From Subordinate Moqi to Work Engagement: The Role of Leader–Member Exchange in the Sustainability Context

Abstract

In search of sustainable strategies to improve employees’ work engagement without harming their long-term performance in the VUCA era, this study examines the impact path of subordinate moqi on employees’ work engagement based on leader–member exchange theory and organizational support theory. A total of 322 R&D staff from high-tech enterprises in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, and other cities participated in the study. The data analysis reveals that the leader–member exchange partially mediates between subordinate moqi and work engagement. Moreover, both supervisor’s organizational embodiment and perceived organizational support can positively moderate the impact of subordinate moqi on leader–member exchange. The empirical results enrich the intermediary mechanism between subordinate moqi and work engagement. Employees with subordinate moqi have better chances of meeting their supervisors’ implicit expectations, leading to a higher relationship quality with followers and increasing enthusiasm for work. The current study clarifies the theoretical and practical significance of subordinate moqi in establishing high-quality work relationships and sustainable development of organizations’ human resources.

Comment on van Knippenberg and Lee (2023): SOE is walking the talk of the organization

“…After reviewing the empirical data presented in van Knippenberg and Lee (2023) and past and current studies of SOE, we propose that the shared experiences items provide a unique operationalization of SOE, distinct from LGP as van Knippenberg and Lee (2023) show, that is consistent with the construct definition and our original work in SOE. Within our temporal pressure to provide a timely response to the focal paper, we were able to locate at least 11 papers in a review of the literature of the last 5 years that used these items, as part of the SOE measure with the initial 9-item scale (Amin & Ali, 2022; Du et al, 2023; Hussain & Shahzad, 2018, 2019; Mackey, McAllister, Brees, Huang, & Carson, 2018; Rice, Massey, Roberts, & Sterzenbach, 2023, 2022; Su, Lin, & Ding, 2019; Wang, Xu, & Liu, 2018; Zhang & Su, 2020; Zhu, Tang, Zhang, & Wang, 2022).…”