LMX in team-based contexts: TMX, authority differentiation, and skill differentiation as boundary conditions for leader reciprocation

The purpose of the current study is to develop an integrated theoretical model based upon social exchange theory focused on the simultaneous interplay of leader–member exchange (LMX) and team–member exchange (TMX) in team-based contexts. We propose a model that extends current theories related to social exchange by integrating currently independent propositions in the literatures on LMX and TMX, showing how these propositions are contingent on the nature of the team in which leaders and followers are embedded. In a sample of 439 employees on 61 teams, the results show that when it comes to predicting individual performance (a) high TMX quality eliminates the otherwise negative effects of low LMX quality, (b) low authority differentiation weakens the otherwise positive effects of LMX, and (c) high skill differentiation weakens the otherwise positive effects of high LMX quality on performance. We discuss how the role of LMX may be changing in contemporary team-based work contexts relative to what was true in the historical literature when the construct was originally developed.