TY - JOUR
T1 - Not all differentiation is the same
T2 - Examining the moderating effects of leader-member exchange (LMX) configurations
AU - Seo, Jungmin
AU - Craig, Jennifer
AU - Carter, Min Z.
AU - Hom, Peter
N1 - Funding Information:
As part of a larger research project, we collected data from a large hospitality organization in the People’s Republic of China, approved by the institutional review board of the Auburn University (Protocol No. 08 –250 EP 0812, Study Title: Leadership and motivation). The guest services were delivered by work groups with a formally appointed supervisor in each group. The guest services division operated in one location, but was comprised of
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 American Psychological Association.
PY - 2018/5
Y1 - 2018/5
N2 - Leaders often influence whether an employee stays or quits and yet research in collective turnover, or turnover at the work-unit level, has neglected leadership as a key antecedent. In the current study we examine how the quality of leader-member relationships within a group (i.e., leader-member exchange, LMX) influences building a shared mindset of collective organizational commitment and ultimately influences collective turnover. We build on a key tenet of LMX theory that leaders form differentiated relationships with followers and propose that not all LMX differentiation is the same and therefore, researchers must take into account the configuration, or mix of high and low LMX relationships, within a group. We expect LMX configurations will moderate the influence of LMX differentiation on collective turnover through the mechanism of collective organizational commitment. We find 5 configurations of LMX relationships, including a bimodal, solo-status low LMX, solo-status high LMX, and 2 fragmented configurations. As hypothesized, LMX differentiation positively relates to collective organizational commitment and negatively relates to collective turnover in a solo-status low LMX configuration and a fragmented LMX configuration, and negatively relates to collective organizational commitment and positively relates to collective turnover in a bimodal configuration. Theoretical implications and future research directions are discussed.
AB - Leaders often influence whether an employee stays or quits and yet research in collective turnover, or turnover at the work-unit level, has neglected leadership as a key antecedent. In the current study we examine how the quality of leader-member relationships within a group (i.e., leader-member exchange, LMX) influences building a shared mindset of collective organizational commitment and ultimately influences collective turnover. We build on a key tenet of LMX theory that leaders form differentiated relationships with followers and propose that not all LMX differentiation is the same and therefore, researchers must take into account the configuration, or mix of high and low LMX relationships, within a group. We expect LMX configurations will moderate the influence of LMX differentiation on collective turnover through the mechanism of collective organizational commitment. We find 5 configurations of LMX relationships, including a bimodal, solo-status low LMX, solo-status high LMX, and 2 fragmented configurations. As hypothesized, LMX differentiation positively relates to collective organizational commitment and negatively relates to collective turnover in a solo-status low LMX configuration and a fragmented LMX configuration, and negatively relates to collective organizational commitment and positively relates to collective turnover in a bimodal configuration. Theoretical implications and future research directions are discussed.
KW - Collective turnover
KW - LMX configurations
KW - LMX differentiation
KW - Leader-member exchange
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U2 - 10.1037/apl0000262
DO - 10.1037/apl0000262
M3 - Article
C2 - 29239643
AN - SCOPUS:85037740952
SN - 0021-9010
VL - 103
SP - 478
EP - 495
JO - Journal of Applied Psychology
JF - Journal of Applied Psychology
IS - 5
ER -