Christophe Estay

The relationship between MNCs’ strategies and executive staffing

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship of business strategies with executive staffing of multinational companies (MNCs). Design/methodology/approach Based on in-depth interviews conducted with top executives of 22 MNCs’, the authors identify important connections between international business strategies and staffing orientation. The authors used the qualitative research approach of building theory from interviews; thus, creating theoretical propositions from empirical evidence. Findings The authors find that when the pressure for global integration is high, MNCs use more parent-country national (PCNs) (ethnocentric staffing) as against the use of host-country managers (HCNs) (polycentric staffing) when this pressure is low. Additionally, MNCs using a global strategy are more likely to use an ethnocentric staffing approach, those using a multi-domestic strategy use a polycentric approach and firms using transnational strategy adopt a mix of ethnocentric and polycentric approaches. Research limitations/implications Although the authors derive theoretical patterns based on rich qualitative data, their sample is relatively small and comprises mostly of French MNCs. Generalizability to a broader context is limited. However, the authors’ findings have critical implications for future research. Practical implications The authors’ findings provide critical managerial implications for MNCs in matching their HR strategies with business strategies. These are important for effective strategy implementation. Originality/value Although MNC staffing orientations have been studied for a long time, their relationship to international business strategies is still not clearly understood. The authors contribute to the literature by investigating the relationship between MNCs’ business strategy types with staffing orientations.

Attributional complexity and leadership Test of a process model in France and India

Despite the importance of attributional complexity (AC) of managers in cross-cultural contexts, empirical tests of the relationship between AC and the degree to which managers make isomorphic (accurate) attributions are absent. This study provides a crucial contribution to the literature by focusing on the hitherto unexamined empirical link between AC and accurate attributions. This study also contributes to the literature by drawing on the psychological and leader attribution literature to delineate the processes resulting from the information processing of attributionally complex individuals who use complex schemata and then linking these processes to leadership in cross-national contexts. This article tests the theoretical propositions of the model focusing on the process through which AC of managers affects the accuracy of their attributions, subsequently leading to their behaviors that create the climate for leader effectiveness. We provide an empirical test with data from manager–subordinate dyads in France and India. The following hypotheses are supported: AC of managers is linked to accuracy of attributions, as perceived by subordinates and performance enhancement strategies of managers are linked to isomorphic attributions and to key outcome variables (subordinate satisfaction and leadership perceptions), with power distance being a critical moderator. By examining and showing evidence for the moderating impact of power distance, we also contribute to the cross-cultural management literature on leadership. Results are discussed, along with limitations/directions for future research.

How Role Stress Mediates the Relationship Between Destructive Leadership and Employee Silence: The Moderating Role of Job Complexity

Destructive leadership and employee silence have attracted increasing attention in the academy of organisational behaviour and human resource management. However, the research on the mediating mechanism and boundary variables of their relationship has received little attention. The main purpose of our research was to explore the underlying influence of negative leadership (specifically, destructive leadership) on employee silence by developing a moderated mediation model. Drawing from conservation of resources theory, role theory, and the job characteristic model, the new theoretical model concentrates on the role of stress with three dimensions as mediators and the job complexity as a moderator. Using 318 samples collected from multiple companies in southeast China, the model was tested through confirmatory factor analysis, correlation analysis, and the PROCESS program in AMOS and SPSS environments. Results reveal that employees may resort to silence in the workplace due to their feelings of role conflict, role ambiguity, and role overload when they face destructive leadership; while the presence of high job complexity makes the adverse impact of destructive leadership even worse. Managerial and practical implications, limitations, and research directions in future are discussed and offered.

How destructive leadership influences compulsory organizational citizenship behavior

The purpose of this paper is to explore the underlying influence of destructive leadership on hindrance stress and compulsory organizational citizenship behavior (CCB) by developing a moderated mediation model, which examines the mediating role of hindrance stress and the moderating role of supervisor–subordinate guanxi.,By using 324 samples collected from multiple companies in southeast China, the model is tested through multiple linear hierarchical regressions, correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and PROCESS bootstrapping program in SPSS and AMOS software.,Results reveal that hindrance stress fully mediates the relationship between destructive leadership and CCB, and supervisor–subordinate guanxi moderates the strength of the indirect effect between destructive leadership and CCB (via hindrance stress), so that the mediated relationship is stronger when supervisor–subordinate guanxi is low rather than high.,The study contributes to display the influence path and contingency mechanism of destructive leadership as a stressor on employees’ negative behavior in the workplace. The moderated mediation model results not only develop the research on the relationship between negative leadership and employee behavior in terms of leadership effectiveness but also provide a new viewpoint to explore the relationship between leadership and employee behavior.