Comparing antecedents and consequences of Leader-Member Exchange in a German working context to findings in the US.

Abstract

This article gives an overview of several studies focusing on antecedents and consequences of leader - member exchange (LMX) in a German working context and compares these results to results from prior studies in the US. The German results indicate that relationship tenure is not related to LMX. However, span of supervision is shown to be relevant in the followers' evaluation of LMX. With respect to the consequences of LMX, results indicate that delegation as well as commitment and occupational self-efficacy are positively related to LMX. Some of the results differ from US results, namely, antecedents are related to LMX to a lower degree in Germany and consequences to a higher degree. Based on these results, future research should take into account the country in which the LMX data is collected in order to be able to make more precise statements about the respective relationships.