The relationship between leadership styles and employee-driven innovation: the mediating role of leader–member exchange

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chukwuemeka K. Echebiri ◽  
Stein Amundsen

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the association of two opposite leadership styles with employee-driven innovation and how the leader–member exchange mediates these relationships.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used online surveys administrated in two waves to collect data from 315 employees working in the banking sector in Norway. Exogenous variables, which include empowering and directive leadership styles, were measured at time 1, while the endogenous variables of the leader–member exchange and employee-driven innovation were measured at time 2. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling.FindingsThe findings confirmed that empowering leaders are more likely to have a positive relationship with their subordinates and in turn, stimulate employee-driven innovation. Conversely, the directive leadership style was found to have a negative relationship with the quality of the relationship between leaders and subordinates. It was also found that the association of directive leadership with employee-driven innovation was negative and indirect through the leader–member exchange.Research limitations/implicationsThe data for the study were collected from a single organisation, which limits the generalisability of the study. Several other leadership styles were not covered in this study.Originality/valueThis paper provides empirical evidence to support the association between leadership styles and employee-driven innovation. Analyses of these relationship types are unavailable in the employee-driven innovation literature.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aneeq Inam ◽  
Jo Ann Ho ◽  
Siew Imm Ng ◽  
Rosmah Mohamed

PurposeLeadership styles appear to influence unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB), but there has been little empirical research on employees' ethical behavior as an outcome of responsible leadership. This study examines the positive effect of responsible leadership on unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) via the mediator, leader–member exchange (LMX).Design/methodology/approachResponses from 200 full-time working employees in Pakistan were collected in two waves, and structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results indicated that LMX mediated the relationship between responsible leadership and UPB. Our research also yielded a negative relationship between responsible leadership and employees' willingness to engage in UPB and between LMX and UPB. In addition, the mediation and direct relationship results were stronger for employees who spent more than seven years in the organization as compared to those with less than seven years.Research limitations/implicationsThe leader's responsible behavior trickles down to the subordinates and encourages their employees to behave responsibly too. We also showed that responsible leadership influenced employees’ UPB engagement through LMX.Practical implicationsBy adopting a responsible leadership style through training practices and appraisal tools, organizations may increase quality exchange relationship between leader and subordinates, which will reduce UPB.Originality/valueThis paper is one of the few empirical studies which have examined the relationship between responsible leadership, LMX and UPB. The results from our study help to enhance findings from earlier studies on the antecedents of UPB. Contrary to previous studies, our study also shows that LMX can lead to ethical behavior i.e. reduce UPB.


2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bartolomeus Galih Visnhu Pradana

<p>The competition is increasingly competitive in the world of education, particularly in this uncertain situation, it encourages every agency to plan, control, and determine the right policies. This study aims to explain the overall relationship between participatory budgeting and managerial performance by including Psychological Capital as an intervening variable and Leader Member Exchange as a moderating variable. The method used was a mixed method with a parallel convergent approach, it is conducted to produce more comprehensive facts. The method of data analysis and hypothesis testing used was Structural Equation Modeling. The survey results of 161 managerial positions in private high schools in DIY indicated that budget participation was directly related to managerial performance. Psychological capital was found to partially mediate the relationship between participatory budgeting and managerial performance. Then, the higher relationship between superiors and subordinates will increase the relationship between participatory budgeting and managerial performance. The survey results were also supported by the results of interviews with informants. This research contributes to the formation of employee of psychological capital and the implementation of leadership style as an important factor in influencing performance.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Li ◽  
Stacie Furst-Holloway ◽  
Suzanne S. Masterson ◽  
Larry M. Gales ◽  
Brian D. Blume

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to compare and integrate leader-member exchange (LMX) and leader identification (LID) as concurrently functioning mediators between three leadership styles (individual-focused transformational, contingent reward, and benevolent paternalistic) and two citizenship behaviors (helping and taking charge). Design/methodology/approach Data included 395 stable, independent leader-follower dyads from numerous Chinese organizations. Partial least squares structural equation modeling and relative weight analysis were used in data analyses. Findings In established, steady-state leader-member alliances, LMX was the dominant explanation between various leadership styles and helping; whereas LID explained leadership effects on taking charge. Three-stage indirect effects of leadership-LMX-LID-taking charge were found. Also, LMX and LID related to the three focal leadership styles in distinct ways. Research limitations/implications Limitations include cross-sectional data. Strengths include a large, multi-source field sample. Implications include that LMX and LID provide different prosocial motivations; LMX indirectly engenders stronger other-orientation through LID; and the nature of indirect leadership effects via LID is more sensitive to the nature of the focal leadership styles. LMX and LID together provide a package of prosocial motivations. Practical implications Leaders interested in increasing employees’ helping vs taking charge behaviors can be more effective by understanding the different motivational potentials of LMX vs LID. Leaders also need to choose appropriate behavioral styles when they activate LMX vis-à-vis LID. Originality/value This study integrates multiple leadership theories to provide a nuanced account of how social exchange and self-concept explain leadership at the interpersonal level when leadership styles, LMX, and LID are stable.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khyati Kapil ◽  
Renu Rastogi

Purpose This study aims to provide a holistic model for leader–member exchange (LMX), work engagement (WE), organizational job embeddedness (OJE) and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) of employees in information technology (IT) industry taking conservation of resources theory and social exchange theory as the foundation of the study. This current study examined the effect of LMX and WE on IT employees’ citizenship behaviour mediated by OJE. Design/methodology/approach The sample has been taken from 430 employees of IT organizations located in India. The data were analysed through confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. Besides, Preacher and Hayes’ (2004) mediation analysis technique has been used to analyse the mediating role of OJE. Findings The study findings reveal significant association between the key study variables. Organizational job embeddedness (OJE partially mediated the relationship between organizational factors such as LMX, WE and OCB. Practical implications This study provides useful insights to better understand the antecedents of OJE and how it influences employees’ citizenship behaviour. Exploring the relationship among key study variables may have significant implications for organizations. The researchers and human resource practitioners may use the proposed investigation framework to formulate human resource practices and interventions to develop the job embeddedness, which can further promote citizenship behaviour among employees. Originality/value First, the present study has focussed on the IT sector organizations based in India that have not been explored much regarding the study variables, as previous studies focussed more on Western countries. Second, the current study outspreads the preceding research by examining the OJE as a mediator between LMX, WE and OCB.


2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 969-987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chung-Jen Wang

Purpose This paper aims to integrate leader–member exchange (LMX), creativity and performance research and to develop a model to investigate the relationships among LMX, task motivation, creativity and performance in the hospitality industry. Design/methodology/approach Structural equation modeling (SEM) with bootstrap estimation was conducted with a sample of 312 leader–employee dyadic data from international tourist hotels in Taiwan. Findings The results revealed that LMX positively affected performance and creativity. Most important of all, task motivation was found to mediate the relationship between LMX and creativity, while both task motivation and creativity were found to mediate the relationship between LMX and performance. Research limitations/implications With efforts to combine research variables into a unified theoretical model, this study is the first in the field of hospitality research which explores the two-path mediating effects of these relationships in an integrated SEM framework. More specifically, this study provides a synthesized perspective with bootstrap analyses to broaden hotel research with regard to LMX and examine its influences on employees’ creativity and performance. Practical implications The results of this study suggest that human resource departments in hotel companies should provide training programs for supervisors and employees to enhance their reciprocal relationships, and establish reward mechanisms to encourage the development of more creative services at work. Originality/value This study added to the literature with its use of a non-Western sample, and extended the prior research in the context of the hospitality industry. Overall, the conclusions provide empirical evidence in an integrated model that task motivation can strengthen the influence of LMX on creativity and can also nourish the influence of creativity on employee performance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Mekpor ◽  
Kwasi Dartey-Baah

PurposeThe primary aim of this study was to determine whether or not leaders' emotional intelligence plays a mediating role in the relationship between leadership styles and voluntary work behaviours among employees of selected banks in Ghana. Specifically, the objective was to determine the mediating effect of leaders' emotional intelligence on the relationship between transactional and transformational leadership styles and organizational citizenship behaviours (OCB) and counterproductive workplace behaviours (CWB).Design/methodology/approachThe quantitative approach to research was adopted to collect data from 234 respondents. More so, both purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used for the selection of respondents for the study.FindingsThe findings of the study revealed that amongst the various leadership styles and OCB and CWB relationships, only the relationship between transformational leadership and OCB was mediated by leaders' emotional intelligence.Practical implicationsIt was however recommended that transformational leadership style be adopted in the quest to encourage employees to exhibit OCB and mitigate employees' involvement in CWB since such leaders are more prone to exhibiting high levels of emotional intelligence in the dealing with employees.Originality/valueFor the first time in the Ghanaian banking sector, this research explores the leaders' emotional intelligence as mediator on the nexus between leadership styles and voluntary work behaviours of employees of selected banks in Ghana.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ya-Ting Chuang ◽  
Hua-Ling Chiang ◽  
An-Pan Lin ◽  
Yung-Chih Lien

PurposeAdopting conservation of resources (COR) theory as a guiding framework, this study proposes that benevolent supervision (BS) is a feasible leadership style for building a positive resource gain process in subordinates' extra-role actions and reducing their exhaustion, and leader-member exchange (LMX) and positive affect (PA) serve as indirect crossover mechanisms.Design/methodology/approachSurveys were conducted at three-time points with four-week intervals. A total of 304 subordinates and 55 supervisors at a Taiwanese university participated in the surveys, and a multilevel model was used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results showed that prior BS (time 1) was positively associated with subordinates' subsequent LMX and PA (time 2). LMX mediated the relationship between BS and subsequent supervisor-rated contextual performance (time 3), and PA mediated the relationship between BS and subordinate-rated emotional exhaustion (time 3). In addition, supervisors' learning orientation positively moderated the relationship between BS and contextual performance via LMX, whereas supervisors' performance orientation negatively moderated this relationship.Practical implicationsThe results of the study encourage leaders to exhibit benevolence toward subordinates, increase subordinates' contextual performance and enhance personal feelings, thereby ultimately benefitting the organization.Originality/valueThis study reveals that BS is a source of resource investment in the process of subordinates' positive job (contextual performance) and personal (emotional exhaustion) resource gains through social exchange (LMX) and affective (PA) crossover mechanisms and that supervisors' goal inclinations impact this process.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robinson James

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the influence of organisational politics on work engagement and the moderator effect of positive framing on this relationshipDesign/methodology/approachData were collected from 241 public sector employees in Sri Lanka through a structured questionnaire and analysed with partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS_SEM).FindingsThe results indicated that organisational politics negatively influenced employees' work engagement, positive framing positively influenced engagement and weakened the negative relationship between politics and engagement.Practical implicationsThis study suggests that organisation and individuals must take the necessary steps to enhance work engagement. Organisations must be transparent in all activities to avoid employees' negative perception. Also, organisations need to take steps to recruit employees with positive framing or develop this competency through training and development. Individuals also need to take necessary steps to frame the work environment positively to enhance their engagement in work.Originality/valueThis study extends the literature by being the first to examine the positive framing as a moderator in the relationship between politics and engagement. This study found that positive framing as a resource reduced the harmful effect of organisational politics on engagement and suggested positive framing can be considered as a resource in the future investigation of the job demand–resource model.


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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