Delegation, job satisfaction and subordinate performance : the mediating effect of leader-member exchange

Delegation is widely accepted as an essential element of effective management in North American organizations; however, delegation may not be effective in other countries where employees hold different cultural values. We suggest that Chinese cultural values are inconsistent with delegation, and as such we develop a model in which leader-member exchange (LMX) mediates the relationship between delegation and, subordinate job satisfaction and performance in the Chinese context. Our sample comprised 186 Chinese subordinates working in a large transport company in Hong Kong. Our results show that LMX partially mediates between delegation and job satisfaction and fully mediates between delegation and subordinate performance. Implications for the theory and practice of delegation are discussed, particularly in the context of employees’ national cultural differences.