PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to explore the relationship among liking, social exchange and supervisor-directed organizational citizenship behavior (OCB).Design/methodology/approachEmployees and their supervisors were surveyed to obtain data from 202 subordinates and 33 supervisors.FindingsResults indicated that liking is positively related to social exchange and supervisor-directed OCB. Contrary to expectations, social exchange did not partially mediate the relationship between liking and citizenship.Research limitations/implicationsA limitation of the study is that it was correlational. The lack of support for mediating effect of social exchange suggests the need for further research with data collected from different sources.Practical implicationsLiking has positive effects on both social exchange relationship and supervisor-directed OCB. Trust is an important element of social exchange. Liking may be an independent source of influence on supervisor-directed OCB.Social implicationsLiking, an affective variable, may be an important influence in organizational behavior. It represents positive organizational behavior which is currently generating significant scholarly attention.Originality/valueThis study was conducted in the Sultanate of Oman, an Arabian Gulf country. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first such study done in the region. In this study, the authors include trust as a representative of the quality of relationship between supervisor and subordinates. Unlike leader–member exchange (LMX), trust has rarely been related to liking in previous studies. Study tests for social exchange (including supervisory trust) as a mediator of the relationship between liking and supervisor-directed OCB.

Middle East nations tend to have large expatriate labour forces employed in their private and public sectors while at the same time young people graduating from secondary schools and universities find their employment opportunities limited or non-existent (Daboub, 2008; Herrera, 2009). This situation becomes politically untenable as unemployed local youth agitate for employment. Therefore providing employment opportunities for nationals has become a priority for nations facing possible domestic turmoil from unemployed citizens, especially college graduates.

We examined the relationship between leaders' positive and negative influence tactics and their subordinates' organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) directed toward them as well as the quality of the social exchange with them in westernized Middle Eastern organizations. In this study, we used data from 202 supervisor–subordinate dyads in the Sultanate of Oman. Our findings supported the hypothesis that positive leader influence tactics would be positively associated with affirmative social exchange (represented by a combination of leader–member exchange (LMX) and trust) and subordinates' OCB directed toward supervisors. However, while negative leader influence tactics were related negatively to social exchange, they were unrelated to supervisor-directed OCB. We found that social exchange mediated the relationship between a leader's positive influence tactics and OCB directed toward them. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for future leadership research and leadership development. Keywords: leadershiptacticsOmansocial exchangeorganizational citizenship behavior

Leaders in the age of virtual work require an understanding of how this affects their employees’ relations with management. From a survey of employees working in a variety of virtual and conventional settings, an empirical profile of employee-manager relationships was completed using a multidimensional measure of virtual status. The profile identified distinct virtual characteristics for two types of virtual employment relationships—free agents and regular core employees who work virtually—and contrasting characteristics for conventional employment relationships. Further analysis of the identified groups suggests that trust in one’s manager and perceived managerial support differ across types of employment relationships. Specifically, the findings indicate lower levels of trust and support within virtual as compared to conventional relationships, and lower levels of trust within free-agent versus regularemployee virtual relationships. Implications for future research and management practice are discussed.

Leaders in the age of virtual work require an understanding of how this affects their employees' relations with management. From a survey of employees working in a variety of virtual and conventional settings, an empirical profile of employee-manager relationships was completed using a multidimensional measure of virtual status. The profile identified distinct virtual characteristics for two types of virtual employment relationships—free agents and regular core employees who work virtually—and contrasting characteristics for conventional employment relationships. Further analysis of the identified groups suggests that trust in one's manager and perceived managerial support differ across types of employment relationships. Specifically, the findings indicate lower levels of trust and support within virtual as compared to conventional relationships, and lower levels of trust within free-agent versus regular-employee virtual relationships. Implications for future research and management practice are discussed.

Virtual authority relationships are increasing in organizations; yet these relationships are ill defined and their effect on relationships between supervisors and their employees is uncertain. From a study of employees working in a variety of virtual settings, we obtained initial support for a multi-dimensional measure of virtual intraorganizational authority relationships. Our results further indicate that employee perceptions of upward trust, supervisor support, control, and employees' upward influence strategies are related to the virtual status of their authority relationships with their supervisors.

This study examines the influence tactics of senior U.S. executives in negotiating international business alliances. The strategy literature on alliances and the behavioral literature on negotiations were incorporated into a behavioral model of alliance negotiations. Constructs identified from transaction cost, power dependence and game theories were integrated and linked to hypotheses describing negotiators' influence tactics in alliance negotiations. In examining eighty-three alliance negotiations, negotiator trust, perception of a partner firm's alternatives, conflict frame, time,horizon, and cultural distance were found to affect negotiators' tactics.

Employees often seek to create favorable impressions with their managers. An empirical study of the antecedents, process, and consequences of influence strategies in upward impression management found that subordinates have both multiple goals and strategies. Subordinates' strategies varied with their goals in impression management. They also reported using a wider range of strategies than usually attributed to impression management. Managerial appraisals were based on their impressions of their subordinates, and perceptions of their influence style. While subordinates may believe that ingratiation will help them get better appraisals, using coalitions appears to lead to favorable impressions and appraisals. Subordinate assertiveness may lead to unfavorable impressions and performance appraisals.

Operations research professionals frequently formulate proposals for instituting new systems in their firms. To implement these changes, they must persuade line and staff employees as well as managers to accept their ideas. They also need managerial commitment, material, and staff support for their proposed projects. To achieve success in their technical projects, OR professionals should pay attention to their personal styles.

This is an exploratory study examining the structure of leader influence among Australian, English, Japanese, and Taiwanese managers. The findings from these cultures are compared to a previous study of managers in the United States. This study demonstrates the utility of examining the factor structure of survey instruments rather than relying only on scale reliability scores in cross-cultural research. The leader influence strategies of Reason, Bargaining, Higher Authority, Sanctions, Friendliness, Assertiveness, and Coalition were found in each country and collectively accounted for at least half of the variance in leader influence with subordinates. However, the specific tactics defining these leader influence strategies were not uniform across cultures.

Technical professionals who solely follow a rational model may neglect social relations at work. These relations are important for achieving objectives. Ambitious employees use a variety of tactics for influencing others. A successful career depends on building relationships and using organizational politics in addition to technical competence.

We gratefully acknowledge the many helpful comments and criticisms of Gerald Salancik and three anonymous reviewers and the professional editing of this manuscript by Linda Pike. Three studies explored the relationship between participants using different styles of upward influence in formal organizations and their performance evaluations, salaries, and reported stress. In studies of workers, supervisors, and chief executive officers, the following four upward-influence styles were identified through cluster analysis: Shotgun, Tactician, Ingratiator, and Bystander. Male subordinates using a Shotgun style of upward influence were evaluated less favorably by their superiors, earned less, and reported more job tension and personal stress than Tactician subordinates. There was evidence that gender moderated the relation between subordinates' upward-influence styles and superiors' evaluation of their performances.-