Xu Huang

Hong Kong Baptist University · Department of management

Political marriage is an under-investigated form of social capital for family firms. In this study, we examine the relationship between political marriage and the growth of family firms. We analyze this relationship using survey data from parent–child dyads of 164 family firms in mainland China, along with qualitative data from eight semi-structure...

Members compare their differential leader-member exchanges (LMXs) to understand the triadic relationship (Member A, Member B, and their common leader); this will affect how members interact. Prior research based on balance theory assumes that the two members have a consensus on the structure of the triadic relationship, to argue that when Member A...

Research on the social consequences of narcissism points to an intriguing paradox: narcissists are socially aversive and destructive to healthy interpersonal relationships; yet, narcissists also have an ability to be socially magnetic and attractive. This raises the question we seek to answer in this paper: Are narcissists socially accepted by cowo...

Authenticity has long been held as a virtue. However, is it beneficial for employees to be true to themselves in coworker interactions? Drawing on social penetration theory, we argue that a focal employee’s exhibited authenticity at work helps the employee penetrate the interpersonal boundaries of an interacting coworker and as a result, the employ...

We investigated how abusive supervision influences interactions between third-party observers and abused victims and hypothesized when and why third parties react maliciously toward victims of abusive supervision. Drawing on the theory of rivalry, we predicted that third-party observers would experience an “evil pleasure” (schadenfreude) when they...

Drawing on the componential model of creativity (Amabile, 1988), we examined how shared leadership and a formally appointed leader's transformational leadership jointly cultivate team creativity in two studies. We conducted an experiment with a sample of 109 undergraduate students (32 teams) enrolled in a business plan competition (Study 1) and a f...

During family firm succession, parent-incumbents are often caught up in a paradox of both empowering and dominating their child-successors. To understand this recurring phenomenon, we draw from socioemotional wealth literature and a philosophical account of the power-transfer paradox in ancient patriarchal monarchies to hypothesize that parent-incu...

Extant voice research has focused mainly on the conditions under which employees speak up, but we have limited knowledge about how employees speak up. This study examines voice tactics or the various ways in which employees express concerns to or share suggestions with their managers. Based on the notion that voice is a deliberative behavior, we dr...

In this study, we investigated whether team-level knowledge sharing moderates the effects of individual-level expertise dissimilarity on individual employees’ creativity in research and development (R&D) project teams. Expertise dissimilarity—defined as the difference in expertise and knowledge between a focal team member and her or his fellow team...

Group members gain social status via giving favors to others, but why and when they do so remain unclear in the literature. Building on social exchange theory and social status literature, we identify three types of favor giving among group members (generous, stingy, and matched) and propose that an affective mechanism (i.e., gratitude) and a cogni...

Departing from past research on managers’ responses to employee voice, we propose and examine a nonlinear linkage between promotive/prohibitive voice and managers’ evaluations of voicers (i.e., manager-rated voicers’ promotability and overall performance). Drawing from social persuasion theory, we theorize that managers tend to give more positive e...

Drawing from self-concept and implicit leadership theories, we propose a multilevel model to examine whether, why, and when self-sacrificial leadership motivates followers’ affiliative and challenging citizenship behaviors in China. Data from 329 full-time employees in 83 work groups provide support for the hypothesized model. Specifically, we demo...

Drawing from conservation of resources theory, this study aims to create new knowledge on the antecedents of abusive supervision. Results across 2 independent field studies within a manufacturing context (Study 1) and a customer service context (Study 2) consistently demonstrated a 3-way interaction pattern, such that supervisors' experiences of em...

Research on psychological safety climate has primarily focused on its salutary effects on group risk-taking behaviors. We developed a group-level dual-pathway model in which psychological safety climate also exerts a simultaneous negative effect on risk-taking behaviors by diminishing group average work motivation. In a field survey, we found that...

This study investigates the origins of discrete interpersonal emotions in team-member dyads using two independent samples from an education institute and a telecommunication services company in China. Results across both studies showed that the quality of team members’ dyadic relationships positively relates to interpersonal admiration, sympathy, a...

Work centrality has been defined as individual beliefs regarding the importance of work in one’s life (Kostek, 2012). In previous research, however, the importance of work has rarely been contrasted with the importance of other life domains and never across sufficient cultural groups to enable cultural moderation of processes around work centrality...

We investigate what leadership behaviors drive firm performance in harsh economic environments. Based on data collected from 102 independent subsidiaries of a telecommunications corporation located in 102 counties in China, we found that transformational leadership was not related to subsequent 4-month and 1-year revenue growth, irrespective of the...

Drawing on implicit leadership theory (Brown & Lord, 2001; Eden & Leviatan, 1975), we hypothesize that the relationship between participative leadership and employee performance is curvilinear (J-shaped), suggesting that participative leadership is unrelated to employee performance when participative leadership is below a moderate level (i.e., a th...

Electronic Knowledge Repository (EKR) is one of the most commonly deployed knowledge management technologies, yet its success hinges upon employees’ continued use and is further complicated in today’s multinational context. We integrate multiple theoretical linkages into a research model, conceptualizing knowledge-seeking as an instrumental behavio...

This study aims to provide new insights into the reward–creativity link in the Chinese context by exploring the moderating effect of guanxi human resource management (HRM) practice—reflecting the extent to which HR decisions are influenced by personal relationships in an organization—on the relationship between pay for performance (PFP) and employe...

Drawing from moral exclusion theory, this article examines outcome dependence and interpersonal liking as key boundary conditions for the linkage between perceived subordinate performance and abusive supervision. Moreover, it investigates the role of abusive supervision for subordinates' subsequent, objective work performance. Across 2 independent...

We examined the conditions under which workplace ostracism promotes prosocial reactions (i.e., helping behavior) and deters antisocial behavior (i.e., social loafing). Using data from 213 employees and their direct supervisors, we found that when group identification is strong, workplace ostracism increases the helping behavior and decreases the so...

Narcissism remains as one of psychology’s most enigmatic constructs in spite of decades of research. Empirical exploration of the interpersonal consequences of narcissism points to an intriguing paradox, that narcissists are found unable to maintain healthy relationships with others, whereas they are also found to possess the ability to attract oth...

This study examines the mediating effects of cognitive trust and affective trust on the relationship between supervisors' participative leadership behavior and subordinate work outcomes, using data obtained from 247 dyads in a manufacturing organization located in mainland China. Structural equation modeling revealed that while affective trust full...

Employees often assess whether the social context is favorable for them to speak out, yet little research has investigated how the target's mood might influence the actor's voice behavior. From an affect-as-social-information perspective, we explored such potential effects of the target's mood on the actor's promotive voice in 2 empirical studies....

Breaking away from previous theoretical and empirical works on the consequences of upward voice, we theorize that an increase in the frequency of upward voice is more likely to alert managers’ attention to the voice and to project a competent image of the voicing employees to the managers. After the frequency of voicing passes an optimal point, a f...

In this study, we investigated whether team-level knowledge sharing moderates the effects of individual-level expertise dissimilarity on individual employees' creativity in research and development (R&D) project teams. Expertise dissimilarity-defined as the difference in expertise and knowledge between a focal team member and her or his fellow team...

The theory of cooperation and competition, though developed in the West, may be useful to develop and analyze productive teamwork in China. Three hundred and sixty-eight employees from a call center participated in a cooperative teamwork 1-day workshop followed by daily practice. Results support the hypothesis that cooperative teams strengthen rela...

We examined the conditions under which ostracism deters social loafing and organizational deviance and promotes helping behaviour. Using the sample from a telecommunication service company, we found that when team identification is high, ostracism decrease employees¡¦ social loafing and organizational deviance and increase their helping behaviour....

According to balance theory (Heider, 1958), when 2 coworkers develop different levels of leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships with their supervisor, a triadic relational imbalance will arise among the 3 parties that may result in hostile sentiments and poor social interactions between them. This study examines the consequences and psychologic...

We investigated how the two components of paternalistic leadership, namely authoritarianism and benevolence, jointly influenced work performance through their impacts on organization-based self-esteem (OBSE). Using a sample of 686 supervisor–subordinate dyads collected from a manufacturing firm in the People's Republic of China, we found that OBSE...

In leadership research, Western leaderships are quite dominant while insufficient attention has been paid to Eastern leaderships, including Chinese leadership. Paternalistic leadership, an indigenous Chinese leadership, is prevalent in Chinese society given that it has been bounded by the cultural tradition. Yet, it is necessary to further explore...

Asia is a geographical region with a cultural emphasis on power distance, paternalism, collectivism, and social relations. Leadership in this area plays an important role in organizational processes and outcomes; however, whether this role is similar to that outlined in the mainstream leadership research and non-Asian settings is yet to be confirme...

This comprehensive Handbook explores limitations and challenges arising from attempts to develop indigenous theories and constructs applicable to Chinese social reality. Key contributors integrate the literature in their topic areas, providing directions for pushing forward the frontiers of research into a more culturally sensitive and powerful rep...

We investigated the mediating role of the leader–member exchange (LMX) in the association of abusive supervision and employee work behaviors (task performance and organizational citizenship behaviors toward the organization and individuals). Using data collected from 366 supervisor–subordinate dyads, we found that LMX fully mediated the negative ef...

abstractThis study identifies the influencing processes that underlie the effect of the three paternalistic leadership dimensions on subordinates' work performance/organizational citizenship behaviours. The results, based on data collected from private firms in China, showed that perceived interactional justice mediated the effects of moral leaders...

This study investigated how the controllability attributional style of an employee influences the effect of participative leadership on psychological empowerment and work performance. The controllability attributional style refers to the extent to which employees habitually attribute their negative organizational experiences such as failures and se...

Purpose Given the increasing influence and importance of professionals in modern society, this study aims to investigate the influence of organizational commitment and professional commitment on professionals' intention to leave their organizations for professional advancement (ILPA). Design/methodology/approach A total of 500 members of a large H...

How newcomers interact with their experienced colleagues has been thought to affect their socialization and performance. In a field study of 169 new employees, team leaders provided measures of values and newcomers rated their relationships and attitudes. Structural equation analysis results suggest that relationships and open discussion values pro...

This study developed a multilevel model of the interpersonal harming behavior associated with social comparison processes in work teams. We tested this model using temporally lagged data from a sample of student teams (Study 1) and cross-sectional data from a sample of work teams in a telecommunication services company (Study 2). In both studies, s...

How newcomers interact with experienced employees has been thought to affect their socialization and performance. This study complements previous newcomer research by examining the role of organizational values on this interaction. Middle managers newly recruited into a large telecom company in China were randomly assigned to discuss a conflict wit...

This study examined the combined effect of objective and subjective body weight, as well as gender, on illness-related absenteeism. A sample of 162 Hong Kong white-collar employees was surveyed. Using hierarchical regression analysis, we were able to confirm our hypotheses, derived from the objectified body consciousness (OBC) theory, that the posi...

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effect of chlorhexdine on the dentin bonding durability using etch-and-rinse and self-etch adhesive systems in vitro. Methods: Thirty two extracted intact human third molars were used in this study. Flat coronal sound dentin surfaces were bonded with Single Bond (SB) (two-step etch-and-rinse adhesive)...

We examined the joint effect of LMX and emotional intelligence (EI) on burnout and work performance. Results based on data collected from 493 leader-member dyads in the call center of a large Chinese telecommunication company indicated that LMX was negatively related to burnout, yet was not significantly related to objective work performance. Moreo...

In this study, we investigated how supervisors' emotional exhaustion and service climate jointly influence the relationship between subordinates' emotional exhaustion and their display of positive emotions at work. Using data from frontline sales employees and their immediate supervisors in a fashion retailer, we hypothesized and found that under t...

In a field study among 241 shop assistants and their 59 supervisors in fashion chain stores in Mainland China and Hong Kong, we found a negative relationship between emotional exhaustion and four indicators of job performance (overall performance, emotional display, OCB-O, and OCB-I) when employees perceived high levels of distributive justice in t...

We examined whether participative leadership behavior is associated with improved work performance through a motivational process or an exchange-based process. Based on data collected from 527 employees from a Fortune 500 company, we found that the link between superiors' participative leadership behaviors and subordinates' task performance and org...

Electronic Knowledge Repository (EKR) is one of the most commonly deployed knowledge management technologies, yet its success is hindered by employees' underutilization and further complicated when implemented in the multinational context. To address these challenges, we propose a research model by conceptualizing employees' knowledge seeking via E...

Informal relationships often influence employees who intervene in an interpersonal conflict between colleagues. We investigate and report the effects of relational orientations (reciprocity orientation and communal orientation) on employee preference of choosing sides between an acquaintance and a friend in a workplace dispute in The Netherlands an...

We investigated whether dyad members' relational schemas, a cognitive representation of exchange experiences, would affect how leaders and members evaluate and misevaluate the quality of their exchange relationships. Based on data derived from repertory grid technique and two waves of survey data, we found that leaders and members tended to form di...

The present study investigated whether cooperative goals mediate the relationship between similarity in gender and self-esteem and social support and relationship quality in ongoing peer dyads. Based on data collected from 209 student dyads, the findings largely support the mediating role of cooperative goals. However, the study found that gender s...

The authors investigate team identification and individual differentiation as complementary drivers of team members'citizenship and creative behavior. As hypothesized, the results of a survey among 157 middle-management team members show team identification to be positively related to citizenship behavior toward other team members, whereas individu...

This study examined the relationship between employee age and performance, defined as in-role performance and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB), using a sample of 599 hospitality employees from Hong Kong. Results of a regression analysis indicated a negative relationship between age and in-role and OCB. We also examined whether organizatio...

This study examines the mediating effects of trust on the relationships between manager’s conflict management styles (CMS) and employee attitudinal outcomes, as well as identifies the potential deviations in the areas of CMS and trust from the west in Chinese culture. One hundred sixty-nine employees in Guangzhou of China participated. As predicted...

We investigated how supervisors' interpretations of what motivates their subordinates' feedback-seeking behavior were related to both the quality of leader-member exchange and subordinates' work performance. Using a sample of 499 supervisor-subordinate dyads collected in China in two studies, we found that subordinates' feedback seeking was positiv...

The relationships between social axioms, general beliefs that people hold about the social world, and values, defined as desirable goals for life, were examined in five cultural groups. Results show that the correlations between social axioms and Schwartz's (1992) values are generally low, suggesting that they represent two distinct types of constr...

Based on data collected from 205 vertical dyads, we found that subordinate–supervisor similarity in their self-reported growth-need strength (GNS) had a positive effect on subordinate-perceived and supervisor-perceived global similarity. The findings also suggested that subordinate-perceived global similarity mediates the link between similarity in...

The aim of this study was to identify some structural and cultural barriers to employees' trust in management. Multilevel analyses of data from 160,577 employees in 46 countries suggested that job formalization is negatively associated with trust in management, especially in individualistic countries, and that this relationship is mediated by less...

We investigated whether participative leadership behavior can produce psychological empowerment, which in turn, leads to organizational commitment for employees of Chinese state-owned enterprises. Based on the data collected from 173 employees in two state-owned enterprises, we found that participative leadership behavior was associated with organi...

We investigated the relationship between the national cultural value of power distance and collective silence as well as the role of voice-inducing mechanisms in breaking the organizational silence. Using data from 421 organizational units of a multinational company in 24 countries, we found that both formalized employee involvement and a participa...

The impact of the psychological states of the negotiators, the social conditions of negotiations, and the behavior of negotiators on the outcomes of negotiations differs from country to country. Various suboptimal, individual-level, and country-level solutions have been suggested to predict and explain such cross-national variations. Drawing inspir...

Leung and colleagues have revealed a five-dimensional structure of social axioms across individuals from five cultural groups. The present research was designed to reveal the culture level factor structure of social axioms and its correlates across 41 nations. An ecological factor analysis on the 60 items of the Social Axioms Survey extracted two f...

Pour examiner les variations de la satisfaction au travail dans une perspective transculturelle et interfonctions, des donées d’enquête d’une compagnie internationale auprès de 129,087 répondants de 39 pays ont été analysées. Des analyses à plusieurs niveaux ont montré que la satisfaction au travail est positivement liée au statut et au niveau de l...

Ina Chinese-Dutchscenariostudy(N = 433students), the authorsinvestigated subordinates’covert reactions to supervisory feedback. The study consisted of a 2 (personal orientation: collectivist vs. individualist) × 2 (performance perspective: collective vs. individual) × 2 (feedback favorability: positive vs. negative) completely crossed factorial des...

The concept of “justice sensitivity” has been introduced as a personality disposition by Schmitt, Neumann and Montada (1995) and is supposed to explain inter-individual differences in reactions to unfair situations. Justice sensitivity can be differentiated in three subdimensions: (1) Sensitivity with regard to experiencing injustice towards onesel...

Physiological needs for thermal comfort, nutritional comfort, and healthiness make colder and hotter climates more demanding than more temperate climates. Affluence may help to meet those thermal demands. Two country-level studies indeed show that thermal demands (colder and hotter climates) and wealth-related resources (higher income per capita) a...

A voluntary worker may have both self-serving and altruistic motivations for helping, which may be positively or negatively linked together. Multilevel analyses of World Values Survey data, representatively sampled from 13, 584 inhabitants of 33 countries, uncover a pattern of cross-cultural differences in balancing these self-and other-directed he...

Driving performance deteriorates at high ambient temperatures. Less is known about the effect of low ambient temperatures and the role of subjective aspects like thermal comfort and having control over the ambient temperature. Therefore, an experiment was constructed in which 50 subjects performed a road-tracking task in a cold (5 degrees C), a the...

Prior studies examined cross-national differences in the links between organizational characteristics and workers' attitudes and behaviors using a nation-as-a-moderator analytical model. We point out four major methodological problems of testing the nation-as-a-moderator model at individual level. Based on two series of cross-national studies that...

This study sought for national characteristics that moderate the individual-level relationship between job characteristics and job satisfaction. Data from two distinct questionnaire surveys administered to 107,292 employees in 49 countries was analyzed by employing multilevel modeling. Results showed that the link between intrinsic job characterist...

Nations differ in national means as well as intra-cultural variations (ICVs) of particular cognitions and behaviors. Au (1999) argued that means and ICVs have distinctive impacts on organizational phenomena cross-nationally. We tested whether this holds true for the individual-level relationship between intrinsic job rewards and job satisfaction. M...