The success of organizations rests largely on their ability to coordinate with the external environment. At the foundation of this external coordination are the interpersonal work relationships that enable organizations to gather critical information, resources, and engage in commerce with clients. Unfortunately, little research has been conducted on how firms may best leverage their employee-client relationships to enhance performance and other outcomes of interest. One factor influencing relationships is that of distance, which describes psychological and structural differences between two individuals in a dyad. Theory suggests that higher levels of distance may negatively influence both the quality of relationships and their outcomes. Yet, that same theory suggests that distance, like relationships, can be managed.
Thus, the purpose of this dissertation is to better understand how distance and relationship quality influence employee and transaction outcomes. The successful management of employee-client relationships may also positively influence other interpersonal outcomes. For example, theory suggests that conflict between employees and clients may be reduced by lessening distance and enhancing the quality of work relationships. The successful management of dyadic work relationships should also reverberate to the employee’s social network, enabling employees to experience higher levels of productivity and increasing the probability of retention.
Finally, this dissertation tested how the interpersonal competency, political skill, acts as a boundary condition in mitigating the negative effects of distance on relationship quality. In particular, theory suggests that individuals who are politically skilled may more effectively accentuate similarities to others and reduce perceived differences, allowing these individuals to reduce the interpersonal distance that negatively affects relationship quality. These theoretical connections were quantified and explicated in this dissertation, with a complementary discussion of contributions, strengths and weaknesses, and directions for future research.
