Coworker exchange: relationships between coworkers,leader-member exchange,and work attitudes

The study of leadership exchanges is extended by studying both leader-member exchanges (LMXs) and coworker exchanges (CWXs). Data from 110 coworker dyads were used to examine relationships between LMXs and CWXs and between exchange relationships and work attitudes. As predicted, the interaction between 2 coworkers' LMX scores predicted CWX quality for the coworker dyad. Also, after controlling for LMX, greater diversity in a worker's CWX relationships was negatively related to his or her organizational commitment but not job satisfaction. The quality of a worker's CWX relationships, however, did not moderate the relationship between CWX diversity and work attitudes.     

Self-determination at work: Understanding the role of leader-member exchange

Integrating self-determination theory (SDT) and leader-member exchange (LMX) theory, we explore the role of the leader in facilitating employee self-determination. We test a model of the linkages between employees’ leader-member exchanges, psychological need satisfaction (i.e., satisfaction of autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs), autonomous motivation, and attitudinal outcomes. We posit that high-quality leader-member exchanges facilitate satisfaction of employees’ fundamental psychological needs, which, in turn, enhance autonomous motivation and outcomes. Results for 283 working professionals supported this notion. Structural equation modeling indicated that the employee’s perception of the quality of the LMX was positively related to satisfaction of the needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Satisfaction of competence and autonomy needs was positively related to autonomous motivation, which, in turn, was associated with higher levels of job satisfaction, affective organizational commitment, and subjective vitality. Our findings accentuate the role of leader-employee relationships in creating self-determination at work, and reinforce the importance of self-determination for employee attitudes and well-being. Limitations, implications, and directions for future research are discussed.     

Self-other rating agreement and leader-member exchange (LMX)

Data from a sample of 83 elected community leaders and 391 direct-report staffers (resulting in 306 useable leader-member dyads) were used to test relations between self-other rating agreement of leadership and member-reported leader-member exchange (LMX). Results of polynomial regression analysis indicated that the self-other rating agreement model was not significantly related to member-reported LMX. Instead, virtually all of the variance in member-reported LMX was accounted for by others' ratings.     

Self-other rating agreement and leader-member exchange (LMX): a quasi-replication

Data from a sample of 83 elected community leaders and 391 direct-report staff (resulting in 333 useable leader-member dyads) were reanalyzed to test relations between self-other rating agreement of servant leadership and member-reported leader-member exchange (LMX). Polynomial regression analysis indicated that the self-other rating agreement model was not statistically significant. Instead, all of the variance in member-reported LMX was accounted for by the others' ratings component alone.     

Personal and task-related moderators of leader-member exchange among software developers

Although earlier studies have shown significant positive relationships between leader-member exchange (LMX) and its outcomes, they have also noted that the effect sizes of these relationships have been modest and heterogeneous. Addressing numerous calls for future studies that examine potential moderators of the LMX-job performance and LMX-job satisfaction relationships and utilizing a multidomain perspective, this study tests the moderating roles of personal (i.e., locus of control) and task-related (i.e., task autonomy) factors on these relationships. The results of an empirical study with a sample of 287 software developers and 164 supervisors participating at a large international information technology exhibition indicated that the LMX-job performance relationship was stronger when employees' locus of control was internal as opposed to when it was external. In addition, it was stronger when task autonomy was high as opposed to when it was low. Moreover, the results suggested that the LMX-job satisfaction relationship was stronger when task autonomy was high as opposed to when it was low. Finally, contrary to theoretical expectations, employees' locus of control did not moderate the LMX-job satisfaction relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).     

Employee resistance to organizational change: managerial influence tactics and leader-member exchange

The authors explored the relationship between managerial influence tactics and employee resistance to organizational change. Using attribution theory, the authors developed a series of hypotheses concerning the effects of influence tactics on employee resistance to change and the ways in which these relationships are moderated by leader-member exchange. Results, which are based on multisource data, suggest that employee resistance reflects both the type of influence a manager uses and the strength of leader-member exchange.     

Managers' tactics of influence: perceptions of regular and temporary employees

The paper concerns managers' perceived influence tactics with regular and temporary employees. 156 subordinates completed the Behavioral Alteration Techniques Scale. Mean ratings of managers' use of tactics of influence with regular employees were significantly higher than those with temporary employees on 9 of the 22 measured techniques.     

Predicting employee turnover from performance,satisfaction, and leader-member exchange

As part of a study of the role of supervision in, predicting turnover, 105 nurses provided confidential data on leader-member exchange and satisfaction with supervision, while their supervisors provided performance evaluation information. Although results reaffirmed an inverse correlation between employee performance and turnover (r=–.23p<.05), only directional support was obtained for the hypothesis that performance moderates the relationship between satisfaction with supervision and turnover. Turnover was also not found to be curvilinearly related to performance. Additionally, the, results did not replicate an earlier finding that leader-member exchange is a strong predictor of empolyee turnover. The results are interpreted as underscoring the difficulty of predicting turnover from affect, and the need to, develop refined theoretical models that specifically link these constructs.     

The interactive effect of leader-member exchange and communication frequency on performance ratings

The authors tested the hypothesis that communication frequency moderates the relationship between leader-member exchange (LMX) and job-performance ratings. In a study of 188 private sector workers, they found that LMX was more strongly related to job-performance ratings among individuals reporting frequent communication with the supervisor than among those reporting infrequent communication. At high levels of LMX, workers reporting frequent communication with the supervisor received more favorable job-performance ratings than did workers reporting infrequent communication. In contrast, at low levels of LMX, workers reporting frequent communication with the supervisor received less favorable job-performance ratings than workers reporting infrequent communication. The authors conducted a 2nd study of 153 public sector workers to provide a constructive replication and found similar results.     

The mediating effect of leader-member exchange between strengths use and work engagement

This study investigated the mediating effect of leader-member exchange (LMX) (as perceived by subordinates) in the relationship between strengths use and work engagement. Participants numbered 213 employees in a South African financial organisation (females=53.10%, blacks=19.40%). Data on their perceptions of LMX, strengths use and work engagement were collected with the LMX-7, SUDIQ and UWES-17. Structural equation modelling methods with bootstrapping were used to determine the role of LMX in the relationship between strengths use and work engagement. Findings showed that perceived organisational support for strengths use (POSSU) had a positive relationship with both LMX and work engagement, and that LMX had a positive relationship with work engagement. Furthermore, LMX mediated the relationship between POSSU and work engagement, indicating the important role of high quality leader- member exchange in organisations.     

Too much of a good thing: the curvilinear effect of leader-member exchange on stress

Organizational researchers have given considerable attention to the construct of leader-member exchange (LMX). Numerous studies have empirically supported the negative correlations between LMX relationships and unwanted individual outcomes, including stress. However, in the present study, the authors investigated whether the relationship is best represented as linear or curvilinear. The authors tested their research hypothesis in two organizational samples of 120 and 402 employees, respectively, and found support for the nonlinear relationship in both samples. The authors described strengths, limitations, practical implications, and directions for future research.     

Abusive supervision,leader-member exchange,and moral disengagement: A moderated-mediation model of organizational deviance

This paper draws from social exchange theory and social cognitive theory to explore moral disengagement as a potential mediator of the relationship between abusive supervision and organizational deviance. We also explore the moderating effect of leader-member exchange (LMX) on this mediated relationship. Results indicate that employees with abusive supervisors engaged in moral disengagement strategies and subsequently in organizational deviance behaviors. Additionally, this relationship was stronger for those higher in LMX. Important implications for management research and practice are discussed.     

The role of fair treatment and rewards in perceptions of organizational support and leader-member exchange

This study examined a model of the antecedents and consequences of perceived organizational support (POS) and leader-member exchange (LMX). It was predicted that organizational justice (procedural and distributive justice) and organizational practices that provide recognition to the employee (feelings of inclusion and recognition from upper management) would influence POS. For LMX, it was predicted that leader reward (distributive justice and contingent rewards) and punishment behavior would be important antecedents. Results based on a sample of 211 employee-supervisor dyads indicated that organizational justice, inclusion, and recognition were related to POS and contingent rewards were related to LMX. In terms of consequences, POS was related to employee commitment and organizational citizenship behavior, whereas LMX predicted performance ratings.     

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.     

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.     

Organizational and client commitment among contracted employees: A replication and extension with temporary workers

This study replicates and extends Coyle-Shapiro and Morrow’s study (Coyle-Shapiro, J.A.-M., & Morrow, P.C. 2006. Organizational and client commitment among contracted employees. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 28, 416-431) of organizational and client commitment among contracted employees. Our study focuses on temporary workers rather than long-term contracted employees, and also finds that perceived organizational support (POS) from a client organization indeed relates to affective organizational commitment towards the client. However, this study further suggests that client POS also relates to continuance commitment towards the client as well as affective and continuance commitment towards the temporary agency. Finally, temporary workers’ desire to pursue temporary work relates to affective commitment towards the temporary agency, but continuance commitment to the temporary agency is related to a preference for permanent employment.     

Disparity in occupational training and career planning between contingent and permanent employees

In modern work life, a common structure of staffing comprises a core of permanent employees and a fluctuating number of contingent workers. We examined the degree to which participation in occupational training and career planning differed between these two groups. The study cohort comprised 5127 hospital employees (96% full time), of whom 4211 were permanent, 677 had a contingent contract, and 239 were contingent at baseline but got a permanent job during the 4-year follow-up period. Results show that contingent employees participated less in occupational training and career planning than permanent employees. The difference remained significant even after 6 years' employment in the hospital. Those contingent employees who became permanently employed did not differ from the permanent employees in occupational training and career planning. These trends in human resource allocation support the human capital theory. They also point to an unintended mechanism potentially increasing inequalities in the workforce, arising from the different human capital investments depending on the employment status.     

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.