We examined the effect of (in)congruence between supervisors’ and executives’ leadership effectiveness on perceived organizational effectiveness in post-merger integration. Based on fairness heuristic theory, using polynomial regression and response surface method, we found that the congruence between supervisors’ and executives’ leadership effectiveness at a high level is associated with increased employees perceived organizational effectiveness, with perceived fairness as a mediator. We also examined the situation of incongruence and found top executives’ leadership effectiveness weighs heavier in driving employees’ perception, relative to supervisory leadership effectiveness. Results from the study suggest that this fairness heuristic model is useful in interpreting leadership alignment (interpreting leadership effectiveness congruence?) from employees’ cognition (perspective, or the viewpoint of employees) and that leadership's relation to organizational outcomes may best be studied when multiple levels of leadership are considered together during significant organizational changes, such as after Merger and Acquisition (M&A).
