The characteristic of Leader-member Exchange (LMX) relationship between leader and follower

A case in construction industry

Abstract

The objective of this research is to understand the characteristic of the LMX relationship between leader and follower in the construction industry (in the context of a project-based organization) with followers as the provider of ideas and knowledge. This research is conducted in a construction state-own enterprise (SOE) in Indonesia, selected due to tight competition and the consequential need for innovation within short timescales. This study involves all 121 projects that existed at the time of data collection, and the unit of analysis is a dyadic relationship between general managers (as leader) and project managers (as a follower). Of these dyads, only 118 dyads can be analyzed (97.52 percent participation rate) and the analysis method used in this study is descriptive statistical analysis. The findings indicate the presence of statistic similarity between leaders and followers in case: the man’s gender 98,3%, regional origin match 42,4%, similarity level of education 39,8%, the similarity of ownership of construction certification 71,2%, the duration of the current working relationship with the leader for 13 to 24 months (49,2%), the duration of knowing current leader in the company for above 5 years (60%). Therefore, the demographic similarity is an important characteristic of high-quality LMX.