GROUP 2
Chapter 7: LEADER – MEMBER EXCHANGE AND FELLOWERSHIP
Effective leadership and followership connections strongly play an indispensable role to contribute to
organizational success. Indeed, this positive relationship directly leads to higher subordinates’ job satisfaction,
commitment and performance, whereas the common reason for job quitting relates to the lack of adequate working
attachments between employees and managers. For decades, the nature of the exchange relationship between a
leader and a follower has stimulated various scientists and researchers, resulting in the vertical dyadic linkage
(VDL) theory, focusing on how that connection influences the leadership process, being renamed leader-member
exchange (LMX) theory in the 1980s.
Notably, by examining pairs of relations, a dyad, known as the individualized relationship between a leader and
each follower in a work unit, establishes dyadic connections and work roles developed over time through a series
of exchanges, namely dyadic theory, especially in role-making activities. In this approach, a single leader will
shape different relationships with different followers; thus, they spontaneously treat followers’ diversely on social
or task-related aspects and distribute resources and rewards variously. According to the “similarity attraction”
phenomenon, whereas the in-group members are perceived as competent, reliable and motivated to work hard and
take responsibility, out-group ones show less social ties to leaders, receive strictly task-centered relationships
characterized by low exchange and top-down influence. Hence, leaders are more likely to offer firm support,
positive feedback, and high consideration to the former team while the latter is managed based on the requirements
of employment contracts and leaders’ formal authority, also receives the standard benefits for the job only.
Regarding the LMX study, it concentrates on the quality of the exchange relationship between a leader and a
follower and predicts followers in high-quality relationships with leaders will experience positive outcomes, such
as higher job satisfaction, better performance, lower turnover, more outstanding commitment, creativity,
innovation and organizational citizenship behavior. As having limited amounts of personal, social and corporate
resources, they tend to distribute them among followers selectively. Thus, managers determine high-quality social
exchanges based on trust and preferences with some members, and low-quality economic exchanges with others,
both of which tremendously impacts individual and corporate effectiveness. LMX relationships are based on social
