Long W. Lam

The Impact of Relational Demographics on Perceived Managerial Trustworthiness: Similarity or Norms?

Perceived trustworthiness is a critical antecedent of interpersonal trust, yet researchers have a limited understanding of how such perceptions are generated. The authors used 2 competing perspectives within the relational demography literature—similarity-attraction and relational norms—to empirically examine the effect of demographic differences. Whereas the similarity-attraction account suggests that subordinates will perceive their managers as more trustworthy when managers and staff are similar in demographic attributes, the relational norms account proposes that subordinates will perceive their managers as more trustworthy when their demographic differences follow normative expectations. Data collected from a field study of 178 manager—subordinate dyads in Hong Kong and Macau support the relational norms account in terms of education and organizational rank. The authors discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the study.

Linking organizational identification and employee performance in teams: the moderating role of team-member exchange

This study examined the influence of organizational identification on employee performance in teams. Drawing on social identity theory and self-verification theory, we predicted that organizational identification would have positive effects on employee in-role and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) performance. Building on social exchange theory, the study further theorized that the quality of team-member exchange (TMX) would amplify the impacts of organizational identification on both types of performance. Using data from automotive dealer employees in China, we found positive relationships between organizational identification and both types of performance. In addition, TMX altered the impact of organizational identification on OCB.

Feeling lonely at work: investigating the consequences of unsatisfactory workplace relationships

Although prior literature reveals that loneliness is a pervasive problem among adults, little research has evaluated the impact of loneliness in the workplace. Given that workplace relationships underlie many important organizational phenomena, it is important to understand whether and how workplace loneliness affects employee behavior. Based on the social exchange model, we hypothesize that in comparison with their non-lonely counterparts, lonely employees will experience lower quality leader‐member and organization‐member exchanges at work such that they will tend to be worse at in-role and extra-role workplace functions. Drawing on the results of our survey of schoolteachers, we present findings to support our hypotheses.

Work climate and customer satisfaction: The role of trust in the retail context

We propose that a trust climate will help the employee–customer interface in the retail context. Specifically, we argue that a work climate that is based on trust induces the exercise of discretion by retail managers and discretionary behavior by front-line staff. Managerial and staff discretion is necessary for retail stores to become locally responsive, as store responsiveness is linked to customer satisfaction. Our propositions are derived from interpersonal trust and social exchange theories. The use of a trust climate to analyse the antecedents of customer satisfaction offers another theoretical perspective to study the interface dynamics between employees and customers and thus this paper contributes to ‘linkage research.’

Exchange mechanisms between ethical leadership and affective commitment

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the underlying exchange mechanisms between ethical leadership behavior and affective commitment. The authors hypothesized that ethical leadership behavior enhances perceived organizational support (POS), which then raises employee affective commitment. The authors further predicted that economic exchange weakens such indirect effect of ethical leadership on affective commitment via POS. Design/methodology/approach – Using a two-phase survey, the authors tested the hypotheses with a sample of 176 bank employees in Macau using hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping. Findings – POS was found to mediate the relationship between ethical leadership behavior and affective commitment, whereas economic exchange was found to moderate the ethical leadership behavior – POS relationship as well as its indirect effect on affective commitment via POS. Originality/value – By identifying POS as the mediator and economic exchange as the moderator, this study enh...

Is More Feedback Seeking Always Better? Leader-Member Exchange Moderates the Relationship Between Feedback-Seeking Behavior and Performance

Feedback is information made available to employees in their work environment, whereas feedback-seeking behaviors (FSBs) help employees to evaluate proactively whether their work has met performance standards and their behavior is considered appropriate. Prior studies have provided a perspective on how the feedback-seeking contexts affect the emergence and development of FSBs. In this study, we extend that perspective by investigating when FSBs affect job performance so that we can understand whether more feedback seeking is always better. Adopting the relational view of leadership, we hypothesize that the FSB-performance relationship should be stronger for employees with low leader-member exchange (LMX) and in groups with low aggregate LMX and low LMX differentiation. Using a multilevel research design and a sample of 379 teachers in 25 groups, we find support for most of our hypotheses. We discuss the implications of the study for the FSB and the proactive behavior literature and suggest avenues for future research.

Looking intra-organizationally for identity cues: Whether perceived organizational support shapes employees’ organizational identification

We propose that employees’ perceptions of intra-organizational cues are an important factor influencing their identification with their organizations. Building on self-categorization theory, we examine whether perceived organizational support influences organizational identification. We contend that in addition to the mediating effect of affective commitment, organizational identification also mediates the effect of perceived organizational support on employees’ extra-role behavior. We collect perceptions of perceived organizational support, organizational identification and extra-role behavior information from 363 nurses in China using a three-wave data collection method and find empirical evidence to support most of our hypotheses. We find that collectivism moderates the indirect effect of perceived organizational support on extra-role behavior through organizational identification. We discuss the implications of our findings.

Exemplification and Supervisor‐Rated Performance: The Moderating Role of Ethical Leadership

This study examined the relationship between exemplification and supervisor‐rated performance in the context of ethical leadership. Using a sample of employees from automotive dealers in central China, this study showed that the use of exemplification positively affected extra‐role rather than in‐role performance ratings. Ethical leadership, on the other hand, moderated the relationship between exemplification and in‐role performance rating, but not the relationship between exemplification and extra‐role performance rating.

Is Emotional Engagement Possible in Emotionally Demanding Jobs

Guided by work engagement theory and self-control theory, this study hypothesizes that among high leader-member exchange (LMX) employees, emotional job demands are positively related to emotional engagement and negatively related to subsequent intention to quit, whereas among low-LMX employees, emotional job demands are negatively related to emotional engagement and positively related to subsequent intention to quit. Using data collected from 182 resort and casino staff at two waves, we revealed that through emotional engagement, emotional job demands have a positive indirect effect on intention to quit for low-LMX employees but a negative indirect effect for high-LMX employees. The findings carry important implications for resource-based interventions aimed at increasing emotional engagement and decreasing intention to quit among employees confronting emotional job demands.

Employee–organization exchange and employee creativity: a motivational perspective

Abstract A critical omission in employee creativity literature is lack of a clear understanding of why and how employee–organization exchange (EOX) affects employee creativity. We collected three-phrase data from 384 employees working with 64 supervisors in Guangdong Province, China. Results of Mplus (using design-based modeling approach) suggest that (i) need satisfaction mediates the EOX-creativity relationship, (ii) leader-member exchange (LMX) enhances the positive EOX-need satisfaction relationship, (iii) creative self-efficacy (CSE) neutralizes the positive need satisfaction-creativity relationship, and (iv) the indirect effect of EOX on creativity via need satisfaction is stronger for employees with high quality LMX and with low CSE. Using inducement-contribution framework, the study integrates social exchange and self-determination theories to explicate the mediating role of need satisfaction in the EOX-creativity relationship. Further, the study contributes to the understanding of the EOX-creativity relationship by examining the boundary conditions of LMX (as a synergistic enhancer) in the first stage and CSE (as a neutralizer that diminishes gains) in the second stage of indirect effect.