Trust in the subordinate and deference to supervisor in China

Abstract

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.

You’re so good-looking and wise, my powerful leaders! When deference becomes flattery in employee–authority relations

“…Upward impression management behaviors might target direct supervisors, but they also can extend to include other persons with authority who operate at higher levels in the organization (Segrest et al , 2020). Consistent with prior research, we purposefully investigate this broad set of organizational authorities (De Clercq et al , 2021) to examine an unexplored determinant of upward ingratiation efforts toward them, namely, employees’ desire to comply with the preferences of these authorities (Liu and Shi, 2017). Extant HRM research implies that expectations of compliance generate persistent discrimination in contemporary workplaces (Arifeen and Syed, 2020), but it has not considered how a desire to comply with the preferences of organizational authorities may translate into flattery.…”

“…The logic of COR theory states that employees feel more compelled to direct their discretionary energy, stemming from their personal beliefs and desires, to specific work behaviors when this energy expenditure can produce additional resource gains (Hobfoll and Shirom, 2000). Employees who exhibit blind deference to organizational leaders gain significant personal satisfaction from pleasing people who occupy powerful positions, even if doing so requires them to resort to excessive flattery (Haslam and Reicher, 2017;Liu and Shi, 2017). These employees believe that their energy-consuming efforts to compliment organizational members who operate at higher hierarchical levels than themselves are justified, because these members deserve both their powerful positions and praise (Beu and Buckley, 2004;Carsten et al, 2010).…”

“…Rather, their sense that unconditional obedience to leaders is inappropriate may lead them to experience unbridled ingratiation as demeaning and unnecessary, so they avoid this behavior (Aiello et al, 2013). Similarly, employees marked by low levels of deference to leaders' authority may be less inclined to work actively to please organizational authorities with ingratiatory activities, due to their belief that everyone is equal, so authorities are not worthy of exceptional efforts to sing their praises (Carsten et al, 2010;Liu and Shi, 2017). Ceteris paribus, employees' deference to leaders' authority should spur their propensity to leverage their discretionary individual energy, derived from their desire to comply with the people in charge, as upward ingratiatory behaviors.…”

How Does Mentoring Affect the Creative Performance of Mentors: The Role of Personal Learning and Career Stage

“…Second, although we extend mentoring research by integrating the COR theory and RCT to find the mediator of personal learning and the moderator of the career stage, there may be other theoretical perspectives lying in the influence mechanism. For example, future research can consider more unique variables in the Chinese context like supervisor-subordinate guanxi in China (Liu and Shi, 2017 ).…”

Subordinate evaluations of high-performance managers

“…Subordinate evaluation of managers is acknowledged to be an effective tool for an organization to be able to promote good teamwork (Lacerenza et al , 2018; Nowack and Mashini, 2012). There are works that show that through subordinates' estimation of their supervisors it is possible to predict the quality of supervisor-subordinate dyad (Cuadrado et al , 2015; Erturk et al , 2018; Pingquing and Shi, 2017). No previous research appears to have asked subordinates to estimate managerial performance in order to build a highly-productive manager profile.…”