Ledarskapsteorin Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) menar att en hög kvalité i relationen mellan ledare och medarbetare är viktig för olika organisatoriska utfall. Då forskning inte fokuserat på vilka relationsaspekter som medarbetare värderar som viktiga inom specifika branscher, är denna studie ett avstamp till området. Syftet med undersökningen var att ta reda på vilka relationsaspekter som säljmedarbetare värderar som viktiga i relationen till sin närmsta chef, om värderingen av dessa relationsaspekter har ett samband med medarbetares upplevelse av den befintliga relationen till sin närmsta chef och om relationsaspekterna värderas olika beroende på den befintliga kvalitén i relationen. En enkätstudie genomfördes där LMX samt relationsaspekter behandlades. Deltagarna bestod av 70 säljmedarbetare på ett globalt företag i Mellansverige. Resultaten visade att sociala och uppgiftsorienterade relationsaspekter värderades likvärdigt. Vidare visade resultatet att vissa kontrollvariabler hade starkare samband med LMX-relationen än relationsaspekterna samt att det fanns en viss skillnad mellan relationsaspekternas värderingar beroende på relationens kvalité.

abstract: This dissertation explores when and how the social comparisons that employees make with respect to their LMX (leader-member exchange) relationships affect their work performance and behaviors. The study introduces the concept of LMX social comparison across dyads (LMXAD) in which a follower compares the quality of his/her supervisory relationship to other leader-member dyads outside of the workgroup (e.g., my leader-myself vs. other leaders-other colleagues). Thus, the study sheds light on LMX social comparison processes at a dyadic level (e.g., our relationship vs. their relationships) as opposed to the individual level (e.g., my relationship vs their relationships, when followers share a same leader) to highlight the importance and saliency of leader-member dyadic comparisons. Drawing upon Thibaut & Kelley (1959)’s social exchange theory, the study, which collected data from 318 employees in Korean companies, empirically supported the positive effects of LMXAD on work performance, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and the negative effects of LMXAD on counterproductive work behavior (CWB), beyond LMX and LMX social comparison within group (e.g., my leader-myself vs. my leader-coworkers). Furthermore, results suggest upward counterfactual thoughts with regards to the current LMX relationship, mediates the relationship between LMXAD and work performance and CWB. Individual LMX and causal attributions also have a moderating effect by weakening the negative effects of LMXAD on upward counterfactual thoughts. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2016

The academic study of Quality of Working Life (QoWL) has a long tradition, vestiges of which are apparent in the classic job satisfaction and employee motivation research (see for example, Mayo and Warner, 1931; Maslow, 1943; 1932; Blauner 1964; Hertzberg, 1966). The intervening years have witnessed the accumulation of a broad, complex and, at times contradictory, literature relating to variables identified as impacting on QoWL. The potential value of investing in enhancing QoWL cannot be underestimated. Indeed, enhanced QoWL has been associated with a wide range of positive business benefits, including (but not limited to) improved business performance, greater employee creativity, enhanced employee commitment to the organisation, reduced intention to quit and lower levels of sickness absence. For employees, enhanced QoWL has been implicated in reducing work-home conflict, increasing job satisfaction and reducing physical and psychological ill-health. In short, there are compelling reasons why QoWL should be the subject of further scrutiny and exploration. Indeed, from the perspective of application, while illuminating, it might be concluded that the breadth and complexity of findings has had the effect of sponsoring inertia, rather than action on the part of many employers. A further observation is that, methodologically, very few studies to date, have been firmly rooted in employee perspectives. Rather, the mainstream approach is characterisable as top-down and based upon correlational evidence; with each new study either tending to add detail as a product of a narrow and specific focus and/or simply adding to the list of salient variables. In recognition of this, this thesis set out to re-focus on core components of high salience to employees. This was achieved though the adoption of a mixed methods approach, that commenced with a qualitative investigation of employee accounts of variables impacting on QoWL. To provide a degree of verification and examine the generalisability of these findings a second more structured study was carried out, involving the development of an employee questionnaire suitable for Principal Component Analysis. Lastly, a third, complementary investigation used the method of paired comparisons to test the relative salience of headline influences on employee QoWL. The key research objectives overall were firstly, to undertake a qualitative exploration and characterisation of employee perspectives on variables that impact upon QoWL and to discover how, and in what ways, these variables are important to employees (Study 1). Secondly, to undertake a quantitative study, based on a large and diverse sample of employees, to examine 25 the factor structure of headline influences on QoWL to verify and confirm the findings from Study 1 (Study 2a). Following on from this, the objective was to explore and provide comment on the scope for developing an organisational psychometric measure with the capacity to profile employee ratings of QoWL (Study 2b). And finally, to determine the relative salience of core components of QoWL and explore the degree to which employees share a common perspective in this respect (Study 3). Rooted in employee perspectives, Study 1 provided insight into not only which variables are important, but how and in what ways they are salient to employees. This qualitative insight revealed a high degree of parity in what employees perceived as important in determining their QOWL, with emergent themes relating to peer relationships, relationships with one’s manager, perceptions of the degree to which the organisation supports it employees, ability to work flexibly and working hours, opportunities for career progression and development, fair treatment and drawing satisfaction from one’s work, all common points for discussion across the sample. Study 2 set out to triangulate on these findings, but also afforded the opportunity to discover new linkages and combinations of variables. Accordingly, within this study a Principal Component Analysis performed on the data produced six interpretable and nameable constructs with high face validity that accounted for 58.4% of the total variance, the output from which was used as the basis for development of a 45-item proto-scale, representing the following constructs: Reward, Recognition and Fair Treatment; Leader-Member Exchange; Development, Investment and Training; Flexibility; Job Satisfaction; Work-Life Balance. The constructs were mapped back onto the themes emergent in Study 1 and reflected broad parity with the themes. Exploration of the data by age, Socio-Economic Status (SES) and gender revealed significant differences in relation to attitudes to Work-Life Balance and Job Satisfaction across the three demographic groupings, indicating that a ‘one size fits all’ approach to enhancing QoWL may not be appropriate. In an effort to gain greater understanding of the relative salience of QoWL constructs, the Method of Paired Comparison (Thurstone, 1927) was utilised (Study 3), and a psychophysical scale of QoWL constructs was generated. Results indicated the relative primacy of Job Satisfaction and Balance between Work and Home Life. Tests of demographic differences by employment sector revealed some evidence indicative of shared perspectives over the relative salience of components of QoWL. Taken together, the homogeneity of constructs identified using a variety of different methods lends confidence to having identified a set of headline QoWL components. These are considered 26 to be: Reward and Recognition; Leader-Member Exchange; Development, Investment and Training; Flexibility; Job Satisfaction; and, Work-Life Balance; which, while these components are not claimed to be exhaustive or definitive, they do appear to be both meaningful and salient to employees. A more fundamental finding seems to be that the salience of these constructs to employees appears to be determined by their relative paucity/absence, rather than reflecting satiation, indicating a model of attrition, whereby the absence of such components of QoWL results in employee dissatisfaction. In conclusion, the research presented here represents an exploration of aspects of QoWL most salient to employees evolving from a perspective grounded in employee perspectives (Study 1). Study 2a offers the basis for future development of a QoWL measure intended to enable organisations to assess the current level of QoWL, such that investment can be targeted to enhance those areas highlighted as lacking, with additional insight (Study 2b) into where demographic differences may need to be taken into consideration in the application of QoWL interventions. Study 3 represents the first of its kind in the application of the Method of Paired Comparison in relation to QoWL and offers insight into the degree of parity across demographics in relation to the relative salience of QoWL components to employees. Overall, the degree of demographic diversity of participants within this study is considered a key strength of this research; most previous QoWL studies having been limited to single organisations/occupational groups. Whilst the insights gained are considered to be of relevance to employees, but of greatest salience to public policy makers, employers and employee representatives in targeting QoWL related interventions for maximum impact, both to the organisation and to employees.

Review of the literature, leader member exchange theory (LMX) has an impact on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB); however, previous studies maily focus on single level exchange relationship, from a practical point of view, this issue should be involved in multi-level exchange relationship, and leader¡¦s group prototypicality may become an important factor to influence organizational citizenship behavior. This research tries to discuss different levels LMX in organization, one is the relationship between direct leader and subordinate(LMX1), the other is between department leader and subordinate(LMX2). Since LMX not only has an effect on subordinates¡¦ OCB but also role performance which regarding OCB as an extra role behaviors, this study try to explore the relationship between LMX and subordinate¡¦s role performance, and used multi-level leader-leader exchange theory (LLX) and leader¡¦s group prototypicality as moderating effects. In order to avoid common method variance, this study collected questionnaires from different sources which including 70 supervisors and 210 subordinates. Due to the multi-level research framework, this research used SPSS and HLM as analysis tool. The results show that LMX1 has a positive effect on role performance as predicted. Moderating effects in the research are partially supported. The better exchange quality of LLX, the more significant of subordinates¡¦ organization citizenship behavior toward individuals (OCBI) will appear; moreover, the higher direct leader¡¦s group prototypicality is, the more significant subordinate¡¦s in role behavior will be. However, LMX2 has positive effect on role performance is not supported. This study accordingly has some managerial implications and recommendations for future research reference.

Companies worldwide are facing a severe competition from an increasing number of domestic and foreign competitors, who put extra pressure on the achievement of market efficiency and performance. In this context, research and transference of managerial tools aimed at increasing performance has become decisive for organizations. One particular tool, the coaching of the sales force, has been largely praised by practitioners and scholars alike as a central managerial activity increasing employee's performance. As salespeople's performance is a key antecedent of organizational performance, research on sales coaching as a tool for increasing performance is critical. Despite its importance, research on coaching has been scarce and inconsistent, and published work has been predominantly practice-driven and guru-led, lacking solid theoretical basis. Additionally, the relationship between coaching and performance has not received conclusive support, and the mediating variables linking coaching with performance have not been studied; these restrictions limited the explanations and predictive capacity of present models. This research tries to close the gap between what is presently known about coaching and what should be known in the opinion of both practitioners and scholars, by answering two general research questions: 1) does coaching by the sales manager have an impact on salesperson's performance?; and 2) what are the mediating mechanisms that turn coaching by the sales manager into salesperson's performance? This dissertation presents a model based on two institutionalized' theories, Leader-member Exchange (LMX) Theory and Goal-setting Theory; LMX is a dyadic, relational theory, useful to explain the high quality relationship developed between coach and coaché during the coaching intervention, and some of the proximal outcomes of this relationship; goal-setting theory is particularly useful in sales contexts, where salespeople have clearly defined goals, to understand how the coaching intervention can mobilize salesperson's cognition and motivation in order to achieve the goals. The model explores the motivational and cognitive process enacted by the coaching intervention that have an impact on salesperson's performance, and proposes different ways through which coaching could be translated into increased performance; according to the model, the coaching intervention helps the salesperson to develop new task-specific strategies , which increases his capacity of adapting to different selling situations; additionally, the characteristics of the coaching intervention increases his goal commitment and his self-efficacy ; in consequence, the salesperson will spend more effort , with greater persistence , and will choose better strategies; as a consequence of increased sales adaptability, new strategies, goal commitment, self-efficacy and effort, salesperson's performance will also increase. The model was tested using data collected early in 2011; a local Latin-American branch of a global industrial company and a Canadian bank accepted to participate in the study, and invitations to take a web-based survey were sent to their sales forces. I received 186 complete, usable responses, for a total response ratio of 40.43%, which were used to test the model using Structural Equation Modeling. Results supported the main hypotheses; the conclusion of the dissertation is that the coaching intervention actually enacts motivational and cognitive mechanisms in the salesperson that allows him to increase his performance. These mechanisms are increased effort, adaptive selling, sales planning, new strategies, goal commitment and self-efficacy. The dissertation contributes to the solution of the research problem in several ways. First, it proposes a model of coaching mediators, an issue that has not been addressed by previous research. The model represents an original perspective that advances the field of coaching research by enlarging our understanding of the processes addressed by the coaching intervention. Second, the model proposes two complementary ways for achieving performance; one that considers the motivational aspects of the coaching intervention, where an increased performance is achieved through increased goal commitment and effort; the other one considers the cognitive aspects of the coaching intervention, where an increased performance is achieved through increased adaptive selling and sales planning behavior, and the development and implementation of new task-related strategies. These two ways are consistent with present research on adaptive selling and sales performance. Third, the model is based on two institutionalized theories: LMX and Goal-setting Theory. The use of these theories is an original approach, useful to understand how coaching work in sales contexts. As the proposed model is not based on any particular practitioner's model or set of experiences, it can potentially be generalized through a large series of organizational settings. Finally, the results of this research contributes: 1) to the advancement of scientific knowledge through the development of an original, theory-based model of coaching mediators, as well as 2) to the solution of a managerial problem by providing practical insights to practitioners willing to implement successful coaching processes in their organizations.

Ledaren har en avsevärd påverkan på medarbetarens prestationsförmåga ocharbetstillfredsställelse. Stöd är en kommunikationsaspekt som främjardelaktighet, tillfredställelse och prestationsutveckling för individen, menbidrar också till företagets lönsamhet. Första delstudien undersökersambandet mellan ledares kommunikationsförmåga och medarbetarnasprestationsförmåga. Data insamlad i interkulturellt, industriellt företag i sexländer, tre världsdelar (N=2568). Resultatet visar ett signifikant sambandmellan ledarens kommunikationsförmåga och medarbetares prestationsförmåga.Ifrågasätta predicerar medarbetarnas prestation i störstutsträckning i fem av sex länder. Att bli konstruktivt ifrågasatt av sin ledarebidrar till individuell prestationsutveckling. Delstudie två undersöker vilkenav ledarens kommunikationsaspekter som bäst predicerar medarbetarestillfredställelse med ledaren. Data insamlad i utbildningsväsendet ikommun, norra Sverige (N=119). Mätinstrumentet inkluderade LMX-7,samt items om frekvens och kvalitet. Resultat visar att Stöd predicerar engod utbytesrelation. Medarbetaren måste känna stöd från ledaren för attuppleva en god relation/kommunikation. Den viktigaste aspekten avkommunikationen är att stötta och ifrågasätta medarbetaren.

According to the lower birth rate and more mature demographic structure, our society is facing the problem about aging of population. The market need for long term care is getting more and more obvious in recent years, and especially the atmosphere to hire the foreign care assistant is quite common and widely-spread in Taiwan. Also by viewing the statistic survey, it is pretty obvious to know that the number about foreign worker who were imported into Taiwan is increasing year by year in a quite significant way. However the processes and paper work are with great complicated, so most of the people who have the demand of foreign care assistant will tend to apply through the international humanity agency. Then the original motive of our research is from the prospect of the agency to elevate its value of their service. Therefore at the very beginning we will focus on the related factors which influence the rate of match, and then we will go deeper to explore the more specific cause which has the relevant connection with the foreign workers¡¦ job satisfaction. In addition, we conclude that there were two significant dimensions which might influence the job satisfaction, and then they are the relationship between employer and employee, and the other dimension is about the qualification of the workers to meet the requirement and the characteristic of caring job. This thesis will utilize some questionnaires which include: performance, job satisfaction, leader-member exchange relationship, empathy, hardness and social personality. This Research used the foreign health care assistants working in Taiwan from Indonesia as samples to do the actual research. We gave out 100 questionnaires in total, and collected 93 effective. And we used SPSS statistic software to analyses the relation between every parameter.The result of study is found as follows: 1. The match rate will be demonstrated by the performance which received by the employer. 2. The Job satisfaction will influence the performance as care assistants. 3. The Job satisfaction will be influenced by the leader-member exchange relationship, empathy and social personality tendency.

Ledaren har en avsevärd påverkan på medarbetarens prestationsförmåga ocharbetstillfredsställelse. Stöd är en kommunikationsaspekt som främjardelaktighet, tillfredställelse och prestationsutveckling för individen, menbidrar också till företagets lönsamhet. Första delstudien undersökersambandet mellan ledares kommunikationsförmåga och medarbetarnasprestationsförmåga. Data insamlad i interkulturellt, industriellt företag i sexländer, tre världsdelar (N=2568). Resultatet visar ett signifikant sambandmellan ledarens kommunikationsförmåga och medarbetares prestationsförmåga.Ifrågasätta predicerar medarbetarnas prestation i störstutsträckning i fem av sex länder. Att bli konstruktivt ifrågasatt av sin ledarebidrar till individuell prestationsutveckling. Delstudie två undersöker vilkenav ledarens kommunikationsaspekter som bäst predicerar medarbetarestillfredställelse med ledaren. Data insamlad i utbildningsväsendet ikommun, norra Sverige (N=119). Mätinstrumentet inkluderade LMX-7,samt items om frekvens och kvalitet. Resultat visar att Stöd predicerar engod utbytesrelation. Medarbetaren måste känna stöd från ledaren för attuppleva en god relation/kommunikation. Den viktigaste aspekten avkommunikationen är att stötta och ifrågasätta medarbetaren.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka nytillsatta förstalinjes chefers upplevelser i en nyskapad tjänst, som benämns funktionschef, med 50 procent arbete i produktionen och 50 procent chefsuppgifter. Cheferna har tillträtt tjänsten internt och har ingen erfarenhet av ledarskap sen tidigare. Uppsatsen bygger på nio intervjuer och materialet analyserades genom en grundläggande kvalitativ metod. Resultatet visar att funktionscheferna upplever det positivt att ha blivit internt tillsatt till tjänsten då de har en större förståelse för myndigheten och arbetsuppgifterna samt en kännedom om sina medarbetare. Funktionscheferna upplever att en tjänst med två befattningar, arbete i produktionen och chefsuppgifter, är positivt för egen utveckling och gynnar arbetsgruppen och myndigheten. I dagsläget uppnår funktionscheferna inte 50 procent på vardera uppgifter vilket skulle vara önskvärt. Utvecklingsmöjligheter hos en arbetsgivare är av stor vikt för arbetstagare i dagens samhälle. Vetenskaplig forskning påvisar att ledare med erfarenhet om organisationen har bättre förutsättningar att lyckas som ledare. / The purpose of this study is to look at first-line managers engaged in a new role with 50 percent still working in the production and 50 percent working as a manager. The managers have no experience of leadership and are internal recruited to the position as a first line manager after a reorganization one year ago. The essay took form from nine interviews and the data were analyzed using a basic qualitative research. The result shows that the manager experiences of internal recruitment are positive. It gives them a deeper understanding of the authority, the work tasks and their coworkers. The possibilities of development are an important thing an employer should offer the employees. A leader with experience from the organization has better conditions to be a successful leader.

<p>Posle Hofstede-ovog istraživanja dimenzija nacionalne kulture, Srbija je pro&scaron;la kroz niz dramatiĉnih promena, ali je raĊen mali broj istraživanja organizacione kulture kojim bi se utvrdilo kakve su posledice te promene ostavile na nacionalnu i organizacionu kulturu. Cilj disertacije je da istraži nacionalnu i organizacionu kulturu prema GLOBE projektu nakon nastalih promena, kao i uticaj organizacione kulture na razliĉite organizacione ishode u preduzećima u Srbiji, a neki od njih su aspekti zadovoljstva poslom, LMX, pol, vlasniĉka struktura preduzeća i nacionalno poreklo preduzeća. Jedan od najznaĉajnijih aspekata ovog istraživanja je demonstracija koristi od primene op&scaron;tije kulturne teorije za istraživanje organizacione kulture. Uzorak sadrži 256 srednjih menadžera zaposlenih u preduzećima u Srbiji. Rezultati dokazuju da su dimenzije organizacione kulture znaĉajni prediktor svih aspekata zadovoljstva poslom i da je varijabla LMX moderator relacije izmeĊu nekih dimenzija organizacione kulture i zadovoljstva poslom. Pored toga, u disertaciji je istražena emocionalna inteligencija kao prediktor zadovoljstva komunikacijom i uticaj LMX-a i pojedinih dimenzija organizacione kulture (distanca moći i kolektivizam), kao moderatora odnosa izmeĊu aspekata emocionalne inteligencije i nekih aspekata zadovoljstva komunikacijom u preduzećima u Srbiji. Analiza podataka pokazuje da neki faktori zadovoljstva komunikacijom imaju snažnu korelaciju sa nekim sposobnostima emocionalne inteligencije i da su te korelacije pod moderatornim uticajem pola, LMX-a i dimenzija organizacione kulture: distanca moći, institucionalni kolektivizam i kolektivizam grupe. Rezultati istraživanja mogu da posluže menadžerima ljudskih resursa u preduzećima u Srbiji, kao i istraživaĉima, rukovodiocima i stranim investitorima.</p> / <p>After Hofstede&rsquo;s investigations of national culture dimensions, Serbia went through a process of many political and economic changes, but there is a lack of research on how these changes have instigated changes in national and organizational cultural dimensions.<br />The aim of this thesis is to investigate GLOBE national and organizational culture dimensions after those changes and relationships between organizational culture and different organizational outcomes, some of them are facets of job satisfaction and the leader-member exchange relation in Serbian organizations, gender, national origin of companies and ownership structure. One of the most important aspects of this study was the demonstration of the utility of applying more general cultural theory to the study of organizational cultures. The sample consists of 256 middle managers working in Serbian organizations. The results obtained proved that organizational culture dimensions are significant predictors of all facets of job satisfaction and that relations between some organizational culture dimensions and facets of job satisfaction are moderated by the leader-member exchange (LMX) variable. The results obtained proved that emotional intelligence is a predictor of communication satisfaction and the impact of LMX and GLOBE organizational culture dimensions, and power distance and collectivism as moderators on the relationships between EI abilities and some aspects of communication satisfaction in Serbian organizations. Analysis of the data showed that some communication satisfaction factors strongly correlate with some emotional intelligence abilities and that these correlations are under moderating influence of LMX and GLOBE organizational culture dimensions: power distance and institutional and in-group collectivism. The results may be of interest for human resource managers in Serbian organizations as well as for foreign investors.&nbsp;</p>