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The purpose of this paper is to examine the underlying process of a relative leader–member dyadic communication behavior linking association between ethical leadership and organizational identification in Malaysia’s diverse workplace.

Based on relational dyadic communication, social comparison and social identity theories, the authors develop a mediation model. The model illustrates the link between the relative leader–member dyadic communication behavior processes, ethical leadership and organizational identification. The model was tested on a sample of 273 group members from 58 groups working in large government link corporations in Malaysia.

Results of hierarchical regression analysis provide support for the model. The authors found that ethical leadership was positively related to relative leader–member dyadic communication behavior based on the norms and values of budi context. Budi is a social norm in the Malaysian context that helps employees to know how they should interact with others. Budi is manifested through the use of language and should be used or present in the interactions or conversations with others.

The relative shared norms and values of budi mediate the relationship between ethical leadership and organizational identification after controlling for the perception of individual leader–member dyadic communication behavior on norms and values of budi.

Although the importance of group leader and group member dyadic relationships has been increasingly emphasized, only few studies have focused on the dyadic level analysis of leader–member relationships. By integrating theories of relational leadership and relational dyadic communication among workgroups, the purpose of this paper is to propose a theoretical model that links relative leader–member exchange quality (RLMX) and relative leader–member conversation quality (RLMCQ) to group performance, as mediated by group cooperation.

The model was tested in a field study with multiple sources, including 232 leader–member dyads and 407 workgroup peer dyads among 70 intact workgroups. Data were collected on-site during paid working hours from four training sessions. Group members were surveyed four times (Time 1, Time 2 and Time 3) and group leaders were surveyed once (Time 4) to minimize common method bias. The hierarchical linear modeling and polynomial regression approach were used to determine the mediating effects of the group cooperation.

In this study, the authors found support for indirect effects of relative RLMX and RLMCQ on group performance through the mediating role of group cooperation.

The cross-sectional design of the current study is to be interpreted with caution, concerning any conclusions about the causal ordering of the variables in the model.

In organizational situations with group leaders and group members already in high-quality relationships and conversation, management should endeavor to facilitate opportunities for cooperation among group members and a means to also enhance team–member exchange.

By introducing LMCQ and group member cooperative behavior in workgroups, this study actively respond to the scholars’ warnings that ignoring the workgroup context may hamper the progress in understanding the factors that will inhibit or enhance workgroup behavior.

This study aims to explore an interpersonal predictor of coworkers-directed knowledge hiding behavior – the leader–member exchange social comparison (LMXSC). This study integrates leader–member exchange literature with social comparison theory to hypothesize that an individual’s upward LMXSC is positively correlated with coworkers-directed knowledge hiding and that an individual’s feelings of envy are mediated by the relationship between upward LMXSC and coworkers-directed knowledge hiding behavior. Also, this study proposes two-way and three-way interaction patterns of goal interdependence, which can influence LMXSC–envy relationships.

Two independent studies are conducted to test the hypothesized relationships. In Study 1, the authors collected multi-wave data from a large public sector university in China (N = 1,131). The authors then replicated the Study 1 findings by collecting multi-source and multi-wave data from a telecom company based in China (n = 379).

The authors found support across both studies for the idea that upward LMXSC is a possible interpersonal predictor of coworkers-directed knowledge hiding behavior. More specifically, it was found that feelings of envy ensue from upward LMXSC, resulting in further coworkers-directed knowledge hiding behavior. Further, this study shows that the influence of upward LMXSC on knowledge hiding behavior via feelings of envy was weaker (stronger) when employees have high (low) cooperative goal interdependence with coworkers, respectively, and when employees have low (high) competitive goal interdependence with the coworkers, respectively.

This study extends current knowledge management literature by introducing LMXSC as an interpersonal predictor of coworkers-directed knowledge hiding behavior. This will help practitioners to curb such counterproductive behavior.

This study aims to examine the role of leader-member exchange social comparison (LMXSC) perceptions in triggering the instigation of uncivil behavior in the workplace. This study also explores the intervening role of envy and the buffering role of aggression-preventive supervisor behavior within the proposed relationship.

Data were collected in two phases separated by an interval of four weeks. The final sample consisted of 224 full-time white-collar employees working in five large pharmaceutical manufacturing organizations in India.

The findings indicate that employees’ subjective perceptions of being involved in poorer-quality LMX relationships than their workgroup members generate envy, which, in turn, evokes them to instigate uncivil behaviors onto those higher-LMX counterparts. The indirect effect of LMX social comparison on instigated workplace incivility through envy gets attenuated when supervisors engage in aggression-preventive behavior.

To protect organizations from the financial and productivity losses associated with incivility, supervisors are encouraged to exhibit aggression-preventive behavior if they form differentiated exchange relationships with the subordinates in their teams. Supervisors are further advised to avoid the altogether neglect of lower-LMX subordinates as doing so may give rise to negative emotions (envy) and behavior (incivility) among them.

This study expands the limited body of knowledge on the antecedents of uncivil employee behavior in the workplace. Specifically, it unveils that incivility toward coworkers may be stemming from unfavorable LMX social comparisons and ensuing negative emotions such as envy. It also offers insights on reducing uncivil behavior by highlighting that the impact of LMXSC and envy on incivility instigation gets buffered in the presence of aggression-preventive supervisor behavior.

This paper aims to examine the mediating roles of self-efficacy and team commitment in linking service employees’ relative leader-member exchange (RLMX) with customer service behaviors and also the moderating roles of team-level differentiations in leader-member exchange (LMX) and team-member exchange (TMX) in influencing these mediation processes.

Data were collected from 467 customer-contact employees working in hotel restaurants. Hierarchical linear modeling analysis was used to test the mediation hypotheses, and moderated path was used to assess the moderated mediation.

Self-efficacy and team-commitment both mediated the relationship between RLMX and customer service behaviors. The differentiations in LMX and TMX significantly interacted with RLMX in predicting self-efficacy and team commitment and also moderated the indirect effects of RLMX on customer service behaviors.

Future studies need to incorporate customers’ or immediate supervisors’ ratings of subordinates’ customer service behaviors and replicate the findings in different countries and work settings.

Hospitality managers should foster a work environment wherein they develop equal quality relationships with their subordinates in a workgroup and promote high-quality relationships among subordinates in the workgroup to improve subordinates’ self-efficacy, team commitment and, subsequently, their customer service behaviors.

This study incorporates both self-efficacy and team commitment as motivation-based and social exchange-based mediators, respectively, in predicting customer service behavior. It also extends the boundary condition for the mediations by considering the team-level differentiations in both vertical exchange (LMX) and horizontal exchange (TMX).

The purpose of this paper is to extend our understanding of the role of leaders in team relationship conflict. Leader-member exchange (LMX) differentiation was hypothesized to be positively related to team relationship conflict. Additionally, ethical leadership was hypothesized to moderate relations between LMX differentiation and team relationship conflict.

Hypotheses were examined in a sample of 79 working teams. Data were collected via a questionnaire containing measures of LMX, team relationship conflict and ethical leadership.

Hypotheses were supported by the data. LMX differentiation was positively related to team relationship conflict, and ethical leadership weakened the relationship between LMX differentiation and team relationship conflict.

This is the first theoretical analysis and empirical study of relationships between LMX differentiation and team relationship conflict. Theoretically, by using LMX theory to account for team-level outcomes, this study extended power of LMX theory. Practically, these results suggest that leaders may be responsible for team relationship conflict.

The current study examines the relation of guanxi human resource management (HRM) practices with subjective evaluations of creative performance by direct supervisors, as well as conceptualizes the employee ambidextrous behavior as a mediator, and social comparison orientation and leader–member exchange (LMX) as moderators for understanding the relation.

Survey data were collected from 211 employee–supervisor dyads in China. Hierarchical regression analyses, Preacher and Hayes’ (2008) indirect effects PROCESS macro, and Preacher et al.'s (2007) moderated mediation analysis approach were conducted to test the hypothesized relationships.

Guanxi HRM practices were negatively associated with employee creative performance, mediated by the employee ambidextrous behavior. The authors also found that social comparison orientation showed a strong moderating effect, such that it amplified the indirect relationship between guanxi HRM practices and employee creative performance via ambidextrous behavior. In contrast, LMX showed a weak moderating effect, such that it attenuated this indirect relationship.

This study provides evidence that the extent to which employee ambidextrous behavior mediates the relationship between guanxi HRM practices and creative performance depends on LMX and social comparison orientation. It represents a promising new direction for the guanxi HRM practices and creative performance literatures.

The paper examines the effect of relative leader-member exchange (LMX) on follower's in-role performance, citizenship behaviour and cynicism via relational identification. Moreover, LMXSC (LMXSC) moderates the direct and mediating relationship.

Based on multi-level (individual and group level) model, dyadic data were collected from 298 employees working under 47 group managers in the banking sector in Pakistan.

The multi-level moderated mediation model tested in Mplus and HLM software showed the full support for direct, mediating and moderating hypothesized relationships; however, the moderated mediation hypothesis was partially supported. It reveals that relative LMX standing of followers predicted in-role performance, organizational citizenship behaviour at an individual level (OCB-individual) and cynicism. Relational identification with the leader mediated the relationship. Moreover, at high LMXSC, the relationship between relative LMX and relational identification and consequently the outcomes were stronger.

LMX has widely been studied at dyadic level, despite the suggested high and low LMX quality relationships that exist in a workgroup. This study not only investigates the role of relative LMX on employee performance through relational identification but also reports that subjective evaluation of LMXSC plays a major role in promoting employee performance.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a mediation model for understanding how favoritism, in the context of the leader–member exchange (LMX) theory, influences subordinate-rated LMX via the subordinates’ perception of organizational justice.

The sample comprised 39 managers and 159 employees working in local branches of banks in Taiwan. While the managers were asked to rate their LMX scores with all employees, three to five employees were randomly selected to participate in a survey which included two phases with a time lag of three months. Given the nested structure of the data, hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the mediation model.

The findings support the mediation model, indicating that LMX favoritism can significantly influence subordinate-rated LMX by enhancing subordinates’ justice perception.

The study contributes to the existing LMX research by showing that a superior’s LMX favoritism may change subordinate-rated LMX over time.

The diversity literature has yet to investigate relationships between diversity and leader–member exchanges (LMX) at multiple levels of analysis. The purpose of this paper is to test a multilevel model of nationality diversity and LMX. In doing so, the authors investigate the role of surface- and deep-level diversity as related to leader–member exchange differentiation (LMXD) and relative LMX (RLMX), and hence to subordinate job performance.

The authors test a multilevel model of diversity and LMX using multisource survey data from subordinates nesting within supervisors. The authors do so in a context where diversity in nationality is pervasive and plays a key role in LMXs, i.e., a multinational organization in Dubai. The authors tested the cross-level moderated model using MPlus.

The results suggest surface-level similarity is more important to RLMX than deep-level similarity. The relationship between surface-level similarity and RLMX is moderated by workgroup nationality diversity. When workgroups are more diverse, there is a positive relationship between dyadic nationality similarity and RLMX; when workgroups are less diverse, similarity in nationality matters less. Moreover, LMXD at the workgroup level moderates the relationship between RLMX and performance at the individual level.

This study is one of very few to examine both diversity and LMX at multiple levels of analysis. This is the first study to test the workgroup diversity as a cross-level moderator of the relationship between deep-level similarity and LMX. The results challenge the prevailing notion that that deep-level similarity is more strongly related to LMX than surface-level diversity.