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From employee creativity to leader empowering behaviors: the roles of supervisor–subordinate guanxi and supervisor–subordinate similarity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 August 2021

Wenjun Cai
Affiliation:
School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China
Jun Song
Affiliation:
School of Business Administration, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, No. 3 Wenyuan Road, Xianlin College Town, Nanjing 210023, China
Changqing He
Affiliation:
College of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 29 Jiangjun Ave., Nanjing 211100, China
Dongdong Wang*
Affiliation:
School of Business Administration, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, No. 3 Wenyuan Road, Xianlin College Town, Nanjing 210023, China
Xuanjin Yang
Affiliation:
Graduate School, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, No. 3 Wenyuan Road, Xianlin College Town, Nanjing 210023, China
*
*Corresponding author: wangdong8981@126.com

Abstract

Although employee creativity has been identified to promote organizational competitiveness, its effect on leader empowering behaviors remains underexplored. This study investigated the underlying mechanism and boundary condition under which employee creativity influences leader empowering behaviors. Drawn on social exchange theory and similarity-attraction theory, this study developed a moderated-mediation model in which supervisor–subordinate guanxi serves as the intervening mechanism and supervisor–subordinate similarity serves as a boundary condition influencing this relationship. Using three-wave, time-lagged survey data collected from 309 supervisor–subordinate dyads, this study found that supervisor–subordinate guanxi mediates the relationship between employee creativity and leader empowering behaviors, and that this relationship is stronger when supervisor–subordinate similarity is high rather than low. Finally, theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2021

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