The impact of followers’ conflict behaviors on teams’ transformational leadership, team member exchange and engagement

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Kai Jie Aw ◽  
Oluremi Bolanle Ayoko

Purpose Although how leaders shape their followers’ behaviors and outcomes is core to the leadership literature, empirical research exploring how followers might impact their leaders’ behaviors is just emerging. Using a follower-centric approach, this study aims to examine the link between followers’ conflict behaviors, transformational leadership (TL) and the quality of team member exchange (TMX). Additionally, the authors hypothesized and tested the moderating role of TMX quality in the relationship between TL and teams’ work engagement. Design/methodology/approach Quantitative data were collected randomly from 261 employees in 41 teams to examine the connection between followers’ conflict behaviors, TL and TMX and team engagement. Findings Using bottom-up/bootstrapping approach, results showed followers’ problem-solving conflict behaviors were positively linked with team leaders’ TL behaviors while improving TMX quality. Additionally, TL was connected with high levels of team work engagement and this connection was enhanced by TMX quality. Implications of the results are discussed. Research limitations/implications Although this conceptual model revealed followers as impacting TL and TMX, there is also a possibility that TL and TMX quality may be able to impact employees’ conflict behaviors. Additionally, the current study adopted a cross-sectional research design which does not allow for an assessment of cause and effect. Therefore, caution should be taken in interpreting the results. Finally, the authors studied employees from a single national culture. Yet, they know that national culture may influence the relationship between TL and conflict at the individual and team levels. Overall, the present research showed that individual followers’ conflict behaviors were associated with TL behaviors and TMX quality. Practical implications On a practical note, managers would be more successful in managing conflict in teams if they would observe their followers’ conflict behaviors and act as role models in displaying problem solving conflict behaviors – an approach that has been identified in this study to assist in eliciting transformational behaviors from the leader. Furthermore, training is indicated. Organizations should consider training leaders in TL given that our result shows that TL has a direct positive connection with employee’s work engagement. Specifically, the followers’ conflict behaviors should now be incorporated into the leadership (e.g. transformational) training programs. Finally, managers who need to boost team work engagement should consider increasing the quality of the TMX in the team. Social implications The leaders behavioral style may partly be dependent on the followers’ conflict management behaviors. Originality/value Thus far, research on leadership have been leader-centric, and while the authors are aware that followers have an important role in shaping the leaders’ behaviors, research in this area has until recently ignored how followers might impact their leaders’ style, processes and the quality of employee interactions, especially at the team level. The authors found for the first time that problem-solving conflict behaviors were connected with team leaders’ TL style and TMX quality.

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fulei Chu

PurposeDrawing on the equity theory and self-categorization theory, the authors examine the congruence effect of perceived self-overqualification and perceived coworker-overqualification on team–member exchange (TMX) quality, which in turn influences employees' organizational identification.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected from 392 employees in 78 teams at 2 time points, and polynomial regressions was used to test the hypothesized associations.FindingsThe more consistent perceived self-overqualification is with perceived coworker-overqualification, the higher quality of TMX. Moreover, TMX mediates the relationship between this congruence on organizational identification, which indicates that the congruence of perceived overqualification is related to higher-quality TMX, and then makes overqualified employees produce higher levels of organizational identification.Originality/valueThe findings of the research contributes to theory building of perceived overqualification through distinguishing perceived overqualification as an individual characteristic from the perception of overqualification that occurs in teams. Besides, by analyzing employees' experiences of overqualification in the context of their colleague-group, this study demonstrates the importance of considering overqualified individuals' social context (e.g. the composition of teams) in exploring the consequences of perceived overqualification. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xie Yizhong ◽  
Yevhen Baranchenko ◽  
Zhibin Lin ◽  
Chi Keung Lau ◽  
Jie Ma

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of job characteristics and social exchange in transformational leadership (TFL) and employability relationship. Design/methodology/approach The sample is composed of 760 participants employed in Yangtze Delta and Pearl River Delta in China. The participants have worked under their line manager for more than one year. In order to better prevent data from possible common method bias, two waves of surveys (in 2014) on a stratified sample, included a mix of industries, such as construction, manufacturing, finance, insurance and communications, were used to investigate the proposed relationship between TFL, job characteristics, social exchange and employability. Findings The research has empirically tested the relationship between TFL and employability. While previous research has analyzed the relationship between them, the authors have enriched existing literature by exploring the mediating factors and illustrating the importance of indirect effects. Besides the direct effect, the results of this study showed that TFL could also improve employees’ employability through job demands, skill discretion, decision authority, perceived organizational support and team–member exchange, but not leader–member exchange. Originality/value The study opens up a debate around the employability of employees as it stands apart from the performance measurement. The authors believe that this new mediating model can provide an insight into complex mechanisms of employability enhancement from the perspective of leader development.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsi-An Shih ◽  
Nikodemus Hans Setiadi Wijaya

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize the links among team-member exchange (TMX), voice behavior, and creative work involvement. Design/methodology/approach A total of 260 employees were participants in this study. All were alumni of a Business School in Indonesia. Data were gathered at two time points four months apart. Hierarchical regression and bootstrapping analyses were conducted to find the effects of TMX on voice behavior and creative work involvement. Findings Results from the analyses showed positive effects of TMX on both voice behavior and creative work involvement. A positive effect of voice behavior on creative work involvement was found. The results also exhibited a partial mediating effect of voice behavior on the relationship between TMX and creative work involvement. Practical implications The findings point to the importance of maintaining TMX quality in work teams for enhancing employee voice and creativity. Organizations may need to develop members’ reciprocal relationship skill in teams and maintain the roles of team leaders to develop the quality of TMX. It is also suggested that the practice of self-management teams may enhance the quality of TMX and voice behavior of employees. Originality/value This paper offers new insight on how levels of TMX may impact on members’ voice behavior and creative work involvement. Longitudinal data may provide a more accurate prediction of the links among TMX, voice behavior, and creative work involvement.


2017 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiia Annika Wahlberg ◽  
Nelson Ramalho ◽  
Ana Brochado

Purpose Hostels’ competitiveness relies heavily on unique and genuine service and, thus, counts on employees actively creating a social, welcoming environment and, at the same time, caring about – and being loyal to – their hostel. This paper aims to investigate whether retaining employees who care about their hostel and refrain from destructive behaviours implies that these workers need to have a better quality of working life, as well as whether work engagement mediates this relationship. Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted with 98 employees from 40 hostels in Lisbon. An analysis of the survey data was performed to test the research hypotheses. The model was estimated by means of partial least squares structural equation modelling. Findings The results reveal that quality of working life has a strong negative impact on employees’ exit behaviours and a positive effect on their loyalty. In addition, work engagement was found to mediate fully the relationship between quality of working life and both employee voice and neglect, as well as partially mediating exit intentions. Originality/value This study extended prior research in two ways. First, most theoretical and empirical studies in the hospitality and tourism industry have focused on hotels, so this research targeted a new context (i.e. hostels). Second, this study offers a clear indication of the relationship between employees’ quality of working life, work engagement and behaviours, thus offering valuable insights for management and hostel staff.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (8) ◽  
pp. 845-859
Author(s):  
Sevgi Emirza ◽  
Alev Katrinli

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of leader’s construal level, which is the tendency of the leader to construe things abstractly or concretely, on leader-member exchange (LMX) quality and the moderating role of relational demography, which is the comparative similarity between supervisor and subordinate in demographic characteristics. The authors hypothesize a positive relationship between leader construal level and the quality of relationship, such that, as the leader’s construal level increases and becomes more abstract, the quality of relationship improves. Furthermore, demographic similarity is expected to moderate the relationship between leader construal level and LMX quality. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 159 employees with an online questionnaire. Hierarchical regression analysis was used for hypothesis testing. Findings Results show that the leader’s construal level is positively associated with LMX quality. Moreover, demographic similarity moderates this relationship such that when subordinate and supervisor have similar demographic characteristics, the effect of leader construal level on LMX is higher. Originality/value This study addresses the call for further research on leader-related antecedents of LMX by showing that leader construal level predicts relationship quality. This study also enhances our understanding of how to leverage the construal level in leadership research. Moreover, this study provides a deeper and more integrated understanding regarding the development of LMX relationships by delineating the interactive effect of leader-related features and relational demography.


2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 555-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prasanjit Dasgupta

This study examined the impact of organizational, personal, team, job demand factors and mediating effects of team and affective commitments on nurses’ work engagement. Health workers’ work engagement has positive effect on patient satisfaction; nurses constitute a major group among health workers. To find reliability of the instruments pilot study was conducted in three hospitals of Kolkata (India) in which 175 nurses participated. In the main study, 504 nurses from five hospitals in Kolkata participated. Correlation, regression analysis and Sobel test was used to find out the relationships. Perceived organizational support, leader–member exchange, team–member exchange, workplace friendship, all relate positively to work engagement. Nursing role stress negatively relates to work engagement. Team commitment positively mediates the relationship between leader–member exchange, team member exchange and workplace friendship with work engagement. Affective commitment positively mediates the relationship between perceived organizational support and core self-evaluation with work engagement and negatively mediates the relationship between nursing role stress and work engagement. Result of the study shall be helpful for health care managers to devise appropriate strategies for enhancement of work engagement of nurses.


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 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 274-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Shantz ◽  
Kerstin Alfes ◽  
Lilith Arevshatian

Purpose – Due to increasing cost pressures, and the necessity to ensure high quality patient care while maintaining a safe environment for patients and staff, interest in the capacity for HRM practices to make a difference has piqued the attention of healthcare professionals. The purpose of this papers is to present and test a model whereby engagement mediates the relationship between four HRM practices and quality of care and safety in two different occupational groups in healthcare, namely, nurses and administrative support workers. Design/methodology/approach – Structural equation modeling was used to analyze questionnaire data collected by the National Health Service in the UK as part of their 2011 Staff Survey (n=69,018). The authors tested the hypotheses for nurses and administrative support workers separately. Findings – Training, participation in decision making, opportunities for development, and communication were positively related to quality of care and safety via work engagement. The strength of the relationships was conditional on whether an employee was a nurse or administrative support worker. Originality/value – This is the first paper to examine the mediating role of engagement on the relationship between four relevant HRM practices in the healthcare context, and outcomes important to healthcare practitioners. The authors also add value to the HRM literature by being among the first to use the job demands resources model to explain the impact of HRM practices on performance outcomes. Moreover, the authors provide insight into how HRM practices affect outcomes in the world’s largest publicly funded healthcare service.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Di Zhao ◽  
Wenjun Cai

PurposeEmotional intelligence (EI) is deemed important in developing interpersonal relationships. However, in the development of team-member exchange (TMX), the effect of EI on TMX and the team context have been largely ignored. For filling these gaps, this study explores the effect of employee EI on employee TMX and introduces EI-based leader-member exchange (LMX) differentiation as a team context to moderate the EI-TMX relationship.Design/methodology/approachData were drawn from 51 teams (consisting of 293 followers and 51 team leaders) selected from 30 companies (across the industries of technology, real estate, commerce and manufacturing).FindingsResults revealed that employee EI was positively related to employee TMX. EI acted as the basis of LMX differentiation (EI was positively related to LMX, EI variety was positively associated with LMX differentiation), and EI-based LMX differentiation acted as a favorable context for high-EI employees to develop high-quality TMX.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the understanding of EI’s significant and complex influence on interpersonal exchange relationships between leaders, followers and coworkers.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca S. Lau ◽  
Gordon W. Cheung ◽  
Helena D. Cooper–Thomas

PurposeThis study aims to examine two individual dispositions, propensity to trust and reciprocation wariness, as antecedents of team–member exchange (TMX) and how shared leadership moderates these relationships. It also investigates work engagement as a consequence of TMX.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 175 employees in 42 teams; a multilevel random slope model was used to test the moderating effect of shared leadership at the team level and across levels.FindingsShared leadership provides a boundary condition for the relationships from propensity to trust and reciprocation wariness to work engagement through TMX. At the individual level, the positive effects of propensity to trust and negative effects of reciprocation wariness on TMX, and their indirect effects on work engagement through TMX, were weaker at higher shared leadership. At the team level, the positive relationship between propensity to trust and TMX was unconditional on shared leadership, whereas the relationship between reciprocation wariness and TMX was moderated by shared leadership. At the team level, shared leadership had positive effects on TMX and work engagement.Practical implicationsManagers can adopt shared leadership to encourage social exchanges among team members to enhance TMX and work engagement.Originality/valueThe study extends the TMX research by investigating dispositions as antecedents and work engagement as a consequence at both individual and team levels. It also identifies the moderating role played by team-level shared leadership, which provides a strong situation supporting reciprocal interactions.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document