Herman H. M. Tse

A Study of Exchange and Emotions in Team Member Relationships

In this article we aim to generate theory about how individuals perceive their relationships with team members, and their emotional experiences within the team member exchange (TMX) process. Findings from qualitative and quantitative analyses are presented, with data collected from 25 full-time employees working within five teams in two organizations. The qualitative results reveal a variety of exchanges that occur within the team member relationships, including relationship-oriented exchanges and task-oriented exchanges. Team members highlighted the importance of friendship within the team context, and that they experienced positive and negative emotions in response to their TMX relationships. The quantitative results also indicated that positive emotions, rather than negative emotions, were associated with high-quality TMX relationships.

When my supervisor dislikes you more than me: the effect of dissimilarity in leader-member exchange on coworkers' interpersonal emotion and perceived help.

According to balance theory (Heider, 1958), when 2 coworkers develop different levels of leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships with their supervisor, a triadic relational imbalance will arise among the 3 parties that may result in hostile sentiments and poor social interactions between them. This study examines the consequences and psychological processes of (dis)similar levels of LMX on the interpersonal interactions between coworkers. Using data from 2 independent studies, the results of social relations analyses show that (a) actual (dis)similarity in LMX between Coworkers A and B increases Coworker As feelings of contempt for Coworker B and decreases Coworker As perception of help received from Coworker B (Study 1); (b) Coworker A is more likely to experience contempt for Coworker B when Coworker A perceives that he/she has a higher or lower level of LMX compared to Coworker B than when Coworker A perceives that his/her level of LMX is similar to Coworker Bs (Study 2); and (c) these relationships only hold true for employees with a high social comparison orientation (SCO) in both Studies 1 and 2. Particularly, in Study 1, we also show that contempt is a crucial mediator that transmits the interactive effect of LMX (dis)similarity and SCO on perceptions of help received from coworkers. Furthermore, an average level of perceived help from coworkers is positively related to the sales performance of individual employees.

Perceptions and emotional experiences in differential supervisor-subordinate relationships

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to examine how employees perceive the differential quality of relationships with their supervisors, and their emotional experiences within the leader‐member exchange (LMX) process for these differential relationships.Design/methodology/approach – This qualitative study presents the interview findings of 25 full‐time employees working within five teams in two organizations.Findings – The qualitative results revealed a consistent pattern of descriptors used by employees to differentially describe their high‐quality and low‐quality LMX relationships. A range of positive and negative emotions were experienced within the context of the LMX relationship and individuals reported different levels of positive and negative emotions for high‐quality versus low‐quality LMX relationships.Research limitations/implications – A limitation is the reliance on self‐reports of the subordinate (not leader) in terms of the role of emotions in the LMX process.Practical implications – Th...

Linking leader-member exchange differentiation to work team performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model that delineates the psychological process and boundary condition of how leader-member exchange (LMX) differentiation influences team performance. Design/methodology/approach – Based on theories of LMX and social information processing, it is argued that several important mechanisms underpin the relationship between LMX differentiation and team performance. The role of these variables in the relationship is discussed. Findings – The team mechanisms such as affective climate and team-member exchange (TMX) serve as a boundary condition and psychological process to influence the LMX differentiation-team performance relationship. Their conceptual significance and how they affect the relationship are discussed. Research limitations/implications – This study focusses on theorizing TMX and affective climate as key variables in the LMX differentiation-team performance relationship. Future research considers examining the relative importance of ot...

The Role of Affect, Fairness, and Social Perception in Team Member Exchange

Accumulating evidence suggests that Team-member exchange (TMX) influences employee work attitudes and behaviours separately from the effects of leader-member exchange (LMX). In particular, little is known of the effect of LMX differentiation (in-group versus out-group) as a process of social exchange that can, in turn, affect TMX quality. To explore this phenomenon, this chapter presents a multi-level model of TMX in organizations, which incorporates LMX differentiation, team identification, team member affect at the individual level, and fairness of LMX differentiation and affective climate at the group-level. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our model for theory, research, and practice.

Examining the influence of servant and entrepreneurial leadership on the work outcomes of employees in social enterprises

Abstract The present study examines the relative influence of two distinct leadership styles, servant leadership and entrepreneurial leadership, on the organizational commitment and innovative behavior of employees working in social enterprises. Analyzing data from 169 employees and 42 social entrepreneurs, we found that, although servant leadership was positively related to followers’ organizational commitment, the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and organizational commitment was insignificant. In contrast, whilst we found evidence that entrepreneurial leadership was positively related to followers’ innovative behavior, the relationship between servant leadership and employees’ innovative behavior was insignificant. Our research contributes to the underdeveloped literature on leadership in social enterprises by exploring the relative effectiveness of different leadership styles (namely an entrepreneurial leadership style and a servant leadership style) in promoting follower work attitudes and behaviors in social enterprises. In addition, our research demonstrates the importance of leadership over and above followers’ individual differences such as pro-social motivation and creative self-efficacy.

The Role of Job Crafting and Affect in the Relationship between Non-Preferred Work Tasks and Contextual Performance

Job design researchers advocate that jobs should be interesting, that is they should involve tasks that are meaningful and have significance. However, all jobs contain tasks that may be meaningful and significant and essential to organizations’ operation but not enjoyed by the employee. We refer to these tasks as non-preferred work tasks (NPWT). In this chapter, we draw on Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory to develop a conceptual model proposing that the intensity and frequency of non-preferred work tasks reduces employees’ propensity to engage in extra-role discretionary work behavior, and that job crafting and emotional state moderate this relationship.

Employee Voice: Are We Speaking a Different Language?

Employee voice has been studied across a diverse range of disciplines, generating an extensive body of literature on the topic. However, its conceptualization across the disciplines has differed, resulting in a lack of integrative theories and frameworks on employee voice. The main objective of this paper is to conduct a multi-disciplinary review of the academic research on employee voice, to show where there is an opportunity to adopt and adapt the findings and research on employee voice within alternate disciplines, and to demonstrate how this may lead to a common conceptualization of employee voice. This review focuses on an analysis of the Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior disciplines’ conceptualization of employee voice, beginning with the identification of where the two disciplines diverged in their concept and study of employee voice. Further, it maps their commonalities and differences, on the basis of motive, content, mechanism, target and management of voice. Finally, it iden...