Transformational leadership and positive work outcomes: A framework exploring the role of LMX and distributive justice

Abstract

Purpose

A significant amount of research has examined the relationship between transformational leadership and positive follower outcomes such as organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and task performance. Building on the social exchange theory and referent cognitions theory, this paper explores the propositions that transformational leadership, OCB and task performance relationship are mediated by leader member exchange (LMX) and distributive justice. The purpose of this paper is to explore the underlying mechanism that has a potential to influence the transformational leadership and follower outcomes relationship. The authors also discuss the implications for management theory and practice.

Design/methodology/approach

The primary goal of the research is theory building, so the paper is using a conceptual research design.

Findings

The authors find the assumption that the supervisors evaluate the performance of their employees and the performance evaluation has a strong influence on the allocation of rewards to be reasonable. Despite being reasonable, in some circumstances, the rewards allocation maybe dictated by upper management or the HR department; thus, the authors will need to gather a few more details in the survey to address this limitation.

Originality/value

This study presents a research model which emphasizes on the role of LMX and distributive justice in the linkage of transformational leadership and positive work outcomes. More specifically, the authors argue that follower outcomes such as OCB and task performance are a result of not only the high-quality LMX between transformational leaders and followers but also the distributive justice perceptions of followers.

Citation

Nandedkar, A. and Brown, R.S. (2018), "Transformational leadership and positive work outcomes: A framework exploring the role of LMX and distributive justice", International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 315-327. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOTB-09-2018-0105