Abstract: In organizations, the dynamic between leaders and members is not static; it evolves over time and in response to significant events. However, current research lacks a dynamic exploration of the formation and development of LMX, resulting in an insufficient understanding of the events that drive such changes. To address this gap, our study takes "key events" that initiate changes in LMX quality as a starting point and systematically analyzes the antecedents and potential impact mechanisms of these dynamic changes in LMX relationships. We begin by exploring the basic trends in LMX relationship changes and identifying the important events that such changes through deductive theory construction and inductive qualitative research methods. Building upon this initial exploration, we conduct empirical research to investigate the dynamic changes during different stages of LMX development. For the establishment stage of LMX, we focus on the events of direct and indirect interaction with the leader, exploring the process of establishing and nurturing LMX for new employees. Moving on to the normalization stage, we adopt an event-focused perspective to examine the internal and external events as well as the underlying patterns that trigger further LMX changes. By using key events as a starting point, our study develops a theoretical framework that captures the dynamic changes in LMX during the normalization stage, ultimately providing valuable insights and recommendations for managers and team management practices.

Key words: leader-member exchange, events, changes, role theory