Chinese Employees Research Articles

Qualitative Job Insecurity, Negative Work-Related Affect and Work-to-Family Conflict: The Moderating Role of Core Self-Evaluations

Job insecurity has become one of the most prominent job stressors for employees. This study focuses on qualitative job insecurity (QJI) and its spillover effects to the family domain. Despite a positive association between QJI and work-to-family conflict revealed in the literature, research on why and when QJI is related to work-to-family conflict is limited. Drawing from Conservation of Resources theory, this paper empirically examines the mediating role of negative affective process underlying the relationship between QJI and work-to-family conflict as well as the moderating role of core self-evaluations in this process. A four-wave survey study was conducted in a sample of 126 Chinese employees. The results showed that psychological contract violation and job dissatisfaction mediated the relationship between QJI and work-to-family conflict. Unexpectedly, core self-evaluations were found to strengthen (not attenuate) the positive relationships of QJI with employee psychological contract violation and job dissatisfaction.

Hybrid Social Media Use and Guanxi Types: How Do Employees Use Social Media in the Chinese Workplace?

We investigate how work-related and personal-related social media (SM) use contributes to Chinese employees’ guanxi identification and extra-role behaviors (ERB). Our findings indicate that work-related SM use is positively associated with team member guanxi identification, which further contributes to employees’ ERB targeting the team. Personal-related SM use is positively related to insider guanxi identification and further contributes to ERB targeting the individual. When team communication is highly dependent on SM, the positive effect of personal-related SM use on guanxi identification is weakened. The results contribute to a nuanced understanding of the crucial role of SM use in the Chinese workplace.

When job resources function as a stress buffer: A resource allocation perspective of the job demands-resources model

The extant literature has found highly mixed findings regarding the stress buffering effect of job resources. Drawing upon the resource allocation perspective, we argue that the buffering effect of job resources would emerge only when employees allocate the resources to wellbeing goal; when job resources are allocated to performance goal, they would no longer buffer the demand-strain relationship. We consider conscientiousness as a dispositional factor affecting resource allocation such that employees low in conscientiousness are more likely to allocate resources to wellbeing goal than to performance goal. In a sample of Chinese employees from high-tech industry (the mean age was 31.46, with 34.80% female), we found that job resources buffered the demand-strain relationship for employees low in conscientiousness. For those high in conscientiousness who tend to allocate more resources to performance goal, job resources did not affect the demand-strain relationship but strengthened the demand-performance relationship. This research makes a meaningful extension to the JD-R model and offers intuitive implications for organizations to manage job stress more effectively.

Get a little help from your perceived employability: Cross-lagged relations between multi-dimensional perceived employability, job insecurity, and work-related well-being

ABSTRACT Based on a two-dimensional perspective of job insecurity and perceived employability, the present study examines the role of perceived employability in preventing job insecurity and subsequent work-related well-being (i.e., emotional exhaustion and vigour). Building on the Job Demands-Resources Model, our hypotheses were tested with 3-wave panel data of 1,233 Chinese employees with six months in between each measurement time. Results showed that: 1) perceived internal employability had a cross-lagged relation with qualitative job insecurity, and perceived external employability had a cross-lagged relation with quantitative job insecurity; 2) there was no cross-lagged relationship between job insecurity and work-related well-being indicators, while emotional exhaustion was positively related to both qualitative and quantitative job insecurity; 3) the relationship between perceived external employability and vigour was reciprocal; perceived internal employability was positively related to future vigour, but not the other way around. Hence, the present study contributes to the job insecurity and perceived employability literature by identifying perceived employability as a critical antecedent of job insecurity and work-related well-being as well as finding the reverse relationship between job insecurity and emotional exhaustion.

The Effect of Abusive Supervision on Employee Creativity: The Mediating Role of Negative Affect and Moderating Role of Interpersonal Harmony.

This study investigates the relationship between abusive supervision and employee creativity by shedding light on the mediating role of negative affect and the moderating role of interpersonal harmony. Based on affective events theory, it was hypothesized that abusive supervision impacts employees’ negative affect and their creativity. Data from a questionnaire survey of 398 Chinese employee–supervisor dyads were collected and analyzed. The results support our hypotheses, address unexplored theoretical predictions, and suggest that organizations should deal with the factors undermining employees’ emotions to improve their creativity.

The fear of COVID-19 and job insecurity impact on depression and anxiety: An empirical study in China in the COVID-19 pandemic aftermath.

The employees' psychological health and resilience in times of emergency and general uncertainty was chosen due to the immense implications for economics, entrepreneurs, psychologists and psychiatrists, and policymakers. This study aims to provide an insight into uncertainty-induced anxiety and depression among Chinese employees in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak. Analysis performed in the context of China in the COVID-19 pandemic aftermath is significant due to the universal nature of external shock impact on psychological welfare, applicable across nations and business sectors and in similar contexts. The statistical analysis was performed with SEM software AMOS version 23. The research model consisting of fear of COVID-19, job insecurity, anxiety, depression, was empirically tested. A purposive sampling technique was applied with the online questionnaire shared with employees in companies located in China. Respondents were working in educational services, information technology, engineering, electronics, and other sectors on white-collar jobs. The data collection was conducted from May to August 2020, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. The research sample consisting of 283 respondents was used for analysis. Path analysis was performed, and standardized parameter estimates, standard errors, and p-values were calculated. The results indicate a positive and significant impact of job insecurity on depression and anxiety. Furthermore, results indicate that the fear of COVID-19 significantly impacts anxiety and depression but does not impact job insecurity. The findings can be used in a multidisciplinary effort to mitigate the psychological damage. Furthermore, they complement the ongoing epidemiological and scientific discourse on people's personal health and choice of coping.

Investigating the factors of enterprise social media strain: The role of enterprise social media's visibility as a moderator.

The significant effect of enterprise social media (ESM) usage has been extensively researched. However, recent studies and analysis have also emphasized the importance of understanding the negative aspects of ESM’s use. By applying uses and gratifications theory (UGT), this study proposes a research model that tests how employees’ ESM usage (hedonic, social, and information values) leads to ESM-related strain through perceived information overload. The study collected data from 315 Chinese employees using a survey method and analyzed the results using AMOS 21.0 software. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to analyze the proposed hypothesis. The results indicate that perceived hedonic, social, and information values are significant predictors of perceived information overload. Such overload is also significantly associated with ESM-related strain. The results also indicate that ESM visibility strengthens the significant relationship between perceived information overload and ESM-related strain. Furthermore, managers can also train individuals to use ESM appropriately. We recommend that employees can better control and manage their ESM usage by recognizing the causes of excessive use.

TRUST EFFECT ON SINO-MONGOLIAN IJV PERFORMANCE

For the last few years, the number of international joint ventures has been increasing and IJV success factors draw scholars’ attention. In many different cultures, especially in IJV, many scholars agreed that trust is an important factor in successful IJV. Most of international investments in Mongolia are from Chinese organizations. The purpose of this paper is to examine level of trust and its’ impact on organization’s performance in Sino-Mongolian IJV. Results show that trust does have impact on performance and Mongolian employees have lower level of trust compared to Chinese employees. Also results show that, people with experience in abroad have higher level of trust and performance satisfaction. Moreover, employees had higher level of trust, but managers had higher level of satisfaction in IJV performance. The findings of this paper will help future researchers and investors, and have provide implications and limitations for further research. KEYWORDS: Trust, IJV, Performance, Sino-Mongolian, Effect;

The Impact of Job Burnout on Employees' Safety Behavior Against the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Psychological Contract.

Employee safety behavior is critical for occupational health in work environments threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the widespread and increasingly serious job burnout of employees is a complex and difficult problem for enterprises to handle during any epidemic. Therefore, it is helpful to identify and discuss job burnout and other main psychological factors that affect safety behavior to find appropriate solutions. Using the PLS-SEM method, the study explored the relationship between job burnout and safety behavior against the epidemic, as well as the mediating role of psychological contract. According to the local guidelines for controlling COVID-19, this study revised the safety behavior scale. Data were collected by structured questionnaires in May to July 2020 from Chinese employees (N = 353) who resumed their work after the outbreak of the pandemic. The findings confirmed that job burnout has a negative impact on safety behavior, and psychological contract play a partial mediating role in mitigating the negative impact. Specifically, the transaction dimension and relationship dimension of psychological contract negatively affected safety behavior while the development dimension of the psychological contract was not directly related to safety behavior. It is suggested that enterprises should take effective measures to reduce employees’ job burnout and implement flexible psychological contract management and intervention, so as to effectively improve the performance of work safety behavior. Based on the multidimensional model, the findings of this study shed light on promoting safety behavior to prevent the spread of epidemics.

The Effect of Work Connectivity Behavior After-Hours on Employee Psychological Distress: The Role of Leader Workaholism and Work-to-Family Conflict.

BackgroundThe work connectivity behavior after-hours (WCBA) has become increasingly intense among Chinese employees in recent years, especially in the rapidly developed internet industry. This has made the after-hours work connectivity behavior, a popular topic in the organizational psychology field. Based on boundary theory, we explored the mechanism of after-hour work connectivity behavior on employees' psychological distress and identified the work-to-family conflict (WFC) as mediator. Besides, leader characteristics are essential environmental variables and always play as moderators, among which leader workaholism is prevalent in the internet industry. However, the impact of leader workaholism on employees' behavior is still inconsistent and even contradictory. Thus, this study further examines the moderating effect of leader workaholism between the after-hour work connectivity behavior and employees' psychological distress.MethodsWe conducted a multitime, multisource questionnaire survey in Internet companies in China. Before collecting the data, all participants were assured that their responses would be confidential and used only for academic research. At time 1, the team leader rated his or her workaholism, and team members rated WCBA. At time 2 (3 weeks later), team members were asked to complete the questionnaire containing scales of WFC, psychological distress. The two rounds of data collection resulted in 211 matched team leader–team member responses. We performed a path analysis using Mplus 7.4.ResultsBoth the duration and frequency of WCBA can positively predict employees' psychological distress through WFC (the mediating effect = 0.628, 95% CI = [0.593, 0.663]). Specifically, WCBA can increase the level of WFC, which leads to the employees' psychological distress further. Leader workaholism can negatively moderate the relationship between WCBA and WFC, further moderating the mediating effect of WFC.ConclusionsWork-to-family conflict played as a mediator in the relationship between WCBA and employees' psychological distress. These results may be helpful to recognize the negative effect of WCBA and the role of leader workaholism in the relationship.

How Chinese Employees' Voice Behavior Is Motivated: The Role of Perceived Overqualification.

Drawing on the conservation of resources theory (COR), we examined the effect of leader-member exchange (LMX) on the voice behavior via role breadth self-efficacy, and how the perceived overqualification moderates the relationship between LMX and voice behavior. We tested the theoretical model with data gathered from 407 individuals in China. The results revealed that LMX had an indirect effect on voice behavior through role breadth self-efficacy, and perceived overqualification moderated the positive association between LMX and role breadth self-efficacy. In addition, the mediating effect of LMX on voice behavior through role breadth self-efficacy was stronger when the level of perceived overqualification was low and weaker when it was high. The findings have theoretical and practical implications for increasing employees’ voice behavior in organizations.

Social and psychological resources moderate the relation between anxiety, fatigue, compliance and turnover intention during the COVID-19 pandemic

PurposeThe workplace health management lessons to be learned from the pandemic are important. However, few studies have examined the relationship between workplace anxiety, resources and behaviors during the pandemic. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the relationship between anxiety, fatigue, compliance, turnover intention and social and psychological resources during the COVID-19 pandemic by applying the conservation of resources (COR) theory.Design/methodology/approachPath analysis was carried out using data obtained from a questionnaire survey conducted on 2,973 Chinese employees of Japanese companies in China.FindingsThe analysis showed that anxiety had a positive correlation with compliance, but simultaneously had a positive correlation with fatigue and turnover intention; psychological resources moderated to weaken the relationships between anxiety and compliance/fatigue; social resources moderated to strengthen the negative correlation between compliance and willingness to leave.Research limitations/implicationsThis study targeted employees of Japanese companies in China. Therefore, in the future, it is necessary to verify generalizability as to whether it applies to employees of companies of other nationalities in other countries. Also, the authors used newly developed scales instead of the general psychological scales. Therefore, it is necessary to verify the reproducibility using a more general scale.Practical implicationsAnxiety encourages compliance practices but also increases fatigue and willingness to leave. Therefore, a method of inciting anxiety and making employees follow rules reduces the strength of an organization. To overcome this dilemma, managers need to provide psychological and social resources.Originality/valueThis study is the first to show how effective social and psychological resources are in the management of anxiety and fatigue in achieving high performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was conducted in the very early days of the COVID-19 pandemic with the cooperation of employees working for Japanese companies in China. However, the importance of utilizing resources in a crisis revealed by this study can be applied to all kinds of disasters.Highlights:-The current study is the result of a survey conducted on employees of Japanese companies in China in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.-Anxiety had a positive effect of promoting compliance and a negative effect of increasing fatigue and willingness to leave the job.-Psychological resources mitigated these effects of anxiety and, as a result, reduced fatigue and willingness to leave.-Social resources enhanced the effect of compliance on reducing willingness to leave.-Workplace health problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic should be addressed by increasing employee resources on a regular basis, rather than aggravating anxiety.

Preferences and Perceptions of Workplace Participation: A Cross-Cultural Study.

Despite the amount of theorization on the forms and effects of participation, relatively little research directly examines what the concept of workplace participation entails in the minds of employees, and whether employees across cultures think positively when the concept of participation is activated in their mental representation. Three studies (n = 1,138 full-time employees) investigated the perceptions and preferences of full-time employees from the United States and China, cultures that might be expected to differ in their societal participation norm. Using a free association test and text analyses, Study 1 demonstrated that Chinese and American employees differed in their construal of workplace participation, yet both culture groups associated positive valence to the concept of participation. Study 2 showed that employees’ preference for workplace participation is positively related to their perceptions of its outcomes on productivity, job satisfaction, and workplace conflict. Study 3 had employees interact with either a prototypically high or low participation work environment and tested whether clear cultural contrasts might occur. American employees expressed unambiguous endorsement and predicted positive outcomes of a high participation workplace, whereas Chinese employees expressed slightly higher endorsement to a low participation work environment and associated it with higher productivity. This research provides insights on how workplace participation is construed by employees from different cultures, especially from cultures where democratic participation is not the normative default. Different perspectives on workplace participation across cultures may inform practitioners of the goals and approaches when shaping a more participatory workplace and a more democratic society.

Supervisor positive feedback and employee performance: Promotion focus as a mediator

We explored the influence of supervisor positive feedback on employees' in-role and extrarole performance, and the mediating role of promotion focus in these relationships. Data were gathered at three time points from 373 Chinese employees and their immediate supervisors. We used hierarchical linear regression and the PROCESS macro to test our hypotheses. The results show that supervisor positive feedback was positively related to promotion focus, which was also positively related to employees' in-role and extrarole performance. In addition, promotion focus mediated the supervisor positive feedback–employee performance relationship. Our findings suggest that organizational managers should provide employees with positive feedback to improve their promotion focus, thereby enhancing employees' in-role and extrarole performance.

Dynamic relationships between leader–member exchange and employee role-making behaviours: The moderating role of employee emotional ambivalence

We set out to understand how role-making works and what roles employees and leaders play in this process. Employees often make changes to their work roles, such as by negotiating their job responsibilities and seeking challenging tasks. In this study, we suggest that role-making behaviours influence and are influenced by the dyadic relationship between leaders and employees, otherwise known as leader–member exchange (LMX). We collected three waves of survey data from a sample of Chinese employees who were recent college graduates ( n = 203). The results from cross-lagged panel analyses showed that (1) LMX and job-change negotiation were reciprocally related to each other and (2) initial LMX was associated with increased challenge-seeking behaviours, although these behaviours did not lead to greater LMX later on. In addition, we found evidence that when employees experienced a high level of emotional ambivalence (a conflicting, mixed and complex emotional state), the direct and reciprocal relationships between LMX and role-making behaviours were weakened. Our findings advance the understanding of the development of leader–employee relationships in the workplace and have implications for strengthening employee perceptions of high-quality relationships with their leaders by making changes to their workplace roles.

The Generative Mechanism of Boomerang Intention: From the Perspective of Legacy Identification.

Boomerang employment has become an increasingly significant third way to obtain employees, yet little research has focused on why does ex-employee want to come back. Drawing from social identity theory, we propose that legacy identification could increase boomerang intention and both perceived corporate prestige and psychological contract violation could affect boomerang intention through legacy identification. The cooperative relationship between the former organization and the current organization could enhance these effects. Results from a two-time points survey of 202 Chinese employees showed that legacy identification could increase boomerang intention, perceived corporate prestige could increase boomerang intention via legacy identification, psychological contract violation could decrease boomerang intention via legacy identification. Besides, the positive effect of legacy identification on boomerang intention, the positive indirect effect of corporate prestige on boomerang intention via legacy identification, and the negative indirect effect of psychological contract violation on boomerang intention via legacy identification are all stronger when there is a cooperative relationship. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Are proactive employees proactive performers? the moderating role of supervisor-subordinate marital status similarity

ABSTRACT In accordance with the similarity attraction paradigm, this paper investigates when and how proactive employees can be rated as proactive performers by proposing supervisor-subordinate marital status similarity as a relational moderator and leader-member exchange as the mediator. It therefore advances understanding of performance evaluation of proactive employees. Data from a sample of 471 Chinese employees and their 161 supervisors are used to examine the models hypothesized. The results show that LMX mediates the interaction effect between a proactive personality and supervisor-subordinate marital status similarity on supervisors’ evaluations of proactive performance. When proactive employees and their supervisors have similar (dissimilar) marital status, the indirect relationship between proactive personality and supervisor-rated proactive performance via LMX is stronger (weaker). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

What Drives Employees' Innovative Behaviors in Emerging-Market Multinationals? An Integrated Approach.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has severely damaged the global industrial supply chain and accelerated the digital transformation of the global economy. In such rapidly changing environments, multinational corporations (MNCs) should encourage employees to be more innovative in various fields than ever before. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, employees have become psychologically anxious, their working conditions have deteriorated, and they are in danger of losing their jobs. In this study, we aim to address the question of whether servant leadership facilitates the innovative behavior of employees working in emerging-market MNCs when servant leadership is adopted within the firms. In addition, we explore the mediating roles of work–life balance and psychological stability perceived by employees, and the moderating role of organizational climate in the relationship between servant leadership and MNC employees' innovative behavior. In doing so, we collected data from a sample of 307 Chinese employees who are employed by five different Chinese MNCs from the Internet, information technology, electronics, and e-commerce industries. Based on a sample of survey data collected from employees of Chinese MNCs, we empirically test these ideas by specifically examining how servant leadership may shape the innovation behavior of employees in these MNCs. The results suggest that servant leadership positively influences employees' innovative behavior, and that the contribution of servant leadership to employees' innovative behavior is mediated by work–life balance and psychological stability as well as moderated by the degree of organizational climate. Moreover, the different organizational climates of these MNC employees are also expected to significantly shape the relationship between servant leadership and employees' innovative behavior. This study enriches our understanding of the importance of servant leadership in driving the innovative behaviors of employees in emerging-market MNCs and provides new insights into the mechanisms through which emerging-market MNCs can motivate their employees to be more innovative in their jobs. Thus, this study contributes to the research on human resource management by offering important implications vis-à-vis how MNCs manage their employees more effectively in addressing and responding to the dramatically changing global landscape in the post COVID-19 era.

How can leaders alleviate employees' workplace anxiety caused by information overload on enterprise social media? Evidence from Chinese employees

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between information overload and employees' workplace anxiety in the context of enterprise social media (ESM).Design/methodology/approachThis study built a theoretical model to analyze the relationships among employees' perceptions of information overload on ESM, supervisor-subordinate instrumental and expressive ties on ESM and workplace anxiety. PLS-SEM was used to test the model through 219 questionnaires collected online.FindingsThe results revealed that information overload on ESM plays a positive role in employees' workplace anxiety. Supervisor-subordinate instrumental ties based on ESM can weaken the relationship between information overload and employees' workplace anxiety, but expressive ties can strengthen the positive relationship between information overload and workplace anxiety.Originality/valueLittle is known about whether information overload on ESM will affect employees' workplace anxiety and how leaders can mitigate this effect through ESM. Hence, this study developed a theoretical model and conducted an empirical study to open up a research opportunity to examine the relationships among information overload on ESM, supervisor-subordinate instrumental and expressive ties on ESM and employees' workplace anxiety. The study also has the potential to guide organizations in fine-tuning their social media usage strategies.

Different Effects of Supervisor Positive and Negative Feedback on Subordinate In-Role and Extra-Role Performance: The Moderating Role of Regulatory Focus.

As an important tool for supervisors to intervene subordinates’ work and influence their performance, supervisor feedback has gradually become a new academic research hotspot. In this study, we build and verify a theoretical model to explore the different effects of supervisor positive and negative feedback on subordinate in-role and extra-role performance, and the moderating role of regulatory focus in these relationships. With data from pairing samples of 403 Chinese employees and their direct supervisors, the results indicate that supervisor positive feedback is positively related to subordinate in-role and extra-role performance. Supervisor negative feedback is positively related to subordinate in-role performance and negatively related to subordinate extra-role performance. Regulatory focus of subordinate can moderate the influence of supervisor positive feedback on subordinate in-role and extra-role performance, but it cannot moderate the influence of supervisor negative feedback on subordinate in-role and extra-role performance. That means when subordinates have promotion focus, the influence of supervisor positive feedback on their in-role performance and extra-role performance was stronger than those with prevention focus. These results further enrich the research on the relationship between supervisor feedback and subordinate performance, especially the different effects of positive and negative feedback from supervisor on subordinate with different regulatory focus. All conclusions from the analyses above not only further verify and develop some previous points on supervisor feedback and subordinate performance, but also derive certain management implications for promoting subordinate in-role and extra-role performance from the perspective of supervisor positive and negative feedback.