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Demographically similar individuals often believe they are similar, in spite of the differences in values, beliefs and expectations. However, dissimilar dyads experience will encounter more interpersonal difficulties due to misunderstandings, misperceptions and conflicts of interest. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of leadership expectation gap on LMX quality and the moderating role of ethnic and nationality dissimilarity between manager and their superior on the relationship between leadership expectation gap and LMX quality.

This study adopted a quantitative research design. A purposive sampling survey of 137 lower-to middle-level managers working under the supervision of Malaysian and Japanese superiors in Japanese multi-national corporations was conducted to test the hypotheses of this study.

The study found the following: leadership expectation gap has a significant and negative effect on LMX quality; and ethnic dissimilarity and nationality dissimilarity moderates the relationship between leadership expectation gap and LMX quality.

There is a need for a comprehensive training programme for both leaders and followers, towards developing their interpersonal skills on how to work better and more effectively in the workplace. Furthermore, prior to the start of the expatriate assignment, organisations can help expatriate superiors to adapt themselves by providing pre-departure and cross-cultural training.

This paper addresses an important and not so well researched issue. It analyses the moderation effect of ethnic and nationality dissimilarity between manager and their superior on the relationship between leadership expectation gap on LMX quality in the Malaysian context.

Based on the trait activation theory and social exchange theory, this study proposed a model of the impact of Machiavellian personality on organisational cynicism (OC) through the mediating effect of psychological contract breach (PCB) and the moderating role of leader-member exchange (LMX) quality in PCB and OC.

A three-time points survey involving 264 employees from China’s hotel industry was conducted using quantitative methods. Subsequently, a structural equation model was constructed.

The results revealed that Machiavellianism positively affects OC, and PCB plays a mediating role in this process. In addition, LMX quality can buffer the effect of the PCB on OC.

The study’s findings provide another insight into the relationship between Machiavellianism, PCB and OC. Managers must pay attention to the control of PCB and the establishment of LMX quality.

The study significantly contributes to hotel literature, as the Machiavellian personality subject has not been adequately investigated in the field to date.

This paper aims to examine implicit leadership theory (ILT) among Malaysian managers and the impact of the gap between the ILT and actual leader behavior on leader‐member exchange (LMX) quality.

A survey of 137 Malaysian managers working under the supervision of Malaysian and Japanese superiors in five Japanese multi‐national corporations (MNCs) in Malaysia was conducted to test the hypotheses of this study.

The results reveal that there is a distinct Malaysian ILT. It also found that there are differences in the ILT of different ethnic groups in Malaysia. Contrary to expectations, there is no significant difference in the leadership expectation gap among managers reporting to superiors from the same background compared to superiors from a different nationality and ethnic background. Duration of managers' relationship with their superior have a moderating effect on the relationship between leadership expectation gap and LMX quality.

The findings of this study can serve practitioners in organizational and leadership development by contributing to the awareness that ILT affects the quality of a leader's exchange within his or her followers.

This paper contributes to the literature by providing a first insight on ILT in the Malaysian context, particularly on the variation across the main ethnic groups in the country.