The relationship between leader-member exchange and organizational commitment in a global outsourcing solutions company

Abstract

This study describes the relationship between Leader-Member exchange and Organizational Commitment by purposely selected employees. A sample of male and female employees from a global outsourcing solutions company (N = 118) was obtained through a purposive sampling scheme. The study used a one-shot cross sectional design. Data revealed a significant relationship between independent variable LeaderMember Exchange (x = 2.0) and dependent variable Organizational Commitment (x = 2.5) (r = .353; n = 118; p = .000). All dimensions of the independent variable which are Affect, Loyalty, Contribution, and Professional Respect are found to have significant relationship with the dependent variable respectively. In testing the relationship between the independent variable and dependent variable's dimensions, all dimensions of the independent variable is found to have significant relationship with the dependent variable's dimension Affective Commitment. Significant relationship is also present with the independent variable and Continuance Commitment respectively. However, among all dimensions of the independent variable, only Affect is significantly related with Continuance Commitment. Moreover, results show that no significant relationship exists across all dimensions of the independent variable and dependent variable's dimension Normative Commitment. The results suggest that employees' commitment to their organization is enhanced by their perception of leader-member exchange. This shows that employees value equity in their relationships. This also implies that for organizations to gain committed employees, they must compensate them with equitable rewards such as satisfying supervision, responsibility, and interpersonal relationships.