Leadership is often the subject of detailed analysis, including leadership styles and the effect of leadership on organizations, but far less attention is traditionally paid to the role that followers play. Leaders are only as effective as their followers, and followers thus have the ability to shape a leader's success through their actions or inaction. This research considers the role that followership plays in a business environment.
Brandes, Dharwadkar and Wheatley (2004) considered four social exchanges that occur within organizations, and found that local social exchanges, including the relationship with supervisors, have a greater impact on work performance than did global social exchanges, such as that between an employee and top management. Nonetheless, the global social exchange between the employee and the organization influences the in-role performance of the employee. The relationship with the supervisor has a significant effect on both in-role and extra-role performance, which emphasizes the importance of leadership at this level. When supervisors are able to engender a strong sense of followership among employees, the result is improved performance by the employee in both in-role and extra-role situations (Brandes, Dharwadkar, & Wheatley, 2004). A participatory role for followers with regard to supervisors can thus lead to improved performance.
When considering implementation of an ethics program and the role of the ethics and compliance officer, Tyler, Dienhart & Thomas (2008) found that using only a compliance-based approach based on punishment and reporting yielded less positive results than using a values-based approach. In a values-based approach, the core values of the organization with regard to ethics are established and publicized, and individuals are left with discretion as to how to implement those values withi
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