SlideShare a Scribd company logo
Blau’s Social Exchange
Theory
Sinem Bulkan
Organisational Behaviour
PETER MICHAEL BLAU
(1918 Vienna, Austria - 2002)
• Son of secular Jews.
• Hitler marched into Vienna in 1938,
Peter‘s family was elected to stay,
his sister was sent to England on the
Kindertransport.
• Escape from the Anschluss,
miraculous chance to go to college,
a successfull career and mobility in
the USA.
• His family had been killed in
Auschwitz in 1942.
PETER MICHAEL BLAU
(1918 Vienna, Austria - 2002)
A founder of Organizational Sociology
(with Coleman, Gouldner, Lipset, and
Selznick)
• The Dynamics of Bureacracy
(dissertation, University of
Columbia,1955)
• The Comparative Organization Research
Project(Research Program, University of
Chicago,1970) Findings:
o The Structure of Organizations (1971)
o The Organization of Academic Work (1973)
• Exchange and Power in Social Life (Field
research to develop a theory, 1964)
Exchange and Power in Social Life
• Homans was an important influence on Blau‘s work.
• Blau was interested in examining the processes that guide face-to-face interaction
(like Homans).
• Blau argued that such interaction is shaped by a reciprocal exchange of rewards,
both tangible and intangible (like Homans).
• Blau maintained Simmel‘s assertation that every interaction (a performance, a
conversation, or even a romantic affair) can be understood as a form of exchange in
which the participant gives the other “more than he had himself possessed‖).
Exchange and Power in Social Life
• Blau was interested in building a theoretical bridge that would link
sociological studies of everyday interactions between individuals and
studies that examined the collectivist or structural dimensions of society,
such as economic systems, political institutions, or belief systems.
• While the work of Homans and Simmel informed the ―interactionist‖
elements of his approach, his analysis of society‘s structural properties was
most influenced by Max Weber and Talcott Parsons.
Exchange and Power in Social Life
• It rests on several assumptions about social actors and activities:
(1) social actors engage in activities as a means of obtaining desired goals;
(2) all social activities entail some cost to the actor, such as time, energy, or
resources expended;
(3) social actors seek to economize their activities as much as possible, by
keeping costs below rewards; and
Interactions
• Blau wants to link theories of everyday life to theories of wider social
structure, to bridge the 'micro-macro' divide.
• Blau points out that a person for whom another has done a favour is
expected to express gratitude & return a service when the occasion
arises.
Interactions
• Exchange is conceived of as a social process of central significance in social
life, derived from simpler processes (of attraction, for example), then leads to
more complex processes (among groups, for example).
• Social exchange may reflect any behaviour oriented to socially mediated
goals. People act rationally, and often employ exchange in pursuit of
rational ends.
For example, among members of a political organization, they may exchange
support to build solidarity, or, lovers may do things for each other to gain
commitment in the relationship.
Microstructures and Macrostructures
• Microstructures
• Blau calls face-to-face interactions ‘microstructures’.
• They are structures in the sense that regulatory rules, dominance, power,
legitimate control, and task divisions are all supported by the rewarding
nature of the interactions based on them.
Microstructures and Macrostructures
• Macrostructures
• Sooner or later the size will increase (Blau, 1964).
• Macrostructures are viewed as ‗formal organisations, committees,
bureaucracies, and the like‘
• These larger collectivities are composed of microstructures.
• Blau‘s view of the social organisation of society is one of the interconnections
among these larger macrostructures.
The Structure of Social Associations
• He recognizes that associations between individuals tend to become
organized into complex structures, often institutionalized to perpetuate the
for of organization beyond the life span of human beings.
“To speak of social life is to speak of the association
between people – their associating in work and in
play, in love and in war, to trade or to worship, to help
or to hinder. It is in the social relations men establish
that their interests find expression and their desires
become realized.”
Peter M. Blau
Exchange and Power in Social Life, 1964
Rewards
• Rewards: Sources of positive reinforcement including pleasures, satisfactions,
gratifications. They occur on a continuum from concrete to symbolic.
Blau (1964) suggested six types of social rewards:
o personal attraction,
o social acceptance,
o social approval,
o instrumental services,
o respect/prestige,
o compliance/power.
Rewards
• intrinsic rewards – are those things we find pleasurable in and of
themselves, not because they provide the means for obtaining other
benefits.
• Examples of intrinsic rewards are celebrating a holiday with one‘s family,
going on a walk with a friend, or love—the purest type of intrinsic reward.
Rewards
• extrinsic rewards – are ―detachable‖ from the association in which they
are acquired. In other words, extrinsic benefits are derived not from
another‘s company itself, but from the external rewards his company will
provide. Here, associating with others serves as a means to a further end.
• Thus, a salesperson is considerate because she wants to make a
commission, not because she values the relationship she initiates with any
particular customer.
The Exchange of Social Rewards
• Most human pleasures have their roots in social life. Thus, a good meal is
really in the company, not the flavours (consider eating a great meal alone).
• Similarly, much of human suffering also has its source in interaction with
others (heartbreak at the loss of a lover, being cheated by someone, etc.)
Social rewards to one person tend to entail a cost to another person. This does not
mean that society is a zero sum game (that every person must loose in equal
proportion to someone else's gain), but it does imply that people do not share social
profits equally.
The Exchange of Social Rewards
• Social action can be intrinsically rewarding, but often social action depends
on other considerations. E.g. Social aproval, social bond, benefits from the
society
• A person who does not reciprocate is considered rude, a cad, an
ingrate. The social sanctions evident in the face of such action demonstrate
that reciprocity is expected.
The Exchange of Social Rewards
• Blau says that there is an "apparent altruism" in social life. People are
anxious to help others and to reciprocate the help they receive. Underneath
this altruism, however, is an egoism - a selfishness!!
***A basic reward that people seek is social approval, & selfish disregard for
others makes it impossible to obtain this important reward.***
• Social approval is of great significance, but its significance depends on it
being genuine. (coerced praise is worthless!!)
Costs and Resources
• Costs: punishments or lost rewards.
Blau suggested three types:
o Investment: time and effort devoted to developing skills which will be
used to reward others.
o Direct costs: resource given to another in exchange for something else.
o Opportunity: loss of rewards which would have been available elsewhere.
• Resources: anything that can be transmitted through interpersonal behavior,
including commodities, material, or symbolic matter.
Power
• ―the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a
position to carry out his own will despite resistance‖ (Weber)
• For Blau, an individual is able to exercise power over others when he alone
is able to supply needed rewards to them.
• If the others are unable to receive the benefits from another source, and if
they are unable to offer rewards to the individual, they become dependent
on the individual.
• In short, power results from an unequal exchange stemming from an
individuals or groups monopoly over a desired resource.
Exchange and Power in Social Life
• Principle 1. The more services supplied in return for receipt of some valued
service, the more power held by those providing valued services.
• Translation: In terms of teen lust, the more flowers, declarations of love,
affection and promises supplied by the boy in return for precious few sexual
favors supplied by the girl, the more power held by the girl. This makes
complete sense to teenage boys.
Exchange and Power in Social Life
• Principle 2. The more alternative sources for reward possessed, the less those
providing reward can extract compliance.
• Translation: In terms of teen lust, the more alternative sources of sexual
favours at the disposal of the boy, the less the girl can extract compliance
(i.e., She: "Why didn't you call me like you said?" He: "I was busy!
Exchange and Power in Social Life
• Principle 3. The more those receivers can apply force and coercion, the less
those providing can extract compliance.
• Translation: In the case of the housewife and mother who expends countless
hours of personal time in the service of her husband and children, she may
have very few options to exercise. She continues to provide valued service to
unappreciative family members because she has no other place to market her
services.
Exchange and Power in Social Life
• Principle 4. The more receivers can do without, the less providers can extract
compliance.
• Translation: This works for nations, states, corporations, economies and
FAMILIES - The one who has the resources is the one with the power.
Conflict is inevitable, as each person's selfish interests cannot simultaneously
be met.
Indifference Curves, Supply and Demand Curves
• Blau uses economics as the primary theoretical base. He uses indifference curves, supply and
demand curves.
• He says that "the only assumption made is that human beings choose between alternative potential
associates or courses of action by evaluating the experiences or expected experiences with each in
terms of a preference ranking and then selecting the best alternative".
He sees three types of expectations -- general, particular, and comparative.
General expectations are associate with one's role, occupation, formed by social norms of what person
ought to receive.
Particular expectations are associated with rewards received from a particular person.
Comparative expectations are the rewards of a relationship minus the cost of maintaining the
relationship
Supply and Demand
Economy
• Demand, the quantity of a good that
is desired by buyers.
• Supply, total quantity of a product or
service that the marketplace can
offer.
• If a good‘s price is higher, fewer
people will demand it.
• As the price rises, suppliers are
willing to supply more.
Social Exchange Theory
• Blau gives the example of advice
and compliance.
• Quantity of advice horizontal, its
price in respect and compliance
vertical.
• The competition among experts for
superior status, which furnishes
incentives to supply advice, and the
competition among others for advice
furnishes incentives to supply
respect and compliance.
Economic Exchange
Economy
• It is an economic transaction where
goods or services are transferred
from the provider for a return of
relative value (compensation) from
the receiver in a manner that
advances the economic interests of
both parties.
• Clear identification on the value of
the exchange item.
Social
• Social interactions are based on the
rewards and the costs.
• Ambigious meaning and value.
• Uncertainty about our debts to
others and meanings our actions
take.
Reciprocity
• The social norm of reciprocity is
the expectation that people will
respond to each other in similar
ways—responding to gifts and
kindnesses from others with similar
benevolence of their own, and
responding to harmful, hurtful acts
from others with either indifference
or some form of retaliation.
• Frequently, two people who meet
are not equally attracted to each
other. Thus, one person will try to
impress the other -- this leads to an
imbalance of power in the
relationship.
Unbalanced Reciprocity
• Love
• Blau notes, ―Love appears to make human beings unselfish, since they
themselves enjoy giving pleasure to those they love, but this selfless devotion
generally rests on an interest in maintaining the other’s love‖
• Yet, it is often the case that in intimate relations one individual is more in love than the
other. As a result, the ―interests‖ in maintaining the relationship are not equal.
• It is this dynamic that underlies ―playing hard to get,‖ where ―the lover who does not
express unconditional affection early gains advantages in the established interpersonal
relationship. Indeed, the more restrained lover also seems to have a better chance of
inspiring another‘s love for himself or herself‖
• Like other benefits offered, affections that are given too freely decrease in value.
Moreover, the more freely one gives his affection, the more he signals that he has few
options, thus reducing his value on the “market.”
Comparison Level
• Comparison Level is a standard representing what people feel they should
receive in the way of rewards and costs from a particular relationship.
(Thiabaut and Kelly)
• The CL is the lowest level of reward acceptable for the person.
• The comparison level refers to the standard by which the individual
evaluates group membership.
• The CL is the main factor determining satisfaction with group
membership.
• The CL is determined by assessing all the known costs and rewards
incurred with the membership.
• Comparison levels can be based on previous experiences.
Comparison Level for Alternative
• The Comparison Level for Alternative (CLat) refers to ―the lowest level of relational
rewards a person is willing to accept given available rewards from alternative relationships or
being alone‖
• In other words, when using this evaluation tool an individual will consider other alternative
payoffs or rewards outside of the current relationship or exchange.
• The alternative comparison level (AC) refers to the comparison of one specific group to
other available groups.
• The AC is really the best rewards available to someone given the available alternatives.
• The AC is the main factor determining group membership.
Comparison Level for Alternative
‘I had a friend in high school that was very unsatisfied with her boyfriends. She had
one boyfriend that she didn’t really like, but kept dating him. One day we had a long
conversation about it. She said the reason she kept dating this boy was because she
didn’t think she could find anyone better at the time. She didn’t really like him she
just didn’t have anyone better at the moment. However, she believed that she could
get a better relationships and could drop him whenever she wanted.’
This is an example of comparison level for alternatives because she based her
satisfaction for her relationship/friendship on her perceived ability to find a better
relationship.
Marginal Utility
Economy
• The marginal utility of a good or
service is the gain or loss from an
increase or decrease in the
consumption of that good and
service.
• Example, consumption on the
increase in eating baklava
Social
• The more the expected rewards
entity obtains from a particular act,
the less valuable this action is and
the less likely it will be.
• Example, professor helping his
student
The Law of Collective Diminishing
Marginal Utility
• A person who has much of a benefit tends to value a further increment less than he did
when he had only a little (Blau, 1964).
• In a group, where a benefit, exists in abundance those who possess it value it less and
those who do not value it more than they would were they in a group where it is scarce.
• E.g. From the perspective of the organisation as a whole, the more benefits in the forms
of promotions that have been received by a collectivity, the less impact another
increment of promotion makers (Blau, 1964).
• The marginal utility of increasing rewards eventually declines for the entire collectivists
as well as for individuals, though the mechanisms are different; the effect for
collectivities is produced by processes of social comparison, while that for individuals is
produced by psychological reactions to meet needs and expectations.
Blau’s Propositions
• The desire for social rewards leads men to enter into exchange relationships
with one another.
• Reciprocal social exchanges create trust and social bonds between men.
• Unilateral services create power and status differences.
• Power differences make organizations possible.
• The fair exercise of power evokes social approval and the unfair exercise of
• power evokes social disapproval.
• If subordinates collectively agree that their superior exercises power
• generously, they will legitimate his power.
• Legitimate power is required for stable organization.
• If subordinates collectively experience unfair exercise of power, an
opposition movement will develop.
Conditions of Exchange
Conditions of Exchange – 1 –
• Some social rewards can not be bartered in exchange (intrinsic
attraction to a person, approval of his opinions, and respect for his
abilities).Because they are spontenaus reactions rather than
calculated means of pleasing him)
• Rewarding actions, can be bartered in social exchange. Social
acceptance in a group to which a person is attracted, instrumental
services of various kinds, and compliance with his wishes constitute
rewards for him even if he knows that they are furnished in
exchange for benefits expected of him.
Conditions of Exchange – 2 –
• Rewards that are instrinsic to the association between individuals,
can be distinguished from extrinsic ones.
• Rewards that individuals may mutually supply for eachother can be
distinguished from those that are necessarily unilateral, which are
manifest in the general respect for a person that bestows superior
prestige on him and in the prevailing compliance with his requests
that bestows superior power on him.
Blau’s Fair Rate of Social Exchange (Fairness,
Justice)
• The relationship between the fair rate and the going rate of social exchange
is somewhat parallel to that between the normal price and the average price
in economic markets.
• But the fair and going rates both rest on social expectations.
• ‗Fair exchange‘ is fundamentally similar to Homans‘ rule of ‗distributive
justice‘. ‗A man in an exchange relation with another will expect that the
rewards of each man be proportional to his costs – the greater the rewards,
the greater the costs – and that the net rewards, or profits, of each man be
proportional to his investments – the greater the investments, the greater the
profit.‘
• For Blau, any item obliges the other to a fair return, and value in excess of
what can be returned must be compensated by compliance. Control over
scarcity translates to power.
•
Blau’s Going Rate of Social Exchange
(Expectations)
• The going rate of exchange in a group gives rise to
expectations that certain returns will be received for certain
services.
• These standards of expectation are not moral norms but merely
anticipations that influence conduct, the normative
expectations that a service that required a certain investment
deserves a certain return are moral standards, the violation of
which evoke social disapproval.
Indifference Curves
Any point on an indifference curve indicates
that the individual is indifferent to whether
he possesses the specified amount of the
first or the specified amount of the second
commodity, that is, that the two have the
same value for him.
10 dollar going to the theatre=having dinner
at a restaurant
2 times theatre, not dinner
2 dinner, not theatre
BUT the more often he has dined out
already, the lower becomes the value of the
dining out relative to going to theatre, in
accordance with the marginal principle.
Indifference Curves
Imagine someone has 1 dollar. Does he
want 3 magazines or 10 candy bars?
• Ten candy bars gives equal value with 3
magazines (if he is indifferent)
• Perhaps the person would be equally
attracted to other combinations. (seven
candy bars-1 magazine)
With these approaches we can draw up an
indifference map (all the choices between
the two alternatives that the person is
indifferent about).
CD – Opportunity line – outer limit of an
individual’s resources.
Point P – Maximum satisfaction
obtainable
Indifference Curves – Bilateral Exchange
Blau uses indifference curves to describe the
interactions between two persons in extrinsic
exchange.
For example, between two workmates, one of
superior knowledge and the other of less. Here
help is exchanged with compliance.
• The exchange is two-sided (bilateral).
• Help is exchanged for compliance.
• Supplies of help and compliance are
entirely controlled by the people giving
them.
• Each person will try to maximize utility by
getting on highest indifference line he can.
CC Line- Contract Line – Blau concludes
that the optimum conditions for exchange are
the points at which the two sets of indifference
curves are tangent to eachother.
Indifference Curves – Exchange in Bilateral
Monopoly
Oa – Consultant
Oh – Colleague who consults
K – problem-solving ability
X – Total problem-solving ability available
OaKa – greater the ability of the expert
H – the compliance each is willing to
express to raise the other‘s status
** Expert applies some of his time and
ability to the problems of the colleague, and
toward the right, showing that the expert‘s
status is raised by the compliance with
which of the colleague reciprocates for the
advice.
Solid indifference curves – expert
Dotted indifference curves - colleague
Price Elasticity
• Proportional change in supply and demand resulting from a change in the
price.This change in turn being affected by changes in demand and supply.
• According to Blau, if a change in supply (or demand) affects the volume of
transactions more than it affects the price of commodity, supply (or
demand) is elastic. If price is more affected than volume, supply (or
demand) is inelastic.
• A sector with high status may have little demand for additional status
because the marginal utility of status is low for that sector. Demand is
price-inelastic
• At the same time, a low-status sector may have increasing or constant
marginal utility for status increments. Demand is price elastic.
Criticisms
• Not just economic but social exchange is induced by pursuit of material
resources (wealth) and/or hedonistic motives (pleasure). As some
exchange theorists (Homans, Emerson) suggest, the economic postulate
of utility maximization is a special case of the general hedonistic ‗law‘
of pleasure optimization, as is loss minimization relative to pain
avoidance.
• Extending exchange theory to societal level is beyond recognition.
Exchange theory is primarily concerned with face-to-face relations.
(Ritzer,1983)
Referances
• Blau, P., (1964), Exchange and Power in Social Life, John Wiley&Sons
• Scott, R.&Calhoun, C. (2004), Peter Michael Blau 1918-2002, Biographical
Memories, Volume 85, The National Academies Press
• Skidmore, W., (1979), Theoretical Thinking in Sociology, Cambridge
University Press
• Spread, P., (1984), Blau's Exchange Theory, Support and the Macrostructure,
The British Journal of Sociology, Vol.35, No.2, pp157-173
• Zafirovski M., (2005), Social Exchange Theory under Scrutiny: A Positive
Critique of its Economic-Behaviourist Formulations, Electronic Journal of
Socialogy
• Wikipedia and other internet sources
Unpacking Employee Responses to
Organizational Exchange Mechanisms: The
Role of Social and Economic Exchange
Perceptions
Linda Jiwen Song, Anne S. Tsui, Kenneth S.
Law, Journal of Management, Vol. 35,
No.1, February 2009, 56-93
Introduction - Exchange Theory
• Specifies that employees respond to their employer differently depending on the
treatment they receive.
• Treatments can create
o Social exchange relationship (long term orientation, trust, socio-emotional
resources)
o Economic exchange relationship (short term exchange, economic or
materialistic resources)
(Blau,1964; Lynch&Barksdale,2006)
Aim
• To unpack the exchange process by examining whether specific
organisational-level mechanism relate to employees‘ perceptions of social
and economic exchange relationships
• And how this perception relates to employees‘ responses in terms of
commitment to the organisation and in-role or extra-role performance.
• To examine multiple exchange mechanism and related exchange
perceptions between organisations an.d employees
Social and Economic Exchange in
Employee-Organisation Linkage
• Blau (1964) identified two kinds of exchange relationships.
o Social exchange: The focus is on socio-emotional resources over a lengthy period.
o Economic exchange: The focus is on short-term exchanges of material or economic
goods.
• Organisation can define the nature of the exchange relationship through
formal employement contracts.
• Or can also create this relationship indirectly through organisational culture
or leadership behavious.
Social and Economic Exchange in
Employee-Organisation Linkage
Organisational Exchange Mechanisms as
Antecedents
• Leadership
The ability to inspire followers to achieve collective goals (Yukl, 2002).
Transformational Relationship, inspires followers to focus on an extended relationship
with the organisation.
Transactional Leadership, focuses on immediate rewards or punishments for job
performance.
• Organisational Culture
A pattern of beliefs and expectations shared by organisation members (Schwartz and
Davis, 1981).
A firms reliance on
- either values to influence employees (the reasons for doing certain things)
- or rules and procedures to direct employees‘ actions ( the ways to do certain
things) (Cameron&Freeman, 1991)
Organisational Exchange Mechanisms as
Antecedents
• Employment Approaches
Formal and informal, economic, social, and psychological connections
between employees and employers (Tsui&Wang,2002)
Mutual investment approach, a long-term and extensive engagement
between the employer and the employee.
Quasi-spot contract approach, a short term and narrow exchange between
the two parties.
Perceptions of Exchange Relationships as
Mediators
• Social Exchange
Entails a high level of trust, provides extensive investment in the employee,
focuses on a long-term relationship, and emphasizes the socio-emotional
aspects of the relationship (Shore et al., 2006).
• Economic Exchange
Entails a low level of trust, short-term, close-ended, well-defined
obligarions.Emphasis is on narrow financial obligations (e.g. Pay and benefits)
without any long-term investments (e.g., employment security or career
planning)
Affective Commitment, Performance, and Organisational
Citizenship Behaviour as Employee Responses
• Affective Commitment
Regarded as a reflection of the psychological bonds of employees with the
organisation (Meyer&Allen, 1997).
Support and fairness from the organisation can contribute to employee‘s affective
commitment.
• Job Performance
Fulfilling task requirements (task performance), making contributions that go
beyond specified task accomplishments.
Rewards leads to higher employee task performance.
• Organisational Citizenship Behavior
Perceptions of organisational fairness and leader support elicit OCB from
employees.
Hypotheses Linking CEO Leadership Styles to Exchange
Relationship Perceptions and Responses by Employees
Hypotheses Linking Organisational Culture to Exchange
Relationship Perceptions and Employee Responses
Hypotheses Linking Employment Approaches to Exchange
Relationship Perceptions and Employee Responses
Study Context
• Tested in China.
• Conducted two studies
o Study 1 had the goal of validating the measures of the employement
approaches, leadership behaviour, organisational culture, exchange
perceptions, and affective commitment constructs.
o Study 2 included the measures of employee performance and
citizenship behaviour and tested the hypotheses.
Study 1 – Scale Validation
• Sample and Procedures
• Two samples
Sample 1, to validate the employemnt approach, leadership style, exchange
relationship, and affective commitment scales, 1,128 MBA students in 11
Chinese universities, response rate 90%
Sample 2, to validate organisational culture scale, 906 executives. Response
rate 95%
Study 1 – Scale Validation
• Measures
• Waldman (2001) transformational and transactional leadership items from
Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire
• Combination of O‘Relly and colleagues‘ (1991) organisational culture scale and
Tsui, Wang&Xin scale
• Employment approach scale (Wang et al., 2003)
• Scales by Shore et al. (2006) to measure social and economic exchange
perceptions
• Affective commitment scale by Meyer and Allen (1997)
• Confirmatory Factor Analyses carried out. The scale validation study
provided supportive evidence for the factor structure of all the measures.
Study 2 – Hypothesis Testing
• Sample and Procedures
• 441 middle managers and 141 top managers in 31 companies in China.
• Top management team members described their CEO‘s leadership style.
• Middle managers described the organisational culture and reported their
perceptions of their exchange relationships with and commitment to, the
firm.
Study 2 – Hypothesis Testing
• Measures
• Task Performance Scale of Tsui (1997)
• Organisational Citizenship behaviour by Lam, Hui, and Law (1999)
• Control variables firm size, CEO‘s age and gender, also middle managers‘
age, gender, and educational level.
Results on Hypotheses 1a to 1 d
• H1a is fully supported.
• H1b is not supported.
• H1c is partially supported. A perception of social exchange mediates the
relationship between transformational leadershio and affective commitment
(full mediation) and task performance (partial mediation) but not OCB.
• H1d not supported.
Results on Hypotheses 2a to 2d
• H2a is fully supported.
• H2b is supported.
• H2c is partially supported with social exchange mediating the influence of
integrative culure on affective commitment and task performance but not
on OCB.
• H2d is partially supported.
Results on Hypotheses 3a to 3d
• H3a is supported.
• H3b is fully supported.
• H3c is partially supported on commitment and task performance but not on
OCB.
• H3d is partially supported on affective commitment and OCB not on task
performance.
Discussion
• Social or economic exchange perceptions may not fully capture the
psychological experience of employees influenced by various forms of
organisational exchange mechanisms.
• Some other mediators may include person-organisation fit, organisational
identification, or identification with the leadership.
THANK YOU

More Related Content

PPTX
Social exchange theory
PPTX
Social exchange theory
PPT
Chapter 5-Social Interaction
PPT
Social exchange theory
PPSX
Social institutions - Sociology
PPTX
OER Chapter 21 - Social Movements
PPT
The social construction of reality
PPTX
Industrial sociology & its scope
Social exchange theory
Social exchange theory
Chapter 5-Social Interaction
Social exchange theory
Social institutions - Sociology
OER Chapter 21 - Social Movements
The social construction of reality
Industrial sociology & its scope

What's hot (20)

PPTX
Ralf dahrendorf
PPTX
structuration theory
PPTX
George simmel (1)
PDF
Classical Sociological Theory
PDF
conflict theory
PPT
Karl Marx and theory
DOCX
Ralf Dahrendorf
PPSX
Max Weber Verstehen ( Intepretative Understanding)
PPTX
PPTX
Emile Durkheim
PPTX
Herbert Spencer's Theory of Social Evolution & Organic Analogy
PPT
Max Weber
PPTX
Max Weber
PPTX
Max Weber: Politics & Science as 'Vocations'
PPT
Talcott Parsons
PPT
Durkheim's Perspective
PPTX
Concept of power
PPTX
Phenomonology
PPT
Dialectical Materialism: An Introduction to Marx's Political Philosophy
PPTX
The sociological imagination
Ralf dahrendorf
structuration theory
George simmel (1)
Classical Sociological Theory
conflict theory
Karl Marx and theory
Ralf Dahrendorf
Max Weber Verstehen ( Intepretative Understanding)
Emile Durkheim
Herbert Spencer's Theory of Social Evolution & Organic Analogy
Max Weber
Max Weber
Max Weber: Politics & Science as 'Vocations'
Talcott Parsons
Durkheim's Perspective
Concept of power
Phenomonology
Dialectical Materialism: An Introduction to Marx's Political Philosophy
The sociological imagination
Ad

Viewers also liked (9)

PPTX
Social exchange theory slides
PPTX
Social Exchange Theory
PPTX
Behaviourism & structuralism
PPTX
Deviant behavior
PPTX
Theory on principle of separation of powers
PPTX
PPTX
Deviant workplace behavior
PPTX
Social Exchange Theory
PPTX
Types of Deviance
Social exchange theory slides
Social Exchange Theory
Behaviourism & structuralism
Deviant behavior
Theory on principle of separation of powers
Deviant workplace behavior
Social Exchange Theory
Types of Deviance
Ad

Similar to Blau's Social Exchange Theory (20)

PPT
the relationship between psychology communication and social exchange
PPT
สัปดาห์ที่ 15 social exchange theory
PPT
2022-Chapter 4-Social Interaction.ppt
PDF
Trait Theory
PDF
Trait Theory
PPTX
social exchange theory by huma javed bbbb
PPTX
Socialization
PPTX
Social Interaction
PPTX
Education and Social Stratification.pptx
DOCX
Society Community & Culture.docx
PPTX
Social exchange theory of Thibaut and Kelly
DOC
SociologyExchange.co.uk Shared Resource
DOCX
Encyclopedia of Industrial and Organizational Psychology .docx
PPTX
PPTX
social sciences 3C and 3A
PPTX
Social structure, institution, socialization (ch 8, 9, 10)
PPT
Chp.18 social psych
PPTX
Social structure, institution, socialization (ch 8, 9, 10)
PPT
Social Action Theories
PPTX
SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR INTEGRATION.pptx
the relationship between psychology communication and social exchange
สัปดาห์ที่ 15 social exchange theory
2022-Chapter 4-Social Interaction.ppt
Trait Theory
Trait Theory
social exchange theory by huma javed bbbb
Socialization
Social Interaction
Education and Social Stratification.pptx
Society Community & Culture.docx
Social exchange theory of Thibaut and Kelly
SociologyExchange.co.uk Shared Resource
Encyclopedia of Industrial and Organizational Psychology .docx
social sciences 3C and 3A
Social structure, institution, socialization (ch 8, 9, 10)
Chp.18 social psych
Social structure, institution, socialization (ch 8, 9, 10)
Social Action Theories
SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR INTEGRATION.pptx

More from Dr. Sinem Bulkan (7)

PPTX
Innovation Process Training zte
PPTX
Strategic training
PPTX
The nature and history of trauma
PPTX
Game theory
PPT
Conflict&negotiation
PPTX
Personality and Stress
PPT
Recruitment and selection
Innovation Process Training zte
Strategic training
The nature and history of trauma
Game theory
Conflict&negotiation
Personality and Stress
Recruitment and selection

Recently uploaded (20)

PDF
Encapsulation theory and applications.pdf
PDF
Peak of Data & AI Encore- AI for Metadata and Smarter Workflows
PPT
Teaching material agriculture food technology
PDF
Blue Purple Modern Animated Computer Science Presentation.pdf.pdf
PDF
Agricultural_Statistics_at_a_Glance_2022_0.pdf
PDF
NewMind AI Monthly Chronicles - July 2025
PDF
Reach Out and Touch Someone: Haptics and Empathic Computing
PDF
How UI/UX Design Impacts User Retention in Mobile Apps.pdf
PDF
Advanced methodologies resolving dimensionality complications for autism neur...
PPTX
KOM of Painting work and Equipment Insulation REV00 update 25-dec.pptx
PPT
“AI and Expert System Decision Support & Business Intelligence Systems”
PDF
Modernizing your data center with Dell and AMD
PDF
Build a system with the filesystem maintained by OSTree @ COSCUP 2025
PPTX
VMware vSphere Foundation How to Sell Presentation-Ver1.4-2-14-2024.pptx
PDF
TokAI - TikTok AI Agent : The First AI Application That Analyzes 10,000+ Vira...
PPTX
Big Data Technologies - Introduction.pptx
PDF
Unlocking AI with Model Context Protocol (MCP)
PPTX
PA Analog/Digital System: The Backbone of Modern Surveillance and Communication
PDF
Building Integrated photovoltaic BIPV_UPV.pdf
PDF
Per capita expenditure prediction using model stacking based on satellite ima...
Encapsulation theory and applications.pdf
Peak of Data & AI Encore- AI for Metadata and Smarter Workflows
Teaching material agriculture food technology
Blue Purple Modern Animated Computer Science Presentation.pdf.pdf
Agricultural_Statistics_at_a_Glance_2022_0.pdf
NewMind AI Monthly Chronicles - July 2025
Reach Out and Touch Someone: Haptics and Empathic Computing
How UI/UX Design Impacts User Retention in Mobile Apps.pdf
Advanced methodologies resolving dimensionality complications for autism neur...
KOM of Painting work and Equipment Insulation REV00 update 25-dec.pptx
“AI and Expert System Decision Support & Business Intelligence Systems”
Modernizing your data center with Dell and AMD
Build a system with the filesystem maintained by OSTree @ COSCUP 2025
VMware vSphere Foundation How to Sell Presentation-Ver1.4-2-14-2024.pptx
TokAI - TikTok AI Agent : The First AI Application That Analyzes 10,000+ Vira...
Big Data Technologies - Introduction.pptx
Unlocking AI with Model Context Protocol (MCP)
PA Analog/Digital System: The Backbone of Modern Surveillance and Communication
Building Integrated photovoltaic BIPV_UPV.pdf
Per capita expenditure prediction using model stacking based on satellite ima...

Blau's Social Exchange Theory

  • 1. Blau’s Social Exchange Theory Sinem Bulkan Organisational Behaviour
  • 2. PETER MICHAEL BLAU (1918 Vienna, Austria - 2002) • Son of secular Jews. • Hitler marched into Vienna in 1938, Peter‘s family was elected to stay, his sister was sent to England on the Kindertransport. • Escape from the Anschluss, miraculous chance to go to college, a successfull career and mobility in the USA. • His family had been killed in Auschwitz in 1942.
  • 3. PETER MICHAEL BLAU (1918 Vienna, Austria - 2002) A founder of Organizational Sociology (with Coleman, Gouldner, Lipset, and Selznick) • The Dynamics of Bureacracy (dissertation, University of Columbia,1955) • The Comparative Organization Research Project(Research Program, University of Chicago,1970) Findings: o The Structure of Organizations (1971) o The Organization of Academic Work (1973) • Exchange and Power in Social Life (Field research to develop a theory, 1964)
  • 4. Exchange and Power in Social Life • Homans was an important influence on Blau‘s work. • Blau was interested in examining the processes that guide face-to-face interaction (like Homans). • Blau argued that such interaction is shaped by a reciprocal exchange of rewards, both tangible and intangible (like Homans). • Blau maintained Simmel‘s assertation that every interaction (a performance, a conversation, or even a romantic affair) can be understood as a form of exchange in which the participant gives the other “more than he had himself possessed‖).
  • 5. Exchange and Power in Social Life • Blau was interested in building a theoretical bridge that would link sociological studies of everyday interactions between individuals and studies that examined the collectivist or structural dimensions of society, such as economic systems, political institutions, or belief systems. • While the work of Homans and Simmel informed the ―interactionist‖ elements of his approach, his analysis of society‘s structural properties was most influenced by Max Weber and Talcott Parsons.
  • 6. Exchange and Power in Social Life • It rests on several assumptions about social actors and activities: (1) social actors engage in activities as a means of obtaining desired goals; (2) all social activities entail some cost to the actor, such as time, energy, or resources expended; (3) social actors seek to economize their activities as much as possible, by keeping costs below rewards; and
  • 7. Interactions • Blau wants to link theories of everyday life to theories of wider social structure, to bridge the 'micro-macro' divide. • Blau points out that a person for whom another has done a favour is expected to express gratitude & return a service when the occasion arises.
  • 8. Interactions • Exchange is conceived of as a social process of central significance in social life, derived from simpler processes (of attraction, for example), then leads to more complex processes (among groups, for example). • Social exchange may reflect any behaviour oriented to socially mediated goals. People act rationally, and often employ exchange in pursuit of rational ends. For example, among members of a political organization, they may exchange support to build solidarity, or, lovers may do things for each other to gain commitment in the relationship.
  • 9. Microstructures and Macrostructures • Microstructures • Blau calls face-to-face interactions ‘microstructures’. • They are structures in the sense that regulatory rules, dominance, power, legitimate control, and task divisions are all supported by the rewarding nature of the interactions based on them.
  • 10. Microstructures and Macrostructures • Macrostructures • Sooner or later the size will increase (Blau, 1964). • Macrostructures are viewed as ‗formal organisations, committees, bureaucracies, and the like‘ • These larger collectivities are composed of microstructures. • Blau‘s view of the social organisation of society is one of the interconnections among these larger macrostructures.
  • 11. The Structure of Social Associations • He recognizes that associations between individuals tend to become organized into complex structures, often institutionalized to perpetuate the for of organization beyond the life span of human beings. “To speak of social life is to speak of the association between people – their associating in work and in play, in love and in war, to trade or to worship, to help or to hinder. It is in the social relations men establish that their interests find expression and their desires become realized.” Peter M. Blau Exchange and Power in Social Life, 1964
  • 12. Rewards • Rewards: Sources of positive reinforcement including pleasures, satisfactions, gratifications. They occur on a continuum from concrete to symbolic. Blau (1964) suggested six types of social rewards: o personal attraction, o social acceptance, o social approval, o instrumental services, o respect/prestige, o compliance/power.
  • 13. Rewards • intrinsic rewards – are those things we find pleasurable in and of themselves, not because they provide the means for obtaining other benefits. • Examples of intrinsic rewards are celebrating a holiday with one‘s family, going on a walk with a friend, or love—the purest type of intrinsic reward.
  • 14. Rewards • extrinsic rewards – are ―detachable‖ from the association in which they are acquired. In other words, extrinsic benefits are derived not from another‘s company itself, but from the external rewards his company will provide. Here, associating with others serves as a means to a further end. • Thus, a salesperson is considerate because she wants to make a commission, not because she values the relationship she initiates with any particular customer.
  • 15. The Exchange of Social Rewards • Most human pleasures have their roots in social life. Thus, a good meal is really in the company, not the flavours (consider eating a great meal alone). • Similarly, much of human suffering also has its source in interaction with others (heartbreak at the loss of a lover, being cheated by someone, etc.) Social rewards to one person tend to entail a cost to another person. This does not mean that society is a zero sum game (that every person must loose in equal proportion to someone else's gain), but it does imply that people do not share social profits equally.
  • 16. The Exchange of Social Rewards • Social action can be intrinsically rewarding, but often social action depends on other considerations. E.g. Social aproval, social bond, benefits from the society • A person who does not reciprocate is considered rude, a cad, an ingrate. The social sanctions evident in the face of such action demonstrate that reciprocity is expected.
  • 17. The Exchange of Social Rewards • Blau says that there is an "apparent altruism" in social life. People are anxious to help others and to reciprocate the help they receive. Underneath this altruism, however, is an egoism - a selfishness!! ***A basic reward that people seek is social approval, & selfish disregard for others makes it impossible to obtain this important reward.*** • Social approval is of great significance, but its significance depends on it being genuine. (coerced praise is worthless!!)
  • 18. Costs and Resources • Costs: punishments or lost rewards. Blau suggested three types: o Investment: time and effort devoted to developing skills which will be used to reward others. o Direct costs: resource given to another in exchange for something else. o Opportunity: loss of rewards which would have been available elsewhere. • Resources: anything that can be transmitted through interpersonal behavior, including commodities, material, or symbolic matter.
  • 19. Power • ―the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his own will despite resistance‖ (Weber) • For Blau, an individual is able to exercise power over others when he alone is able to supply needed rewards to them. • If the others are unable to receive the benefits from another source, and if they are unable to offer rewards to the individual, they become dependent on the individual. • In short, power results from an unequal exchange stemming from an individuals or groups monopoly over a desired resource.
  • 20. Exchange and Power in Social Life • Principle 1. The more services supplied in return for receipt of some valued service, the more power held by those providing valued services. • Translation: In terms of teen lust, the more flowers, declarations of love, affection and promises supplied by the boy in return for precious few sexual favors supplied by the girl, the more power held by the girl. This makes complete sense to teenage boys.
  • 21. Exchange and Power in Social Life • Principle 2. The more alternative sources for reward possessed, the less those providing reward can extract compliance. • Translation: In terms of teen lust, the more alternative sources of sexual favours at the disposal of the boy, the less the girl can extract compliance (i.e., She: "Why didn't you call me like you said?" He: "I was busy!
  • 22. Exchange and Power in Social Life • Principle 3. The more those receivers can apply force and coercion, the less those providing can extract compliance. • Translation: In the case of the housewife and mother who expends countless hours of personal time in the service of her husband and children, she may have very few options to exercise. She continues to provide valued service to unappreciative family members because she has no other place to market her services.
  • 23. Exchange and Power in Social Life • Principle 4. The more receivers can do without, the less providers can extract compliance. • Translation: This works for nations, states, corporations, economies and FAMILIES - The one who has the resources is the one with the power. Conflict is inevitable, as each person's selfish interests cannot simultaneously be met.
  • 24. Indifference Curves, Supply and Demand Curves • Blau uses economics as the primary theoretical base. He uses indifference curves, supply and demand curves. • He says that "the only assumption made is that human beings choose between alternative potential associates or courses of action by evaluating the experiences or expected experiences with each in terms of a preference ranking and then selecting the best alternative". He sees three types of expectations -- general, particular, and comparative. General expectations are associate with one's role, occupation, formed by social norms of what person ought to receive. Particular expectations are associated with rewards received from a particular person. Comparative expectations are the rewards of a relationship minus the cost of maintaining the relationship
  • 25. Supply and Demand Economy • Demand, the quantity of a good that is desired by buyers. • Supply, total quantity of a product or service that the marketplace can offer. • If a good‘s price is higher, fewer people will demand it. • As the price rises, suppliers are willing to supply more. Social Exchange Theory • Blau gives the example of advice and compliance. • Quantity of advice horizontal, its price in respect and compliance vertical. • The competition among experts for superior status, which furnishes incentives to supply advice, and the competition among others for advice furnishes incentives to supply respect and compliance.
  • 26. Economic Exchange Economy • It is an economic transaction where goods or services are transferred from the provider for a return of relative value (compensation) from the receiver in a manner that advances the economic interests of both parties. • Clear identification on the value of the exchange item. Social • Social interactions are based on the rewards and the costs. • Ambigious meaning and value. • Uncertainty about our debts to others and meanings our actions take.
  • 27. Reciprocity • The social norm of reciprocity is the expectation that people will respond to each other in similar ways—responding to gifts and kindnesses from others with similar benevolence of their own, and responding to harmful, hurtful acts from others with either indifference or some form of retaliation. • Frequently, two people who meet are not equally attracted to each other. Thus, one person will try to impress the other -- this leads to an imbalance of power in the relationship.
  • 28. Unbalanced Reciprocity • Love • Blau notes, ―Love appears to make human beings unselfish, since they themselves enjoy giving pleasure to those they love, but this selfless devotion generally rests on an interest in maintaining the other’s love‖ • Yet, it is often the case that in intimate relations one individual is more in love than the other. As a result, the ―interests‖ in maintaining the relationship are not equal. • It is this dynamic that underlies ―playing hard to get,‖ where ―the lover who does not express unconditional affection early gains advantages in the established interpersonal relationship. Indeed, the more restrained lover also seems to have a better chance of inspiring another‘s love for himself or herself‖ • Like other benefits offered, affections that are given too freely decrease in value. Moreover, the more freely one gives his affection, the more he signals that he has few options, thus reducing his value on the “market.”
  • 29. Comparison Level • Comparison Level is a standard representing what people feel they should receive in the way of rewards and costs from a particular relationship. (Thiabaut and Kelly) • The CL is the lowest level of reward acceptable for the person. • The comparison level refers to the standard by which the individual evaluates group membership. • The CL is the main factor determining satisfaction with group membership. • The CL is determined by assessing all the known costs and rewards incurred with the membership. • Comparison levels can be based on previous experiences.
  • 30. Comparison Level for Alternative • The Comparison Level for Alternative (CLat) refers to ―the lowest level of relational rewards a person is willing to accept given available rewards from alternative relationships or being alone‖ • In other words, when using this evaluation tool an individual will consider other alternative payoffs or rewards outside of the current relationship or exchange. • The alternative comparison level (AC) refers to the comparison of one specific group to other available groups. • The AC is really the best rewards available to someone given the available alternatives. • The AC is the main factor determining group membership.
  • 31. Comparison Level for Alternative ‘I had a friend in high school that was very unsatisfied with her boyfriends. She had one boyfriend that she didn’t really like, but kept dating him. One day we had a long conversation about it. She said the reason she kept dating this boy was because she didn’t think she could find anyone better at the time. She didn’t really like him she just didn’t have anyone better at the moment. However, she believed that she could get a better relationships and could drop him whenever she wanted.’ This is an example of comparison level for alternatives because she based her satisfaction for her relationship/friendship on her perceived ability to find a better relationship.
  • 32. Marginal Utility Economy • The marginal utility of a good or service is the gain or loss from an increase or decrease in the consumption of that good and service. • Example, consumption on the increase in eating baklava Social • The more the expected rewards entity obtains from a particular act, the less valuable this action is and the less likely it will be. • Example, professor helping his student
  • 33. The Law of Collective Diminishing Marginal Utility • A person who has much of a benefit tends to value a further increment less than he did when he had only a little (Blau, 1964). • In a group, where a benefit, exists in abundance those who possess it value it less and those who do not value it more than they would were they in a group where it is scarce. • E.g. From the perspective of the organisation as a whole, the more benefits in the forms of promotions that have been received by a collectivity, the less impact another increment of promotion makers (Blau, 1964). • The marginal utility of increasing rewards eventually declines for the entire collectivists as well as for individuals, though the mechanisms are different; the effect for collectivities is produced by processes of social comparison, while that for individuals is produced by psychological reactions to meet needs and expectations.
  • 34. Blau’s Propositions • The desire for social rewards leads men to enter into exchange relationships with one another. • Reciprocal social exchanges create trust and social bonds between men. • Unilateral services create power and status differences. • Power differences make organizations possible. • The fair exercise of power evokes social approval and the unfair exercise of • power evokes social disapproval. • If subordinates collectively agree that their superior exercises power • generously, they will legitimate his power. • Legitimate power is required for stable organization. • If subordinates collectively experience unfair exercise of power, an opposition movement will develop.
  • 36. Conditions of Exchange – 1 – • Some social rewards can not be bartered in exchange (intrinsic attraction to a person, approval of his opinions, and respect for his abilities).Because they are spontenaus reactions rather than calculated means of pleasing him) • Rewarding actions, can be bartered in social exchange. Social acceptance in a group to which a person is attracted, instrumental services of various kinds, and compliance with his wishes constitute rewards for him even if he knows that they are furnished in exchange for benefits expected of him.
  • 37. Conditions of Exchange – 2 – • Rewards that are instrinsic to the association between individuals, can be distinguished from extrinsic ones. • Rewards that individuals may mutually supply for eachother can be distinguished from those that are necessarily unilateral, which are manifest in the general respect for a person that bestows superior prestige on him and in the prevailing compliance with his requests that bestows superior power on him.
  • 38. Blau’s Fair Rate of Social Exchange (Fairness, Justice) • The relationship between the fair rate and the going rate of social exchange is somewhat parallel to that between the normal price and the average price in economic markets. • But the fair and going rates both rest on social expectations. • ‗Fair exchange‘ is fundamentally similar to Homans‘ rule of ‗distributive justice‘. ‗A man in an exchange relation with another will expect that the rewards of each man be proportional to his costs – the greater the rewards, the greater the costs – and that the net rewards, or profits, of each man be proportional to his investments – the greater the investments, the greater the profit.‘ • For Blau, any item obliges the other to a fair return, and value in excess of what can be returned must be compensated by compliance. Control over scarcity translates to power. •
  • 39. Blau’s Going Rate of Social Exchange (Expectations) • The going rate of exchange in a group gives rise to expectations that certain returns will be received for certain services. • These standards of expectation are not moral norms but merely anticipations that influence conduct, the normative expectations that a service that required a certain investment deserves a certain return are moral standards, the violation of which evoke social disapproval.
  • 40. Indifference Curves Any point on an indifference curve indicates that the individual is indifferent to whether he possesses the specified amount of the first or the specified amount of the second commodity, that is, that the two have the same value for him. 10 dollar going to the theatre=having dinner at a restaurant 2 times theatre, not dinner 2 dinner, not theatre BUT the more often he has dined out already, the lower becomes the value of the dining out relative to going to theatre, in accordance with the marginal principle.
  • 41. Indifference Curves Imagine someone has 1 dollar. Does he want 3 magazines or 10 candy bars? • Ten candy bars gives equal value with 3 magazines (if he is indifferent) • Perhaps the person would be equally attracted to other combinations. (seven candy bars-1 magazine) With these approaches we can draw up an indifference map (all the choices between the two alternatives that the person is indifferent about). CD – Opportunity line – outer limit of an individual’s resources. Point P – Maximum satisfaction obtainable
  • 42. Indifference Curves – Bilateral Exchange Blau uses indifference curves to describe the interactions between two persons in extrinsic exchange. For example, between two workmates, one of superior knowledge and the other of less. Here help is exchanged with compliance. • The exchange is two-sided (bilateral). • Help is exchanged for compliance. • Supplies of help and compliance are entirely controlled by the people giving them. • Each person will try to maximize utility by getting on highest indifference line he can. CC Line- Contract Line – Blau concludes that the optimum conditions for exchange are the points at which the two sets of indifference curves are tangent to eachother.
  • 43. Indifference Curves – Exchange in Bilateral Monopoly Oa – Consultant Oh – Colleague who consults K – problem-solving ability X – Total problem-solving ability available OaKa – greater the ability of the expert H – the compliance each is willing to express to raise the other‘s status ** Expert applies some of his time and ability to the problems of the colleague, and toward the right, showing that the expert‘s status is raised by the compliance with which of the colleague reciprocates for the advice. Solid indifference curves – expert Dotted indifference curves - colleague
  • 44. Price Elasticity • Proportional change in supply and demand resulting from a change in the price.This change in turn being affected by changes in demand and supply. • According to Blau, if a change in supply (or demand) affects the volume of transactions more than it affects the price of commodity, supply (or demand) is elastic. If price is more affected than volume, supply (or demand) is inelastic. • A sector with high status may have little demand for additional status because the marginal utility of status is low for that sector. Demand is price-inelastic • At the same time, a low-status sector may have increasing or constant marginal utility for status increments. Demand is price elastic.
  • 45. Criticisms • Not just economic but social exchange is induced by pursuit of material resources (wealth) and/or hedonistic motives (pleasure). As some exchange theorists (Homans, Emerson) suggest, the economic postulate of utility maximization is a special case of the general hedonistic ‗law‘ of pleasure optimization, as is loss minimization relative to pain avoidance. • Extending exchange theory to societal level is beyond recognition. Exchange theory is primarily concerned with face-to-face relations. (Ritzer,1983)
  • 46. Referances • Blau, P., (1964), Exchange and Power in Social Life, John Wiley&Sons • Scott, R.&Calhoun, C. (2004), Peter Michael Blau 1918-2002, Biographical Memories, Volume 85, The National Academies Press • Skidmore, W., (1979), Theoretical Thinking in Sociology, Cambridge University Press • Spread, P., (1984), Blau's Exchange Theory, Support and the Macrostructure, The British Journal of Sociology, Vol.35, No.2, pp157-173 • Zafirovski M., (2005), Social Exchange Theory under Scrutiny: A Positive Critique of its Economic-Behaviourist Formulations, Electronic Journal of Socialogy • Wikipedia and other internet sources
  • 47. Unpacking Employee Responses to Organizational Exchange Mechanisms: The Role of Social and Economic Exchange Perceptions Linda Jiwen Song, Anne S. Tsui, Kenneth S. Law, Journal of Management, Vol. 35, No.1, February 2009, 56-93
  • 48. Introduction - Exchange Theory • Specifies that employees respond to their employer differently depending on the treatment they receive. • Treatments can create o Social exchange relationship (long term orientation, trust, socio-emotional resources) o Economic exchange relationship (short term exchange, economic or materialistic resources) (Blau,1964; Lynch&Barksdale,2006)
  • 49. Aim • To unpack the exchange process by examining whether specific organisational-level mechanism relate to employees‘ perceptions of social and economic exchange relationships • And how this perception relates to employees‘ responses in terms of commitment to the organisation and in-role or extra-role performance. • To examine multiple exchange mechanism and related exchange perceptions between organisations an.d employees
  • 50. Social and Economic Exchange in Employee-Organisation Linkage • Blau (1964) identified two kinds of exchange relationships. o Social exchange: The focus is on socio-emotional resources over a lengthy period. o Economic exchange: The focus is on short-term exchanges of material or economic goods. • Organisation can define the nature of the exchange relationship through formal employement contracts. • Or can also create this relationship indirectly through organisational culture or leadership behavious.
  • 51. Social and Economic Exchange in Employee-Organisation Linkage
  • 52. Organisational Exchange Mechanisms as Antecedents • Leadership The ability to inspire followers to achieve collective goals (Yukl, 2002). Transformational Relationship, inspires followers to focus on an extended relationship with the organisation. Transactional Leadership, focuses on immediate rewards or punishments for job performance. • Organisational Culture A pattern of beliefs and expectations shared by organisation members (Schwartz and Davis, 1981). A firms reliance on - either values to influence employees (the reasons for doing certain things) - or rules and procedures to direct employees‘ actions ( the ways to do certain things) (Cameron&Freeman, 1991)
  • 53. Organisational Exchange Mechanisms as Antecedents • Employment Approaches Formal and informal, economic, social, and psychological connections between employees and employers (Tsui&Wang,2002) Mutual investment approach, a long-term and extensive engagement between the employer and the employee. Quasi-spot contract approach, a short term and narrow exchange between the two parties.
  • 54. Perceptions of Exchange Relationships as Mediators • Social Exchange Entails a high level of trust, provides extensive investment in the employee, focuses on a long-term relationship, and emphasizes the socio-emotional aspects of the relationship (Shore et al., 2006). • Economic Exchange Entails a low level of trust, short-term, close-ended, well-defined obligarions.Emphasis is on narrow financial obligations (e.g. Pay and benefits) without any long-term investments (e.g., employment security or career planning)
  • 55. Affective Commitment, Performance, and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour as Employee Responses • Affective Commitment Regarded as a reflection of the psychological bonds of employees with the organisation (Meyer&Allen, 1997). Support and fairness from the organisation can contribute to employee‘s affective commitment. • Job Performance Fulfilling task requirements (task performance), making contributions that go beyond specified task accomplishments. Rewards leads to higher employee task performance. • Organisational Citizenship Behavior Perceptions of organisational fairness and leader support elicit OCB from employees.
  • 56. Hypotheses Linking CEO Leadership Styles to Exchange Relationship Perceptions and Responses by Employees
  • 57. Hypotheses Linking Organisational Culture to Exchange Relationship Perceptions and Employee Responses
  • 58. Hypotheses Linking Employment Approaches to Exchange Relationship Perceptions and Employee Responses
  • 59. Study Context • Tested in China. • Conducted two studies o Study 1 had the goal of validating the measures of the employement approaches, leadership behaviour, organisational culture, exchange perceptions, and affective commitment constructs. o Study 2 included the measures of employee performance and citizenship behaviour and tested the hypotheses.
  • 60. Study 1 – Scale Validation • Sample and Procedures • Two samples Sample 1, to validate the employemnt approach, leadership style, exchange relationship, and affective commitment scales, 1,128 MBA students in 11 Chinese universities, response rate 90% Sample 2, to validate organisational culture scale, 906 executives. Response rate 95%
  • 61. Study 1 – Scale Validation • Measures • Waldman (2001) transformational and transactional leadership items from Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire • Combination of O‘Relly and colleagues‘ (1991) organisational culture scale and Tsui, Wang&Xin scale • Employment approach scale (Wang et al., 2003) • Scales by Shore et al. (2006) to measure social and economic exchange perceptions • Affective commitment scale by Meyer and Allen (1997) • Confirmatory Factor Analyses carried out. The scale validation study provided supportive evidence for the factor structure of all the measures.
  • 62. Study 2 – Hypothesis Testing • Sample and Procedures • 441 middle managers and 141 top managers in 31 companies in China. • Top management team members described their CEO‘s leadership style. • Middle managers described the organisational culture and reported their perceptions of their exchange relationships with and commitment to, the firm.
  • 63. Study 2 – Hypothesis Testing • Measures • Task Performance Scale of Tsui (1997) • Organisational Citizenship behaviour by Lam, Hui, and Law (1999) • Control variables firm size, CEO‘s age and gender, also middle managers‘ age, gender, and educational level.
  • 64. Results on Hypotheses 1a to 1 d • H1a is fully supported. • H1b is not supported. • H1c is partially supported. A perception of social exchange mediates the relationship between transformational leadershio and affective commitment (full mediation) and task performance (partial mediation) but not OCB. • H1d not supported.
  • 65. Results on Hypotheses 2a to 2d • H2a is fully supported. • H2b is supported. • H2c is partially supported with social exchange mediating the influence of integrative culure on affective commitment and task performance but not on OCB. • H2d is partially supported.
  • 66. Results on Hypotheses 3a to 3d • H3a is supported. • H3b is fully supported. • H3c is partially supported on commitment and task performance but not on OCB. • H3d is partially supported on affective commitment and OCB not on task performance.
  • 67. Discussion • Social or economic exchange perceptions may not fully capture the psychological experience of employees influenced by various forms of organisational exchange mechanisms. • Some other mediators may include person-organisation fit, organisational identification, or identification with the leadership.