Kan Shi

The role of collective efficacy in the relations between transformational leadership and work outcomes

Using a sample of 402 employees from the banking and finance sectors in China and India, we found that transformational leadership is positively related to organizational commitment and job satisfaction, and negatively related to job and work withdrawal. We also found that collective efficacy mediated the contribution of transformational leadership to job and work withdrawal and partially mediated the contribution of transformational leadership to organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Antecedents and Outcomes of a Fourfold Taxonomy of Work-Family Balance in Chinese Employed Parents

The study provided validity evidence for a fourfold taxonomy of work-family balance that comprises direction of influence (work to family vs. family to work) and types of effect (work-family conflict vs. work-family facilitation). Data were collected from 189 employed parents in China. The results obtained from a confirmatory factor analysis supported the factorial validity of the fourfold taxonomy of work-family balance with a Chinese sample. Child care responsibilities, working hours, monthly salary, and organizational family-friendly policy were positively related to the conflict component of work-family balance; whereas new parental experience, spouse support, family-friendly supervisors and coworkers had significant positive effects on the facilitation component of work-family balance. In comparison with the inconsistent effects of work-family conflict, work to family facilitation had consistent positive effects on work and life attitudes. The implications of findings in relation to China and other countries are discussed in the paper.

A cross-cultural study of employers' concerns about hiring people with psychotic disorder: implications for recovery

IntroductionEmployment discrimination is considered as a major impediment to community integration for people with serious mental illness, yet little is known about how the problem manifests differently across western and non-western societies. We developed a lay model based on Chinese beliefs and values in terms of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and folk religions which may be used to explain cross-cultural variation in mental illness stigma, particularly in the arena of employment discrimination. In this study, we tested this lay approach by comparing employers’ concerns about hiring people with psychotic disorder for entry-level jobs in US and China.MethodOne hundred employers (40 from Chicago, 30 from Hong Kong, and 30 from Beijing) were randomly recruited from small size firms and interviewed by certified interviewers using a semi-structured interview guide designed for this study. Content analysis was used to derive themes, which in turn were compared across the three sites using chi-square tests.ResultsAnalyses reveal that employers express a range of concerns about hiring an employee with mental illness. Although some concerns were raised with equal frequency across sites, comparisons showed that, relative to US employers, Chinese employers were significantly more likely to perceive that people with mental illness would exhibit a weaker work ethic and less loyalty to the company. Comparison of themes also suggests that employers in China were more people-oriented while employers in US were more task-oriented.ConclusionCultural differences existed among employers which supported the lay theory of mental illness.

A Workgroup Climate Perspective on the Relationships Among Transformational Leadership, Workgroup Diversity, and Employee Creativity

Previous research on the effects of workgroup diversity and workgroup functioning and outcomes has produced mixed results. We address these inconsistencies by proposing a model that considers the effects of both transformational leadership and workgroup climate on one workgroup outcome believed particularly relevant to diversity: employee creativity. Multilevel analyses of 172 individuals working in 31 teams found that innovation workgroup climate level mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and employee creativity. Furthermore, results indicated that diverse groups had higher innovation climate strength when transformational leadership was high, and that innovation climate level was more strongly related to employee creativity when innovation climate strength was high. Overall, these results suggest that transformational leadership may lessen the negative effects associated with workgroup diversity. Implications for both theory and practice are discussed.

Chinese and Dutch Interpretations of Supervisory Feedback

Ina Chinese-Dutchscenariostudy(N = 433students), the authorsinvestigated subordinates’covert reactions to supervisory feedback. The study consisted of a 2 (personal orientation: collectivist vs. individualist) × 2 (performance perspective: collective vs. individual) × 2 (feedback favorability: positive vs. negative) completely crossed factorial design. The dependent variables were feedback quality, relational quality, emotional responses, and behavioral intentions. The authors found that feedback quality and relational quality tend to be higher for matched collectivist—collective and individualist—individual situations than for mismatched situations. They also found that collective situations enhance constructive behavioral intentions more than do individual situations and that positive feedback produces better information, better relationships, more pleasant emotions, and more constructive behavioral intentions than does equivalent negative feedback.

Work—Family Conflict, Self-Efficacy, Job Satisfaction, and Gender: Evidences From Asia

This article examines the relationships between two types of work—family conflict (work interfering with family [WIF] and family interfering with work [FIW]), job-related self-efficacy, work satisfaction, and supervisor satisfaction in China and India. Central to the analysis is a comparison of the authors’ model between men and women, where important differences were projected to exist. Results showed that FIW was negatively associated with self-efficacy. WIF was negatively associated with work satisfaction. The relationships between WIF and work satisfaction and between FIW and self-efficacy were more negative for women than for men. No significant differences were found in any of these relationships between China and India. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Implementing family-friendly employment practices in banking industry: Evidences from some African and Asian countries

We examined the effects of family-friendly policies (child-care benefits and work flexibility benefits) on organizational commitment and work–family conflict in four developing countries: China, India, Kenya, and Thailand. We also explored the boundary condition (e.g., perceived importance of family-friendly programmes) under which family-friendly policies are more (or less) effective in influencing organizational commitment and reducing work–family conflict. Results revealed national similarities on the effect of flexibility benefits on organizational commitment and work–family conflict. Specifically, we found that across the four countries work flexibility-related family-friendly policy was positively related to organizational commitment and negatively to perceived work–family conflict among those who perceived this policy as more important than less important. Instead, national variations are found in the results regarding child-care benefits. Among these four countries, Kenya and Thailand are two countries in which child-care-related family-friendly policies showed a significant and positive relationship with organizational commitment and/or a significant and negative relationship with work–family conflict. We also found child-care-related family-friendly policies had differential effect among people with various perception of policy importance in Kenya and Thailand, but not in China and India. Particularly, child-care-related family-friendly policy results in greater organizational commitment and lower work–family conflict among those who perceived this policy as more important than less important in Kenya and Thailand. Implications for cross-cultural research, theory and practice are discussed.

Daily job search and psychological distress: Evidence from China

We examined the relationship between job search and distress using the daily diary method that involved 100 unemployed job seekers in China. Three models were tested: a direct relationship model (examining the effect of job search on distress), a reversed relationship model (assessing the impact of distress on job search), and a third variable model (testing the extent to which daily financial strain accounts for the relationship between job search and distress). Results offered support for both direct and reversed models. The third variable model was not supported. Negative job search experience mediated the direct effect of job search on distress. Using a within-individual approach, our study provides an in-depth examination on the nature and directionality of the relationship between job search and distress and illuminates the dynamic nature of this relationship.

HIV-related stigma acting as predictors of unemployment of people living with HIV/AIDS.

Obtaining employment is an important part of recovery for many people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA). However, this population often faces barriers in their attempt to reenter the workplace. One potential barrier lies in the decision-making of employers. Little is known about what influences employers’ decision to hire PLHA. The current paper addresses this gap with findings from 156 quantitative interviews with employers across Chicago, Beijing, and Hong Kong regarding the hiring of people with HIV/AIDS. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that both fear of contagion and perceived incompetence are important factors in employers’ decision to interview even after controlling for variables related to the employers’ business size, their education level, and the provision of health benefits. These two variables accounted for 42% of the variance in employers’ decision to interview. Implications of these findings are considered for better understanding of HIV-related employment stigma and further intervention for employing PLHA.

Internationalization of multi-source feedback systems: a six-country exploratory analysis of 360-degree feedback

In the past few years, few human resource practices have received as much attention as multi-source feedback systems (MSFSs). In the US and Canada, it is estimated that over one-third of organizations are using some form of MSFS and recent surveys show that this practice is still gaining popularity. Concurrently, a substantial amount of literature has focused on the effectiveness of this performance management practice. However, while few would dispute the popularity of MSFS, relatively little has been published on the use of these systems outside North America and thus little is known about their form and effectiveness in international contexts. This paper outlines the results of an international survey of MSFS. Interview data from HR managers and consultants from Argentina, Australia, China, Slovakia, Spain and the UK demonstrate that MSFS are being implemented, in slightly different ways, in each of these six countries. The main challenges in the application of MSFS in these various countries are the communication efforts necessary before and after implementation, and the inherent difficulty in giving and receiving feedback. The results of this study also provide data as to the perceived future of MSFS in each of the countries surveyed.