Empowerment and organizational identification: The mediating role of leader–member exchange and the moderating role of leader trustworthiness

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the mechanism through which perceived empowerment practices in a firm influence employees’ organizational identification. Specifically, the authors posit the mediating role of leader‒member exchange (LMX) and the moderating role of leader trustworthiness in the relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through survey from 236 white-collar employees working in 20 private companies in Turkey. The authors tested the model using hierarchical regression and conditional process analysis.

Findings

Findings of this study are as follows: first, LMX mediates the relationship between empowerment practices and organizational identification, second, leader integrity, a dimension of trustworthiness, moderates the relationship between empowerment practices and LMX and the relationship between LMX and organizational identification and, third, leader integrity moderates the indirect effect of empowerment practices on organizational identification via LMX. These direct and indirect effects are stronger when leaders have higher integrity than when they have lower integrity.

Originality/value

This study enhances the understanding of the mechanism through which empowerment practices influence employees’ organizational identification.

Citation

Ertürk, A. and Albayrak, T. (2020), "Empowerment and organizational identification: The mediating role of leader–member exchange and the moderating role of leader trustworthiness", Personnel Review, Vol. 49 No. 2, pp. 571-596. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-02-2018-0054