LEADER-MEMBER EXCHANGE, JOB SATISFACTION, ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY, AND INNOVATION BEHAVIOR

This research investigates the direct impact and mediation roles of
leader-member exchange (LMX), organizational commitment, and
innovative employee behavior. Employee innovation plays a crucial
role in enhancing a company’s performance and competitive edge.
While the strong link between LMX and employee innovation has
been well-documented, some studies have yielded inconsistent
findings (Evers et al., 2024). To address this discrepancy, this study
introduces organizational commitment and job satisfaction as
mediating factors. The data, gathered from a survey of
245 employees in West Surabaya, Indonesia, were analyzed using
partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).
The findings reveal that LMX positively influences job satisfaction,
organizational commitment, and innovative behavior.
Organizational commitment emerged as a key mediator between
LMX and innovative behavior, whereas job satisfaction did not
serve as a mediator. This study confirms that strong relationships
between leaders and team members boost job satisfaction and
organizational commitment, which in turn, foster innovative
behavior among employees. However, job satisfaction alone is
insufficient to mediate the effect of LMX on innovative behavior.
The practical implications underscore the need to reinforce
organizational commitment to fully harness employee innovation
through strong LMX relationships.