Relationship building in empowering leadership processes: A test of mediation and moderation

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Won Jun Kwak ◽  
Christine L Jackson

AbstractThe direct positive relationship between empowering leadership and subordinate empowerment is well established. However, leader–member exchange (LMX) research, which concerns a leader’s relationship-building with subordinates in a work unit, suggests that the direct leader empowering–subordinate empowerment association may be more complex than understood in the current literature. Accordingly, this study examined LMX theory-based mediation and moderation processes occurring between empowering leadership and subordinate empowerment. In a field study employing 132 administrative workers in 26 work groups, as expected, an individual subordinate’s perceived LMX mediated the positive effects of empowering leadership on the subordinate’s psychological empowerment. In addition, LMX differentiation cross-level moderated the linkage between empowering leadership and perceived LMX. Together, study findings suggest that subordinates’ perceived LMX in a dyadic relationship with a leader and in a work group needs to be carefully considered in empowering leadership processes.

2002 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 220-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wim van Breukelen ◽  
Dorien Konst ◽  
René van der Vlist

The Leader-Member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership states that leaders do behave differently towards the various members in their work unit. Relatively little attention has been devoted to the question of whether members' perceptions of differential treatment on the part of the leader affects their commitment to the work unit. Perceptions of the amount of differential treatment within their work unit did not explain additional variance in members' work unit commitment after the effects of LMX quality were accounted for. There was, however, a significant interaction effect of LMX quality and differential treatment on work unit commitment. The perception of a large number of differential treatment incidents seems to act as a neutralizer with respect to the positive effects LMX quality may have.


Author(s):  
Jan Christoff Visagie ◽  
Michael M. Jones ◽  
Herman L. Linde

The South African workplace is confronted with many leadership challenges, specifically those relating to the employment relationship between subordinates and their supervisors. A high-quality relationship is essential, considering the work-family spillovers employees experience. Limited research has been conducted on the potential positive and negative consequences of the leader-member exchange (LMX) dyadic relationship. In this study, we used a cross-sectional research design, and drew an employee sample (N = 120) from a commuter transport engineering company. A five-point Likert scale was employed and statistical analyses were carried out using the SAS statistical program. We calculated Pearson correlation coefficients and used structural equation modelling to test the proposed conceptual model to indicate possible correlations between the different variables. The main finding of the study was that the nature of the LMX relationship quality in the relevant company appeared to be high and positively related to work-home enrichment but negatively related to work-home conflict and role overload. The article concludes by making a number of suggestions to respond to challenges.


2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wim van Breukelen ◽  
Wendy Wesselius

Differential treatment by coaches of amateur sports teams: right or wrong? Differential treatment by coaches of amateur sports teams: right or wrong? J.W.M. van Breukelen & W. Wesselius, Gedrag & Organisatie, volume 20, November 2007, nr. 4, pp. 427-444 A central assumption in the Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory is that leaders do not adopt a single style towards all members of their work unit, but treat the various team members differently. This may result in different kinds of working relationships between the leader and the various members ranging from formal to intense. The effects of these different LMX relationships are visible in important outcome variables such as job satisfaction and performance. Not only in working organizations but also in the context of sports differential treatment by the coach seems a relevant topic. In this article we describe the results of a field study among the players (N = 218) of 21 amateur sports teams. Firstly, we investigated on which aspects the coaches of these teams differentiated between the various team members and how these incidents of differential treatment were experienced by the players in terms of justice and fairness. In addition, we analyzed whether the frequency and evaluation of differential treatment was related to the players' enthusiasm and to team atmosphere and team performance. Social differentiation was appreciated less than task differentiation. Especially task differentiation proved to be important for team performance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Sharfizie Mohd Sharip ◽  
Marinah Awang ◽  
Ramlee Ismail

While a great discussion on past research done to investigate the impact on Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) in producing the positive outcome of the management, relatively little research has been done conducted to examine the link between LMX to the effectiveness of the management particularly in a religious based non-profit organization in a Malaysia setting. Meanwhile, a discussion on LMX of the non-profit organisation is not explicitly religious based as the discussion on Malaysia institution, and specifically among non-profit organisation religious based is lacking. Thus, the objective of this study to address the issue of communication among leader-member via LMX theory and to propose potential effect to the effectiveness of the management particularly in a religious based non-profit organisation, specifically in Waqf institutions in the Malaysian setting.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanhua Ye ◽  
Ziwen Wang ◽  
Xiaowei Lu

Extant research has investigated the relationship between work engagement and various outcomes, such as job performance and organizational commitment, neglecting the effect of work engagement on social relationships at work. Drawing upon person-environment fit theory and LMX theory, the present study aims to examine the effect of (in)congruence between leader and follower work engagement on leader–member exchange (LMX) and the moderating effect of conscientiousness. About 273 employees and 72 leaders participated in this study and completed the measurements of work engagement, conscientiousness, and LMX at two time points. Using cross-level polynomial regressions, we found that, compared with incongruent work engagement, employees perceived high levels of LMX quality when their work engagement was aligned with that of their leaders. Regarding the congruence, the employees reported higher levels of LMX when congruence in work engagement was at higher rather than lower levels. Regarding the incongruence, when the employees engaged less in their work tasks than their leaders, they were more likely to experience lower LMX. Moreover, the negative relationship between incongruence in leader and follower work engagement and LMX was mitigated when followers were more conscientious. All our hypotheses were supported. Both theoretical and practical implications for work engagement as well as future directions are discussed.


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