Combined influence of exchange quality and organizational identity on the relationship between authoritarian leadership and employee innovation: evidence from China

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
ShanLiang Zhang ◽  
Yongwei Wang ◽  
Jinhua Ye ◽  
Yiru Li

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the combined influence of exchange quality (i.e. leader-member exchange or LMX, and coworker exchange or CWX) and organizational identity on the relationship between authoritarian leadership and employee innovation based on social cognition theory and social exchange theory.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used mediation analysis, moderation analysis and bootstrapping method to test the proposed model with data from 286 supervisor-subordinate dyads in China, covering manufacturing and Internet companies. This study also used the time-lag design, and the questionnaires were collected by means of multi-source and multiphase.FindingsThe results indicate that authoritarian leadership can positively influence employee innovation behavior, and organizational identity mediates this relationship. Both LMX and CWX can significantly moderate the relationship between authoritarian leadership and organizational identity, while the moderating effect is the opposite. To be specific, CWX has appositive effect, while LMX has a negative effect. Furthermore, the indirect effect of authoritarian leadership on employee innovation behavior via organizational identity is also moderated by LMX.Originality/valueAt present, scholars have not yet reached a consensus on the relationship between authoritarian leadership and employee innovation behavior. Based on social cognition theory and social exchange theory, this study incorporates organizational identity and exchange quality into the research model to explore this lack of consensus. By verifying the research model, this study offers original views on when and how authoritarian leadership and exchange quality affect employee innovation behavior, which enriches the current research on employee innovation and the effectiveness of authoritarian leadership in different cultural contexts.

2015 ◽  
Vol 115 (6) ◽  
pp. 1041-1066 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Li ◽  
Gang Li ◽  
Taiwen Feng

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships among suppliers’ trust and commitment, transaction-specific investment, switching cost, and customer involvement within the context of relational governance mechanism and the social exchange theory. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use survey data from 214 Chinese manufacturing firms and employ the structural equation model to verify the conceptual model. Findings – Relational governance benefits customer involvement. Transaction-specific investment mediates the relationship between trust and commitment of suppliers. Switching costs negatively moderate the relationship between suppliers’ trust and customer involvement, but positively moderate the relationship between suppliers’ commitment and customer involvement. Research limitations/implications – The authors focus on two key elements of relationship, namely, trust and commitment of suppliers, but neglect other relational factors, such as relational norms and interdependence. Originality/value – These findings broaden the understanding and present new directions for the implementation of customer involvement from the perspective of relational governance and social exchange theory.


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elif Cicekli ◽  
Hayat Kabasakal

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the relationships between promotion, development, and recognition opportunities at work and organizational commitment, and whether these relationships are moderated by the job opportunities employees have in other organizations. Design/methodology/approach An opportunity model of organizational commitment is developed based on social exchange theory and several streams of opportunity research. Factor analyses and hierarchical multiple regression analyses are carried out to test the hypotheses using data from 550 white-collar employees. Findings The results of the analyses show that opportunities for development and recognition are predictors of organizational commitment, that job opportunities employees have in other organizations negatively moderate the relationship between recognition opportunity at work and organizational commitment, and that promotion opportunity does not predict organizational commitment. Research limitations/implications Future researchers could study the issue in the context of other cultures using data from multiple sources. Practical implications Employers who seek to increase their employees’ organizational commitment are advised to divert their energies from struggling to create promotion opportunities for their employees to creating opportunities for development and recognition. Originality/value The study explores the under-researched concept of opportunity at work and connects several streams of opportunity research by drawing on social exchange theory as a theoretical framework. The model is the first to address the effects of opportunity and alternative opportunities on organizational commitment.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheng-Yu Lin ◽  
En-Yi Chou ◽  
Heng-Chiang Huang

PurposeSocial networking sites (SNSs) have significantly influenced people's lives and changed their behavior. Although previous research has explored self-disclosure in virtual communities, little is known about the impact of other users, particularly their online social support, on self-disclosure. The aim of this study is to explore how online social support dimensions (i.e., emotional, informational, esteem, instrumental and network support) influence people's self-disclosure, which in turn affects their commitment to SNSs.Design/methodology/approachBased on social exchange theory, this study proposes a research model that explores the role of other users on self-disclosure. This study collects data from a sample of 558 respondents and applies the structural equation modeling technique to test the research model.FindingsThe findings show that users are motivated to disclose information and commit to a specific SNS because of the supportive climate. Results also show that self-disclosure mediates the effect of online social support on users' commitment to SNSs.Originality/valueThis study focuses on the influence of other users' roles on self-disclosure on SNSs, extending the application of social exchange theory.


2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 867-879 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsin Hsin Chang ◽  
Yao-Chuan Tsai ◽  
Shu-Hui Chen ◽  
Guei-Hua Huang ◽  
Ya Hui Tseng

Purpose – This purpose of this study is to apply social exchange theory (SET) to explain how social exchange behaviors, such as the exchange of knowledge, information and respect between firms, would increase the likelihood of certification implementation and strengthen the relationships among partners. The main purposes of this study are to examine the significant connections between partner interactions and long-term orientation and to examine the links among long-term orientation, certifications and relationship quality. Design/methodology/approach – To test the research hypotheses, structural equation modeling was conducted to analyze the data collected from 136 respondents who are top managers of manufacturing enterprises in Taiwan National Science Park. Findings – Many enterprises in Taiwan regard conflict as a method to express more detailed information about collaboration in business and see conflict as a minus in making the quality of partnership healthier than before. It was affirmed that owning international certifications has an impact on long-term collaborative partnership. Conflicts within a partnership do not completely have a negative influence on relationship quality. Because enterprises want to keep stable partnerships and get long-term competitive advantages, they should continue creating smooth and efficient trading behaviors and should also consider relationship quality as an important factor with regard to their investment in some relationship-specific assets. Research limitations/implications – This study was intended to explore the connection between conflict and relationship quality; however, this relation suggested that conflict may be a negative influence but without any significant proof of the connection. Therefore, future researchers could examine this relation again in the context of Taiwanese enterprises. Practical implications – This study had some implications for enterprises in Taiwan, especially in regard to maintaining a long-term partnership and deciding whether to acquire a specific certification. When firms decide to invest in a relationship-specific asset, they should consider the interaction with the partners and the quality of the partnership. It is suggested that firms should evaluate not only the immediate benefits and drawbacks but also the implications with regard to partner relationships. Meeting the requirements of partners is thus an effective approach to gain trust and commitment. Social implications – As the interactions with partners are executed progressively more smoothly, the relationship quality will become increasingly better. The possibility of having a long-term collaborative relationship becomes higher as the relationship quality improves. Therefore, as the relationship duration becomes increasingly longer, the cost of having an international certification will offer a return on the investment or even result in a profit. Originality/value – A good relationship quality will lead to specific investments from partners, such as the one involving the implementation of specific certifications. The enterprises in Taiwan would prefer to develop a long-term partnership when their demands for a specific investment could be fulfilled. Consequently, enterprises can use the degree of relationship quality to assess the cost and benefits of implementing a certification and can, furthermore help in making the decision.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 318-332
Author(s):  
Smaranda Boros ◽  
Lore Van Gorp

Purpose Integrating predictions of social exchange theory and implicit social cognition, this paper aims to investigate mechanisms of co-evolution between professional and personal support networks in a professional, non-hierarchical setting. Design/methodology/approach The study covers simultaneously people’s behaviours and their subjective interpretations of them in a cross-lagged network design in a group of 65 MBA students. Findings Results show that people build on their professional support network to develop personal support relations. People who have a high status in the professional support network appear to be afraid to lose them by asking too many others for personal support and people with a low status in the professional support network seem also be reluctant to ask many others for personal support. Practical implications Although personal support is a key social mechanism facilitating individual well-being and organizational success, support in the workplace often remains limited to professional topics. This research shows why people hesitate to expand their networks in professional settings and to what extent their fears have a basis in reality. Originality/value It goes beyond predictions of social exchange theory which inform most network evolution studies and tap into implicit social cognition predictions to expand the explanatory power of the hypotheses. The study’s network analysis takes into account both behaviours and social perceptions. The sample is a non-hierarchical professional group which allows a more ecological observation of how hierarchies are born in social groups.


2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (10) ◽  
pp. 1042-1057 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Muldoon ◽  
Shawn M. Keough ◽  
Eric W. Liguori

Purpose This paper aims to attempt to clarify differences between organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) and attitudes as well as explore job dedication’s role regarding OCBs. Using social exchange theory, job dedication is hypothesized to mediate the relationship between leader-member exchange (LMX) and OCBs. Design/methodology/approach Hierarchical regression analysis was performed on data obtained from 190 supervisor/subordinate dyads from a number of firms to test the study hypotheses. Findings Results indicate that job dedication fully mediates the relationship between LMX and OCBs directed toward individuals and the organization, thus playing a role in the production of OCBs. Research limitations/implications Due to non-employment of an experimental design, causality cannot be determined. If managers use signals to determine performance, then scholars need to conduct further research to determine what the cues are. Practical implications Managers need to spend time in determining and care whether what they are actually measuring is accurate in terms of spontaneous behaviors performance. Originality/value First, this study has developed an explanation as to how managers can use job dedication as a means to track the behaviors of multiple subordinates based on social exchange theory. Second, this study provides empirical evidence of the mediating role job dedication plays on mediating the LMX/OCBs relationship.


2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 306-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuhee Jung ◽  
Norihiko Takeuchi

Purpose Although social exchange theory has long been used to explain employees’ positive work attitudes in response to perceived investment in employee development (PIED), few studies have examined this theoretical mechanism by introducing a direct measure of social exchange between employees and their personified organization. Furthermore, most studies have focused solely on one type of exchange (i.e. social exchange) and have ignored another type of exchange characterized as economic exchange. The purpose of this paper is therefore to uncover the process by which PIED affects employees’ attitudes, including affective organizational commitment and job satisfaction, by examining the mediating roles of both social and economic exchanges. Design/methodology/approach To test the hypothesized mediating model, this study conducted a three-phase, time-lagged questionnaire survey and collected data from 545 full-time employees. The model was tested based on structural equation modeling with a bootstrap test of indirect effects. Findings In line with social exchange theory, the findings showed that social exchange perceptions positively mediated the relationships between PIED and affective commitment/job satisfaction, whereas economic exchange perceptions negatively mediated them. Additionally, social and economic exchange perceptions were found to partially mediate the relationship between PIED and affective commitment but fully mediate the relationship between PIED and job satisfaction. Practical implications These results suggest that employers would benefit from investing in employee development, provided workers see the training investment as the employer’s side of social exchange, which in turn leads to increased affective commitment and job satisfaction. When employers do not achieve the expected returns from the training investment, they should check not only hard data (e.g. training attendance rate, hours of training, etc.) but also soft data (e.g. employees’ perceptions of training investment, social exchange, etc.) by conducting employee surveys and communicating with line managers. Originality/value The main contribution of this study is that it provides important empirical support for social exchange theory in the context of organizational training investment and employees’ attitudinal outcomes, by directly testing the positive mediating role of social exchange and the negative role of economic exchange.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanghamitra Chaudhuri ◽  
Sunyoung Park ◽  
Karen R. Johnson

Purpose The purpose of this study is to systematically review the practice of reverse mentoring and draw a timeline of the research over the past two decades. Considering the novelty of this intervention, this paper proposed an agenda for future research on this burgeoning topic. Design/methodology/approach By adopting narrative literature review and Gregory and Denniss’ (2018) four-step process, this paper reviewed 54 studies grounded in conceptual, literature review and empirical research published between 1998 and 2020. Findings The articles included in the literature review on reverse mentoring research were summarized according to journal publications, research methodologies, contextual settings, theoretical framework, purpose and outcomes. Reverse mentoring studies are dominantly published in educational journals using primarily qualitative and conceptual approaches to explore both academic and business contexts within the USA and Europe. Theories frequently used to frame and examine the need of reverse mentoring included social exchange theory and leader-member exchange theory. The fundamental purpose of reverse mentoring research is to transfer knowledge and to bridge the technology divide between intergenerational groups. Reverse mentoring has been used to promote inclusivity between multiple generations in relation to gender, ethnicity and culture. Originality/value As per the knowledge, this is the first-ever comprehensive English summary of reverse mentoring research done in the past two decades. Findings from this research can be used to better understand reverse mentoring research trends and directions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 486-503 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Heron ◽  
Robert Coseano ◽  
Valentina Bruk-Lee

The notion that justice perceptions greatly influence behaviors and attitudes at work has been supported in the organizational behavior literature. Given the significant increase of Hispanic employees in the U.S. workforce in the last two decades, more research is needed to understand how justice relates to important outcomes in this population. The present study uses social exchange theory to examine conflict as a mediator of the relationship between justice and overall job satisfaction, and three individual facets of job satisfaction in a sample of 154 working Hispanic young adults in a variety of jobs. Findings indicate that conflict mediates the relationship between each dimension of justice and overall job satisfaction, and between two out of three examined facets of job satisfaction. The results provide evidence for the importance of justice perceptions in determining the attitudes and behaviors of Hispanic employees in the workplace.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaron J. Zoller ◽  
Jeff Muldoon

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to suggest Homans’ social exchange theory (SET), a management theory, as an explanation for some of the findings of some of the Hawthorne experiments (1924-1933), which demonstrated how social situations play an important role in task performance and productivity and how social exchanges can facilitate it. The authors also use SET to investigate Elton Mayo’s inquiry as to what caused spontaneous cooperation in Hawthorne. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a combination of published work by Homans, Roethlisberger and Dickson, Mayo and others, as well as oral histories conducted by Greenwood and Bolton in 1982-1984, to argue that some of the Hawthorne studies illustrate the principles of SET. Homans’ SET brought together concepts from multiple disciplines and offered a framework to explain social behaviors. Findings The relay assembly room and the bank wiring tests of Hawthorne studies can illustrate SET as developed by Homans. With the development of SET, Homans not only provided explanations for the creation of strong feelings of affiliation and trust through interactions and mutual dependence between group members but also provided evidence to Mayo’s concept of spontaneous collaboration. Research limitations/implications The limitations of the paper are that the studies themselves can lend themselves to multiple perspectives due to design flaws. Therefore, our argument is only one interpretation – even if it is something that the researchers would have supported. Originality/value The paper augments the ongoing discussion about the Hawthorne studies in the literature and in the development of management theories such as SET. The authors provide support that it is through the attempts to explain the Hawthorne studies and the post-Second World War controversies over the studies that Homans developed social exchange. Building on previous work, the methods show perspectives beyond the motivations and sentiments of Homans by demonstrating observable behaviors from the Hawthorne studies.


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