How large entrepreneurial-oriented companies breed innovation: the roles of interdepartmental collaboration and organizational culture

Purpose This study aims to provide a better understanding into how large-scale companies overcome their rigidity and bureaucracy, and transform entrepreneurial orientation (EO) into organizational responsiveness (e.g. interdepartmental collaboration [IDC]). It also clarifies the double-edged role of organizational culture in shaping IDC, specifically within the Chinese economy that is deeply influenced by Confucianism. Design/methodology/approach Datas were randomly collected from companies that reside in the Yangtze River Delta region. With a sample of 115 large-scale EO Chinese firms, consisting of 402 department managers and 115 executives. The study aggregates the scores to create an overall measurement for EO, collectivism, power distance and IDC in the analysis. Further, confirmatory factor analyses were used to measure the structural model fitness, and multiple regression analysis was used to assess the hypotheses. Findings The results show that in competitive environments, IDC, as a strategic response to EO and a risk aversion of inertia and bureaucracy, fully mediates the positive relationship between EO and organizational creativity. Furthermore, the positive association is more pronounced under high cultural collectivism or low power distance in large-scale firms. Research limitations/implications This paper contributes to the understanding of EO approach at the organizational level. The results posit that when large companies adopt EO, they are proactive rather than passive and would exhibit IDC as an important strategic responsiveness. Moreover, different organizational cultural orientations (i.e. high collectivism and low power distance) help to build IDC before cultivating innovation. Practical implications The results in this study suggest that large companies should focus on developing IDC to overcome knowledge fragmentation, bureaucracy and inertia. Also, large firms should develop Human Resource Management practices, such as creating job rotation and workflow, as well as cultural trust and common beliefs. In contrast, they should be on guard against status differences and workplace hierarchy’s cultural context. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that considers the roles of IDC and organizational culture and examines how large-scale entrepreneurial-oriented companies breed innovation.

Does Culture Matter? Measuring Cross-Country Perceptions of CSR Communication Campaigns about COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought several challenges to businesses and societies. In response, many corporations have supported local communities and authorities in the management of the pandemic. Although these initiatives, which can be considered forms of corporate social responsibility (CSR), were highly coupled with explicit CSR communication campaigns, little is known about whether these campaigns were effective. Previous research indicates that culture can shape people’s perceptions of CSR initiatives and communications, suggesting that businesses pay attention to careful consideration of cultural norms for effective CSR communication. However, the COVID-19 pandemic as a new CSR setting may challenge earlier findings. This study empirically investigates whether three cultural factors (individualism/collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and power distance) affect public perceptions measured as recall of and favorability towards corporate COVID-19 response initiatives across six countries. Findings from a representative survey of adults across these countries show that respondents in individualistic and collectivistic countries recall these CSR communication campaigns about these corporate COVID-19 response initiatives quite differently, and these are related to differences in power distance and uncertainty avoidance. However, no difference was found in overall corporate favorability, indicating that cultural factors did not affect levels of favorability towards such initiatives. This, we argue, can be explained by the global dimension of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is the context of these CSR initiatives. This study contributes to CSR communication literature with empirical findings from a global pandemic setting. It offers businesses and managers empirical grounds to understand the communicative impact of COVID-19 response initiatives, which can inform future CSR actions.

Genuine Servant Leadership (GSL) Impacting Employee Motivation and Work Intentions

The purpose of this study is to explore the followers' perspective of genuine servant leadership (GSL)'s impact on them and its direct relationship to work intentions in Asian high-power distance and collectivist cultures. The study found six follower manifestations when experiencing genuine servant leader behaviors from their leader, three towards the organization and three towards the leaders. Followers are more willing to 1) voice-out ideas and concerns, 2) develop others, 3) recognize their choice in decision making (manifestation towards the organization). As followers respect their leader-follower relations, they tend to 4) voluntarily emulate their leader, 5) trust their leader, and 6) determine to follow their leader willingly (manifestation towards the leader). The six manifestations contribute to followers' intent to perform, endorse, provide discretionary effort, stay, and contribute to OCB. The research sought to understand the leader-follower interactions and intricacies contributing to the manifestations of follower intentions in Asia.

The association of cultural and contextual factors with social contact avoidance during the COVID-19 pandemic

As a first line of defense to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, people reduced social contacts to avoid pathogen exposure. Using a panel of countries, this research suggests that this was amplified in societies characterized by high social support and future orientation. People reacted more strongly in dense environments; government orders had more effect in high power distance societies. Conversely, a focus on accomplishments was associated with lower changes. Understanding people’s actual behaviors in response to health threats across societies is of great importance for epidemiology, public health, international business, and for the functioning of humanity as a whole.

Moderating role of power distance in the relationship between leader-leader exchange (LLX) and knowledge sharing: is feedback-seeking behavior a missing link?

Purpose This study aims to investigate the effect of leader-leader exchange (LLX) on knowledge sharing through feedback-seeking behavior. The study also explores the moderating role of power distance. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional data of 290 knowledge workers from manufacturing and service firms in India were taken as a sample of the study. The hypotheses were tested using confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling and hierarchical regression. Findings The results showed that LLX positively affects knowledge sharing and feedback-seeking behavior mediates the relationship between LLX and knowledge sharing. Moreover, power distance does not moderate the relationship between LLX and knowledge sharing. Originality/value The present study one of its kind explores the relationship between LLX, feedback-seeking behavior, knowledge sharing and power distance.

Unbalanced, Unfair, Unhappy, or Unable? Theoretical Integration of Multiple Processes Underlying the Leader Mistreatment-Employee CWB Relationship with Meta-Analytic Methods

Although a litany of theoretical accounts exists to explain why mistreated employees engage in counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs), little is known about whether these mechanisms are complementary or mutually exclusive, or the effect of context on their explanatory strength. To address these gaps, this meta-analytic investigation tests four theoretically-derived mechanisms simultaneously to explain the robust relationship between leader mistreatment and employee CWB: (1) a social exchange perspective, which argues that mistreated employees engage in negative reciprocal behaviors to counterbalance experienced mistreatment; (2) a justice perspective, whereby mistreated employees experience moral outrage and engage in retributive behaviors against the organization and its members; (3) a stressor-emotion perspective, which suggests that mistreated employees engage in CWBs to cope with their negative affect; and (4) a self-regulatory perspective, which proposes that mistreated employees are simply unable to inhibit undesirable behaviors. Moreover, we also examine whether the above model holds across cultures that vary on power distance. Our meta-analytic structural equation model demonstrated that all but the justice mechanism significantly mediated the relationship between leader mistreatment and employee CWBs, with negative affect emerging as the strongest explanatory mechanism in both high and low power distance cultures. Given these surprising results, as the stressor-emotion perspective is less frequently invoked in the literature, this paper highlights not only the importance of investigating multiple mechanisms together when examining the leader mistreatment-employee CWB relationship, but also the need to develop more nuanced theorizing about these mechanisms, particularly for negative affect.