Leader–member exchange and job performance: The effects of taking charge and organizational tenure

We theorized and tested the mechanisms by which leader–member exchange (LMX) quality is associated with job performance. The results obtained using 212 employee–supervisor pairs from eight Chinese companies indicated that LMX quality had an indirect and positive relationship with taking charge via psychological empowerment and had an indirect and positive relationship with job performance via taking charge. In addition, organizational tenure significantly moderated the relationship between taking charge and job performance, such that the positive effect of taking charge on job performance became weaker as organizational tenure increased. Furthermore, organizational tenure significantly moderated the indirect positive relationship between LMX quality and job performance via taking charge; the indirect effect became weaker as organizational tenure increased. These results suggest that organizations should encourage managers to develop high‐quality LMX with their subordinates, which may make them feel more empowered and engage in more taking charge, and result in better job performance. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.