Comparing the impact of leader–member exchange,psychological empowerment and affective commitment upon Australian public and private sector nurses: implications for retention

This study uses Leader–Member Exchange (LMX) theory to test the associations between the supervisor–subordinate relationship, psychological empowerment and affective commitment amongst 1283 nurses working in Australian public and private hospitals. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected, analysed and presented. The findings show that the quality of LMX is more important in public sector nursing contexts than in the private sector with regard to the relationship between empowerment and affective commitment. Furthermore, the relationship between empowerment and affective commitment is stronger for nurses in public sector organisations with low-quality LMX than for nurses in public sector organisations with high-quality LMX. As empowerment and affective commitment are both predictors of staff retention, the findings can assist in developing targeted current and future retention strategies for healthcare management.     

Having two bosses: considering the relationships between LMX,satisfaction with HR practices,and organizational commitment

This study went beyond previous research on leader–member exchange (LMX) by examining employees who are supervised by more than one boss. Using data from 122 PhDs from a Dutch university, this study had three research objectives. First, to examine the effects of PhDs' LMX with both their promoter and their assistant promoter on affective organizational commitment (AOC). Second, to examine the mediating role of satisfaction with human resource (HR) practices in the two LMX–AOC relationships. Since the promoter as the higher level boss has more influence on different HR practices the third objective was to examine whether the LMX–AOC relationship is stronger for the promoter than for the assistant promoter. The results showed that both promoter LMX and assistant promoter LMX were positively related to PhDs' AOC, and both relationships were fully mediated by PhDs' satisfaction with HR practices. As expected, these effects were significantly stronger for the promoter than for the assistant promoter.     

What threatens retail employees' thriving at work under leader‐member exchange? The role of store spatial crowding and team negative affective tone

Thriving at work is a positive psychological state that captures employees' joint experience of learning and vitality. Building on the socially embedded model of thriving , we first propose the positive relationship between leader‐member exchange (LMX) and retail employees' thriving at work. We then explore store spatial crowding as a contextual constraint on this relationship. To better reveal this contextual impact, we further contend that team negative affective tone mediates the cross‐level moderating effect of store spatial crowding on the LMX–thriving linkage. Using two‐wave survey data collected from retail employees and their store managers across 89 stores of a grocery retail chain, we found empirical evidence on our multilevel‐mediated moderation model. This study highlights the importance of considering wider contextual features as boundary conditions to thriving. Our results suggest theoretical modifications to the existing thriving model and offer implications on the practical interventions that retailing organizations can take to develop a thriving workforce.     

Relationships among leader–member exchange,person–organization fit and work attitudes in Japanese and Korean organizations: testing a cross-cultural moderating effect

This study examines a possible national culture difference in the moderating effect of leader–member exchange (LMX) on the relationship between person–organization (P–O) fit and work attitudes, including job satisfaction and organizational commitment, in Japan and Korea. Specifically, we use trait activation theory as a lens to explain the complementarities between P–O fit and LMX that may exert an influence on employees' work attitudes. We hypothesize that from the cross-cultural management perspective, such complementary effects would work in Japan where organizations encourage more decentralization and empowerment than those in Korea, which may enable supervisors in Japanese organizations to provide unambiguous reward expectancies for their immediate subordinates. Using samples of 138 Japanese and 144 Korean employees working for privately owned firms in Japan and Korea, we demonstrate that a significant three-way interaction of employees' P–O fit, LMX and a national culture difference (i.e. nationality) influences their work attitudes. Specifically, LMX moderated the positive relationships between P–O fit and both job satisfaction and organizational commitment for Japanese employees, tending to weaken them. For Korean employees, however, no such interactions were observed. The findings are used to discuss the applicability and generalizability of trait activation theory in East Asian cultures. In addition, suggestions are made regarding the discussion of HRM practices from a cross-vergence perspective. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.     

The interactive effect of LMX and LMX differentiation on followers’ job burnout: evidence from tourism industry in Hong Kong

Building on the conservation of resources theory, we posit that leader–member exchange (LMX) serves as a valued resource to reduce followers’ job burnout. Informed by the theoretical arguments of reference group theory and norm of equality, we further propose two sets of competing hypotheses to test whether LMX differentiation within teams enhances or dampens the effect of LMX on relieving job burnout. Using a sample of 288 travel agents in Hong Kong, we find a negative relationship between LMX and emotional exhaustion. In support of the prediction of norm of equality, the results show that the negative relationships between LMX and emotional exhaustion and between LMX and diminished sense of personal accomplishment were stronger when LMX differentiation was low. Implications for theory and managerial practice and future research directions are discussed.     

Leader–member exchange and follower creativity: the moderating roles of leader and follower expectations for creativity

We examined leader and follower expectations for creativity as moderators in the relationship between leader–member exchange (LMX) and follower creativity. The results of a survey among 193 leader–follower dyads from two high-tech companies in mainland China show that LMX positively relates to follower creativity, and that leader and follower expectations for creativity moderate this relationship. Specifically, the relationship between LMX and follower creativity is positive and significant when either leaders or followers, or both leaders and followers, set high rather than low expectations for creativity, with the highest level of follower creativity observed when leaders and followers congruently hold high creativity expectations. In contrast, the LMX–follower creativity relationship is blurred when leaders and followers congruently hold low expectations for creativity. We discuss the relevance of these results from theoretical and professional perspectives.     

Inclusive human resource management in freelancers' employment relationships: The role of organizational needs and freelancers' psychological contracts

This study aimed to advance our understanding of inclusive human resource management (HRM) in freelance employment. We examined organizational needs and freelancers' psychological contracts with a qualitative interview study among eight dyads of HR managers and freelancers. Although the findings showed that organisations and freelancers have different interests, both parties agreed on what inclusive HRM entails in freelancers' employment relationships. However, within the dyads, the content of the psychological contract was not always viewed the same by HR managers and freelancers. Hence, negotiating mutual expectations when implementing inclusive HRM to avoid psychological contract breach appeared important. Furthermore, organizational needs did not seem to be considered when designing inclusive HRM. Due to this lack of strategic fit, organisations may waste opportunities of tapping into the full potential of hiring freelancers. The findings provide organisations insight in considering freelancers as potential sources of competitive advantage.     

领导者攻击型幽默对员工偏差行为的影响

本研究探讨了领导者攻击型幽默对员工偏差行为的影响,以及心理契约违背的中介作用和敌意归因风格的调节作用。对325份员工-同事配对问卷调查数据进行分析,结果表明:领导者攻击型幽默与员工的领导指向偏差行为、组织指向偏差行为均显著正相关,心理契约违背在这一关系间起部分中介作用,敌意归因风格正向调节领导者攻击型幽默与心理契约违背的关系,即敌意归因水平越高,领导者攻击型幽默对心理契约违背的正向作用越强。此外,敌意归因风格正向调节领导者攻击型幽默影响领导指向偏差行为和组织指向偏差行为的间接效应,即敌意归因水平越高,领导者攻击型幽默通过心理契约违背影响领导指向偏差行为和组织指向偏差行为的间接效应越强。     

How work-related capabilities influence job performance: a relational perspective

Employee relationships with supervisors can be based upon both work-focused activities and outcomes, as exemplified by leader–member exchange (LMX), and personal, non-work activities, as exemplified by Chinese guanxi. The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating role of supervisor–subordinate guanxi (SSG) and LMX in the relationship between the work-related human and social capital of employees and supervisors’ ratings of their job performance. Data were collected from 372 employees and 127 supervisors in a range of companies in China. The study demonstrates how human and social capital might play differing roles in influencing SSG and LMX. In particular, LMX partially mediated the relationship between human capital and job performance, and the relationship between social capital and job performance was fully mediated by SSG and LMX. The findings enrich understanding of how personal capabilities influence work and non-work relationships and assessments of job performance. The unique content of the Chinese construct of guanxi has implications for research and practice in modern organizations where the barriers between work and non-work are permeable and relationships include affective attachment as well as instrumental considerations.     

The HRM Process Approach: The Influence of Employees’ Attribution to Explain the HRM‐Performance Relationship

In an experimental study and a field study, we studied whether high‐commitment human resource management (HC‐HRM) is more effective when employees can make sense of HRM (attribute HRM to management). In the experimental study (n = 354), employees’ HC‐HRM perceptions were evoked by a management case, and their attributions were manipulated with an information pattern based on the three dimensions of the covariation principle of the attribution theory: distinctiveness, consistency, and consensus. As expected, the results showed that the effect of HC‐HRM on affective organizational commitment was stronger when employees understood HRM as was intended by management. This experimental finding was confirmed in a cross‐level field study (n = 639 employees within 42 organizations): the relationship between HC‐HRM, on one hand, and affective organizational commitment and innovative behavior, on the other hand, was stronger under the condition that employees could make sense of HRM. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The cross‐cultural study of LMX and individual employee voice: The moderating role of conflict avoidance

This article examines the role of national culture, measured by conflict avoidance, on the relationship between leader–member exchange (LMX) and individual employee voice. Using data collected from automotive industry employees in the United States and Korea, the findings show that conflict avoidance is negatively related to employee voice and also moderates the relationship between LMX and employee voice in the Korean sample. In particular, the relationship between LMX and voice becomes less positive when conflict avoidance is high. On the other hand, conflict avoidance does not have a direct effect on employee voice as well as an interactive effect with LMX on employee voice in the U.S. sample. This study, therefore, highlights the importance of the national culture in the comparative study of employee voice.     

How Adult Attachment Styles Relate to Perceived Psychological Contract Breach and Affective Organizational Commitment

The current study examines the relationship between adult attachment style and both perceived psychological contract breach and affective organizational commitment in a sample of college students with employment experience. Attachment style is argued to be an individual difference factor that affects how an individual perceives organizational events based on theory and existing empirical research related to adult attachment style. Individuals with insecure attachment styles were predicted to perceive more psychological contract breach and have lower levels of affective organizational commitment. The results reveal that individuals with higher levels of preoccupied and dismissive attachment styles perceived higher levels of psychological contract breach, and preoccupied attachment style significantly and negatively relates to affective organizational commitment. The relationship between attachment style and psychological contract dimensions was stronger for relational than transactional contract dimensions. Evidence is also found that perceived psychological contract breach mediates the relationship between preoccupied attachment style and affective commitment. Future potential research directions are described. The implications of these findings for managerial practice is discussed.     

Leader–member exchange as a moderator of the relationship between employee–organization exchange and affective commitment

While there is some evidence on the outcomes of employee–organization exchange relationships and leader–member exchange (LMX) relationships, less is known about their combined role as predictors of employee outcomes. Relying on a recent conceptualization of social leader–member exchange (SLMX) and economic leader–member exchange (ELMX) as two separate dimensions of LMX, the present study explored whether SLMX and ELMX moderate the associations between organizational social and economic exchange and affective commitment. The main finding was that the association between organizational economic exchange and affective commitment is attenuated by SLMX. In addition, a positive association between intrinsic motivation and affective commitment was also unveiled, suggesting that affective commitment is not only determined by the prosocial motivation emanating from social exchange relationships, but also from the intrinsic motivation inherent in the work itself.     

Exploring the interpersonal determinants of job embeddedness and voluntary turnover: A conservation of resources perspective

This paper draws on a conservation of resources perspective to understand employee voluntary turnover. We conceptualise voluntary turnover as an outcome of resource loss, and we view job embeddedness as an indication of resource levels. On the basis of this conceptualisation, we propose that workplace ostracism and leader–member exchange (LMX) affect voluntary turnover via job embeddedness. We also propose an interaction effect of workplace ostracism and LMX: Workplace ostracism increases voluntary turnover by depleting job embeddedness only when people experience high‐quality LMX. Data from 352 employees in a Chinese software company obtained through a three‐wave survey support our model. Our findings illuminate the resource consequences of interpersonal interactions on job embeddedness and voluntary turnover, and we offer practical implications for employee retention.     

How Do Developmental and Accommodative HRM Enhance Employee Engagement and Commitment? The Role of Psychological Contract and SOC Strategies

In the context of the changing workforce, this study introduced two perspectives on HRM and distinguished universalistic developmental HRM from contingent accommodative HRM. We predicted two separate pathways for the effects on two employee outcomes: work engagement and affective commitment. We expected that developmental HRM would universally relate to employee outcomes by rebalancing the psychological contract between the employee and organization into a less transactional to a more relational contract. We also predicted that accommodative HRM would relate to outcomes only when fulfilling specific needs of employees, associated with their selecting, optimizing, and compensating strategies. Results of a multilevel study among 1058 employees in 17 healthcare units fully supported our expectations regarding the role of the psychological contract. Additionally, we found support for the expected roles of selection and compensation, but not for optimization strategy. This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating that HRM relates to employee outcomes through multiple pathways, which can be either universal or contingent.     

The power of goal internalization: studying psychological empowerment in a Venezuelan plant

This study, based in a manufacturing plant in Venezuela, examines the relationship between perceived task characteristics, psychological empowerment and commitment, using a questionnaire survey of 313 employees. The objective of the study was to assess the effects of an organizational intervention at the plant aimed at increasing productivity by providing performance feedback on key aspects of its daily operations. It was hypothesized that perceived characteristics of the task environment, such as task meaningfulness and task feedback, will enhance psychological empowerment, which in turn will have a positive impact on employee commitment. Test of a structural model revealed that the relationship of task meaningfulness and task feedback with affective commitment was partially mediated by the empowerment dimensions of perceived control and goal internalization. The results highlight the role of goal internalization as a key mediating mechanism between job characteristics and affective commitment. The study also validates a Spanish-language version of the psychological empowerment scale by Menon (2001).     

The impact of organizational and leader–member support on expatriate commitment

Using data from expatriates at MNC subsidiaries in China, this paper investigates the relationships between parent company and local subsidiary perceived organizational support (POS), leader–member exchange (LMX) and affective commitment of expatriates. The study examines the moderating effect of LMX in the relationships between both parent company and local subsidiary POS and affective commitment. Results support the relationships between both parent company and local subsidiary POS, LMX and the expatriate affective commitment, and the moderating effect of LMX in the relationships between parent company POS and affective commitment.     

Sustainable HRM strategies and employment relationships as drivers of the triple bottom line

This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework capable of analysing the contributions made by strategic human resources management (SHRM) to firm sustainability and competitiveness. Specifically, we identify different sustainable corporate strategies and the way in which they are supported by coherent sustainable HRM strategies. We propose different sustainable employment relationships considering two dimensions: inducements offered by an organisation and expected employee behaviours in order to comply with sustainable HRM strategies. All the above also necessitates a system of HRM practices (content of the employment relationship) that should be well defined and oriented towards sustainability. Accordingly, we suggest associations of specific systems of HRM practices, depending on the type of employment relationship and sustainable HRM strategy, in order to promote the expected ‘Triple Bottom Line’, and which also improve firm competitiveness.     

Leader–member exchange and strain: a study of job demands and role status

High‐quality supervisor–subordinate relationships, measured as leader–member exchange (LMX), can either reduce or intensify subordinates' job strain. We examined LMX effects on job demands and strain in junior and senior role nursing dyads in a sample of five UK hospitals. LMX reduced job demands and strain for junior subordinates, but for senior subordinates both low‐ and high‐quality LMX lead to greater strain, indicating a curvilinear relationship between LMX and strain. We found no buffering effect of LMX between job demands and strain. The article discusses the role of supervisors in controlling potential job stressors for employees and implications for stress management in large, complex workplaces.