Supervisor-subordinate Guanxi Research Articles

Confucian leadership and millennial employee loyalty: The mediating role of supervisor–subordinate guanxi

Extensive research has been conducted to scrutinize employee loyalty, but scant attention has been directed toward understanding this phenomenon within the context of the millennial workforce in China. To address this research gap, in this study we investigated the association between Confucian leadership and employee loyalty among millennials in China, incorporating the mediating role of supervisor–subordinate guanxi in this relationship. Participants were 250 employees of 15 firms, who completed a self-administered survey. We found a positive relationship between Confucian leadership and millennial employee loyalty. Moreover, supervisor–subordinate guanxi was a significant and partial mediator of this relationship. These findings suggest that it is important to adopt Confucian leadership as well as building quality supervisor–subordinate guanxi when enhancing millennial employee loyalty.

Arrogance from favor: the better supervisor-subordinate guanxi, the more counterproductive work behaviors

PurposeDrawing on the attribution theory, this study re-examined the effect of supervisor-subordinate guanxi (SSG) on counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) by highlighting the critical moderating role of job self-efficacy and the mediating role of psychological entitlement, with the aim of revealing the potential drawbacks of SSG.Design/methodology/approachThree-wave matched data were collected from 434 employees working in China. The authors adopted path analysis in Mplus 7.4 to test the hypotheses proposed in this study.FindingsThe results suggested that among subordinates with high job self-efficacy, SSG triggers psychological entitlement, which subsequently leads to CWBs.Originality/valueThis research challenges the prevailing consensus regarding the beneficial effects of SSG on subordinate management from the social exchange theory perspective by revealing when and why high-quality SSG can also engender subordinates’ psychological entitlement and subsequent CWBs. By doing so, this study provides a more dialectical view of the impact of establishing high-quality SSG in human resource management.

Does leader humor style matter employee knowledge sharing? From the lens of emotional contagion process

PurposeThis study aims to explore the enabling and suppressing effects of leader affiliative and aggressive humor on employee knowledge sharing form the lens of emotional contagion process, which provides theoretical reference for the applications of different leader humor style, thereby enhancing employee knowledge sharing.Design/methodology/approachThis study collected three waves of data and surveyed 379 employees in China. Regression analysis, bootstrapping and latent moderation structural equation were adopted to test the hypotheses.FindingsLeader affiliative humor has a positive impact on employee knowledge sharing, whereas leader aggressive humor has a negative impact on employee knowledge sharing. Positive emotion plays a mediating role between leader affiliative humor and employee knowledge sharing, and negative emotion plays a mediating role between leader aggressive humor and employee knowledge sharing. Moreover, supervisor–subordinate Guanxi moderates the relationship between leader affiliative humor and positive emotion, and between leader aggressive humor and negative emotion, respectively.Originality/valueThis study not only adds to the knowledge sharing literature calling for the exploration of antecedents and mechanism of employee knowledge sharing, but also contributes to our comprehensive understanding of the suppressing and enabling effects of leader humor style on employee knowledge sharing. Besides, this study also unpacks the dual-path mechanism and boundary condition between leader humor style and employee knowledge sharing and augments the theoretical explanations of emotional contagion theory between leader humor style and employee knowledge sharing.

The dual impacts of guanxi closeness on followership: Mediating roles of burnout and power distance

Guanxi and followership play important roles in employees' interaction with their supervisors. Extant studies have found that supervisor-subordinate guanxi can predict subordinates' attitudes and behaviors toward their supervisors. However, little is known about the relationship between guanxi closeness and subordinates' following supervisors. Accordingly, drawing on conservation of resource theory (COR), we develop a two-path mediation model and examine the direct impact of guanxi closeness on followership, the mediating role of burnout and power distance orientation, discussing the dual impacts of guanxi closeness. To reduce the common method basis, a two-wave time-lagged (interval of one month) study was conducted. Then, we collected 239 pieces of data to test our hypotheses using path analyses. Results show that the direct effect of guanxi closeness on followership is significant. Additionally, guanxi closeness weakens followership by reducing employee burnout. Meanwhile, guanxi closeness can decrease employees' power distance orientation (PDO) and then enhance followership. These findings reveal the dual impacts of guanxi closeness and extend our understanding of guanxi showing positive impact as well as negative impact. Therefore, managers should cultivate guanxi closeness with subordinates to enhance followership by reducing subordinates' PDO while providing resources and support to employees involved in burnout. These behaviors are conducive to helping managers to attain subordinates' following.

Workaholism and workplace incivility: a moderated dual-process model

Despite the ubiquity of workaholism and workplace incivility, extant research lacks sufficient empirical support on the underlying mechanisms between them, which hinders curtailing the uncivil behavior of workaholics. To systematically investigate the underlying mechanisms, we proposed two mediators: emotional exhaustion and psychological entitlement. The former illustrates why workaholics engage in uncivil behaviors uncontrollably from the existing conservation of resources perspective, which captures the behavioral dimension of workaholism. The latter explains why workaholics engage in workplace incivility voluntarily from a novel moral licensing perspective, which captures the overlooked cognitive dimension of workaholism. Further, we incorporate supervisor-subordinate guanxi as a critical moderator that helps differentiate the above two mediators. Results across two studies suggested that supervisor-subordinate guanxi alleviates the indirect effects of workaholism on workplace incivility via emotional exhaustion, while magnifying the indirect effects via psychological entitlement. Overall, these findings provide evidence that workaholism can also psychologically free employees to engage in subsequent uncivil behaviors.

Supervisor–subordinate guanxi: Linking benevolent leadership to employee creativity

Supervisor–subordinate guanxi: Linking benevolent leadership to employee creativity

Traditionality, supervisor-subordinate guanxi and university teachers’ voice behavior: an empirical exploration in the context of Chinese culture

Traditionality, supervisor-subordinate guanxi and university teachers’ voice behavior: an empirical exploration in the context of Chinese culture

Employee Motivation and Outcomes of Developing and Maintaining High-Quality Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi in Hotel Operations

Dyadic leader–follower relationships play a significant role in sustainable development of labor-intensive and service-oriented organizations. The purpose of this study is to assess employees’ motivation and outcomes of developing and maintaining high-quality supervisor–subordinate guanxi in Chinese hotels. A survey was undertaken in four- or five-star hotels, with a total of 318 matched employees-supervisor completed responses used for data analysis, which was conducted using SPSS Statistics and SmartPLS. The study’s results show that affection and obligation significantly motivate employees to develop and maintain supervisor–subordinate guanxi, which in turn contributes to the desirable task performance delivery and supervisor autonomy support. Furthermore, the study confirms the mediating roles of supervisor–subordinate guanxi and task performance. This work extends guanxi research and is among the first to identify why hotel employees are motivated to develop and maintain high-quality supervisor–subordinate guanxi based on the contextualization of self-determination theory and Chinese cultural elements.

How does leader career calling stimulate employee career growth? The role of career crafting and supervisor–subordinate guanxi

PurposeThis paper aims to explore how leader career calling stimulates employee career growth, with the supervisor–subordinate guanxi serving as a moderating factor.Design/methodology/approachStudy 1 demonstrated that high leader career calling served as a catalyst for employee career crafting. The experiment provided causal evidence for the relationship between these two constructs, exhibiting strong internal validity. However, due to the challenges in measuring supervisor–subordinate guanxi and career growth within the context of a scenario experiment, Study 2 was designed to test the entire model and enhance the external validity of the findings.FindingsLeader career calling significantly predicts employee career growth, while employee career crafting serves as a mediating mechanism in the relationship between leader career calling and employee career growth. Moreover, supervisor–subordinate guanxi positively moderates the relationship between leader career calling and employee career crafting. Furthermore, the mediating effect of employee career crafting in the relationship between leader career calling and employee career growth is contingent upon the quality of supervisor–subordinate guanxi. This study sheds light on the role of leader career calling in employee career growth and provides insights into the mechanisms facilitating employee career growth.Originality/valueFirstly, it explores leader-to-employee career calling transmission, extending the career calling study beyond individual impacts. It emphasizes how leaders' work attitudes shape employee career growth. Secondly, it reveals career crafting as a mediator between leader career calling and employee career growth, identifying a new influence mechanism and expanding upon the primarily job crafting-focused existing literature. Lastly, it identifies supervisor–subordinate guanxi quality as a moderator in the leader career calling-employee career crafting relationship. This perspective enriches career calling research, illustrating how specific conditions stimulate career crafting.

Managers' Confucian leadership and employee creative performance: Mediation through supervisor–subordinate guanxi

Although prior research has acknowledged that leadership affects employee creative performance, few studies have examined the influence of managers' Confucian leadership on employee creative performance. We explored the relationship of managers' Confucian leadership and employee creative performance, and conceptualized supervisor–subordinate guanxi as a mediator for understanding this link. We conducted a survey with 496 supervisor–subordinate dyads employed in 25 high-tech companies across China. The results of structural equation modeling showed that managers' Confucian leadership was positively connected with employee creative performance, and that supervisor–subordinate guanxi mediated this relationship. Our study sheds light on the complex process by which managers' Confucian leadership affects employee creative performance and suggests that managers should receive training on Confucian leadership and build good supervisor–subordinate guanxi to enhance employee creative performance.

Supervisor-subordinate guanxi and innovative behavior: the roles of psychological ownership and emotional uncertainty

Supervisor-subordinate guanxi and innovative behavior: the roles of psychological ownership and emotional uncertainty

Ethical leadership and interpersonal citizenship behavior in the public sector

PurposeThis study aims to examine the impact of ethical leadership on the extra-role behavior toward individuals of employees in the public sector. In addition, the study examines the mediating roles of supervisor-subordinate guanxi and public service motivation.Design/methodology/approachResearch data were collected from 222 public servants in local government, Vietnam. Study using partial least square SEM (PLS-SEM) method performed by SmartPLS 3.2.9.FindingsEthical leadership has a direct impact on OCBI. In turn, supervisor-subordinate guanxi holds mediating role in linking the relationship between ethical leadership and OCBI. Public service motivation mediates nexuses between ethical leadership, supervisor-subordinate guanxi and OCBI.Research limitations/implicationsTo encourage public servants to engage in interpersonal citizenship behaviors, leaders must focus on fostering an ethical climate in the workplace by acting as an ethical model and encouraging ethical standards in daily work.Originality/valueThe study provides new insights on the mediating role of public service motivation, guanxi from the perspective of the leader's ethical aspect.

Citizenship pressure and knowledge hiding: The mediating role of citizenship fatigue and the moderating role of supervisor–subordinate guanxi

AbstractDrawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, we examine the relationship between citizenship pressure and knowledge hiding, exploring the underlying mechanism between the two through citizenship fatigue and supervisor–subordinate guanxi. Two three‐wave sets of data were collected and analyzed with PROCESS. Study 1 revealed that employees' perceived pressure to engage in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) can lead them to experience citizenship fatigue and to seek to conserve resources through deceptively hiding knowledge (i.e., evasive hiding and playing dumb). However, rationalized hiding will not be adopted by employees as a strategy to reserve resources under citizenship pressure. Supervisor–subordinate guanxi also serves as a reverse moderator, in that high guanxi mitigates the direct impact of citizenship pressure on citizenship fatigue and the indirect impact of citizenship pressure on evasive hiding and playing dumb through citizenship fatigue. Study 2 replicated and extended the findings of Study 1 by considering the negative affect as a potential mediator and the leader–member exchange (LMX) as a potential moderator. The findings show that citizenship pressure has a positive effect on evasive hiding and playing dumb through the mediating role of citizenship fatigue; and supervisor–subordinate guanxi negatively moderates the positive effect of citizenship pressure on citizenship fatigue and the mediating effect of citizenship fatigue, whereas LMX has no significant moderating effect on these linkages. This research advances our understanding of the “dark side” of OCB and enriches knowledge hiding studies by introducing a new predictor about extra‐role work stressors.

How does emotional labor influence restaurant employees’ service quality during COVID-19? The roles of work fatigue and supervisor–subordinate Guanxi

PurposeThis study aims to test the relationship between emotional labor and service quality of the frontline employees of Chinese restaurants during the coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19). This study further investigated the mediating role of work fatigue (WF) and the moderating role of supervisor–subordinate Guanxi (SSG).Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a time-lag approach to gather data from a sample of 365 frontline staff members working in Chinese restaurants. All hypotheses were tested using SPSS and AMOS.FindingsFirst, restaurant frontline employees’ deep acting was associated with higher service quality, whereas surface acting leads to lower service quality. Second, WF mediated the relationship between emotional labor and service quality. Third, SSG moderated the impact of emotional labor on WF during COVID-19.Research limitations/implicationsAll variables measured in this study were self-reported by restaurant frontline employees, which may increase the risk of common-method bias. However, this study enriches the literature on emotional labor, WF and SSG during COVID-19.Practical implicationsCOVID-19 has severely affected the hotel, restaurant and catering sector and especially the psychological state and the work performance of frontline employees. Restaurant managers should implement some measures to improve employees’ service quality during COVID-19.Originality/valueThe present findings show that restaurant frontline employees adopted various emotional labor strategies when they were faced with higher than usual job demands and the risk of infection during COVID-19.

Effect of supervisor-subordinate Guanxi on employees work behavior: An empirical dynamic framework

Recently, the Chinese concept of guanxi (networks or business relationships) has drawn considerable attention and inspired researchers to explore its prevalence in diverse cultures. Accordingly, we examined the direct link between supervisor-subordinate guanxi and employee work behaviors (innovative work behavior and work engagement) by investigating the moderating effect of trust in the supervisor and the mediating effect of psychological empowerment. We collected data randomly from 510 employees (383 subordinates and 127 supervisors) working in China's manufacturing industry. The PROCESS macros operationalize the study constructs to test the presence of moderated mediation. All the hypothesized relationships are supported except the mediating role of psychological empowerment in the supervisor-subordinate guanxi and innovative work behavior relationships. The findings demonstrated that trust in supervisors strengthens the supervisor-subordinate guanxi's direct effect on psychological empowerment and its indirect impact on employees’ work behaviors. To promote positive employees and work behaviors, organizations can develop supervisor-subordinate guanxi that supports organizational goals. Ethics statementThis study was carried out in accordance with the recommendations of the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct by the American Psychological Association's (APA). All participants gave written informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The protocol was approved by the ethics committee of Jiangsu University, China.

Linking Corporate Social Responsibility to Employee Green Behavior: Mediation Through Supervisor-subordinate Guanxi

This study was conducted with the purpose of understanding the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and employee green behavior. Particularly, we explored the mediating role of supervisor-subordinate guanxi in this relationship. Participants were 327 part-time Master of Business Administration students at three universities in China, who completed a survey. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. Results revealed that there was a positive and significant relationship between employees' perceived CSR and their green behavior, and that supervisor-subordinate guanxi partially mediated this relationship. This study extends research on the social outcomes of CSR by shedding new light on the psychological mechanisms connecting it with employee green behavior. The findings will help managers of organizations to better understand how CSR facilitates employee green behavior.

When psychological contract violation inhibits affiliative and challenging behaviors: the roles of supervisor-subordinate guanxi and job control

When psychological contract violation inhibits affiliative and challenging behaviors: the roles of supervisor-subordinate guanxi and job control

Supervisor–subordinate guanxi and work engagement: Self-efficacy as a mediator

Despite the increasing amount of research attention work engagement has received, there are still some gaps in understanding of its antecedents. We examined the relationships among supervisor–subordinate guanxi, employees' work engagement, and self-efficacy with a sample of 354 employees from six Chinese hotels. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. Results revealed that supervisor–subordinate guanxi was positively related to employees' work engagement and self-efficacy, and that self-efficacy was positively related to work engagement. This study is the first to find that selfefficacy is a mediating mechanism that transmits the effect of supervisor–subordinate guanxi to employees' work engagement, which highlights the importance of supervisor–subordinate guanxi and the mechanisms that contribute to enhancement of employees' work engagement. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

A Review of Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi: Current Trends and Future Research

Supervisor–subordinate guanxi is an emerging research area in assessing the link between superior and subordinate inside an organization, and due to its significance in the Chinese setting, this topic has become widely attractive. Yet, because this concept still needs attention to understand the dynamics of guanxi, more research on the content, antecedents and other expert opinions of supervisor–subordinate guanxi is required. In light of the literature review, this study will make a commentary on the findings of both domestic and international research on supervisor–subordinate guanxi from the perspective of the following three aspects: supervisor–subordinate guanxi’s content, its antecedents, functions, and its findings. Finally, it will highlight the dearth of recent research and suggest future directions for supervisor–subordinate guanxi research.

Influence of Guanxi on Job Satisfaction in China: Xinren as a Mediator

Research has shown that Chinese guanxi (private relationships/networks based on Chinese culture, which allow to obtain social resources informally and privately) are related to job searching and work-related outcomes such as job match and job satisfaction. However, few studies have examined the correlation between the sub-dimensions of guanxi and job satisfaction. With a sample of 267 respondents from different Chinese companies, this study divided guanxi research into two stages (the renqing & ganqing guanxi used for job-searching processes and the supervisor-subordinate guanxi used for on-thejob processes) and examined the mediating effect of xinren on guanxi and job satisfaction by using structural equation modeling and bootstrapping analysis. The results showed that guanxi was positively related to job satisfaction, and xinren partly mediated these correlations. Our findings extend previous research on the effects of guanxi on job outcomes and may be used as an exploratory guide to manage employee satisfaction.