Benevolent leadership and follower performance: The mediating role of leader–member exchange (LMX)

This study examines leader–member exchange (LMX) as a mediator of the relationship between benevolent leadership and follower task performance and extra-role performance. Using a sample of 223 leader–member dyads in a nonprofit organization in the People’s Republic of China, results indicate that benevolent leadership and LMX are positively related to follower task performance and organizational citizenship behavior towards the organization (OCBO). Findings also support that LMX partially mediates the relationship between benevolent leadership and follower task performance as well as fully mediates the relationship between benevolent leadership and OCBO. Implications for the theory and practice of leadership in Asia are discussed.

[1]  S. Wayne,et al.  The Effects of Leader-Member Exchange on Employee Citizenship and Impression Management Behavior , 1993 .

[2]  G. Graen,et al.  Relationship-based approach to leadership: Development of leader-member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: Applying a multi-level multi-domain perspective , 1995 .

[3]  Raymond T. Sparrowe,et al.  An examination of the mediating role of psychological empowerment on the relations between the job, interpersonal relationships, and work outcomes. , 2000, The Journal of applied psychology.

[4]  T. Scandura,et al.  Paternalistic Leadership: A Review and Agenda for Future Research , 2008 .

[5]  Anne S. Tsui,et al.  Where Guanxi Matters , 1997 .

[6]  George B. Graen,et al.  When managers decide not to decide autocratically: An investigation of leader–member exchange and decision influence. , 1986 .

[7]  M. Huang,et al.  Paternalistic leadership and its effectiveness: Evidence from Chinese organizational teams. , 2002 .

[8]  L. J. Williams,et al.  Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment as Predictors of Organizational Citizenship and In-Role Behaviors , 1991 .

[9]  M. Ansari,et al.  Leader‐member exchange and attitudinal outcomes: role of procedural justice climate , 2007 .

[10]  Larry J. Williams,et al.  Interpersonal, job, and individual factors related to helping processes at work. , 1996 .

[11]  Ronald J. Deluga.  Supervisor trust building, leader-member exchange and organizational citizenship behaviour. , 1994 .

[12]  Suzanne Zivnuska,et al.  The interactive effect of leader-member exchange and communication frequency on performance ratings. , 2003, The Journal of applied psychology.

[13]  Bor-Shiuan Cheng,et al.  When does benevolent leadership lead to creativity? The moderating role of creative role identity and job autonomy , 2009 .

[14]  D. Ford,et al.  Organizational leadership in Central Asia and the Caucasus: Research considerations and directions , 2010 .

[15]  Bor-Shiuan Cheng,et al.  A Triad Model of Paternalistic Leadership: Constructs and Measurement , 2000 .

[16]  Mary Uhl-Bien,et al.  Reciprocity in Manager-Subordinate Relationships: Components, Configurations, and Outcomes , 2003 .

[17]  Terri A. Scandura,et al.  Leader–member exchange (LMX), paternalism, and delegation in the Turkish business culture: An empirical investigation , 2006 .

[18]  B. Avolio,et al.  Opening the black box: An experimental investigation of the mediating effects of trust and value congruence on transformational and transactional leadership. , 2000 .

[19]  Charlotte R. Gerstner,et al.  Meta-Analytic Review of Leader-Member Exchange Theory: Correlates and Construct Issues , 1997 .

[20]  J. Joireman,et al.  In-role perceptions buffer the negative impact of low LMX on helping and enhance the positive impact of high LMX on voice. , 2008, The Journal of applied psychology.

[21]  Frederick T. L. Leong,et al.  Cross-Cultural Validity of Holland's Model in Hong Kong , 1998 .

[22]  Donald B. Fedor,et al.  The influence of age on volunteer contributions in a nonprofit organization , 2008 .

[23]  G. Graen.  Role-making processes within complex organizations , 1976 .

[24]  Scott B. MacKenzie,et al.  Transformational leader behaviors and their effects on followers' trust in leader, satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behaviors , 1990 .

[25]  Berrin Erdogan,et al.  Support from the top: supervisors' perceived organizational support as a moderator of leader-member exchange to satisfaction and performance relationships. , 2007, The Journal of applied psychology.

[26]  S. Green,et al.  In the shadow of the boss's boss: effects of supervisors' upward exchange relationships on employees. , 2007, The Journal of applied psychology.

[27]  R. Brislin.  Cross-cultural research methods , 1973 .

[28]  A. Erez,et al.  The nature and dimensionality of organizational citizenship behavior: a critical review and meta-analysis. , 2002, The Journal of applied psychology.

[29]  Wing Lam,et al.  Feedback-Seeking Behavior and Leader-Member Exchange: Do Supervisor-Attributed Motives Matter? , 2007 .

[30]  J. Fairbank,et al.  Indigenous and Cultural Psychology: Understanding People in Context , 2007 .

[31]  Berrin Erdogan,et al.  Differentiated leader-member exchanges: the buffering role of justice climate. , 2010, The Journal of applied psychology.

[32]  Patricia G. Martínez.  Paternalism as a Positive Form of Leader – Subordinate Exchange: Evidence from Mexico , 2003 .

[33]  V. Jayaraman,et al.  Cross-Cultural Generalizability of Paternalistic Leadership: An Expansion of Leader-Member Exchange Theory , 2010 .

[34]  M. Uhl‐Bien,et al.  Leader-member exchange and its dimensions: effects of self-effort and other's effort on relationship quality. , 2001, The Journal of applied psychology.

[35]  Robert C. Liden,et al.  A longitudinal study on the early development of leader-member exchanges. , 1993 .

[36]  G. Hofstede.  Culture′s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations , 2001 .

[37]  Bor-Shiuan Cheng,et al.  Paternalistic Leadership and Subordinate Responses: Establishing a Leadership Model in Chinese Organizations , 2007 .

[38]  M. Sobel,et al.  Sociological Methodology - 2001 , 2001 .

[39]  Onne Janssen,et al.  Employees' goal orientations, the quality of leader-member exchange, and the outcomes of job performance and job satisfaction , 2004 .

[40]  Remus Ilies,et al.  Leader-member exchange and citizenship behaviors: a meta-analysis. , 2007, The Journal of applied psychology.

[41]  P. Christopher Earley,et al.  Impetus for action: A cultural analysis of justice and , 1997 .

[42]  Kyle Lewis,et al.  Integrating Justice and Social Exchange: The Differing Effects of Fair Procedures and Treatment on Work Relationships , 2000 .

[43]  Raymond T. Sparrowe,et al.  Leader‐member exchange, differentiation, and task interdependence: implications for individual and group performance , 2006 .

[44]  Jacob Cohen,et al.  Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences , 1979 .

[45]  G. Graen,et al.  Moderating effects of initial leader–member exchange status on the effects of a leadership intervention. , 1984 .

[46]  R. Bhagat,et al.  On improving the robustness of Asian management theories: Theoretical anchors in the era of globalization , 2010 .

[47]  David M. Mayer,et al.  Do inclusive leaders help to reduce turnover in diverse groups? The moderating role of leader-member exchange in the diversity to turnover relationship. , 2009, The Journal of applied psychology.

[48]  HenryS.R. Kao,et al.  Chinese paternalistic leadership and non-Chinese subordinates' psychological health , 2009 .

[49]  K. Law,et al.  Currencies of exchange and global LMX: How they affect employee task performance and extra-role performance , 2010 .

[50]  梁馨科,et al.  The Mediating Effects of Leader-member Exchange Quality to Influence the Relationships between Paternalistic Leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors , 2007 .

[51]  Anne S. Tsui,et al.  Loyalty to supervisor vs. organizational commitment: Relationships to employee performance in China. , 2002 .

[52]  J. Colquitt.  On the dimensionality of organizational justice: a construct validation of a measure. , 2001, The Journal of applied psychology.

[53]  Anne S. Tsui,et al.  Utilizing Printed Media to Understand Desired Leadership Attributes in the People's Republic of China , 2003 .

[54]  Kibeom Lee,et al.  Organizational citizenship behavior and workplace deviance: the role of affect and cognitions. , 2002, The Journal of applied psychology.

[55]  David Ahlstrom,et al.  Managing in ethnic Chinese communities: Culture, institutions, and context , 2010 .

[56]  B. Avolio,et al.  Impact of Transformational Leadership on Follower Development and Performance: A Field Experiment , 2002 .

[57]  M. D. Dunnette.  Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology , 2005 .

[58]  D. A. Kenny,et al.  The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[59]  Stephen G. Green,et al.  Development of Leader-Member Exchange: A Longitudinal Test , 1996 .

[60]  Jane M. Howell,et al.  The ties that bind: The impact of leader-member exchange, transformational and transactional leadership, and distance on predicting follower performance. , 1999 .

[61]  Jun Liu,et al.  Feeling trusted by business leaders in China: Antecedents and the mediating role of value congruence , 2007 .

[62]  T. Allen,et al.  The effects of organizational citizenship behavior on performance judgments: a field study and a laboratory experiment. , 1998, The Journal of applied psychology.

[63]  Y. Gong,et al.  Does participative leadership enhance work performance by inducing empowerment or trust? The differential effects on managerial and non‐managerial subordinates , 2010 .

[64]  Maria L. Kraimer,et al.  SOURCES OF SUPPORT AND EXPATRIATE PERFORMANCE: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF EXPATRIATE ADJUSTMENT , 2001 .

[65]  Hui,et al.  A Structural Equation Model of the Effects of Negative Affectivity, Leader-Member Exchange, and Perceived Job Mobility on In-role and Extra-role Performance: A Chinese Case. , 1999, Organizational behavior and human decision processes.

[66]  P. Blau.  Exchange and Power in Social Life , 1964 .

[67]  R. Hackett,et al.  Leader-Member Exchange as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Transformational Leadership and Followers' Performance and Organizational Citizenship Behavior , 2005 .

[68]  Celeste P.M. Wilderom,et al.  Leader motives, charismatic leadership and subordinates' work attitude in the profit and voluntary sector , 2005 .

[69]  Sheila M. Puffer,et al.  The congruence of motives and incentives in a voluntary organization , 1992 .

[70]  Bor-Shiuan Cheng,et al.  Paternalistic leadership in Chinese organizations: Research progress and future research directions , 2008 .