Hi Colleagues,
Recently some confusion surfaced regarding the difference between Graen's Leader-Member Exchange theory and his earlier empirical discovery he called the "Vertical Dyad Linkage" conundrum. This problem was based on the findings that managers consistently favored some of their direct-reports in spite of protesting that they treated all them fairly. We could not explain this apparent disconnect at the time.
Later, Graen solved this puzzle and published his "Role-making in complex organizations" in the Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1976. This Leader-Member Exchange theory postulated a new concept in role theory called "transactional role-making" which went beyond role-taking and role-rejection (See Wikipedia for "LMX theory"). The latest version of LMX theory is presented in http://lmxlotus.com/.
George Graen
jag