Ping Ping Fu

Explaining Employment Relationships With Social Exchange and Job Embeddedness

The research reported in this article clarifies how employee-organization relationships (EORs) work. Specifically, the authors tested whether social exchange and job embeddedness mediate how mutual-investment (whereby employers offer high inducements to employees for their high contributions) and over-investment (high inducements without corresponding high expected contributions) EOR approaches, which are based on Tsui, Pearce, Porter, and Tripolis (1997) framework, affect quit propensity and organizational commitment. Two studies evaluated these intervening mechanisms. Study 1 surveyed 953 Chinese managers attending part-time master of business administration (MBA) programs in China, whereas Study 2 collected cross-sectional and longitudinal data from 526 Chinese middle managers in 41 firms. Standard and multilevel causal modeling techniques affirmed that social exchange and job embeddedness translate EOR influence. A second multilevel test using lagged outcome measures further established that job embeddedness mediates long-term EOR effects over 18 months. These findings corroborate prevailing views that social exchange explains how mutual- and over-investment EORs motivate greater workforce commitment and loyalty. This study enriches EOR perspectives by identifying job embeddedness as another mediator that is more enduring than social exchange.

Determinants of delegation and consultation by managers

Few studies have identified determinants of delegation and consultation. To investigate this question further, we surveyed managers and subordinates in two samples and interviewed managers individually or in focus groups. The use of delegation and consultation with individual subordinates was determined in part by characteristics of the subordinates and the manager–subordinate relationship. More delegation was used for a subordinate who was competent, shared the leaders task objectives, had worked longer for the manager, was a supervisor also, and had a favorable exchange relationship with the manager. Consultation with a subordinate was predicted by goal congruence, subordinate job level, and quality of the leader–member exchange relationship. The managers acknowledged that developing subordinates and empowering them to do their work were important reasons for delegation, but many managers were reluctant to give up control over important decisions or assign an important task to an inexperienced subordinate. Copyright

Perceived effectiveness of influence tactics in the united states and china

Abstract A cross-cultural study was conducted with managers from the United States and China to investigate differences in influence behavior. Managers rated the effectiveness of different influence tactics for several representative situations. Significant differences were found between American and Chinese managers in a large, multinational company with facilities in both countries. The results were replicated for a second sample consisting of several organizations in each country. Rational persuasion and exchange were rated as more effective by American managers than by Chinese managers. Coalition tactics, upward appeals, and gifts were rated more effective by Chinese managers than by American managers. The influence tactics accurately predicted nationality for 94% of the respondents.

Utilizing printed media to understand desired leadership attributes in the People's Republic of China

Using news media as a reliable source, we content analyzed stories on business leaders in two major official Chinese newspapers in three different time periods over the past 20 years. Results show that the reform has brought an increase in stories of business leaders, and in coverage of the desirable leadership attributes relating to Confucian virtues, communist ideologies, and modern management philophies. The results suggest that, by publicizing and adorning specific leaders in both government and business sectors in the official media, the government reinforces the traditional values that are consistent with communist ideologies, and at the same time, it also introduces Western management values to suit the current needs of the society. The results of our study echo the findings of empirical studies on Chinese values that used data collected using other methods. We therefore encourage future research to use the printed media as a potentially valuable source of data for tracking changes in social phenomena in a society over time.

The Impact of Servant Leadership on Hotel Employees’ “Servant Behavior”

This study examined the link between servant leadership and hotel employees’ customer-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) by focusing on the mediating role of leader–member exchange (LMX) and the moderating role of followers’ sensitivity to others’ favorable treatment. Using time-lagged data from 304 supervisor–follower pairs in nineteen hotels in China, we found that servant leadership positively influenced customer-oriented OCB, and this influence was mediated by LMX. In addition, moderated path analysis indicated that employees’ sensitivity to others’ favorable treatment strengthened the direct effect of servant leadership on LMX and its indirect effect on customer-oriented OCB. This study extends the scope of servant leadership research and provides evidence for arguments that servant leadership matters in the hospitality industry. The study also demonstrates the importance of LMX to the relationship between managers and employees, through findings that are strengthened by a longitudinal design.

Cross-cultural Differences in Perceived Effectiveness of Influence Tactics for Initiating or Resisting Change

Deux recherches exploratoires ont ete initiees pour etudier les differences interculturelles dans l’efficacite percue de diverses strategies destinees a obtenir de la part d’un superieur l’approbation d’un changement qui lui est soumis, ou a resister a un changement envisage par un patron. La premiere etude a compare des managers des Etats-Unis, de Suisse et de Chine continentale, et la deuxieme a remplace la Suisse par Hong Kong. On a retrouve dans la seconde etude l’essentiel des resultats de la premiere (91%) concernant les cadres americains et chinois. Les differences interculturelles dans l’evaluation de l’efficacite des strategies etaient en phase avec les traditions et les valeurs culturelles. Les managers occidentaux jugeaient plus efficaces que les Chinois les strategies directes, orientees vers la tâche, et moins efficaces celles mettant en jeu les relations personnelles, l’evitement ou une approche informelle. Two exploratory studies were conducted to investigate cross-cultural differences in the perceived effectiveness of various influence tactics for gaining approval from a boss for a proposed change, or for resisting a change initiated by a boss. The first study compared managers in the United States, Switzerland, and mainland China. The second study compared managers in the United States, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Most results (91%) for the American and Chinese managers in Study 1 were replicated in Study 2. The cross-cultural differences in rated effectiveness of tactics were consistent with cultural values and traditions. Direct, task-oriented tactics were rated more effective by western managers than by Chinese managers, whereas tactics involving personal relations, avoidance, or an informal approach were rated less effective.

Conflicts in top management teams and team/firm outcomes: The moderating effects of conflict-handling approaches.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how different conflict‐handling approaches moderate the relationship between conflicts and TMT as well as firm performance by adopting the Thomas terminology.Design/methodology/approach – CEOs, TMT members, and lower‐level employees of 200 firms in the telecommunication industry in Mainland China were surveyed. Survey data collected from 123 CEOs, 442 TMT members, and 894 employees and archival data of firm performance were matched for hierarchical regression modeling (HRM) analyses.Findings – Results show relationship conflict reduces team cohesiveness and both relationship and task conflicts are negatively related to firm performance. With relationship conflict, the results show using compromising approach could help reduce its negative effects on TMT cohesiveness and firm performance; but avoiding either type of conflict will undermine both team and firm outcomes. Accommodating approach does not have significant moderating effect on conflict‐outcome rel...

INFLUENCE TACTICS ACROSS TWELVE CULTURES

This chapter summarizes our current knowledge regarding use of managerial influence tactics in international settings, and reports the findings of a twelve-nation study on the relative effectiveness of different influence tactics in business organizations. Rational persuasion, consultation, collaboration and apprising were identified as effective tactics in all the countries. Giving gifts, socializing with the target, exerting pressure, and making influence attempts informally were rated low in effectiveness in all of the countries. Discriminant analysis confirmed that patterns of perceived effectiveness for the influence tactics can distinguish countries in a manner consistent with their known cultural values.

Perceived Effectiveness of Influence Strategies in the United States and Three Chinese Societies

This study explored the perceived effectiveness of organizational influence strategies amongst three Chinese societies and the US. A total of 488 managers rated 16 influence tactics on their effectiveness across three influence directions - upward, downward and lateral. Consistently, these 16 tactics fell into two broad dimensions of influence - the more nurturing Gentle Persuasion (GP) and the more agentic Contingent Control (CC). The perceived effectiveness of GP increased with higher position power of the target, and vice versa for CC. No cultural differences were found for the rated effectiveness of CC. However, regardless of the influence direction, Americans managers rated GP as most effective; Mainland Chinese, the least. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that Reward for Application predicted a manager’s endorsement of GP as more effective, and Fate Control of CC. The effect of Fate Control on CC was, however, moderated by culture, exemplifying culture’s sensitizing role in directing member responses.

Societal Development and the Change of Leadership Style in Oriental Chinese Societies

The development of East Asian Chinese societies in recent decades has led to observed change in leadership styles among business managers. This study examines the relationship between societal changes, especially the change in culture, and the change in leadership styles. The subjects of this study are Chinese managers in four major Oriental Chinese societies: Mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is argued that, due to different political, economical, and cultural developments in recent decades, the leadership styles in these Chinese societies have also changed in different directions. Based on data from the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness Program (GLOBE) study, our findings show some significant and interesting differences in leadership style among business leaders in these Chinese societies. The implications of the findings are discussed.