Exploring the impact of perceived LMX variability within work teams

According to Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory, leaders develop different quaUt}' reladonships with the employees they supervise. To date, Utde research has invesdgated the impact of such differendadon by the leader on workplace outcomes. The current research proposes a novel way to capture the extent of LMX variabiUt}' within a single work team, and subsequently investigates the impact of perceived LMX variability on workplace outcomes. Across multiple employed samples, participants reported poorer team relations (as indicated by low team cohesion and high conflict) when they perceived LMX variability to be high. Perceptions of poor team relations further impacted negatively upon individual affect variables. The findings suggest that leaders may need to exercise caution when developing different quality relationships amongst individuals within the same work team.

The impact of LMX differentiation on perceptions of team conflict and procedural justice climate

The fundamental tenet of Leader Member Exchange (LMX) theory is that leaders develop different quality relationships with each of their employees; however, to our knowledge, no study has investigated the impact of LMX differentiation on teams. Drawing upon the justice literature, we suggest that fostering different quality LMX relationships runs counter to principles of equality' and consistency, which are important for maintaining social harmony in groups, and perceptions of procedural fairness. We therefore propose that differential treatment of employees by the leader (as indicated by within-team variability in LMX relationships) will have a negative effect on team reladons, and percepdons of procedural jusdce climate. Two samples of employed individuals are used to invesdgate the hypothesized reladonships. Sample A consists of 74 individuals from a variety of occupadonal and organisadonal backgrounds, and Sample B consists of 152 individuals from an Australian organisadon dealing in the sale and service of heavy machiner)'. In both samples, high LMX variability within teams is associated with higher reports of team reladonal conflict, and lower reports of procedural jusdce climate. The results suggest that leaders may need to be caudous about fostering special relationships with only a select subset of employees.

Effective leadership in salient groups: Revisiting leader-member exchange theory from the perspective of the social identity theory of leadership

Two studies compared leader-member exchange (LMX) theory and the social identity theory of leadership. Study 1 surveyed 439 employees of organizations in Wales, measuring Work group salience, leader-member relations, and perceived leadership effectiveness. Study 2 surveyed 128 members of organizations in India, measuring identification not salience and also individualism/collectivism. Both studies provided good support for social identity predictions. Depersonalized leader-member relations were associated with greater leadership effectiveness among high- than low-salient groups (Study 1) and among high than low identifiers (Study 2). Personalized leadership effectiveness was less affected by salience (Study 1) and unaffected by identification (Study 2). Low-salience groups preferred personalized leadership more than did high-salience groups (Study 1). Low identifiers showed no preference but high identifiers preferred depersonalized leadership (Study 2). In Study 2, collectivists did not Prefer depersonalized as opposed to personalized leadership, whereas individualists did, probably because collectivists focus more on the relational self.

The role of leader-member exchanges in mediating the relationship between locus of control and work reactions

The relationship between locus of control, the quality of exchanges between subordinates and leaders (LMX), and a variety of work-related reactions (intrinsic/extrinsic job satisfaction, work-related well-being, and organizational commitment) are examined. It was predicted that people with an internal locus of control develop better quality relations with their manager and this, in turn, results in more favourable work-related reactions. Results from two different samples (N = 404, and N = 51) supported this prediction, and also showed that LMX either fully, or partially, mediated the relationship between locus of control and all the work-related reactions.

A multilevel analysis of team climate and interpersonal exchange relationships at work

This study advances research on interpersonal exchange relationships by integrating social exchange, workplace friendship and climate research to develop a multilevel model. Data were collected from 215 manager-employee dyads working within 36 teams. At the individual level, LMX was positively associated with TMX and workplace friendship. Further, workplace friendship was positively related to TMX, and mediated the LMX-TMX relationship. At the team level, HLM results demonstrated that the relationship between LMX and workplace friendship was moderated by affective climate. Findings suggest that high-quality LMX relationships are associated with enhanced employees' perceptions of workplace friendship when affective group climate was strong.