诺和工作满意感为中介变量,考察POS和LMX对员工工作产出的间接影响。在919份有效问卷的基础上,通过结构方程模型的比较,结果发现：组织情感承诺和工作满意感的确可以在POS和LMX与员工工作产出之间承担全部或部分中介的角色。这说明,员工与组织之间、上司与下属之间的交换只有小部分是“直接交换”,大部分则属于“间接交换”。最后,作者讨论了这些新发现的理论意义和实践意义,并指出了该研究的不足之处。     

Employee perceptions of corporate social responsibility: Effects on pride,embeddedness, and turnover

We examined socioemotional microfoundations of perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) and posited that employees’ perceived CSR triggers a perception-emotion-attitude-behavior sequence. Drawing from appraisal theory of emotion, we hypothesized that perceived CSR relates to emotions (i.e., organizational pride), which relate to job attitudes (i.e., organizational embeddedness) that in turn relate to job behaviors (i.e., decreased turnover). To test this model, we conducted a multistudy investigation involving different samples, designs, and data-analytic methods. In Study 1, we conducted an experiment and found that participants who envisioned working in a firm that was active regarding CSR activities reported greater pride and organizational embeddedness. We then conducted two field studies using a nonmanagerial sample (Study 2) and a managerial sample (Study 3) and found that participants’ perceived CSR was positively related to their pride, which in turn was related to stronger organizational embeddedness. Stronger organizational embeddedness was related to lower turnover 6 months later in Study 2 but not in Study 3. In Study 4, we conducted a longitudinal four-wave 14-month study to test the proposed relationships from a within-person conceptualization, and the results were also supportive. Thus, the proposed perception-emotion-attitude-behavior framework received broad support and illustrated that stronger microfoundations of CSR research could be constructed through understanding employees’ emotional, attitudinal, and behavioral reactions to their perceptions of their employers’ CSR.     

What (not) to add in your ad: When job ads discourage older or younger job seekers to apply

Both older and younger job seekers face difficulties when entering the workforce. Qualification-based targeted recruitment (QBTR) might be used to attract older/younger job seekers, yet how this strategy is perceived by older/younger job seekers has not been considered before. The present study fills this gap and investigated effects of negatively metastereotyped information in job ads (i.e., personality requirements or traits) on application intention and self-efficacy of both older and younger job seekers. An experimental study (N_total = 556; 44.6% aged 50 or older, 55.4% aged 30 or younger) showed that negatively metastereotyped traits in job ads (e.g., “flexible”) lowered older job seekers’ application intention and that this effect was mediated by older job seekers’ self-efficacy regarding that trait. No such effects were found among younger job seekers. Results showed that organizations can fail to attract older candidates because of the traits mentioned in job ads, which is particularly alarming when aiming to target age-diverse applicants. Suggestions for practitioners and future research are formulated.     

Differences between follower and dyadic measures of LMX as mediators of emotional intelligence and employee performance,well-being,and turnover intention

Both leader and follower emotional intelligence (EI) have been posited in the literature to influence leader–member exchange (LMX). We collected data from 203 independent leader–follower dyads working in the insurance industry in Malaysia and examined relationships between leader and follower trait-EI and follower outcomes mediated through LMX. We added a further dimension to our study by comparing results using follower and then a dyadic measure of LMX. We found that leader EI predicted a dyadic measure of LMX, whilst only follower EI predicted a follower measure of LMX. As hypothesized, leader EI had both direct and indirect effects on follower job performance. By contrast, follower EI demonstrated both direct and indirect effects on follower well-being. We found a dyadic measure of LMX to be a stronger predictor of follower job performance, well-being, and turnover intention than a follower only measure. Our results suggest that significant relationships between leader and follower trait EI and LMX depend on whether follower or dyadic measures of LMX are used. The study draws attention to the importance of emphasizing the level at which EI effects are expected to operate in LMX.