The purpose of this paper is to identify the key roles that enable e-leaders to build high-quality exchanges with their team members. We use behavioral complexity theory to analyze the roles played by leaders of virtual teams, and helping them to develop effective leader-member exchanges (LMX). We draw up a research model to explain how e-leaders build cooperative and collaborative relationships through social-related and work-related activities. We then test the research model using a large

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... vey of 193 virtual team members. Our findings show that apart from coordination and monitoring roles, open systems roles, roles of rational pursuit of goals and human relations roles have a positive and significant effect on LMX.