Jaesub Lee

Leader-Member Exchange, Perceived Organizational Justice, and Cooperative Communication:

This study examined the extent to which (a) the quality of leader-member exchanges (LMXs) affected perceptions of distributive and procedural organizational justice and (b) perceptions of organizational justice influenced cooperative communication in the work group. Findings indicated that subordinates in low-quality LMXs perceived less distributive and procedural fairness than their peers in high-quality LMXs. Furthermore, as subordinates perceived greater fairness in distributive outcomes and procedures, they tended to believe that communication in the work group was more cooperative.

Community Relationship Building: Local Leadership in the Risk Communication Infrastructure

This study examined the impact of the risk communication infrastructures-local emergency planning committees (LEPCs) and citizens advisory committees (CACs)-on risk communication activities in communities where chemicals are manufactured, stored, and transported. Findings indicated low unawareness of both types of organizations and low use of such organizations as information sources or forums for voicing concerns. These organizations played a minor role in communication activities in the community that lacked local city government. Findings suggested that a fully functioning communication infrastructure leads to a healthier community that responds to risks as manageable uncertainties. Infrastructures that can exert little control and are weak cannot be corrected simply by the creation of such committees as LEPCs and CACs. In addition, problem recognition, uncertainty, control with approval, involvement with stake, and knowledge are the focal variables motivating active communication behaviors.

A Cross-Cultural Investigation of Exit, Voice, Loyalty and Neglect as Responses to Dissatisfying Job Conditions

This study examined the generalizability of the theory of exit, voice, loyalty and neglect to Koreans (n=100), and made multiple cross-cultural comparisons between Korean respondents and natives of the United States (n=80) and Japan (n=45) with respect to their communicative responses to dissatisfying work conditions. Findings supported the applicability of the theory to Korean workers. In addition, cross-cultural comparisons indicated more similarities between the responses of natives of the United States and Korea than between those of the Japanese and Koreans, thus bringing into question the notion that because East Asian countries share elements of a common sociocultural heritage the communication behaviors of workers in these countries will be the same.

A Contingency Explanation of Public Relations Practitioner Leadership Styles: Situation and Culture

Public relations practitioners from the U.S. and South Korea identified preferred leadership styles in routine and non-routine situations. Results of discriminant function analysis suggested that U.S. professionals place greater importance on strategic communication or problem-solving activities than do Korean practitioners. Public relations practitioners prefer leadership characteristics and functions associated with practical and resourceful capabilities in non-routine situations. This preference is most obvious among Korean public relations practitioners. Findings are best explained by cultural and situational contingency perspective of public relations leadership.

Leader‐member exchange, gender, and members’ communication expectations with leaders

This study explored effects of the differential leader‐member exchange and gender on members’ communication expectations with their leaders. Findings suggest that, regardless of the amount of their experience in stressful relational situations, female members were more likely to expect positive change in communication patterns than male members in the high quality exchange, whereas the opposite was observed in the low quality exchange.

Managerial Media Selection and Information Evaluation from the Receiver’s Perspective in Decision-Making Contexts:

This study explored managerial media selection and information evaluation in decisionmaking contexts. Expanding this line of research, this study focused on the perspective of managers when they receive and/or seek information rather than send it across organizations in the oil and gas industry. Findings from 69 interviews indicate that managers (a) prefer to receive trade, product, and service information through multiple media; (b) perceive information received via multiple media to be comprehensible, credible, and relevant to their tasks; but (c) use rich media to seek additional information. Furthermore, managers prefer to use rich media to monitor informational environments when they need information more closely related to issues in their urgent decision-making tasks.

Effective maintenance communication in superior‐subordinate relationships

This study explored (a) how frequently subordinates utilized communication strategies to maintain work relationships with their superiors in escalating, deteriorating, and routine situations; (b) how perceptions of effectiveness in relationship maintenance affected the use of such strategies; and (c) how relational attributes (i.e., quality of leader‐member exchange, relationship length, and gender) influenced ways in which subordinates in varying degrees of perceived effectiveness enacted such strategies. Findings suggest significant variations in the use of maintenance communication strategies in all situations. Moreover, perceptions of effectiveness in relationship maintenance were strongly associated with strategy use. Relational attributes did not affect the use of maintenance communication strategies regardless of the extent to which the respondents perceived their effectiveness in relationship maintenance.

Maintenance communication in superior‐subordinate relationships: An exploratory investigation of group social context and the “Pelz effect”

This study explored effects of the larger organizational context of the work group on the use of maintenance communication behaviors in the superior‐subordinate relationship. Findings suggest that group social context and the “Pelz effect” have significant impacts on how individuals (subordinates) enact their communication behaviors in escalating, deteriorating, and routine strategic maintenance situations when attempting to maintain their superior‐subordinate relationships.

Perceptual dynamics of pluralistic ignorance and social distance: public relations practitioners and journalists in South Korea

This study examines the social and professional distance characterizing the source–reporter relationship and provides an opportunity to develop a theoretical and methodological model integrating coorientation measures with third-person perceptions. A web survey of 206 public relations practitioners and journalists in South Korea showed both false dissensus and social distance among each professional group as enacted through the source–reporter relationship. Public relations professionals and journalists disagreed with each other and inaccurately predicted responses of the other. Their inaccurate projection of the views of the other profession was greater than their disagreement on two dimensions of conflict and strategy. This study illuminates dimensions of the third-person perception of public relations professionals and journalists, insofar as both journalists and public relations professionals suggested social distance from the other profession similar to the distance they perceived from the general public.

Coping With Workplace Bullying Through NAVER: Effects of LMX Relational Concerns and Cultural Differences

Workplace bullying inevitably has grave individual and organizational consequences, including lowered morale and productivity. Given such negative consequences, this study explored five coping strategies: neglect, acquiescence, voice, exit, and retribution (NAVER). This research examined the extent to which relational concerns such as leader-member exchanges (LMXs) and cultural variations (the United States and Singapore) affect use of the five coping strategies after controlling for actual exposure to workplace bullying, gender, and age. Findings indicated that the quality of LMX significantly influence the strategic use of acquiescence, exit, and retribution. No significant cultural variation in coping strategies was detected. LMX quality and actual experience of workplace bullying were the strongest determinants for the use of all coping strategies but exit.