Apologies for cross-posting.
We would like to call your attention to a caucus at the upcoming annual meeting of the Academy of Management (AoM) that maybe of interest to you.
Exploring the Interface between LMX Theory and Social Network Theories and Methods
Monday, Aug 7 2017 9:45AM - 11:15AM at Atlanta Marriott Marquis in Marquis M201
This is a great opportunity to meet up with like-minded researchers looking to expand the boundaries of both LMX and social network research. Please see the caucus description below or the program from more details and contact the organizers for more information.
Organizers:
Alexandra Gerbasi
University of Exeter Business School, a.gerbasi@exeter.ac.uk
Kristin Cullen-Lester
Center for Creative Leadership, cullen-lesterk@ccl.org
Bauer College of Business, University of Houston, klcullen-lester@uh.edu
Caucus Description:
This caucus provides a forum for individuals, working at the interface of leader- member exchange (LMX) and social network research, to explore challenges and opportunities. Interactive discussions will help attendees identify how they may integrate these approaches to better understand leader-follower relationships in contemporary organizations characterized by dynamic and blurred interfaces.
As the 2017 AoM theme 'At the Interface' conveys, many organizations are redefining historical boundaries by relying more heavily on transient external partnerships, flattening their organizational structures, and incorporating technology to allow for dynamic, interdependent interaction between workers within and beyond their organization, across the globe, and beyond traditional work hours. These actions have blurred traditional work interfaces suggesting a need to reconsider our understanding of organizations, including their leadership.
For many years, leader-member exchange (LMX) theory has offered a guiding relational perspective on leadership (as a social process occurring within formal supervisor-subordinate relationships). Leader-follower relationships differ among members of a workgroup and vary on a continuum from high- to low-quality (Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995; Schriesheim, Castro, & Cogliser, 1999). High-quality relationships are characterized by mutual respect, and trust, low-quality relationships operate to prescribed job requirements and contractual obligations.
Social network approaches refer to a theoretical rationale and set of analytic tools for measuring and explaining the formation and outcomes of patterns of relationships (Borgatti, Mehra, Brass, & Labianca, 2009). Researchers are increasingly recognizing the utility of adopting social network approaches to better understand leadership as a relational phenomenon (e.g., Carter, DeChurch, Braun, & Contractor, 2015; Chrobot-Mason, Gerbasi, & Cullen, 2016).
Network approaches have the potential to extend LMX research which has traditionally focused on independent dyadic relationships and is increasingly examining relative LMX standing and LMX differentiation within groups. While most of this work has focused on formal relationships, some scholars have called for and begun to examine the implications of supervisor's and subordinate's broader social connections for LMX (e.g., Goodwin, Bowler, & Whittington, 2009, Graen, 2006, Sparrowe & Liden, 1997; 2005; Venkatarmani, Green, & Schleicher, 2010).
The opportunities for applying network approaches to LMX research are only beginning to be explored. In this caucus, we invite scholars to discuss how integration of these areas may benefit research on LMX and organizational networks. In particular, this topic will be examined in light of blurring organizational interfaces, which require us to reconsider what we know about leadership and in particular supervisor-subordinate relationships. Questions that will be explored include:
- How might a deeper consideration of LMX theory inform research using social networks to better understand and measure leadership as a social process?
- What are the critical research design considerations when employing network methods to the study of LMX?
- How does including hierarchical relationships influence the network processes that have been established in the literature?
- How do informal leadership and organizational dynamics captured by network methods influence the formation of leader-follower relationships?
This caucus will appeal to many AoM members, including those interested in relational leadership, LMX, social exchange, and social networks. We will facilitate this caucus using innovative strategies that encourage open discussion of new ideas. This structure will help us to achieve the caucus goals of: (1) generating new ideas at the intersection of LMX and social networks, (2) sparking collaborations among caucus attendees, (3) developing research designs to advance empirical work, and (4) bridging theory and organizational application.
References
Borgatti, S. P., Mehra, A., Brass, D. J., & Labianca, G. 2009. Network analysis in the social sciences. Science, 323: 892-895.
Carter, D. R., DeChurch, L. A., Braun, M. T., & Contractor, N. S. (2015). Social network approaches to leadership: An integrative conceptual review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100: 597-622.
Chrobot-Mason, D., Gerbasi, A., & Cullen-Lester, K. L. 2016. Predicting leadership relationships: The importance of collective identity. The Leadership Quarterly, 27: 298–311.
Goodwin, V. L., Bowler, M., & Whittington, J. L. 2009. A social network perspective on LMX Relationships: Accounting for the instrumental value of leader and follower networks. Journal of Management, 35: 954-980.
Graen, G. B. 2006. To share or not to share leadership: New LMX-MMX network leadership or charismatic leadership on creative projects. In G. B. Graen & J. A. Graen (Eds.). Sharing Network Leadership, 4: 25-36.
Graen, G. B., & Uhl-Bien, M. 1995. Relationship-based approach to leadership: Development of leader-member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: Applying a multi-level multi-domain perspective. The Leadership Quarterly, 6: 219-247.
Schriesheim, C. A., Castro, S. L., & Cogliser, C. C. 1999. Leader-member exchange (LMX) research: A comprehensive review of theory, measurement, and data-analytic practices. The Leadership Quarterly, 10: 63-113.
Sparrowe, R. T., & Liden, R. C. 1997. Process and structure in leader-member exchange. Academy of Management Review, 22: 522-552.
Sparrowe, R. T., & Liden, R. C. 2005. Two routes to influence: Integrating leader-member exchange and social network perspectives. Administrative Science Quarterly, 50: 505-535.
Venkatarmani, V, Green, S. G., & Schleicher, D. J. 2010. Well-connected leaders: The impact of leaders' social network ties on LMX and members' work attitudes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95: 1071-1084.
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