Leader–member exchange theory
The leader–member exchange (LMX) theory is a relationship-based approach to leadership that focuses on the two-way (dyadic) relationship between leaders and followers.
According to the theory, leaders form strong trust, emotional, and respect-based relationships with some members of a team, but not with others.
[7] Leaders are evaluated based on supervisor's expectation of followers, contingent reward behavior, transformational leadership, extraversion, and agreeableness.
[7] This variety of characteristics creates the basis for LMX and allows it to be successful or unsuccessful, depending on the present traits.
[7] In an experiment run by Dulebohn et al. that measured the effects of various characteristics on LMX and its outcomes, leader behaviors and perceptions explained most of the variance.
It found statistically significant negative correlations between LMX and role conflict and turnover intentions.
[8] LMX seeks to provide a different perspective that treats each subordinate/supervisor pair as an individual dyad with its own relationships.
According to LMX, the quality of this dyadic relationship predicts attitudinal and behavioral outcomes (such as those discussed above) at the individual, group, and organizational level.
[8] In 1976 Graen published "Role-making processes in complex organizations" in the Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology,[11] further increasing awareness about LMX.
[citation needed] By the 1980s, researchers in this field began transitioning from VDL to LMX, with the primary difference being a new focus specifically on jobs and task domains.
[10] In their 1995 paper titled "Relationship-Based Approach to Leadership: Development of Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory of Leadership over 25 Years: Applying a Multi-Level Multi-Domain Perspective," George B. Graen and Mary Uhl-Bien discuss the development of LMX from through four evolutionary stages.
[1] Graen and Uhl-Bien explain that research into issues relating to leader–member exchange began with studies on work socialization and vertical dyad linkage which found that many managerial processes in organizations occurred on a dyadic basis, with managers forming differentiated relationships with those who reported to them.
[1] Some employees described what are called "high-quality exchanges" (also known as "in-group"), which are "characterized by a high degree of mutual trust, respect, and obligation.
The idea of Leadership Making began with two longitudinal field experiments that analyzed what would happen if leaders were trained to give all of their subordinates the opportunity to develop a high-quality relationship.
[1] Results showed that the performance of subordinates who took advantage of the opportunity to develop a high-quality LMX improved dramatically.
[1] The model describes a process in which leader–member relationships go from a "stranger" phase (characterized by formal, contractual interactions) to an "acquaintance" stage (characterized by increased social exchanges and the sharing of information and resources on a personal and work level) to a level of "mature partnership" exchanges (characterized by "in kind" exchanges that are behavioral and emotional, by loyalty, by support, by mutual respect, by trust, and by a high degree of incremental influence).
[1] At the fourth stage Graen and Uhl-Bien propose using a systems-level perspective to investigate how differentiated dyadic relationships combine to form larger, network systems.
[1] Graen and Uhl-Bien explain that the leadership structure emerges from the network of relationships and mutual dependencies that develop as organization members fulfill roles and complete tasks.
[1] A major problem with the leader–member exchange approach to leadership is that it is not theory;[12] it uses circular arguments and is akin to a tautology or it forces innovation.
[citation needed] As a recent review suggests, it is time for this branch of leadership research to go back to square one.
[15] Another area for future research, which is suggested by Graen & Uhl-Bien, is investigating LMX relationships on a network scale.
[16] Job embeddedness is a measurement of the extent to which people feel a part of their company and it is also related to the many antecedents of LMX that are discussed above.
