Cross-level Effects Research Articles

Cross-level effects of union practices on extra-role behaviors: the mediating role of industrial relations climate, union commitment and union instrumentality

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between union practices and two types of employees’ extra-role behaviors, namely, union citizenship behavior (UCB) and employee voice (EV), and the mechanisms that mediate this relationship.Design/methodology/approachUsing matched data from 46 union leaders and 279 union members of 33 workplaces in China, this study utilized multilevel structural equation modeling to test the cross-level influences of union practices on employees’ extra-role behaviors and the mediation effects.FindingsThe results show that (1) union practices have a positive impact on employees’ UCB and EV, and (2) union practices increase UCB and EV through the improvement of industrial relations (IR) climate at the workplace level, as well as union commitment (UC) and union instrumentality (UI) at the individual level.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the authors collected data from multi-sources (i.e. union leaders and members), the cross-sectional data of this study limited the ability to make casual inferences.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature by providing theoretical explanation and empirical evidence to illustrate the role of union practices in increasing the extra-role behaviors of employees (i.e. UCB and EV). This is of particular importance in elaborating the effectiveness of enterprise unions under the recent reforms in China. In addition, the authors also unpacked the antecedents of extra-role behaviors in the union context by investigating how IR climate, UC and UI mediate the relationship between union practices and extra-role behaviors of employees.

The impact of engaging leadership on employee engagement and team effectiveness: A longitudinal, multi-level study on the mediating role of personal- and team resources.

Most research on the effect of leadership behavior on employees’ well-being and organizational outcomes is based on leadership frameworks that are not rooted in sound psychological theories of motivation and are limited to either an individual or organizational levels of analysis. The current paper investigates whether individual and team resources explain the impact of engaging leadership on work engagement and team effectiveness, respectively. Data were collected at two time points on N = 1,048 employees nested within 90 work teams. The Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling results revealed that personal resources (i.e., optimism, resiliency, self-efficacy, and flexibility) partially mediated the impact of T1 individual perceptions of engaging leadership on T2 work engagement. Furthermore, joint perceptions of engaging leadership among team members at T1 resulted in greater team effectiveness at T2. This association was fully mediated by team resources (i.e., performance feedback, trust in management, communication, and participation in decision-making). Moreover, team resources had a significant cross-level effect on individual levels of engagement. In practical terms, training and supporting leaders who inspire, strengthen, and connect their subordinates could significantly improve employees’ motivation and involvement and enable teams to pursue their common goals successfully.

Inclusive leadership and knowledge sharing in Japanese workplaces: the role of diversity in the biological sex of workplace personnel

PurposeThis study aims to examine the impact of managers’ inclusive leadership (IL) on knowledge-sharing (KS) behavior. Additionally, the authors consider the cross-level moderation effect of diversity in the biological sex of employees on the relationship between IL and employee KS behaviors.Design/methodology/approachA two-wave questionnaire survey was conducted in a large Japanese company. The sample included 827 employees (254 men and 573 women) in 129 groups. The authors, then, conducted a cross-level analysis using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM).FindingsIL promotes two types of KS among employees: knowledge donating (KD) and knowledge collecting (KC). Additionally, the moderating effects of employee biological-sex diversity on the relationship between IL and KS varied according to the KS type. IL had a positive effect on KD only in groups with higher biological-sex diversity, and did not affect groups with lower biological-sex diversity. Biological-sex diversity did not moderate the relationship between IL and KC.Practical implicationsThis study has practical implications, especially for personnel departments with high diversity in employees’ biological sex. Further, to improve employees’ KS behaviors, it may be important to develop managers’ IL skills.Originality/valueThis is the first study that explores the relationship between IL and KS and the first to provide evidence of the moderating effect of diversity of employee’s biological sex.

A Multi-Source Diary Study on The Job Resourcefulness, Job Satisfaction, and Task Performance: Will Perceive Organizational Support Moderate

Purpose: This multilevel diary study examined the association between day-level job resourcefulness and day-level task performance of employees of tour and travel. Based on the job demands and resources (JD-R) model, we tested the mediating effect of day-level job satisfaction between job resourcefulness and task performance with the moderating effect of perceived organizational support. Methodology: We collected data for five consecutive days with the help of structured questionnaires. Employees (n = 180) rated their general perceived organizational support, daily job resourcefulness, and daily job satisfaction, whereas their immediate supervisors (n = 18) rated their daily task performance. It was a two-level study with days nested in individuals (no. of observations=900). Findings: Multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) results show a positive association between job resourcefulness and supervisor-rated task performance with the partial mediation of job satisfaction at the day level, while the cross-level interaction effect of the perceived organizational support was non-significant. Our hypothesized framework was never tested, which is a unique contribution to job resourcefulness literature and, in this way, for tourism-related entrepreneurs. Conclusion: SMEs are highly dependent on their employees for competitiveness and performance but at the same time face resource-constrained problems. We argue that the employees' job resourcefulness might help achieve work-related goals such as task performance through enhanced job satisfaction daily, where organizational support does not provide the necessary job resources.

Presenteeism and absenteeism in the manufacturing sector: A multilevel approach identifying underlying factors and relations to health

Presenteeism is problematic since it relates to lower health and productivity. Prior research examined many work and attitudinal variables relating to presenteeism at the individual level. Here, we conceptualize presenteeism as multilevel phenomenon also shaped by the overall attendance behavior (absenteeism and presenteeism) at the work unit. We surveyed employees at a manufacturing plant on presenteeism, health-related lost productive time (HLPT) and absenteeism (N = 911, 22 units) and collected preceding (past 12–7 and 6 months) objective absence data aggregating it at unit level. Considering the individual-level antecedents only higher physical demands predicted higher absence duration. Presenteeism related positively to physical demands, a burdensome social environment, and organizational identification and negatively to ease of replacement, and core self-evaluations. These relationships were similar for HLPT as outcome. Regarding unit-level factors, preceding unit-level absence frequency (but not duration) negatively related to presenteeism. The negative relationship between core self-evaluations and individual presenteeism decreased under a stronger presenteeism context supporting the hypothesized cross-level effect of unit-level presenteeism context strength. Moreover, individual and unit-level presenteeism correlated, as expected, more strongly with health complaints than absenteeism. Our study demonstrates the value of a contextual, multilevel approach for understanding antecedents and consequences of attendance behavior.

Interpersonal, affective and compulsive features of driven exercise in anorexia nervosa

BackgroundThis preregistered (https://osf.io/g9ajb) analysis sought to integrate the current literature on trait compulsivity into maintenance models of driven exercise in anorexia nervosa (AN). We tested whether compulsivity increases the likelihood of driven exercise via interpersonal and affect-regulatory pathways. MethodsWe used multilevel structural equation modeling to test the hypothesis that trait compulsivity predicts a stronger within-person link between affect-regulatory difficulties or interpersonal sensitivity and driven exercise in female adolescents and adults with AN. We used data from five assessments across inpatient treatment and 6-months follow-up of 207 adult and adolescent patients with AN (1035 datapoints). ResultsIn line with our hypotheses, patients who generally experienced more affect-regulatory difficulties or stronger interpersonal sensitivity tended to engage in driven exercise more strongly. Moreover, high levels of trait compulsivity amplified the effect of interpersonal sensitivity on driven exercise across time. Contrary to our hypotheses, the link between affect regulation and driven exercise was not moderated by compulsivity. Similar effects on general eating disorder psychopathology were found, but no cross-level moderation effect of compulsivity. LimitationsDue to sample size, potential AN subtype-dependent effects were not analyzed. ConclusionOur results suggest that driven exercise coincides with self-reported experiences of interpersonal sensitivity and that this link varies as a function of compulsivity such that the within-person coupling is stronger among those scoring high on compulsivity. To derive clinically useful functional models of driven exercise, future studies might use intensive longitudinal data to investigate its momentary associations with affect and interpersonal sensitivity in the context of compulsive traits.

Institutions, political attitudes or personal values? A multilevel investigation into the origins of police legitimacy in Europe

ABSTRACT The extent to which democratic regimes warrant the rule of law is considered to be vital for the quality of democracy. Thus, the perceived trustworthiness of the police, as the executive agency of the legal system, is attributed a significant importance. Notwithstanding, the bulk of empirical studies concerned with political support has so far not focused on trust in the police in its own right but rather as an ingredient of political trust which encompasses trust in representative and impartial institutions alike. By contrast, empirical studies in the field of police research investigate the impact of personal encounters with the police and the hereby conveyed sense of fairness. In a multilevel analytical setting, this study draws on the ESS 2010 data and aims to trace the effects of political attitudes, personality traits and personal values on various indicators of police legitimacy and by simultaneously taking selected macro-level indicators and their cross-level effects into account. The findings suggest that attitudes towards the police are, in part, a function of whether citizens are politically involved or rather alienated. Moreover, they corroborate the negative effects of personal encounters with the police. Yet, the extent to which these effects are detrimental also depends on the contextual setting. In countries where social trust is high and the rule of law abounds, personal contacts hardly leaves a negative trace. As a consequence, policies that aim to enhance police legitimacy may be less fruitful if its interplay with the larger political and societal context is overlooked.

My team makes me think I can (not) do it: team processes influence proactive motivational profiles over time

PurposeThis study aims to investigate cross-level influences of team cohesion, trust and conflicts on team member’s proactive motivational profiles and outcomes of profile membership over time.Design/methodology/approachData was collected in a four-month longitudinal field study with 47 teams (N = 202).FindingsLatent profile analysis derived four proactive motivational profiles. The higher motivated profiles reported better study outcomes, higher levels of team trust and cohesion and fewer conflicts over time. Team trust and interpersonal conflicts emerged as significant predictors of profile membership.Practical implicationsRecommendations are derived on how to best manage teams and the members comprising it when trust in teams is low or interpersonal conflicts are high.Originality/valueApplying a person-centred approach in a team context advances multi-level theories of team motivation by mapping the cross-level effects of team processes on different kinds of motivational states.

How and when high-involvement work practices influence employee innovative behavior

PurposeBased on social information processing (SIP) theory, this study explores the cross-level effect of high-involvement work practices (HIWPs) on employee innovative behavior by studying the mediating role of self-reflection/rumination and the moderating role of transactive memory system (TMS).Design/methodology/approachThis study collects data from 452 employees and their direct supervisors in 94 work units, and tests a cross-level moderated mediation model using multilevel path analysis.FindingsThe results suggest that HIWPs significantly contribute to employee innovative behavior. Both self-reflection and self-rumination mediate the above relationship. TMS not only positively moderates the relationship between HIWPs and self-reflection, but also reinforces the linkage of HIWPs. →self-reflection→employee innovative behavior. Furthermore, TMS negatively moderates the relationship between HIWPs and self-rumination, and attenuates the mediating effect of self-rumination.Practical implicationsThe study suggests that enterprises should invest more in promoting HIWPs and TMS in the workplace. Furthermore, managers should provide employees training programs to enhance their self-reflection, as well as lower self-rumination, in order to facilitate employee innovative behavior.Originality/valueThis research identifies self-reflection and self-rumination as key mediators that link HIWPs to employee innovative behavior and reveals the moderating role of TMS in the process.

Cross-level effects of health-promoting leadership on nurse presenteeism: The mediation and moderation effect of workload and performance pressure

This study examines the cross-level influence mechanism of leaders’ health-promoting leadership on subordinates’ presenteeism among nursing industry. A multilevel mediated moderation model was hypothesized to explore whether health-promoting leadership is associated with subordinates’ presenteeism via the workload of subordinates, and how leader’s performance pressure plays the role in the model. Questionnaires were distributed to 110 nursing teams, which including 110 chief nurses and 660 subordinate nurses. Our findings showed that although health-promoting leadership has no direct impact on presenteeism, health-promoting leadership has an indirect impact on presenteeism via workload, and workload acts as a complete mediator. Meanwhile, performance pressure moderated the relationship between health-promoting leadership and workload. With an increase in performance pressure of leaders, the negative impact of health-promoting leadership on nurse workload gradually weakened. In this multilevel mediated moderation model, the mediated moderating effect of performance pressure was significant and the moderating effect was completely mediated, which means that the interaction between health-promoting leadership and performance pressure can affect presenteeism through workload. When leaders were under high performance pressure, the protective effect of health-promoting leadership on workload would be inhibited. These findings contribute to enriching the research on presenteeism, providing insight into how the health development of employees and performance demands of leaders may be balanced, and affording fresh thoughts for effective prevention and treatment of nurse presenteeism.

Cross-level effects of entrepreneurial orientation and ambidexterity on the resilience of small business owners

ABSTRACT This study explores the effect of a firm’s entrepreneurial orientation on the individual resilience of small business owners and how this relationship is moderated by firm-level ambidexterity. We build on social cognitive theory to discuss whether and how the three dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation that is, innovativeness, proactivity, and risk-taking) interact with the two components of ambidexterity (that is, exploration and exploitation) to jointly influence the resilience of small business owners. Our findings indicate that a risk-taking orientation is positively related to resilience and that an innovativeness orientation causes resilience to suffer when an exploitative approach is pursued. For firms with a proactivity orientation, however, exploitation has a positive moderating effect. Our study adds to the literature by linking firm-level determinants and individual-level outcomes in the special context of small businesses.

The Effects of leader–member perception of LMX quality

Unlike most leader-member exchange research based solely on members' perceptions, the purpose of this study is focusing on leader-follower mutual perceptions of LMX and how it is related to work value congruence and follower outcomes such as affective commitment and turnover intention. Furthermore, we consider organizational culture and LMX differentiation as contextual variables that influences an antecedent and consequence of mutual perception of LMX. For this study, survey was administered to employees of various companies, and both leader and follower reported their perceptions of LMX. We finally analyzed responses of 266 leader-member dyad from 60 teams of 19 companies. The results show that leader-follower work-value congruence positively related to LMX perceived by leader-member and the sequential mediating effect of mutual perception of LMX and affective commitment in the relationship between work value congruence and turnover intention. Especially, through multilevel analysis, we examined the cross- level moderating effects of contextual variables such as organizational culture and LMX differentiation on mutual perception of LMX. As expected, findings show that the positive relationship between work value congruence and LMX perceived by leader-member is strengthened in the low ““performance oriented”” culture compared to high performance-oriented culture. Although the result was marginally significant, we also found that the cross-level interaction effects of LMX differentiation based on leader ratings on the relationship between the leader-member mutual perception of LMX and affective commitment. This implies that high mutual perception of LMX quality increases subordinate’s affective commitment when leader’s differentiation is low, and it results in lower turnover intention.

Does the Context Matter? The Interplay of HR Systems and Relational Climates Predicting Individual and Team Creativity

ABSTRACT Given the influential role of organizational context for creativity, this study examines the cross-level effects of 2 prevalent contextual elements – HR systems and relational climates – on individual and team creativity. We have conducted a multilevel multi-source study through hierarchical linear modeling on a sample of 282 employees nested in 69 teams and 38 firms. The results show that the interplay hypotheses regarding potentially creativity-facilitating contexts were not supported. However, findings suggest that relational climates represent more effective positive predictors of creativity at both levels, above and beyond the effects of HR systems. Therefore, given their very prominent role in enacting the HR context and co-creating the climate in place, line managers should strive to consider individual and team creativity in relational settings and promote an appropriate work context categorized by relational climates. Treating creativity at 2 different levels (individual and team), and accounting for a cross-level interplay focused on the context of those important performance outcomes, have important theoretical implications for creativity and HRM research.

The effects of individual- and class-level achievement on attitudes towards mathematics: An analysis of Hong Kong students using TIMSS 2019

Using the TIMSS 2019 data from fourth (N = 2947) and eighth graders (N = 3265) in Hong Kong, this study investigated the link between individual- and class-level mathematics achievement and students’ attitudes towards mathematics (ATM; i.e., self-concept, perceived mathematical value, enjoyment and boredom). Student achievement was positively connected to their ATM, whereas class-level achievement was negatively related. Meanwhile, the connections between individual- and class-level achievement and ATM were more robust in the eighth grade. Besides, cross-level interaction effects indicated that individual performance and gender played moderating roles in the class-level achievement and self-concept/boredom. More specifically, the link between class-level achievement and self-concept was stronger for underachievers in both the fourth and eighth grades, but the connection between class-level achievement and boredom was stronger only for girls and underachievers in the eighth grade.

Exploitative leadership and employee innovative behaviour in China: a moderated mediation framework

ABSTRACT This study uses ego depletion theory to explore the cross-level effect of exploitative leadership on employee innovative behaviour. It examines the mediating role of thriving at work and the moderating role of team task conflict. Using data collected from 371 employees and their direct supervisors from 79 work units in China, a multi-level path analysis is used to test a cross-level moderated mediation model. The results show that exploitative leadership negatively affects employee innovative behaviour via the mediation of thriving at work, which is moderated by team task conflict. Implications for research and practice are fully discussed in the paper.

How interpersonal ties affect interorganizational trust in construction projects: role differences and cross-level effects

Interorganizational trust significantly impacts performance, while distrust leads to high costs. How to effectively build interorganizational trust is critical, whereas few studies point out how boundary spanners, as representatives of the interaction between two organisations, affect interorganizational trust. The authors put forward a trust-building mechanism to verify whether interpersonal ties (obligatory ties, instrumental ties, and affective ties) promote interorganizational trust through the establishment of interpersonal trust and compare the differences in trust-building mechanisms between different boundary spanners (project leaders and team members). By adopting structural equation modelling and regression analysis, the data of 271 questionnaires from the construction industry in China reveal that as for team members, cognitive and affective trust significantly mediate the relationship between interpersonal ties and interorganizational trust. But as for project leaders, only cognitive trust has a significant mediating effect. This cross-level mechanism to answer how interpersonal ties affect interorganizational trust further enriches social embeddedness theory. Meanwhile, by distinguishing the differences of trust-building mechanisms between different boundary spanners, the research on stakeholders’ trust-building mechanisms can also be expanded.

A multilevel synthesis of subjective and objective measures of foodservices in the experience process

This study develops a multilevel framework that connects customer-to-customer (C2C) interaction quality to brand attachment through customer experience. Two food traits—uniqueness and taste—and service quality are posited to play different roles in this link. This research contributes to the literature on the effects of food traits and service on the experience creation process at upscale restaurants. By including both objective measures from user-generated ratings and subjective measures from customer evaluations of restaurant dining, this research sheds new light on the cross-level direct and moderating effects on the experience creation process, and thus answers the question of when and how this process is contingent on food traits and service of different dining outings. It further contributes to the brand attachment literature by revealing the cross-level moderated mediating effect of customer experience on customer emotional connection to a restaurant brand. • We develop a multilevel model that links restaurant services to brand attachment (BA). • It utilizes subjective and objective measures to assess restaurant services. • It examines effects of food traits and services on the experience creation process. • It sheds new light on the cross-level effects on customer experience and BA.

Horizontal-Leader Identification in Construction Project Teams in China: HowGuanxiImpacts Coworkers’ Perceived Justice and Turnover Intentions

Based on social comparison theory and organizational justice, this research explores how Guanxi with the horizontal leader (HL) influences coworker turnover intention. We used the snowball sampling method to collect survey data from 203 employees in 22 project teams. Overall, Guanxi with the HL had an indirect influence on turnover intention through perceived distributive justice pertaining to HL identification. Additionally, procedural justice had a negative, cross-level moderating effect on the relationship between Guanxi with the HL and perceived distributive justice. However, the individual-level moderating role of interactional justice was not supported. Theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed.

Team reflexivity, individual intellectual capital and employee innovative behavior: a multilevel moderated mediation

PurposeBased on experiential learning theory (ELT), this study explores the cross-level effect of team reflexivity on employee innovative behavior. The authors especially focus on the mediating effect of individual intellectual capital (IIC) and the moderating effect of empowering leadership on the relationship between the two constructs.Design/methodology/approachThis study collects data from 76 work units, which include 362 employees and their direct supervisors. A cross-level moderated mediation model was tested by using multilevel path analysis.FindingsThe results show that team reflexivity significantly contributes to employee innovative behavior. IIC mediates the above relationship. Empowering leadership not only positively moderates the relationship between team reflexivity and IIC but also reinforces the linkage of team reflexivity → IIC → employee innovative behavior.Practical implicationsThe study suggests that organizations should invest more in promoting team reflexivity and empowering leadership in the workplace. Furthermore, managers should make members aware of the importance of IIC for employee innovative behavior. They need to make efforts to enhance IIC via internal communication channels or open discussions, which facilitate IIC and employee innovative behavior.Originality/valueThis research tests the relationship between team reflexivity and employee innovative behavior and identifies IIC as a key mediator that links team reflexivity to employee innovative behavior. It also highlights the moderating role of empowering leadership in the process.

Overqualification at Multiple Levels of the Organization

Overqualification is an essential topic in the management field (Erdogan & Bauer, 2021; Feldman, 1996). Scholars debated the mixed effects of overqualification mostly on the individual level (Lee, Erdogan, Tian, Willis, & Cao, 2020). Although several studies recently started to focus on this topic from the team level (Hu, Erdogan, Bauer, Jiang, Liu, & Li, 2015), research on overqualification at within-person and firm levels is still lacking. Echoing Sierra (2011) 's call on multilevel examination and considering the cross-level effects overqualification caused in reality, we prepare this symposium to understand how overqualification manifests itself and has impacts across levels in the organizations. We organize this symposium with five papers, and each represents a critical research question at various levels of analysis. Another noticeable element of this symposium is that we took time into consideration, in the examples of looking at newcomers’ socialization, dyadic support over time, and leadership emergence. Newcomer Overqualification and Performance Trajectory: A social Capital Change Perspective Presenter: Wuyang Chen; Department of Management and Marketing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic U. Perceived Overqualification, Changing Self-Efficacy and Strategic Scanning Behavior Presenter: Fulei Chu; Capital U. of Economics and Business How Does the Overqualified Employee Become a Leader? A Dual-strategy Model Presenter: Bingjie Yu; Hong Kong Baptist U. Support Me or Undermine Me: Supervisor Reactions to Overqualified Employees Presenter: Chenggang Duan; Xi'an Jiaotong U. Does Prior Technological Knowledge Facilitate or Inhibit the Learning Process of New Ventures? Presenter: Shelly Lev-Koren; Technion - Israel Institute of Technology