Explaining the Effects of Leader-Member Exchange in the Public Sector

Authors

Shannon A. Hanson, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Public Affairs

First Advisor's Name

Alexander Kroll

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Susannah Ali

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Third Advisor's Name

Hock-Peng Sin

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Travis Whetsell

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Keywords

leadership, leader-member exchange, adaptive leadership, leader-leader exchange, public sector, public administration, public affairs, organizational commitment, prosocial organizational behavior, intrinsic motivation

Date of Defense

6-19-2023

Abstract

Over the past decade, public administration literature has called for an expansion of research into public leadership. This dissertation helps fill that void by exploring an understudied leadership theory in the public sector: leader-member exchange (LMX). The first essay examines seven key aspects of the existing literature on LMX in the public sector: core definitions, theoretical frameworks and implications, research designs, measurement scales, empirical findings, practical implications, and directions for future research. The second and third essays examine leader-member exchange relationships in a large, urban public school district in Florida, specifically using teachers, assistant principals, and principals.

The second essay examines leader-member exchange in combination with adaptive leadership (ADL) and organizational commitment during an extreme event. The results show that independently both high LMX (by assistant principals) and the practice of ADL (by principals) have a positive and significant effect on teachers’ organizational commitment. The interaction of LMX and ADL further strengthens employee organizational commitment. These results are critical for leaders to consider when examining how they as individuals can affect employees’ organizational commitment in times of extreme events.

The third essay examines how various relationships that form across a vertical dyad in an organization affect employee work attitudes and behaviors. The variables used to measure the effect of employee work attitudes and behaviors are prosocial organizational behavior, intrinsic motivation, and organizational commitment. This study expands this leadership research into the public administration literature and public organizations, where it has been thoroughly understudied, especially around leader-leader exchange (LLX). As schools function as independent organizations, it makes them the perfect choice for modeling the LMX and LLX relationships. Using multi-level modeling, the findings show that LMX has a positive effect, while LLX has a negative effect on employee attitudes and behaviors. It is well known that leadership matters. This dissertation emphasizes that perhaps leadership relationships matter even more.

Identifier

FIDC011139

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1301-4415

Recommended Citation

Hanson, Shannon A., "Explaining the Effects of Leader-Member Exchange in the Public Sector" (2023). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5436.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/5436