When and why leaders trust followers

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 702-716
Author(s):  
I.M. Jawahar ◽  
Thomas H. Stone ◽  
Don Kluemper

Purpose Followers’ perceptions of leader trustworthiness affect their trust in the leader (Colquitt et al., 2007). However, because positive benefits of trust generally accrue when trust is reciprocated, examining when and why followers’ perceptions of leader trustworthiness elicit leader’s trust in followers may provide heuristic and practical value. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine if followers’ perceptions of leader trustworthiness elicit leaders’ trust in followers, casting follower’s perceptions of leader–member exchange (LMX) quality as a mediator and their perceptions of empowerment as moderating this mediated relationship. Design/methodology/approach Followers’ perception of leader trustworthiness was measured at Time 1, followers’ perceptions of empowerment and LMX were measured at Time 2 and leaders’ trust in followers was measured in Time 3. The authors tested the research model with data collected from 347 leader–follower dyads using the three time-lagged surveys as noted above. Findings Followers’ perceptions of leader trustworthiness and perceptions of empowerment interacted to influence followers’ perceptions of LMX quality, which in turn influenced leaders’ trust in followers. Thus, LMX mediated the trustworthiness–trust relationship and this mediated relationship became stronger at increasing levels of empowerment. Practical implications Being trusted by leaders is beneficial to followers. Training managers in behaviors that elicit employees’ perceptions of manager trustworthiness has the potential to accrue benefits to employees, managers and the organization. Originality/value This study is the first to demonstrate that followers’ perception of leader trustworthiness resulted in leaders trusting followers. In addition, the results support a mediating role for LMX and a moderating role for empowerment in the development of leader trust in the follower. Understanding when and why leaders trust followers offers important insights about development of trust between followers and leaders. The authors discuss implications for theory and practice.

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 531-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Makoto Matsuo

Purpose Although unlearning is considered an essential step for creativity, little is known about the relationship between team unlearning and employee creativity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating role of individual reflection between team unlearning and employee creativity. Design/methodology/approach The research model was tested using multisource survey data from 164 employees in 28 teams at a manufacturing firm and a service firm. Findings The results of the multilevel analyses indicated that team unlearning had a positive influence on supervisor-rated employee creativity, fully mediated by individual reflection. Practical implications It should be noted that employee creativity is not automatically enhanced through team unlearning. Managers should encourage members to reflect on their work practices following team-unlearning exercises for the purpose of enhancing their creativity. Originality/value The findings contribute to the existing literature by demonstrating that reflective practices play significant roles in linking team unlearning with employee creativity. This study explored preceding literature examining employee creativity in terms of the unlearning process.


2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Dysvik ◽  
Robert Buch ◽  
Bård Kuvaas

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the relationship between employees’ knowledge donating and managers’ knowledge collecting is moderated by social leader-member exchange (SLMX) and economic leader-member exchange (ELMX). Design/methodology/approach – Data were obtained from 227 employee-leader dyads from four Norwegian organizations. Hierarchical moderated regression was used to test the hypotheses. Findings – Even though the authors observed a positive relationship between employees’ knowledge donating and managers’ knowledge collecting, the moderation analysis revealed a positive relationship only for high levels of SLMX relationships. Research limitations/implications – The data were cross-sectional, thus prohibiting causal inferences. Practical implications – SLMX relationships may be particularly important for the facilitation of knowledge exchange. Managers may draw on this finding to develop their relationships with employees by means of relationship-oriented behaviors. Originality/value – Given the importance of knowledge-sharing processes, a better understanding of the conditions under which knowledge donating related to knowledge collecting is particularly important. The present study advances knowledge on SLMX and ELMX relationships by demonstrating how SLMX moderates the association between knowledge donating and knowledge collecting.


2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 830-841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong-ki Lee ◽  
Sally Kim ◽  
Min-Seong Kim ◽  
Jae-Han Lee ◽  
Ki-Taek Lim

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the effect of different relational bonding strategies on franchisees’ perceptions of benefits. The duration of the relationship is framed as a moderator between three types of relational bonds and the perceived benefits. Design/methodology/approach – The data are collected via a survey from foodservice franchisees in South Korea. To test the study’s hypotheses, the research model was estimated with two-stage least squares. Findings – The result shows that social and structural bonds have a significant impact on franchisees’ perceptions of benefits. There are some significant interactions between different types of relational bonds and the duration of the relationship. Perceptions of benefits are found to influence satisfaction, intentions to recommend, intentions to renew the contract and long-term orientation. Practical implications – The study suggests that franchisors may want to focus on developing and strengthening social bonds, and also customize their relational approaches based on the duration of the relationship with the franchisees. Originality/value – This research illustrates the impact of three types of relational bonding strategies on franchisees’ perceptions of the benefits and also examines the significant moderating role of the duration of the relationship.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 511-523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanxia Wang ◽  
Chih-Chieh Chen ◽  
Luo Lu ◽  
Robert Eisenberger ◽  
Patricia Fosh

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to promote a wider understanding of the importance of distinguishing between presenteeism behavior and its motivation and between the avoidance and approach dimensions of motivation, and to rectify the neglect of presenteeism’s antecedents (in particular, situational ones). It develops a theoretical model that explains how situational antecedents affect presenteeism – conventionally defined as attending work while ill.Design/methodology/approachAn ordinary least-squares regression-based path analysis is employed to analyze the findings of a sample of 277 employees in service organizations in southwestern China.FindingsFindings demonstrate that the situational factor, leader–member exchange (LMX), is positively related to the approach dimension of presenteeism motivation and that of workload moderates the positive link between presenteeism motivation and behavior, such that employees who experience higher workload more frequently display presenteeism behavior.Practical implicationsFindings suggest that managers should be prudent when developing relationships with their subordinates and consider the ways in which they may most effectively encourage employees to support their organization.Originality/valueThis is the first study to consider LMX and workload as situational antecedents of presenteeism motivation and behavior.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 124-135
Author(s):  
Chongrui Liu ◽  
Cong Wang ◽  
Yan Liu ◽  
Xuran Liu ◽  
Yuan Ni

Abstract. Although leader–member exchange (LMX) has been widely studied, knowledge about how followers influence the LMX process remains unknown. By integrating the broaden-and-build theory (BBT) with the emotion as social information (EASI) theory, we develop a follower-centric multilevel model to investigate how followers' positive emotions have an impact on LMX via the mediating role of leader identification and the moderating role of leaders' positive emotions. We conducted a survey with 319 Chinese employees from 67 teams. The results indicated that leader identification served as a mediating factor in the relationship between followers' positive emotions and LMX. The work unit leaders' positive emotions strengthened the relationship between leader identification and LMX and moderated the mediated relationship among followers' positive emotions, leader identification, and LMX. Altogether, our findings inform new knowledge in terms of how followers may influence the development of LMX. We also help to extend the BBT and the EASI theory to the leadership context.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alper Ertürk ◽  
Herman Van den Broeck ◽  
Jasmijn Verbrigghe

Purpose Given the importance of the extent to which supervisors and their subordinates agree in their assessment of supervisors’ leadership, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the possible relationship between self-other agreement on supervisors’ transformational leadership and subordinates’ perceptions of supervisors’ in-role and extra-role performance, through the mediating role of leader-member exchange. Design/methodology/approach Self-other agreement was conceptualized as the degree of congruence between supervisors’ self-assessment and subordinates’ assessment of supervisors’ transformational leadership. Data were collected from 36 supervisors and 189 of their subordinates. Cross-level polynomial regressions and surface response analysis were used to analyze the hypothesized relationships. Findings Statistical analyses revealed that self-other agreement on idealized influence and individual support are positively associated with subordinates’ perception of leader-member exchange, and in turn leader member fully mediates the relationship between self-other agreement and subordinates’ perceptions regarding their supervisors’ performance. Results from polynomial analyses indicate that subordinates’ ratings of leader-member exchange would be highest for underestimator, second for in-agreement/good supervisors, third for in-agreement/poor and lowest for overestimator supervisors both for the idealized influence and individual support. Originality/value This is one of the pioneer studies investigating the potential relationship between self-other agreement on supervisors’ transformational leadership and the subordinates’ perceptions on their supervisors’ performance through social exchange. Since researchers have paid scant attention to intervening mechanisms, this study aims to extend previous research in the literature by investigating those associations through the mediating effect of leader-member exchange.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings The results show that trust and operational cohesion have a mediating role between leadership style and virtual team efficiency. Media richness is shown to moderate the relationship between leadership styles and trust. Transformational style has an important impact on operational cohesion when media richness is high while transactional leadership has a positive significant impact when it is low. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanhaiya K. Sinha ◽  
Chad Saunders ◽  
Simon Raby ◽  
Jim Dewald

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating role of previous venture experience on the relationship between learning breadth and innovation breadth, defined as the range of innovation types within a firm, and the impacts on SME performance.Design/methodology/approachA theoretical model was developed, and hypotheses were tested using step-wise multivariate regressions on survey data from 509 North American SME respondents.FindingsThe results demonstrate that the previous venture experience of a firm's top management plays a key role in enhancing the innovation breadth for a given level of learning breadth. There is a curvilinear relationship between innovation breadth and learning breadth, and increases in innovation breadth lead to increases in firm performance.Practical implicationsThe results indicate that organizations seeking higher performance returns by expanding their breadth of innovations need parallel attention on higher learning breadth in order to adequately capture the value from this broader set of innovations.Originality/valueThe paper contextualizes learning and innovation in the SMEs and argues that the consideration of diversity (breadth) of learning and innovation can help us understand their performance implications across industries. It also extends the effect of previous venture experience (PVE) of the leadership team in explaining performance. Beyond their ability to address external factors, PVE has a moderating effect on the relationship between learning and innovation breadth across the organization. Previous venture experience serves as both a guide and catalyst for investments in learning activities that lead to a broader range of innovation activities across the firm.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Clement Nangpiire ◽  
Joaquim Silva ◽  
Helena Alves

PurposeThe customer as an active and engaged value co-creator raises new challenges for theory and practice, especially in the hospitality industry. However, the connection between engagement and co-creation is little studied in the hotel/tourism literature. This paper proposes a connection between customer engagement (CE) and value co-creation frameworks to ascertain and depict the internal actors' activities and factors that foster or hinder guests' co-creation and destruction of value.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers used qualitative methods (35 in-depth interviews, document analysis and four observation sessions) in seven regions of Ghana to explore the customer's perspective. Data were analyzed with NVivo11 within a thematic analysis framework.FindingsThe findings suggest that positive and negative engagement fosters or hinders guests' interactions, which lead to value co-creation or destruction. The research also discovered that negative interactions occasioned by any factor or actor trigger value destruction at multiple stages of the experience journey.Practical implicationsIndustry players can use the framework developed to assess their businesses, explore and reflect on the proposed value they aim to generate, and thus be more aware of how they can better facilitate value co-creation with their consumers and avoid value destruction.Originality/valueThis research proposes a novel connection between customer interactions, engagement and value co-creation to ascertain and depict the internal actors' activities and factors that foster or hinder customers' experience in the hotel/tourism industry.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadia Jahanzeb ◽  
Dirk De Clercq ◽  
Tasneem Fatima

PurposeWith a basis in social identity and equity theories, this study investigates the relationship between employees' perceptions of organizational injustice and their knowledge hiding, along with the mediating role of organizational dis-identification and the potential moderating role of benevolence.Design/methodology/approachThe hypotheses were tested with three-wave survey data collected from employees in Pakistani organizations.FindingsThe experience of organizational injustice enhances knowledge hiding because employees psychologically disconnect from their organization. This mediation by organizational dis-identification is buffered by benevolence or tolerance for inequity, which reduces employees' likelihood of reacting negatively to the unfavourable experience of injustice.Practical implicationsFor practitioners, this study identifies organizational dis-identification as a key mechanism through which employees' perceptions of organizational injustice spur their propensity to conceal knowledge, and it reveals how this process might be mitigated by a sense of obligation to contribute or “give” to organizational well-being.Originality/valueThis study establishes a more complete understanding of the connection between employees' perceptions of organizational injustice and their knowledge hiding, with particular attention devoted to hitherto unspecified factors that explain or influence this process.


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