The Role of Participative Leadership and Trust‐Based Mechanisms in Eliciting Intern Performance: Evidence from China

In this article, we investigate the relationship between participative leadership and job performance within the internship setting. Based on two‐waves of survey data obtained from 309 intern‐supervisor dyads, we find that participative leadership has a positive relationship with job performance, and that affective trust mediates that relationship. We also find that although cognitive trust is not significantly related to intern job performance, it mediates the relationship between participative leadership and affective trust. Our findings contradict those of previous research which question the effectiveness of participative leadership in short‐term employment situations such as internships. They also highlight the importance of designing internships to be reflective of typical performance situations, characterized by participative leadership practices, rather than more directive leadership practices. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Work outcomes of relational demography in Chinese vertical dyads

Relational demography refers to the demographic differences (such as gender, age, race, and tenure) between supervisor and subordinate. This study examines its impact on employees' work outcomes in the setting of a foreign-invested enterprise in China. We hypothesize that dissimilarities on demographic attributes between supervisor and subordinate affect subordinate's leader–member exchange, trust in organization, in-role performance, and organizational citizenship behavior. The hypotheses were tested on 239 supervisor–subordinate dyads via a questionnaire survey. The results of regression analysis showed that dissimilarities in gender and organizational tenure had negative effects on the outcome variables. In particular, a female supervisor with male subordinate displayed the lowest level of leader–member exchange and trust in the organization. Implications of these findings on human resource management are discussed.     

Does supervisor-perceived authentic leadership influence employee work engagement through employee-perceived authentic leadership and employee trust?

The issue of authentic leadership has been generating increased interest in both practical and academic domains. This study examines the influence of authentic leadership on employee trust and employee work engagement from the dyadic supervisor–employee viewpoint. The sample data consists of responses from 77 team supervisors and 345 employees in 36 companies. We utilize hierarchical linear modeling to test the hypotheses. The cross-level results show that employee trust fully mediates supervisor-perceived authentic leadership and employee work engagement, and that employee-perceived authentic leadership fully mediates the relationship between supervisor-perceived authentic leadership and employee trust, as well as the relationship between supervisor-perceived authentic leadership and employee work engagement. On the individual level, employee trust has a partial mediating effect on the relationship between employee-perceived authentic leadership and employee work engagement.     

Participative Leadership by American and Chinese Managers in China: The Role of Relationships*

abstract Developing participative leadership may be particularly challenging when managers are working cross‐culturally and in China. One hundred and sixty‐three Chinese employees from various industries in mainland China were surveyed about their relationships and the effectiveness of their participation with American and Chinese managers. Results, including structural equation analyses, support the hypotheses that cooperative, but not competitive or independent, goals helped Chinese employees and their foreign and Chinese managers strengthen their quality relationships as measured by supervisor–subordinate guanxi and leader–membership exchange; quality relationships in turn enhanced effective participative leadership as measured by the opportunity for joint decision‐making and the open‐minded discussion of opposing views (constructive controversy). Results suggest that cooperative goals and the Chinese value of guanxi may be important for overcoming obstacles and developing participative leadership within and across cultural boundaries.     

Family-supportive organizations and supervisors: how do they influence employee outcomes and for whom?

In the present study, we examine a model which seeks to specify the process through which work-family supportive organizations and supervisors influence important organizational outcomes, including commitment and performance. Findings indicated that family-supportive organization perceptions are best conceptualized as influencing family-supportive supervisor behaviors, which in turn influence subordinate self-efficacy, subordinate affective commitment to the organization and subordinate perceptions of supervisor work effort. Subordinate self-efficacy and affective commitment were also both found to independently mediate the relationship between family-supportive supervisor behaviors and self-rated performance. Interestingly, the model functioned similarly for employees with and without dependent care responsibilities, indicating that work-family policies and support are important for all employees, regardless of their familial status. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations and future research directions are discussed.     

How does growth need strength influence employee outcomes? The roles of hope,leadership, and cultural value

Abstract

Strong growth need is essential if an employee is to be motivated to complete complex and challenging jobs. It is important for organizations to attract employees with high growth need strength and help them achieve positive outcomes. However, limited research has been conducted to examine the mechanism underlying growth need strength’s positive effect on employee outcomes. Based on hope theory, we hypothesized that hope mediates the effect of growth need strength on job performance and affective commitment by transforming employees’ general desire for personal growth into goal-related cognitive thinking, comprising both ‘will’ and ‘ways’. We further hypothesized the moderating effect of transformational leadership, and the joint moderating effect of transformational leadership and individual power distance on the relationship between growth need strength and hope. We tested our hypotheses with data from a sample of 265 subordinate–supervisor dyads from China. Data analysis results supported the mediating role of hope. We found that growth need strength has a stronger effect on hope when transformational leadership is higher, and this effect is the strongest when both transformational leadership and individual power distance are simultaneously higher. The implications of these findings for human resource management research and practice are discussed.     

Professionals' supervisor–subordinate relationships,autonomy and commitment in Australia: a leader–member exchange theory perspective

This article used leader–member exchange theory as a lens for comparing the impact of the supervisor–subordinate relationship on two types of professionals' perceptions of autonomy, and in turn upon their affective commitment. The reason for examining autonomy is because a characteristic of being a professional is having autonomy; however, we argued that such perceptions are affected by the quality of the supervisor–subordinate relationship. The findings confirmed this argument, although the trend was stronger for engineers than for nurses. Using the ordinary least square procedure, the goodness of fit of the model identified that supervision and autonomy accounted for approximately a third of the variance for engineers' levels of affective commitment and a fifth of the variance for nurses. That is, the impact of supervision practices was stronger on autonomy and commitment for engineers than for nurses in Australia. Moreover, statistically, the two groups of professionals were similar in their perceptions of the quality of their supervisor–subordinate relationship as well as in their perceptions of autonomy, and the qualitative findings supported similar factors impacting upon their perceptions. The only significant difference between the two groups was in their levels of affective commitment. The implications of these results include the need for those managing professionals to consider ways of improving workplace supervisor–subordinate relationships because of the impact upon perceived autonomy as well as commitment to their organisation, and hence the retention of such professionals.     

Coupling High Self-Perceived Creativity and Successful Newcomer Adjustment in Organizations: The Role of Supervisor Trust and Support for Authentic Self-Expression

This study addresses how supervisors can facilitate the socialization of newcomers with high self-perceived creativity into their new jobs. We combine self-verification theory and current literature on socialization in a dual-stage moderated mediation model where a) newcomer self-perceived creativity interacts with supervisor trust in the newcomer to trigger supervisor perception of newcomer creativity; and b) supervisor perception of newcomer creativity, in turn, interacts with supervisor support for newcomer authentic self-expression to impact newcomer adjustment outcomes (i.e., task performance, job satisfaction, and stress symptoms). A two-wave, multisource study of 146 newcomer–supervisor dyads provides support for our predictions, suggesting that high levels of supervisor trust and support for authentic self-expression serve as moderating conditions allowing supervisor perception of newcomer creativity to positively mediate the relationship between newcomer self-perceived creativity and newcomer adjustment.     

Climate control? The relationship between leadership,climate for change,and work outcomes

Transformational leadership is seen as one of the most effective leadership styles from which the dynamic context of temporary work agencies may benefit. The current paper presents a theoretical framework that introduces participative leadership as an additional appropriate leadership style. The prediction is that transformational leadership and participative leadership both impact work outcomes via a climate for change. Data from 258 employees working for a large Dutch employment agency support these hypotheses. Results show that transformational leadership and participative leadership are both independently related to work outcomes. Moreover, results support an indirect process from participative leadership to work outcomes, via a climate for change.     

Human Resource Management Practices and Trust in Public Organizations

Abstract

Trust has been acknowledged as a valuable managerial resource within organizations. Working as a lubricant of organizational functioning, trust reduces opportunistic behaviours while it increases voluntary compliance to organizational norms and rules as well as enhancing individual and organizational performance. Considering the importance of trust, it is worthwhile to explore what factors may help build trust within organizations. This research investigates whether perceptions of several human resource management (HRM) practices are associated with trust in government organizations. According to social exchange theory, HRM practices signal management's commitment to employees which in turn leads to greater trust in the organization. Using data from an employee survey conducted for the Georgia Department of Transportation in 2007, this research tests how employee perceptions of HRM practices are related to trust in three distinct levels of management in a large department of state government: trust in department leadership, trust in one's leadership team, and trust in one's supervisor. Binary logit analyses suggest that perceptions of HRM practices focusing on autonomy, compensation, communication, performance appraisal, and career development are associated with trust in public organizations. According to the result, those practices present variation in their leverage on trust in leadership at different levels.     

The mediating effects of cognition-based trust and affect-based trust in transformational leadership's dual processes: evidence from China

In this study, we proposed and tested a dual process model in which cognition-based trust and affect-based trust mediate the relationships between transformational leadership and followers' task performance and job satisfaction. Data were collected from 175 sales and service employees and their supervisors in two private companies located in Southeast China. The results show that cognition-based trust mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and followers' task performance, while affect-based trust mediates the relationship between transformational leadership and followers' job satisfaction. Implications for the theory and practice of leadership are then discussed.     

Can interfirm trust improve firms' cooperation on environmental innovation? The moderating role of environmental hostility

Based on the logic of “trust‐behavior,” we examined the relationship between interfirm cognitive trust, emotional trust, and firms' cooperation on environmental innovation, as well as the moderating role of environmental hostility on the relationship between two dimensions of interfirm trust and cooperation on environmental innovation. Data for the study were collected from 216 firms in China. The results indicated that both interfirm cognitive trust and emotional trust were positively correlated to firms' cooperation on environmental innovation, and the effect of emotional trust on firms' cooperation on environmental innovation was negatively moderated by environmental hostility. Finally, the results were discussed and future directions put forward.     

Subordinate perceptions of family‐supportive supervision: the role of similar family‐related demographics and its effect on affective commitment

Using survey data from 227 employees, we draw from shared reality theory to study subordinate perceptions of family‐supportive supervision, its antecedents and outcomes. We focus on similarity in salient subordinate and supervisor family‐related demographics as an antecedent to perceived family‐supportive supervision. As expected, female subordinates perceived more family‐supportive supervision from female supervisors than from male supervisors. Likewise, parent subordinates perceived parent supervisors, compared with nonparent supervisors, to be more family supportive. Subordinate perception of family‐supportive supervision also positively related to affective commitment – mediating the indirect positive relationship between similarity in family‐related demographics and affective commitment.     

How work-related capabilities influence job performance: a relational perspective

Employee relationships with supervisors can be based upon both work-focused activities and outcomes, as exemplified by leader–member exchange (LMX), and personal, non-work activities, as exemplified by Chinese guanxi. The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating role of supervisor–subordinate guanxi (SSG) and LMX in the relationship between the work-related human and social capital of employees and supervisors’ ratings of their job performance. Data were collected from 372 employees and 127 supervisors in a range of companies in China. The study demonstrates how human and social capital might play differing roles in influencing SSG and LMX. In particular, LMX partially mediated the relationship between human capital and job performance, and the relationship between social capital and job performance was fully mediated by SSG and LMX. The findings enrich understanding of how personal capabilities influence work and non-work relationships and assessments of job performance. The unique content of the Chinese construct of guanxi has implications for research and practice in modern organizations where the barriers between work and non-work are permeable and relationships include affective attachment as well as instrumental considerations.     

Linking network ties to entrepreneurial opportunity discovery and exploitation: the role of affective and cognitive trust

Entrepreneurial opportunity discovery (EODI) and opportunity exploitation (EOEX) are two critical entrepreneurial activities which heavily depend on external social network. The present study provided a nuanced investigation on the roles of affective and cognitive trust in the relationship between network ties (strong and weak ties) and opportunity discovery and exploitation. We examined the hypothesized relationships using longitudinal data collected from a sample of 207 nascent entrepreneurs in China. Our results showed that affective trust mediated the positive effects of network ties on EODI and EOEX. Further, cognitive trust moderated their relationships, that is, high level of cognitive trust enhance the positive relationship between weak ties and EODI as well as the positive relationship between strong ties and EOEX. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Contribution to social exchange in public organizations: examining how support,trust, satisfaction,commitment and work outcomes are related

The intent of the research was to examine the relationships between support, trust, satisfaction, commitment and work outcomes. The framework of social exchange theory was used as a guide. The research described in this study replicates in the public sector (N = 704) and previous findings obtained in a study conducted in the private sector. Consistent with the study in private sector, support is related to intention to leave and helping behavior to trust and satisfaction. Results are discussed.     

Leader–member exchange and guanxi are not the same: differential impact of dyadic relationships on fit perceptions,helping behavior,and turnover intention

Extant literature on person–environment fit has underlined the positive impact of leader–member exchange (LMX) on person–supervisor (PS) fit. We challenge this assumption and propose that LMX, which captures the working relationship between employees and their managers, is more strongly associated with person–organization (PO) fit, not PS fit. We further propose that the personal aspect of the relationship between employees and their managers, namely supervisor–subordinate guanxi, is more strongly associated with PS fit than LMX. Finally, we theorize that LMX and supervisor–subordinate guanxi will be associated with turnover intention and helping behavior targeting the supervisor, respectively, through their differential impact on PO and PS fit. Data collected from 267 leader–member dyads in 17 companies in China using a two-wave procedure supported our hypotheses. These results have implications for theories on the multi-dimensional nature of the person–environment fit as well as research differentiating LMX and supervisor–subordinate guanxi.     

Person–organization fit and employee outcomes: test of a social exchange model

Data obtained from subordinate–supervisor dyads (N = 314) of a large manufacturing company in South Korea were used to test a moderated mediation model of the processes linking person–organization (P–O) fit and employee work attitudes and behaviors. The results revealed that the influence of P–O fit on work attitudes and behaviors was indirect through perceived social exchange with organization. In addition, the relationship between P–O fit and perceived social exchange with organization was moderated by leader–member exchange (LMX) quality. Specifically, a high-quality LMX enhanced the positive effects of P–O fit on perceived social exchange with organization.     

Human resource managers' role consistency and HR performance indicators: the moderating effect of interpersonal trust in Taiwan

This study explores the consistency between human resource (HR) managers' roles and HR performance indicators. In particular it considers the moderating effects of interpersonal trust on the relationship between HR managers' roles and HR performance indicators. We selected 116 HR managers from the top 500 manufacturing companies in Taiwan as our sample, and hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to test our hypotheses. The results showed that the HR managers' roles were consistent with HR performance indicators. Also, a high level of affective trust weakened the positive relationship between HR manager roles and HR performance indicators. Thus we suggested that Chinese companies should design HR performance indicators according to the roles HR managers play. Additionally, when HR managers are playing the role of a strategic partner or change agent, top executives should avoid high affective trust with HR managers.     

The impact of management on the engagement and well-being of high emotional labour employees

Australia, like many other countries, suffers high turnover of nurses and police officers. Contributions to effectively manage the turnover challenge have been called for, and there are few Australian studies of nursing/policing turnover intentions. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of supervisor–subordinate relationships and perceived organisational support (POS) upon engagement, well-being, organisational commitment and turnover intentions. Second, we examined the similarities and differences between nursing and policing work contexts. The retention of nurses/police has been investigated from traditional management perspectives; however, we used a different theoretical approach – social exchange theory – and evaluated its utility as a framework. Findings are from Australian data collected during 2010–2011 from 510 nurses and 193 police officers, using a survey-based, self-report strategy. Partial least squares path modelling was used to analyse these data. Results indicated that for both samples, engagement predicts well-being and then, well-being predicts affective commitment and intentions to leave. MANOVA results suggested that nurses had significantly higher levels of satisfaction with their supervisor–subordinate relationships, POS, engagement, well-being and affective commitment than police officers. Only the intention to leave was similar for both groups. Given that turnover can be influenced by supervisors/management, this study provides new knowledge about targeted retention strategies.