Purpose The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the mechanism which can explain and predict subordinates’ deferential behaviour in China. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using mail surveys. The study used two sources of data (supervisor and subordinate) obtained via two separate sets of surveys. In total, 600 questionnaires were distributed to subordinate–supervisor dyads employed in a variety of organizations, and 441 dyad-level questionnaires were collected. Findings The paper revealed that supervisors’ political mentoring (PM) moderated the strength of the mediated relationships between a supervisor’s trust in the subordinate and the subordinate’s deference to supervisor via supervisor–subordinate guanxi. Furthermore, the direct interaction effect of a supervisor’s trust and PM influenced the subordinate’s deference to supervisor only when the level of PM was low. Originality/value This study clarifies the mechanism by which supervisor’s specific behaviours affect subordinate’s deference to supervisor, and explores how supervisor–subordinate dyad creates a reciprocal relationship. The research indicates the unique effect of supervisor’s PM in Chinese organizations, and reinforces the importance of considering supervisor’s trust in the subordinate.

While argued to be fostering creativity, the effect of job crafting on creativity often turned out to be less effective than expected. The reason is that most existing studies focused on the top-down job design interventions. We proposed an elaborated theoretical model to explain the influence of strengths-based job crafting (SJC) on employee creativity (EC). Specifically, we examined the mediating effect of job self-efficacy (JSE) and the moderating effect of workplace status (WP) based on self-affirmation theory. A sample of 480 employees and their supervisors completed a battery of questionnaires. The results revealed that strengths-based job crafting was positively related to employee creativity, with job self-efficacy acting as a mediator for this relationship. Workplace status moderated both the direct and the indirect effects of job self-efficacy. For employees with a higher workplace status, strengths-based job crafting may generate more forces to promote employee creativity. The results suggest that strengths-based job crafting and workplace status can inspire employee creativity through a self-affirmation process.

Purpose Drawing upon organizational support theory and family-like exchange perspective, this paper aims to investigate whether mentoring influences protégés’ work engagement, and the roles of perceived organizational support (POS) and family-like employee-organization relationship (FEOR) between mentoring and protégés’ work engagement. Design/methodology/approach Matched data were collected from 290 protégés and their mentors in two large state-owned enterprises in Northwest China. Multiple regression analyses and bootstrapping methods were used to test the hypotheses. Findings The results show that mentoring is positively related to protégés’ work engagement, and POS and FEOR play multiple mediation roles in the relationship between mentoring and protégés’ work engagement. Research limitations/implications The primary contribution of this study is exploring the impact of mentoring on protégés’ work engagement. Additionally, this study uses organizational support and family-like exchange perspective to understand how mentoring influences protégés’ work engagement. Originality/value Despite a few studies examining the effect of mentoring on protégés’ work engagement, but focusing excessively on organizational socialization and social exchange, as such, limited attention has been given to the role of emotions. This is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the first study to investigate the effect of emotional factors (including POS and FEOR) on the relationship between mentoring and protégés’ work engagement in Chinese organizational culture.

Using a survey of 300 employees in different types of enterprises and different positions, this study verified that the use of enterprise social media has a positive effect on employees’ work exuberance. The study separately examined the effects of social media applications for work tasks and social tasks. Both types of applications had a positive impact on employees’ work exuberance. The study also identified the mediating role of challenge and obstructive stressors in this relationship. Work-related social media applications enhanced employees’ exuberance by reducing obstructive stressors, and social-related social media applications enhanced employees’ exuberance by reducing challenge stressors. The implications of these findings are that managers should pay attention to the use of enterprise social media, especially for social tasks, as this can enhance employees’ sense of exuberance.

Purpose Drawing upon the creativity interaction theory and expectation-identity perspective, the purpose of this paper is to construct a chain mediation model of the influence of workplace status on individual creativity from the perspective of expectation identity and to explore the moderating effect of prosocial motivation in this model. Design/methodology/approach This study reached 529 employees from 35 enterprises as the investigation objects and used structural equation model and hierarchical regression for data analysis. Data on workplace status, prosocial motivation, creativity expectations and creativity role identity were collected at Time Point T1, and individual creativity was collected at time point T2 (one month later). Findings The results reveal that: workplace status has a significantly positive effect on creativity; creativity performance expectations and creativity role identity have partial mediating effect in the relationship between workplace status and creativity, respectively; creativity performance expectations and creativity role identity play a chain double mediation role in the relationship between workplace status and creativity; and prosocial motivation moderates the relationship between workplace status and creativity and further moderates the chain double mediation effect of creativity performance expectations and creativity role identity. Originality/value In existing studies, conclusions about the relationship between workplace status and individual creativity could be divided into three viewpoints: positive, negative and U-shaped. These inconsistent findings on the relationship between workplace status and creativity imply that the relationship is complex and not fully elucidated. This may be attributed to the fact that workplace status is influenced by cultural factors and research objects. This study reinterprets the relationship between workplace status and individual creativity through the lens of creativity interaction theory and demonstrates the significance of employee workplace status in the Chinese context.