Effect of Team-Member Exchange on Turnover Intention: A Cross-Cultural Perspective on a Selected Aspect of Employee Engagement

Abstract

Research indicates that engaged employees demonstrate higher job satisfaction and lower turnover intention. However, employee engagement itself is influenced by and consists of a number of different factors. This study focuses on one specific aspect of employee engagement: the social interaction of team-members (i.e., team-member exchange, TMX) as a source of employee engagement. Drawing on social exchange theory, social information processing theory, and engagement literature, we investigate the role of societal culture on TMX, and we argue that the negative relationship of TMX and turnover intention is stronger in cultures high in collectivism and high in power distance. We combined the individual-level data of 6,664 employees from 14 countries with country-level data regarding the cultural values collectivism and power distance. Multilevel analysis supported the hypothesis that culture moderates the relationship between TMX and turnover intention such that the effect was stronger in cultures high in collectivism. However, power distance did not moderate the relationship between TMX and turnover intention. This study contributes to the research field by adding a cross-cultural perspective and testing country-level moderation effects. The practical implications of our findings are discussed.

Keywords:

• TMX
• turnover intention
• social information processing theory
• collectivism
• power distance
• cross-cultural perspective

Acknowledgements

The authors thank GfK for providing the data used in this research project. The authors also thank EIASM for organizing the Workshop for Strategic Human Resource Management that provided the opportunity to engage in this discussion. We also thank the French Investissements d'Avenir (ANR-11-IDEX-0003/Labex Ecodec/ANR-11-LABX-0047) for funding the original working group for this special issue. Additionally, we thank HEC Paris School of Management and NEOMA Business School for their support of this project.