Employee Voice: A Mechanism to Harness Employees’ Potential for Sustainable Success

Listening to employees’ concerns reduces their dissatisfaction, but moreover, for an organization to achieve sustainable success, employees must raise their creative voice and give their input in decision-making without the fear of rejection in a psychologically safe environment. Ethical leaders facilitate such a participative style of management. A bureaucratic culture, as is generally encountered in Pakistan’s work settings, poses real challenges to those who dare to speak up, therefore the importance of ethical leadership, leader–member exchange (LMX), and psychological safety cannot be neglected as coping mechanisms to sustain the employee voice for mutual gains. To investigate ethical leadership’s mediating mechanisms and boundary conditions on voice behavior, we examined a moderated mediation model with the leader–member exchange as a moderator and psychological safety as a mediator. Grounded in social exchange theory (SET), the current study uniquely posits and tests that employees feel psychologically safe in the presence of an ethical leader with whom they have high-quality social exchanges. Data were collected from 281 employees from the public corporations and private enterprises of the petroleum sector of Karachi. Results of the analysis, through SPSS and AMOS, revealed that psychological safety mediated the relationship of ethical leadership and voice behavior, while the indirect effect of ethical leadership on voice behavior (via psychological safety) is stronger for those employees who enjoy high-quality exchanges with ethical leaders. LMX was also found to moderate the relationship between ethical leadership and voice behavior. Contributions, recommendations, and limitations of the current study and further research areas are also discussed. The study offers practical insight on the mechanism of ethical leadership on employee voice behavior and recommends leaders to develop social exchanges to improve voice behavior for sustainable success.

How leader–member exchange affects job embeddedness and job dedication through employee advocacy

PurposeCompatible with the principles of leader–member exchange (LMX) theory and social exchange theory (SET), the study explores the effect of LMX on job embeddedness and job dedication and the mediating role of employee advocacy.Design/methodology/approachThe data were gathered via a survey at four hotels in Izmir. To test the reliability and validity, 194 valid questionnaires were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesized relationships.FindingsThe results show that high quality LMX and employee advocacy increase the hotel employees' job embeddedness and job dedication. In addition, the results show that employee advocacy has a partial mediating effect on the relationships between LMX and job embeddedness, and between LMX and job dedication.Originality/valueAlthough past researches have examined both various determinants of employee job embeddedness and job dedication, and consequences of high-quality LMX, they have ignored a critical factor, which is employee advocacy. This current study addresses this research gap by investigating the interrelations between LMX and job embeddedness, and job advocacy through employee advocacy in hotels. Moreover, this research is the first empirical study that analyzes the relationships between LMX, job embeddedness, job dedication and employee advocacy in the same model. Therefore, this research contributes to hospitality literature by filling this gap.

Great minds think alike: does leader-follower similarity in construal level of the work enhance leader-member exchange quality?

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate whether leader-follower similarity in construal level of the work, which indicates the degree of abstraction applied to mental representation of the work, influences the quality of interpersonal relationship at work.Design/methodology/approachFirst, an interview study was conducted to adapt the work-based construal-level (WBCL) scale. Then, a survey study was conducted for hypothesis testing. Data collected from 245 matched supervisor-subordinate dyads were analyzed using multi-level modeling.FindingsResults revealed that dyadic similarity in work-domain construal level is positively related to leader-member exchange (LMX) quality. As a leader and a follower become similar to each other in terms of mental representation (i.e. construal level) of work, they experience higher relationship quality.Originality/valueThis study enhances the current knowledge of the role of cognition and cognitive similarity in leadership processes.

Need for Leadership in Times of Crises

The aim of this chapter is to give a comprehensive framework through integrating the modern and post-modern leadership approaches in times of crises. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to great challenges worldwide. Organizing in times of crisis or crisis management has gained greater attention much more than before. Pandemic new workforce created new perspectives on the basis of leadership. This study provides detailed information about both modern leadership types as autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire, charismatic, transformational, transactional, and post-modern leadership types as spiritual, resonant, agile, relational social constructionist, and hybrid. In chaotic and uncertain environment, the leadership types and their effectiveness are analyzed and discussed at the heart of social exchange, social identity, leader-member exchange, self-determination, and complexity leadership theoretical point of views and related empirical findings.

Pengaruh Keadilan Organisasional Terhadap Kinerja Karyawan Dimediasi LMX (Leader-Member Exchange) Dilihat dari Aspek Gender

The purpose of this article is to examine the mediating role of leader-member exchange in the relationship between organizational justice and employee performance in terms of gender. This article focuses on ATLM (Medical Laboratory Technologist) regarding organizational justice practices and the Leader-Member Exchange relationship and how these perceptions predict employee performance and how it affects employee gender. The sample used was 191 ATLM in type C hospitals in the D.I. Yogyakarta and Central Java. The results of this study will help ATLM to foster greater employee value and teamwork among employees by implementing organizational justice practices.

A literature review of leadership training and a novel conceptual model of leader-member exchange theory for new dentists

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to describe the current state of leadership and leader–member exchange (LMX) theory in dentistry and develop a novel conceptual model of LMX to guide future research and highlight the importance of enhancing leadership training for new dentists.Design/methodology/approachA literature review exploring leadership in dentistry and LMX in dentistry was completed. The findings were analyzed with framework analysis to develop a novel conceptual model of LMX specific to dentistry.FindingsLMX theory was applied to leadership in dentistry, including a focus on new dentists, senior dentists, other dental team members and the patient. A new conceptual model of the New Dentist LMX Quartet, which is unique and specific to new dentist teams, was developed.Research limitations/implicationsThe study identifies the need for research in LMX in dentistry, contributes a new conceptual model for LMX theory and identifies future research.Practical implicationsPractitioners, policymakers and educators can utilize this information to explore concepts in leadership and improve training and dental practice.Originality/valueNo other studies specifically exploring LMX in dentistry for new dentists exist. The current literature review and conceptual paper begins the conversation on developing understanding of leadership in dentistry through further research.

Deep-level dissimilarity and leader–member exchange (LMX) quality: the role of status

Purpose This study explores how status, demographic and positional, moderates the negative effect of deep-level dissimilarity on leader–member exchange (LMX) quality.Design/methodology/approach Data from three samples were analyzed using hierarchical linear regression and linear mixed-effects methods.Findings Results suggest that the negative effect of deep-level dissimilarity (perceived work-related attitude and perspective differences) on LMX quality is stronger when the LMX partner has low demographic status (e.g. the LMX partner is an African-American woman). This moderating effect was not significant when deep-level dissimilarity was extended to include differences in personality, interests and values. Results were mixed on whether low positional status (i.e. when the LMX partner is a member rather than a leader) strengthens the negative effect of deep-level dissimilarity on LMX quality.Practical implications This study may help leaders, organizational members and diversity managers better manage attitude and perspective dissimilarity in leader–member dyads.Originality/value This study expands research exploring interactive effects of dissimilarity and status on work-related outcomes. It is novel in that it explores status not in relative terms but at the societal level. It is also the first study to analyze the moderating effects of two types of status: demographic and positional.

Disparate Safety Enforcement: Curvilinear Effects, Mechanisms, and Boundary Conditions of Supervisor-Rated Leader–Member Exchange

Across three studies, we integrate relational leadership theory with affective events theory to examine the leader perspective in dyadic relationships and how this perspective influences differential leader behaviors directed toward each subordinate in terms of safety enforcement. First, in two field studies with different high-risk contexts, we delineate a curvilinear relationship between supervisor-rated leader–member exchange (SLMX) and safety enforcement. In our second field study we also examine the moderating role of leaders’ safety commitment as well as the linkage between safety enforcement and accidents. Finally, in a fully randomized experiment, we explore three relational dynamics as mechanisms of the effect of SLMX on safety enforcement—trust, consideration, and liking. Through these efforts, we offer rare direct tests of the theoretical assertion that leader–member exchange includes differential treatment based on affective relationship cues within a leader-and-subordinate relationship. Our two field studies reveal that leaders are likely to monitor safety most closely for low- and high-SLMX subordinates, but mid-SLMX subordinates are most likely to be overlooked. This U-shaped relationship emerges only for less committed leaders, and safety enforcement translates these effects to actual accidents. Our experimental study reveals a similar U shape between liking and enforcement, but a positive relationship emerges between distrust and enforcement, as well as between consideration on enforcement. These results shed insight into theoretical and practical implications for how leaders can foster a safer workplace for all.