Benevolent leadership and follower performance: The mediating role of leader–member exchange (LMX)

Work-related identity discrepancy and employee proactive behavior: The effects of face-pressure and benevolent leadership

PURPOSE

Based on social exchange theory and social cognition theory, this paper studies the effect of work-related identity discrepancy on proactive behavior of close-leadership employees through hierarchical regression analysis and examines the mediating effect of face-pressure and the moderating effect of benevolent leadership.

METHODS

This work surveyed 516 employees by questionnaire. The first round of survey mainly investigated employees in Changsha City, and the second round of survey mainly investigated employees' work-related identity discrepancy, face-pressure, benevolent leadership and proactive behavior in >10 regions. By tracking and matching, 396 valid questionnaires were finally obtained. Spss 22.0 was used to describe all the study variables; Mplus 7.0 is used to carry out a confirmatory factor analysis and a multi-path regression model.

RESULTS

The difference in work-related identity discrepancy had a significant negative impact on proactive behavior. Face-pressure partially mediated the relationship between work-related identity discrepancy and proactive behavior. Benevolent leadership moderated the indirect relationship between work-related identity discrepancy, proactive behavior and face-pressure. We hope that the findings and discussions from this study will spark further exploration and practical application of enterprise management theories.

CONCLUSION

In the context of leadership change, employee identity differences in perception can affect employee proactive behavior, especially for some close-leadership employees. Face-pressure in traditional Chinese culture has a prominent place. Managers should strive to foster an open and inclusive organizational atmosphere that promotes interaction and communication among employees, reduces the impact of negative factors like face pressure, and thereby stimulates employees' work initiative and innovative spirit. This enriches and deepens our understanding within the fields of organizational behavior and cross-cultural management.

Breaking the burnout cycle: Association of dispositional mindfulness with production line workers' job burnout and the mediating role of social support and psychological empowerment

Burnout among production line workers has become an issue for their physical and mental health and for the productive efficiency of companies. However, this large group of workers has received insufficient attention, particularly in exploring how employees' dispositional factors are associated with burnout. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the association between dispositional mindfulness and job burnout and the potential mediating roles played by perceived social support and psychological empowerment. Participants in the study included 780 production line workers recruited from a foreign company in China. Participants completed measures related to dispositional mindfulness, perceived social support, psychological empowerment, and job burnout. The results showed that (a) dispositional mindfulness was significantly related to lower burnout (β = -0.446, 95% CI [-0.552, -0.340]); (b) perceived social support (β = -0.073, 95% CI [-0.126, -0.025]) and psychological empowerment (β = -0.106, 95% CI [-0.171, -0.058]) mediated this association individually; and (c) perceived social support and psychological empowerment had a serial mediating effect in this context (β = -0.055, 95% CI [-0.095, -0.028]). This study revealed the association between dispositional mindfulness and job burnout, with an additional focus on how dispositional mindfulness correlates with other resources, such as perceived social support and psychological empowerment.

The Relationship Between Market Culture, Clan Culture, Benevolent Leadership, Work Engagement, and Job Performance: Leader's Dark Triad as a Moderator

Benevolent leadership is one of the leadership styles which provides a positive influence on employees. However, the current leadership literature has yet to investigate how benevolent leadership leads to job performance, the processes involved, the relationship between organizational culture and benevolent leadership, and the role of dark side of leaders in affecting this relationship. Using the leader-culture fit framework within an Eastern context, the current study first investigates the relationship between benevolent leadership and job performance through work engagement. The study then compares two contrasting organizational culture (i.e., market culture and clan culture) on benevolent leadership. Finally, the study investigates how leaders' dark triad affects the relationship between organizational culture and benevolent leadership. 374 full-time white-collar employees (Males = 54.01%; Mean age: 32.7 years) from various private organizations within the service industry participated in this study. The results showed that work engagement mediated benevolent leadership and job performance. Market culture showed a negative relationship with benevolent leadership while clan culture showed a positive relationship with benevolent leadership. Benevolent leadership mediated clan culture (but not market culture) and work engagement. Under a high market culture with a high dark triad leader, benevolent leadership is at its lowest level. Under a high clan culture with a low dark triad leader, benevolent leadership is at its highest level. The findings suggest the importance of benevolent leadership within a clan culture (rather than market culture), in aligning with the leader-culture fit framework in increasing employees' work engagement and job performance.

The effect of benevolent leadership on safety behavior: A moderated mediation model

INTRODUCTION

While high quality leadership is of great importance for enhancing safety behavior in the workplace, there has been a lack of research on how benevolent leadership influences such behavior. Subordinates' moqi (i.e., their unspoken understanding of the work expectations, intentions, and requirements of their superiors) and safety climate were introduced to examine this relationship.

METHOD

Based on implicit followership theory, this study explores the relationship between benevolent (well meaning, kindly) leadership and employees' safety behavior, as well as the mediating role of subordinates' moqi and the moderating role of safety climate. 608 employees of a petroleum company in China were randomly selected as participants, and the data were collected in two stages.

RESULTS

The results showed that: (1) Benevolent leadership is positively correlated with employees' safety behavior. (2) Subordinates' moqi mediates between benevolent leadership and employees' safety behavior. (3) Safety climate moderates the mediating role of subordinates' moqi between benevolent leadership and employees' safety behavior. (4) The positive effect of subordinates' moqi on employees' safety behavior is enhanced under a positive safety climate.

CONCLUSIONS

Benevolent leadership is an effective leadership style that enhances employees' safety behaviors by promoting a moqi state between supervisors and subordinates. The invisible environmental climate, in particular, the safety climate, should be a key focus in the promotion of safety behaviors.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

This study further broadens the research perspective of employee safety behavior from the perspective of implicit followership theory. It also provides practical guidance for improving employee safety behavior, namely selecting and cultivating benevolent leaders, enhancing subordinates' moqi, and actively fostering a positive organizational safety climate.

Investigating the moral compensatory effect of unethical pro-organizational behavior on ethical voice

Introduction

Unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) can hinder the development of the organization. The existing literature on UPB rarely examines whether and how employees remedy such ethical misconduct after they have committed it. Based on moral compensation theory and social exchange theory, this study explores the self-moral compensation process of employees who engage in UPB.

Methods

Specifically, we adopt a moderated mediating model to examine how and when UPB facilitates ethical voice. We tested our theoretical model using data from 415 full-time employees in Chinese companies, which we obtained via a three-stage questionnaire.

Results

The results of the regression analysis revealed that UPB has a significant positive effect on ethical voice, and that moral ownership plays a mediating role between UPB and ethical voice. Furthermore, the results support the moderating role of benevolent leadership in the positive direct effect of UPB on ethical voice, and the positive indirect effect of UPB on ethical voice via moral ownership. When benevolent leadership is strong, the direct effect of UPB on ethical voice and indirect mediating effect of moral ownership are both significantly positive, whereas neither are significant when benevolent leadership is weak.

Discussion

These findings show the ethical compensation effect of UBP on ethical voice and provide a novel and comprehensive understanding of the consequences of UPB. They also have significant value for ethical practices in managing employee (mis)behavior.

Investigating aspects of paternalistic leadership within the job demands–resources model

The literature on the job demands–resources (JD-R) theory has flourished for the past decade due to the theory's simplicity and its applications in many areas of work life. However, the literature is lacking on how leaders can utilize this theory to manage employees, especially in the Asian leadership context. Using the JD-R theory, the current study investigated each aspect of paternalistic leadership (i.e., benevolent leadership, authoritarian leadership and moral leadership) and its influence on employees' job resources (i.e., work meaningfulness and influence at work), job demands (i.e., emotional and cognitive demands), work engagement, burnout and the processes involved. Four hundred and thirty-one (431) full-time working employees (mean age: 31.58; female: 57.8%) from various organizations in Malaysia participated in the study. Using structural equation modelling, the study's results showed that the benevolent aspect of paternalistic leadership was related to higher work engagement and lower burnout through work meaningfulness (but not through influence at work). In contrast, the authoritarian aspect of paternalistic leadership was related to higher burnout through emotional demands (but not through cognitive demands), while the moral leadership aspect had no significant relationship to employees' job demands or job resources, with a mediation process not found in either relationship. Overall, the study revealed three contrasting mechanisms for each aspect of paternalistic leadership and suggested how paternalistic leadership may be practised in Asian countries.

Does benevolent leadership consistently lead to employees' voluntary behaviors?

Purpose

Benevolent leadership is a leadership style in which leaders show consideration for their employees' work and life. Empirical studies have shown inconsistent relationships between benevolent leadership and employees' voluntary behaviors. Therefore, this study examined benevolent leadership's mediating (gratitude) and moderating (trust) mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach

Overall, 792 questionnaires were collected from Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) and continuing education students at a public university in Taiwan. The research model was tested using confirmatory factor analysis and the PROCESS module.

Findings

Benevolent leadership influenced three voluntary behaviors of employees directly and indirectly through enhanced gratitude. Emotional trust moderated the relationship between work care and employee gratitude such that the positive relationship was stronger for employees with higher emotional trust levels.

Practical implications

Benevolent leadership is an effective leadership style that cares about employees' work and lives, enhancing their gratitude and engagement in voluntary behaviors.

Originality/value

The mediating effect of gratitude and the moderating effect of trust provide a possible explanation for the inconsistent relationships between benevolent leadership and voluntary behaviors.

Humble Leadership Benefits Employee Job Performance: The Role of Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi and Perceived Leader Integrity

Although humility is a hallmark of many beloved and respected leaders, yet little is known about the impact of humble leadership on employee job performance. Drawing on social exchange theory and attribution theory, the current study suggests a moderated mediation model to elucidate how and when humble leadership encourages follower job performance. Analyses of multilevel, multisource data from 204 subordinates and 68 supervisors showed that humble leadership and employee job performance via supervisor–subordinate guanxi is moderated by perceived leader integrity, such that the indirect and positive relationship between humble leadership and employee job performance via supervisor–subordinate guanxi would be strengthened when perceived leader integrity is high rather than low. Theoretical and practical implications as well as limitations and future directions are discussed.

Nexus between Leader–Member Exchange, Paternalistic Leadership, and Creative Behavior in the Construction Industry

Effective leadership and creative performance are the predominant factors for the success of modern projects in the global construction industry. However, rigorous research has not explored the nexus between such factors and the leader–member exchange (LMX). To address this gap, this study explores the relationship between dimensions of paternalistic leadership and employee creativity achieved through LMX in the context of the construction industry. Based on social exchange theory (SET), six relevant hypotheses were proposed in this study. The data were collected through a structured questionnaire. An online survey form was used for data collection, through which 288 responses were collected from the construction industry employees working in Pakistan. The collected data were analyzed using Smart PLS in two stages, i.e., measurement model evaluation (reliability analysis, convergent and discriminant validity) and structural model evaluation (R2, F2, and path coefficient). The findings of the current study reveal a positive association of authoritarian, benevolent, and moral leadership with employee creativity. In addition, LMX significantly mediates the relationship between the two dimensions of paternalistic leadership (benevolent and moral leadership) and creativity, except for authoritarian leadership. Based on the results, this study contributes to the body of knowledge related to the appropriate leadership style in the local construction industry that can be extended to other developing countries with similar dynamics. It also helps the managers target and develops relevant skills to acquire positive outcomes from their team members.

Leader–follower interpersonal behaviors, emotional regulation and LMX quality

We investigate how a leader's perception of a follower's behaviours may impact the follower's perception of a leader's behaviours which in turn may relate to a leader's rating of the LMX quality. Multilevel multisource data were collected from 315 leader–member dyads in 27 military teams. At the dyadic level, a leader's perception of a follower was related to the follower's assessment of a leader's behaviours, which in turn, was positively related to how the leader rated their LMX quality. Finally, the leaders' emotional reappraisal moderated the link between a follower's perception of the leader's behaviours and leader rated LMX quality. LMX research continues to interrogate the role of the follower in the leader–follower process. The study sheds further light on how followers contribute to the leadership process.

Benevolent Leadership and Employee Task Performance: Chain Intermediary Role of Personal Initiative and Work Engagement in Crosscultural Management

This study explored the antecedent mechanism of task performance. We collected data from teams working on Chinese overseas projects in 13 countries and regions, and conducted a cross-layer analysis through matching the data of 70 direct leaders and 277 employees. The results show that benevolent leadership was positively associated with employees' task performance, personal initiative, and work engagement. In addition, employees' personal initiative and work engagement played a chain intermediary role in the relationship between benevolent leadership and employee task performance. These findings show how benevolent leadership influences employee task performance in cross-cultural management. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Examining the Inverted U-Shaped Relationship Between Benevolent Leadership and Employees' Work Initiative: The Role of Work Engagement and Growth Need Strength

Benevolent leadership is generally considered to be beneficial for work initiative. However, based on social exchange theory, this paper explores an inverted U-shaped relationship between benevolent leadership and work initiative. Using a multilevel structural equation model that analyzed the data from 596 employees and 139 supervisors in multiple technology companies, our findings show that benevolent leadership had an indirect, negative curvilinear relationship with work initiative via work engagement at both the individual and team levels. Furthermore, we also indicate that growth need strength moderates the positive relationship between benevolent leadership and work engagement at the individual level. Theoretical and practical implications and future research directions are discussed.

The relationship between benevolent leadership and affective commitment from an employee perspective

Benevolent leadership has emerged as a contemporary leadership style that has been studied only scantly. To fill this gap, this work has two goals. The first is the identification and assessment of the relationship between benevolent leadership and employees’ affective commitment in the context of Polish organizations. Secondly, it will be investigated whether all constructs of benevolent leadership contribute to affective commitment. Data were obtained from 415 company employees. The relationships were investigated using structural equation models (SEMs). Analyses of the results showed that benevolent leadership has a positive relationship with affective commitment. The more benevolent leadership qualities a supervisor has, the more commitment employees show. All dimensions of benevolent leadership are positively correlated with affective commitment. However, the greatest was found in the “community dimension.” All analyzed dimensions correlate positively with each other, so there is a high probability that if a leader displays one BL dimension, he will also display another.

Benevolent Leadership and Team Creative Performance: Creative Self-Efficacy and Openness to Experience

We examine the association between benevolent leadership and team creative performance in scientific research teams. Moreover, the mediating effects of creative self-efficacy and the moderating effects of openness to experience on the relationship were also analyzed. The study sample comprised 251 postgraduates from 58 scientific research teams in Chinese universities. Results revealed that benevolent leadership was positively related to team creative performance, and creative self-efficacy partially mediated this positive relationship. When team personality composition had a high average team level of or a low level of variance on openness to experience, the relationship between creative self-efficacy and team creative performance was stronger. The same situation also occurred as an indirect effect of benevolent leadership on team creative performance through creative self-efficacy. This study suggests that while people may pay focus on benevolent leadership and creative self-efficacy, team personality composition should also be considered in scientific research team practices.

Dual crossover mechanisms of benevolent supervision on followers' contextual performance and emotional exhaustion alleviation

Purpose

Adopting conservation of resources (COR) theory as a guiding framework, this study proposes that benevolent supervision (BS) is a feasible leadership style for building a positive resource gain process in subordinates' extra-role actions and reducing their exhaustion, and leader-member exchange (LMX) and positive affect (PA) serve as indirect crossover mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach

Surveys were conducted at three-time points with four-week intervals. A total of 304 subordinates and 55 supervisors at a Taiwanese university participated in the surveys, and a multilevel model was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The results showed that prior BS (time 1) was positively associated with subordinates' subsequent LMX and PA (time 2). LMX mediated the relationship between BS and subsequent supervisor-rated contextual performance (time 3), and PA mediated the relationship between BS and subordinate-rated emotional exhaustion (time 3). In addition, supervisors' learning orientation positively moderated the relationship between BS and contextual performance via LMX, whereas supervisors' performance orientation negatively moderated this relationship.

Practical implications

The results of the study encourage leaders to exhibit benevolence toward subordinates, increase subordinates' contextual performance and enhance personal feelings, thereby ultimately benefitting the organization.

Originality/value

This study reveals that BS is a source of resource investment in the process of subordinates' positive job (contextual performance) and personal (emotional exhaustion) resource gains through social exchange (LMX) and affective (PA) crossover mechanisms and that supervisors' goal inclinations impact this process.

The Boss's Long Arm: The Differential Impact of Authoritarian and Benevolent Leadership on Spousal Family Satisfaction

The extant studies on leadership are replete with employee, coworker, and leader outcomes, however, research is still nascent on leadership's crossover into employees' family members' lives. To examine leadership's impact on the work-family interface, we draw on conservation of resources theory (COR) and crossover theory and investigate how authoritarian leadership and benevolent leadership affect spousal family satisfaction. We examine the mediating influence of work-family conflict (WFC) and work-family facilitation (WFF), and the moderating impact of spouses' need for control. Our model was tested with multisource, mutiwave data from 207 Chinese married dyads. The results suggest that, as expected, the positive relationship between benevolent leadership and spousal family satisfaction is fully mediated by WFF, and the negative relationship between authoritarian leadership and spousal family satisfaction is fully mediated by WFC. Findings further suggest that the negative relationship between employee WFC and spousal family satisfaction is stronger for spouses with a higher need for control. Thus, authoritarian leadership, through its negative influence on WFC appears to be universally detrimental for spousal family satisfaction, however, even more so for spouses with a higher need for control. These results underscore the importance of acknowledging leadership's impact at work reaching far beyond the job incumbent.

Paternalistic Leadership and Safety Participation of High-Speed Railway Drivers in China: The Mediating Role of Leader-Member Exchange

This research aimed to examine the effects of paternalistic leadership on the safety participation of high-speed railway drivers. Survey data were collected from 601 drivers in major Chinese rail companies. Structural equation modeling was conducted to analyze the influence of paternalistic leadership on safety participation via leader–member exchange (LMX). The results indicated that moral leadership directly promotes safety participation. Besides, benevolent leadership was positively associated with safety participation. Also, LMX partially mediates the positive relationship between benevolent leadership, moral leadership, and safety participation. Therefore, paternalistic leadership promotes the safety participation of high-speed railway drivers.

The Trickle-Down Effect of Authoritarian Leadership on Unethical Employee Behavior: A Cross-Level Moderated Mediation Model

Authoritarian leadership is of great significance to eastern countries, including China. Meanwhile, unethical employee behavior also exists in all types of social organizations. The relationship between authoritarian leadership and unethical employee behavior is worth studying. Senior leaders (managers) often do not have a direct influence on employees except for through their immediate supervisors. The leadership style of senior leaders also influences the leadership style of their subordinates (employees’ direct supervisors). This paper studies how authoritarian manager leadership trickles down to unethical employee behavior through authoritarian supervisor leadership (through social learning theory and ASA theory) and discusses the moderating effect of leader member exchange (LMX) and an ethical climate. Through a questionnaire survey of 406 pairs of leaders, supervisors, and employees, the research results of the multilevel model show that (1) authoritarian supervisor leadership is positively related to unethical employee behavior, (2) authoritarian supervisor leadership mediates the relationship between authoritarian manager leadership and unethical employee behavior, (3) LMX positively moderates the relationship between authoritarian manager leadership and authoritarian supervisor leadership and moderates the mediating effect of authoritarian supervisor leadership, and (4), that an ethical climate negatively moderates the relationship between authoritarian supervisor leadership and unethical employee behavior and moderates the mediating effect of authoritarian supervisor leadership.

Trickle-down effect of benevolent leadership on unethical employee behavior: a cross-level moderated mediation model

Purpose

Conducting research on the relationship between benevolent leadership and unethical employee behavior can help us find solutions to reduce unethical employee behavior. This paper also discusses how the benevolent manager leadership can be transmitted to the employee's unethical behavior through the benevolent supervisor leadership and the moderating effect of LMX and ethical climate.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a questionnaire survey of 406 pairs of leaders, supervisor and employees, the authors use data aggregation test, confirmatory factor analysis, descriptive statistics and multilevel model (HLM) to test our hypothesis.

Findings

(1) Manager supervisor leadership is negatively related to unethical employee behavior, (2) benevolent supervisor leadership mediates the relationship between benevolent manager leadership and unethical employee behavior, (3) LMX positively moderates the relationship between benevolent manager leadership and benevolent supervisor leadership and moderates the mediating effect of benevolent supervisor leadership, and (4) ethical climate positively moderates the relationship between benevolent supervisor leadership and unethical employee behavior and moderates the mediating effect of benevolent supervisor leadership.

Originality/value

First, based on previous studies, this study further proves that benevolent leadership is a popular positive leadership among the three dimensions of paternalistic leadership that extends its influence to unethical employee behavior. Second, the study traces the source of the benevolent leadership of employees' supervisors and reveals the action mechanism of how benevolent manager leadership affects unethical employee behavior (trickle-down effect). LMX and the ethical climate provide the organizational context of the trickle-down effect and the occurrence of unethical employee behavior.

Follower Dependence, Independence, or Interdependence: A Multi-Foci Framework to Unpack the Mystery of Transformational Leadership Effects

We develop a multi-foci framework—“follower dependence,” “follower independence,” and “leader-follower interdependence”—to explain how transformational leadership influences follower performance. Follower’s personal identification with the leader, psychological empowerment, and leader-member exchange are employed as proxies for each of the three foci. Two separate studies consistently show that personal identification (denoting a “follower dependence” focus) is a more salient mechanism than the other two in explaining the transformational leadership-organizational citizenship behavior relationship. These results suggest transformational leadership is perhaps a theory of follower dependence rather than independence or interdependence. Theoretical implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Don't Be Afraid to Fail Because You Can Learn From It! How Intrinsic Motivation Leads to Enhanced Self-Development and Benevolent Leadership as a Boundary Condition

Employee learning from failures is key to effective employee functioning and long-term sustainable development. Although failure is an essential part of the learning process, it is less certain of why individuals would learn from failures and the benefits associated with it. Thus, it is significant to explore the cause and the consequence of learning from failures. Drawing upon self-determination theory, we explore the antecedent, consequence, and boundary condition of employee learning from failures. Random full-time employees in China were recruited to participate in the two-wave survey study via an online survey platform. Empirical results of 381 employees indicate that employee intrinsic motivation is positively related to employee learning from failures, which in turn facilitates employee self-development. Moreover, we found that benevolent leadership, a leadership style that is prevalent in the Chinese work context, plays an important moderating role in affecting the saliency of the indirect effect. Specifically, the indirect effect is more salient when benevolent leadership is higher. We test the hypotheses in SPSS using linear regressions and the PROCESS macro. Our study provides important implications for both theory and practice. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed.

Authoritarian-Benevolent Leadership, Moral Disengagement, and Follower Unethical Pro-organizational Behavior: An Investigation of the Effects of Ambidextrous Leadership

Drawing on the social cognitive theory of moral disengagement, this study examined the influence of the authoritarian-benevolent style of ambidextrous leadership on follower unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB), mediated via moral disengagement. We tested the hypotheses using a sample of 175 participants at two time points. The results indicated that authoritarian-benevolent leadership affects moral disengagement. In addition, followers in congruent dyads with low authoritarian-benevolent leadership perceived higher levels of moral disengagement than those in congruent dyads with high authoritarian-benevolent leadership. Furthermore, high authoritarian-benevolent leadership had an indirect effect on follower UPB via moral disengagement. Theoretical and practical implications and future research directions are suggested.

Asian Conceptualizations of Leadership: Progresses and Challenges

By investigating broadly a contingency approach and implicit leadership theoretical perspectives with a multilevel lens as a starting point, this review highlights the potential for Asian conceptualizations of leadership. More specifically, by highlighting the important contingent role national culture plays in influencing leadership effectiveness, we review Asian conceptualizations of leadership that exist (e.g., paternalistic leadership style, paternalism, and guanxi in the leadership setting) in the literature and the findings that have been found in a relatively selective manner. This also allows us to advance the notion of a culturally contingent leadership perspective by developing the notion of hierarchical social exchange and various modalities associated with such a relationship. By so doing, this review enables us to underscore the advantages as well as challenges associated with Asian conceptualizations of leadership as well as future research directions that need to be undertaken to more firmly establish their utility to general leadership literature.

Leader-member exchange and employee resilience: the mediating role of regulatory focus

Purpose

This study aims to investigate whether leader–subordinate exchange (LMX) quality influences subordinate resilience. Drawing upon Higgins’ (1998) regulatory focus theory, it is hypothesized that high LMX leaders induce a positive appraisal of situations which primes promotion regulatory focus in subordinates which in turn increases employee motivation and resilience.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a cross-sectional survey design. Responses were collected from 139 employees of three information technology and enabled services organizations in India. Data were analyzed using PLS-based structure equation modeling package ADANCO.

Findings

LMX was found to be positively related to employee resilience. Promotion regulatory focus mediated the relationship between LMX and employee resilience.

Practical implications

The study demonstrates that leader interaction and behaviors can promote resilience in employees. Organizations need to see how supervisors can be trained to “frame” challenges and adversity in a manner that motivates employees and promotes resilience.

Originality/value

Previous studies have found different types of leadership styles to be associated with subordinate resilience. This suggests that there are certain factors across various leadership styles that influence resilience. The study uses LMX theory to suggest that it is not leadership style but underlying dimensions such as trust, reciprocity and clarity that play a vital role in cultivating employee resilience.

Factors affecting employee performance: a systematic literature review

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the fragmented literature on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), leader–member exchange (LMX), learning, innovative work behavior (IWB) and employee performance across different countries, disciplines and organizations, thereby broadening the literature breath and making gap identification comprehensive. Second, it provides information on how much studies have been concentrated on Africa with the goal of provoking scholarly work in a unique cultural setting on the interrelatedness of these concepts.

Design/methodology/approach

Relevant literature search was undertaken using key search terms, “employee performance,” “OCB,” “LMX,” “IWB,” “individual learning” and “team learning.”

Findings

The findings show positive relationships between the behaviors and employee performance. They also reveal an interesting diversity in the study across multidisciplinary fields holding both cultural and contextual significance for academia and practitioners.

Research limitations/implications

The limitation of literature to peer-reviewed journals from the authors’ university library might have missed important information not in this domain. Further studies must make use of additional search terms and engines excluded from this study to provide a more comprehensive analysis.

Practical implications

The paper has important managerial implications for practitioners. The analysis can support the understanding of employee performance from a broader and more diverse view points; and help in providing insight into real-life opportunities, constraints and solutions in enhancing performance management.

Originality/value

This systematic literature review highlights important knowledge gaps which need to be explored especially in the African and Ghanaian contexts.

How Do Different Faces of Paternalistic Leaders Facilitate or Impair Task and Innovative Performance? Opening the Black Box

There is a growing amount of research integrating leadership and positive organizational behavior literatures in order to understand the processes through which leadership contributes to performance. One such mechanism through which leaders influence performance is psychological capital (PsyCap). Particularly, paternalistic leadership, which is a leadership style that combines discipline, authority, and power with fatherly benevolence, may be a critical antecedent to the development of followers’ PsyCap. Yet no studies to date have investigated how paternalistic leaders affect followers’ PsyCap, which, in turn, influences their task and innovative performance. To this end, based on a sample of 409 Turkish employees and their 72 leaders, the current study investigates the effects of three dimensions of paternalistic leadership (i.e., benevolent, authoritarian, and authoritative) on followers’ leader-rated task and innovative performance. While there were no significant mediation effects for task performance, the results revealed that both benevolent and authoritative leadership positively influenced innovative performance through enhancing followers’ PsyCap. Authoritarian leadership, however, has negative effects on PsyCap, which, in turn, mediates the effect on innovative performance of followers. The theoretical and practical implications of our findings, along with suggestions for future research, are discussed.

Impact of benevolent leadership on follower taking charge

Purpose

The topic of employees’ taking charge behaviors has garnered increasing interest in both practical and academic fields. Leaders play a critical role in influencing followers’ taking charge behaviors, yet few studies have explored the predicting role of benevolent leadership. Drawing from proactive motivation literature, this paper aims to investigate a moderated mediation model that examines work engagement as the mediator and role-breadth self-efficacy as the moderator in the relationship between benevolent leadership and taking charge.

Design/methodology/approach

Matched data were collected from 297 followers and their group leaders in three subsidiaries of a large telecommunication company in China. The authors used hierarchical linear modeling to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The results revealed that benevolent leadership was positively related to followers’ work engagement and consequently their taking charge behaviors. Moreover, such moderated mediation relationship was stronger among followers who had low rather than high levels of role-breadth self-efficacy.

Research limitations/implications

The primary contribution of this study is building a contingent model for the effect of benevolent leadership on follower taking charge and thereby extending the nomological networks of both benevolent leadership and taking charge literatures. Another contribution is that this research provides a new perspective to understand how leadership leads to followers’ taking charge behaviors.

Originality/value

This is the first study to investigate how and when benevolent leadership predicts follower taking charge.

Effects of ethical leadership on bullying and voice behavior among nurses

PURPOSE

This study aims to investigate the effects of ethical leadership on employee's bullying and voice behavior, considering poor working conditions, organizational identification and workload as mediating variables.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH

Questionnaire survey design was used to elicit responses of 564 nurses from hospitals located in various cities of Pakistan.

FINDINGS

Analysis through structural equation modeling proved that ethical leadership has a positive and significant impact on both organizational identification and voice behavior, but a negative and significant impact on workload, poor working conditions and bullying at the workplace. Furthermore, organizational identification, poor working conditions and workload proved to be partial mediators.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE

The study adds value to the limited literature on ethical leadership, bullying and voice behavior in nursing. Additionally, organizational identification, workload and poor working conditions have not previously been examined as mediators.

The Dawn of Paternal HR

The purpose of this article is to explore and investigate the effects of paternal HR practices on the employee behavior outcomes. There is dearth of knowledge research on paternal HR practices in Pakistan, its effect on employee outcomes and organizational performance. The authors have applied a system dynamic approach to explore the interactive effects of paternal HR practices on employee behavior. The paternal HR practices effect the employee job quitting intentions. The paternal HR practices improve the employee loyalty and commitment towards the manager and organization. It induces selfless employee behavior, enhances leader identification, increases social exchange, and fosters the trust. Trust and loyalty bonds an employee in psychological relation with an organization and a manager, leading to employee commitment. The better role identification leads to improved employee performance. Nonetheless, the proposed system of paternal HR practices helps the organizations influence employee behavior strategically, which can help reduce employee turnover. The value of this article lies in the understanding gained about the interactive effects of paternal HR practices on employee resignation with the help of system modeling and learning from the simulation outcomes.

The effect of leader personality on follower behaviour

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of the leader-member exchange (LMX) on the relationship between leader personality and follower attitudes and behaviours, including task performance, satisfaction with the leader and organisational citizenship behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

Adopting a multifaceted perspective to examine the relationships among the research variables, data were collected from 67 leaders and 372 followers. To test the hypotheses, hierarchical linear modelling analyses were conducted.

Findings

The results indicate that leader extraversion is positively related to follower task performance and that leader agreeableness is positively related to follower organisational citizenship behaviour and satisfaction with leaders. Moreover, the results indicate that the quality of the LMX relationship partially mediated the positive relationship between leader extraversion and follower task performance and fully mediated the relationship between leader agreeableness and satisfaction with leader and organisational citizenship behaviour.

Practical implications

The findings of this study support the mediating role of the LMX relationship between leader personality and follower attitudes and behaviours. Hence, it is worthwhile to examine the effects of leader personality in an organisational context.

Originality/value

The originality of this study is that it focusses on the integration of leader personality, LMX, and follower attitudes and behaviours in a single study, providing a model that indicates the mediating role of LMX in the relationship between leader personality and follower attitudes and behaviours.

Benevolent leadership, perceived supervisory support, and subordinates’ performance

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of perceived supervisory support (PSS) and the moderating role of psychological empowerment between benevolent leadership and subordinates’ objective performance (from appraisal report evaluated by immediate supervisors after a year) over time.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 312 employees in a manufacturing plant in the People’s Republic of China was collected. Descriptive statistics and linear regression analyses were used to analyze the data.

Findings

The results indicated that PSS mediated the relationship between benevolent leadership and subordinates’ objective performance. This positive relationship of benevolent leadership and subordinates’ performance was stronger when supervisors exhibited higher levels of psychological empowerment.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation of this study is that the sample was collected from the administrative staff of a manufacturing plant in China. The results may not be generalized in different contexts and professions, given the contextually and culturally specific setting.

Practical implications

Benevolent leadership appears to be effective in driving the work performance of subordinates.

Originality/value

The relationships among benevolent leadership, PSS, and work performance of subordinates have shown significant explanation.

Paternalistic leadership and employee creativity: A mediated moderation model

Our study extends the relationship between paternalistic leadership and employee creativity by identifying employee organizational identification as a mediator and employee perceived job security as a moderator. Results based on the data of 378 employees from a large bank in China indicated that employee perceived job security moderated the relationship between the morality component of paternalistic leadership and employee creativity. In addition, employee organizational identification mediated the relationship between the morality component of paternalistic leadership and employee creativity. We discuss implications for research on paternalistic leadership and employee creativity.

Linking supervisor feedback environment to contextual performances

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among supervisor feedback environment (SFE), leader-member exchange (LMX), organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and workplace deviant behavior (WDB). Specifically, it analyzed the mediating role of LMX.

Design/methodology/approach

– With the data collected from 258 subordinate-supervisor pairs at various organizations in Taiwan, the authors examined the hypotheses by conducting structural equation modeling analyses.

Findings

– The results revealed that: SFE is positively related to LMX; LMX is positively related to OCB, and negatively related to WDB; furthermore LMX fully mediates the relationships among SFE and both OCB and WDB.

Research limitations/implications

– This data are collected in Taiwan, hence it may affect the generalizability of the results.

Practical implications

– Previous studies investigating the relationship between the feedback environment and organizational outcome variables focus on positive outcome variables. Thus, studies examining whether there is a negative effect on negative outcome variables such as WDB are insufficient. The study addresses this deficiency by including WDB as an outcome variable. The results empirically indicate that SFEs are negatively related to WDBs, but the effect diminishes when LMX is controlled.

Social implications

– This study presents the following practical implications for managers. To reduce employee deviant behavior, to improve employee supplementary performance, and further improve overall organizational operating performance, organizations can adopt methods for implementing SFE that promote good interpersonal relationships between supervisors and employees, and thus increase employees’ positive expression of OCB, and reduce deviant behavior.

Originality/value

– It can be argued that when supervisors and subordinates form good relationships, the supervisors would provide favorable feedback that may result in more OCBs and less WDBs. It is also possible to argue that the traditional LMX theory suggests that supervisors are dominant in determining the quality of LMX, and therefore good LMX relationships cannot be developed based on supervisory feedback. This study shows otherwise, and addresses the rival hypothesis by drawing from previous studies and theories as well as in comparing the proposed alternative model by conducting χ2 differences.

The Effect of Implicit-Explicit Followership Congruence on Benevolent Leadership: Evidence from Chinese Family Firms

Benevolent leadership, a traditional Chinese leadership style generated under the influence of Confucianism, has been under growing discussion since its proposal. However, existing research has focused mainly on the consequences of benevolent leadership, and research probing into its antecedents is scarce. To fill such research gap, the current study aims to explore the effect of the congruence between implicit positive followership prototype (PFP) and explicit positive followership trait (PFT) on benevolent leadership. Polynomial regression combined with the response surface methodology was used to test the hypotheses herein. The results, based on a sample of 241 leader–follower dyads from four Chinese family firms, indicated the following: (1) benevolent leadership is higher when leader PFP is congruent with follower PFT than when they are incongruent; (2) in cases of congruence, benevolent leadership is higher when leader PFP and follower PFT are both high rather than low; (3) in the case of incongruence, there is no significant difference for the level of benevolent leadership in two scenarios: “low leader PFP – high follower PFT” and “high leader PFP – low follower PFT”.

Paternalistic leadership, subordinate perceived leader–member exchange and organizational citizenship behavior

Chinese paternalistic leadership (PL) includes three dimensions: benevolence, morality and authoritarianism. Benevolent leadership positively affects organizational citizenship behaviors through leader–member exchange (LMX). Resource limitations of supervisors bring about LMX differentiations within groups. Little research has addressed the moderating effect of LMX differentiations on the three dimensions of paternalistic leadership and organizational citizenship behaviors. In a study on 307 team members and leaders in 47 teams in two hotels in China, we found that benevolence and moral leadership had a positive effect on organizational citizenship behaviors, whereas authoritarian leadership did not. Team LMX differentiations moderated the relationship between moral leadership, authoritarianism leadership and LMX.