IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP ON ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOUR, ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT AND JOB PERFORMANCE: AN APPLICATION OF LEADER-MEMBER EXCHANGE THEORY

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Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of servant leadership on organizational citizenship behaviour, organizational commitment and job performance from a Leader- Member Exchange (LMX) perspective. It aims at contributing new knowledge to research constituting servant leadership within the workplace. The aim of the study was to examine in essence, the impact of servant leadership on organizational citizenship behaviour and organizational commitment and the consequential outcome on employee job performance. LMX theory is the theoretical framework that forms the basis on which the study is undertaken. The problem was investigated within the SME sector of Zimbabwe. The study was quantitative by nature and adopted positivism as the research paradigm. 189 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Zimbabwe formed the unit of analysis. The empirical testing of the study’s six hypotheses revealed that the relationships are positive and significant. This implied that servant leadership, organizational citizenship behaviour and organizational commitment have a constructive effect on employee job performance and thus SMEs in general. The study extracts the fundamental impact that servant leadership has on employee behaviour and their performance within the workplace subsequently. While quality LMX relationships are exemplified by mutual trust, respect and commitment, this virtue was employed to assess if it impels a good relationship between servant leadership and employee behaviour and the resulting job performance of employees. The implication is that the general SME sector should encourage their senior employees to embrace a servant leadership style given that it has a positive effect on employee organizational behaviour, employee commitment and job performance subsequently. This is particular important for a country like Zimbabwe that is still developing and therefore relies much on the superior performance of SMEs for sustainability.

Keywords: Servant Leadership, Organizational Citizenship Behaviour, Organizational Commitment, Job Performance, Leader-Member Exchange Theory

Received: 12.01.2017

Accepted: 27.03.2017

How to cite this paper: Chinomona, E., & Mofokeng, T. (2017). Impact of leadership on organizational citizenship behaviour, organizational commitment and job performance: An application of leader- member exchange theory. Corporate Ownership & Control, 14(3-2), 309-319. https://doi.org/10.22495/cocv14i3c2art5