Organizational Fit: Key Issues and New Directions

An ambitious survey of the field, by an international group of scholars, that looks toward the future of person-organization fit. Explores how people form their impressions of fit and the impact these have on their behavior, and how companies can maximize fit. Includes multiple perspectives on the topic of how people fit into organizations, discussing issues across the field and incorporating insights from related disciplines. Actively encourages scholars to take part in organizational fit research, drawing on workshops and symposia held specially for this book to explore some of the creative directions that the field is taking into the future. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The impact of employee perceptions of organizational corporate social responsibility practices on job performance and organizational citizenship behavior: evidence from the Chinese private sector

This paper examines the impact of employee perceptions of organizational corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on their job performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Hierarchical regression analysis on two-wave data from 184 supervisor/subordinate dyads from three organizations located in Zhejiang Province, South-East China, revealed that employee perceptions of CSR toward social and non-social stakeholders strongly influenced their OCB. However, employee perceptions of CSR toward employees, customers and government influenced neither their job performance nor OCB.

Organizational climate change and its influence on employee engagement

 This study provides insight into how organizational climate can change and influence employee engagement using a structural, longitudinal, case study design. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected in two companies in the Philippines undergoing substantial change. An existing validated model of work practices and outcomes was used as a framework in collecting and analyzing the data. Results showed that both companies significantly changed aspects of their organizations associated with the quality of technology and facilities. However, only Company B showed significant changes in aspects associated with the involvement, development, and recognition of staff. With regard to the outcome of employee engagement, results showed that Company A did not report a significant change in employee engagement while Company B did report a significant change. Coding of qualitative comments supported the quantitative results. The findings support the argument that if organizations wish to improve employee engagement, a core requirement for organizational development is to improve the extent to which employees are involved, developed, and recognized within their organization.

Occupational stress and job satisfaction in media personnel assigned to the Iraq War (2003)

This paper investigates occupational stressors amongst media personnel assigned to work on covering the Iraq War via interviews with 54 journalists from the BBC and Reuters, who worked in Iraq between February and April 2003. A range of stressors were identified that could be categorized into three main themes, control over the situation, support from management and grief from the death of colleagues. Journalists not embedded with military units were more likely to report negative physical and emotional health outcomes. The study concludes that hazardous work environments do not, by themselves, cause stress and poor job satisfaction. Rather, organizational factors, the imbalance between the ability to make decisions about how to carry out their job effectively and the perceived rewards of working in such environments appear to have a greater impact on work related stress.

Mentoring functions and turnover intention: the mediating role of perceived organizational support

Despite an increasing number of studies investigating the effects of mentoring on employee work outcomes, limited attention has been placed on the relationship between mentoring functions and turnover intentions. In this study, we examined the relationship between mentoring functions and turnover intentions, and the mediating role of perceived organizational support (POS) on this relationship. Using data collected from 176 employees in three Chinese banks, we found that POS partially mediated the relationship between mentoring functions and employees' turnover intentions.

How servant leadership influences organizational citizenship behavior: the roles of LMX, empowerment, and proactive personality

© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht While the link between servant leadership and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) has been established, the individual-level mechanisms underlying this relationship and its boundary conditions remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigate the salience of the mediating mechanisms of leader–member exchange (LMX) and psychological empowerment in explaining the process by which servant leaders elicit discretionary OCB among followers. We also examine the role of followers’ proactive personality in moderating the indirect effects of servant leadership on OCB through LMX and psychological empowerment. Analysis of survey data collected from 446 supervisor–subordinate dyads in a large Chinese state-owned enterprise suggests that while servant leadership is positively related to subordinate OCB through LMX, psychological empowerment does not explain any additional variance in OCB above that accounted for by LMX. Moderated mediation tests confirm the moderating effect of proactive personality through LMX. By providing a nuanced understanding of how and when servant leadership leads followers to go above and beyond their job role, our study assists organizations in deciding how to develop and utilize servant leaders in their organizations.

The impact of perceived corporate social responsibility on organizational commitment and the moderating role of collectivism and masculinity: evidence from China

This study examines the relationship between employee perceptions of corporate social responsibility practices and their organizational commitment. Hierarchical regression analysis was utilized to analyze survey data on 280 employees from five export-oriented manufacturing firms in China. Employee perceptions of corporate social responsibility practices towards internal stakeholders were found to relate positively to their organizational commitment. In contrast, employee perceptions of corporate social responsibility practices to external stakeholders had a nonsignificant or marginally significant impact on organizational commitment. In addition, the collectivism and masculinity orientations of employees were found to moderate this relationship. These findings provide an insight into how corporate social responsibility practices may be utilized to motivate diverse groups of employees within China-based organizations. © 2013 Taylor & Francis.

The impact of participative leadership on job performance and organizational citizenship behavior: distinguishing between the mediating effects of affective and cognitive trust

This study examines the mediating effects of cognitive trust and affective trust on the relationship between supervisors' participative leadership behavior and subordinate work outcomes, using data obtained from 247 dyads in a manufacturing organization located in mainland China. Structural equation modeling revealed that while affective trust fully mediated the relationships between participative leadership of supervisor and subordinate job performance and organizational citizenship behavior, cognitive trust had non-significant effects. These findings underscore the importance of interpersonal interactions between the supervisor and subordinate for engendering subordinate work outcomes. They also lend support to the exchange (relationship)-based explanation as to how trust enhances the response of subordinates to the participative leadership behavior of their immediate supervisor, given that affective trust involves a process of social exchange between both parties over an extended period of time. © 2014 © 2014 Taylor & Francis.

Participative leadership and the organizational commitment of civil servants in China: The mediating effects of trust in supervisor

The present study examines whether participative leadership engenders organizational commitment amongst Chinese civil servants and analyses the mechanisms by which it transmits its effects. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling revealed that there was a significant relationship between supervisor-level participative leadership and the affective and normative commitment of subordinates, but no relationship with continuance commitment. Affective trust was also identified as the mediator variable underlying the relationship between participative leadership and organizational commitment. We show that participative leadership of supervisors elicits higher levels of trust and leads subordinates to reciprocate through exhibiting higher levels of organizational commitment. Our study also reveals that Chinese civil servants who accept an unequal distribution of power between supervisors and subordinates typically exhibit lower levels of affective and normative commitment to the organization than those who do not. Our results provide greater support for the deepening of administrative reforms and the dissemination of participative leadership practices in China's new civil service system. © 2013 British Academy of Management.

The relationship between ethical leadership and unethical pro-organizational behavior: linear or curvilinear effects?

In this study, we examine the nature of the relationship between ethical leadership and unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB), defined as unethical behavior conducted by employees with the aim of benefiting their organization, and whether the strength of the relationship differs between subordinates experiencing high and low identification with supervisor. Based on three-wave survey data obtained from 239 public sector employees in China, we find that ethical leadership has an inverted u-shaped (curvilinear) relationship with UPB. As the level of ethical leadership increases from low to moderate, UPB increases; as the level of ethical leadership increases from moderate to high, UPB decreases. Further, we find that the strength of this inverted u-curve relationship differs between subordinates with high and low identification with supervisor. That is to say, the inverted u-shaped relationship between ethical leadership and UPB was stronger when subordinates experienced high levels of identification with supervisor. The theoretical and managerial implications of our findings for understanding how to manage UPB in an organizational context are discussed. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

Entrepreneurs, organizational members, political participation and preferential treatment: Evidence from China

Drawing on survey data from 150 small and medium-sized Chinese enterprises, this article examines whether the political participation of entrepreneurs and other members of the firm improves the chances of obtaining preferential treatment from government authorities. Entrepreneurs that

The effects of perceived organizational support, perceived supervisor support and intra‐organizational network resources on turnover intentions: A study of Chinese employees in multinational enterprises

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of perceived organizational support (POS), perceived supervisor support (PSS) and intra-organizational network resources on the turnover intentions of the Chinese employees of multinational enterprises. Design/methodology/approach: The study utilized structured equation modeling to analyze survey data from 437 Chinese employees of five multinational enterprises operating in the Chinese service sector. Findings: The study found that POS was positively related to affective organizational commitment, which in turn was negatively related to turnover intentions. A direct relationship was revealed between PSS and turnover intentions, as well as a mediated relationship through POS. In contrast, the relationship between intra-organizational network resources and turnover intentions was fully mediated through POS. Research limitations/implications: The cross sectional design is a limitation of the study. Another limitation regards the generalisability of the findings outside the specific research context. Future research should be extended to different geographical and organizational settings. Practical implications: In order to promote employee retention, multinational enterprises operating in China could start by carefully targeting visible support on offer to their employees. Improving supervisor support is a relatively inexpensive and practical measure compared to the costly alternatives such as improving employee compensation, training and career development. Organizations should also consider improving co-worker support schemes in the workplace which enable individuals to build up their network resources. Originality/value: The study provided evidence for both a direct relationship between PSS and turnover intentions and a mediated one via POS, confirming the generalisability of previous findings to the Chinese context. In addition it made an original contribution by establishing that POS fully, rather than partially mediated the relationship between intra-organizational network resources and turnover intentions. This suggests that Chinese employees attribute instrumental and expressive support from others in the organization as coming from the organization itself.