Translating team-member exchange relationships to school outcomes: the mediating role of leader-member exchange

Purpose: Relying on the principles of the social exchange theory, the current study is aimed at investigating the impact of team-member exchange relationships (TMX) among school management team (SMT) members on school outcomes (organizational citizenship behavior [OCB], job satisfaction and innovation) via the mediating role of leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships between principals and SMTs. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from multiple sources in 86 elementary and junior high schools to avoid one-source bias: 86 principals, 357 SMT members and 683 schoolteachers who were not members of the management teams. Findings: The results revealed a positive relationship between TMX and teachers' job satisfaction and OCB, but no significant link between TMX and innovation. LMX partially mediated the relationship between TMX and OCB and between TMX and teachers' job satisfaction. Full mediation was found in TMX-innovation relationship. Practical implications: The findings carry a message for school principals and policymakers regarding the importance of developing and maintaining high-quality horizontal and vertical exchange relationships among the SMT members for their positive influence on school outcomes. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to examine the link between TMX and LMX as a team phenomenon, and specifically in the educational setting. The finding that there is a positive link between the two constructs may imply that SMTs contribute to school success not only directly by exhibiting high-quality TMX but also indirectly through the high-quality LMX.