Purpose Researchers have adopted a somewhat narrow conceptualization of organizational culture, founded on specific assumptions about the impact of founders or top leadership. The purpose of this paper is to address this research gap. Design/methodology/approach Based on 356 Chinese employees, this paper examines the relationships between organizational culture, leadership and employee outcomes. Specifically, the paper focuses on a mediation model by looking at how different leadership processes impact the relationship between culture and outcomes. Findings Supportive and task leadership styles and a persuasive influence strategy are correlated with team, detail and innovation cultures, respectively, and are significantly stronger than that of other leadership styles/strategies. Partial support is found for the mediating effect of task and change leadership styles, and assertive and persuasive influence strategies. Contrary to the authors’ second assumption regarding the social learning effect on outcomes, the study provides a tentative conclusion that different culture types may have different levels of strength in molding middle management and consequently influencing subordinate outcomes. The model of “culture-leadership-outcome” generally shows a similar pattern with the reverse effect of “leadership-culture-outcome.” Originality/value This study was the first to examine the impact of organizational culture on leadership and their effect on organizational outcomes, and to compare the reverse relationship. It suggests a new model that combines social cognitive theory with concepts drawn from the social learning perspective. Both the significant and non-significant results enhance our understanding on the mediating effects of leadership and culture. The findings also enrich leadership theory because no empirical studies systematically examined the similarities and differences between style approaches and influence strategies.
Purpose -The purpose of this study is to examine the existence of relational power which is derived from an indigenous Chinese construct -guanxi. The authors also test the hypotheses of relational power with two well established power sources (position and personal power) and their relationships with influence strategies (persuasive, assertive and relationship-based). Design/methodology/approach -The authors employed a mixed method approach. The survey study included 438 Chinese respondents whereas the follow-up interview study included 17 managers from different industries, collected across main cities in China. Findings -The analysis of the data from survey responses provides support for the authors' argument regarding the existence of relational power. Survey results showed that all three power sources predicted leaders' choices of influence strategies. The follow-up qualitative findings from additional interviews with managers also shed interesting insights into the dynamics of different power sources.Research limitations/implications -The use of a convenience sample may limit the generalizability of the findings. Notwithstanding, the study contributes to the power literature by adding a new dimension to the existing power typology, thus helping us better understand how different power sources affect leaders' choices of influence strategies. Practical implications -The study offers new insights to both practitioners and academicians, which is of growing importance because knowledge on power sources and understanding how it operates should help managers consciously cultivate desirable types of power. This study also shows the dynamics of guanxi, thus helping the Westerners better understand work relationships in China and understand why guanxi/relational power is effective here. Originality/value -The paper integrates the power-dependency theory and an indigenous Chinese construct -guanxi and empirically examines how the authors' proposed power source -relational power -affects leaders' choices of influence strategies. The paper argues that by adding this new power source to the power typology which has dominated the power literature for half a century can fully capture the sources of power embedded in an organizational setting, and generate practical implications on leader-member interactions.
Purpose – Prior research has identified the outcomes of influence tactics as short-term task commitment, compliance and resistance. This paper argues that leaders’ downward influence behaviors should also have an impact on followers’ organizational commitment. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of three influence strategies (11 downward influence tactics) on organizational commitment, and the moderating effect of national culture. Design/methodology/approach – The study draws on survey data (n=185) and follow-up interviews (n=19) from Hong Kong Chinese employees who work for Hong Kong Chinese or Japanese managers. Findings – The quantitative results show that all rational tactics, the inspirational appeal and pressure tactics had effects on organizational commitment. Drawing on the survey and follow-up interview data, three specific factors in the use of influence tactics on organizational commitment are identified. Results suggest that some tactics are more universal and able to provide “long-lasting” effects compared with other tactics in enhancing or reducing employees’ organizational commitment. The results of the entire study also show that most rational influence tactics seem to be convergent; yet, there is also evidence that other tactics are more culturally specific in generating employee commitment. Originality/value – This is the first empirical study to examine the effects of influence behaviors on organizational commitment with both inter- and intra-cultural samples. The study has also drawn on interview data to demonstrate examples of effective and ineffective influence tactics used by superiors, thereby offering managerial hints to managers on how to exercise their influence behaviors effectively.
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