Explaining supervisory support to work‐family conflict

Abstract

PurposePrevious studies of manufacturing management have ignored a critical theme: the relationship between supervisory support and work‐family conflict. This paper aims to explore the link between interpersonal relationships, guanxi, leader‐member exchange (LMX) theory, emotional intelligence (EI), supervisory support, and work‐family conflict.Design/methodology/approachThe unit of analysis of this research is the dyad; the paper gathered 244 valid questionnaires from workers in traditional industries in Taiwan and China. Multiple regression analyses were used to analyze the data and to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe paper finds that supervisory support for work‐family conflict has faded in traditional industries. And, it finds that leaders with a higher level of LMX and expressive ties to their subordinates tend to offer a higher level of supervisory support, but that leaders with higher level of instrumental ties to their subordinates tend to offer lower levels of support. Finally, the survey results also show that a leader's level of EI is not related to supervisory support.Originality/valueThe research combines Western concepts of relationships with the Eastern concept of guanxi with the goal of clarifying the transfer of management concepts and exploring the explanatory power of guanxi in Chinese society. Although the empirical results of this study do not totally agree with expectations, they treat the benefits of supervisors' EI for organizations from a new point of view.