2014 Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation

The Relationship Between Leadership Styles, Leader Communication Style, and Impact on Leader-Member Exchange Relationship Within the Banking Sector in the United States and the Philippines

Abstract

Proceeding from the assumption that leadership is a socially constructed relationship, this study examined the causal link of leadership styles with leader communications styles and the extent to which the mediating role of leader communication styles influenced the quality of leader-member exchange (LMX) relationship and whether cultural dimensions determine differences in preferences for these test variables. Using hierarchical multiple regression analysis, three regression models were estimated on data drawn from 441 domestic bank employees in the United States (N = 213) and the Philippines (N = 228). The results showed that leader communication styles mediated the relationship between leadership styles and quality of LMX. Transformational leadership style was negatively related to the communication style of verbal aggressiveness and positively related to preciseness for both the U.S. and Philippine sample groups. Verbal aggressiveness and preciseness partially mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and LMX. Also, transactional leadership was significantly related to leader expressiveness, questioningness, and preciseness, which explained the relationship of transactional leadership with quality of LMX among U.S. respondents. Similar findings were found among Philippine respondents for preciseness and questioningness but differed on leader emotionality. A t test found significant differences in preference for transformational leadership and leader communication styles of verbal aggressiveness, questioningness, emotionality, and impression manipulativeness. The implication of the findings draws attention to the importance of leader communiction styles in building productive and enduring dyadic relationships with followers in the workplace. Moreover, the findings underscore the role that leader communication plays in influencing the work environment in manners of conveyance that impact proximal and power relationships. The current study advances leadership research deeper into the realm of communication by probing deeper into the importance of rhetoric in the construction of dyadic relationships.

By Theodore G. Pacleb

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