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Leader’s strategy to encourage employee’s innovative work behavior in multicultural workplace: do supportive colleagues matter?

Kamila Usmanova (School of Economics and Management, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China)
Daoping Wang (School of Economics and Management, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, China)
Amjad Younas (Department of Management Sciences, Mohi-Ud-Din Islamic University, Nerain Sharif AJ&K, Pakistan)

Chinese Management Studies

ISSN: 1750-614X

Article publication date: 13 May 2021

Issue publication date: 25 March 2022

1216

Abstract

Purpose

In recent years, China’s growing global economic influence has attracted more foreign workers, requiring leaders to have effective communication skills to manage diverse personnel to drive innovations. Although previous research studies revealed the effects of a leader’s motivating language (ML) on employee’s innovativeness, the mechanism and the boundary conditions for stimulating the relationship between ML and innovative work behavior (IWB) are scarce. Therefore, this study aims to examine employee’s creative self-efficacy (CSE) as a mechanism and coworker support (CS) as a boundary condition in the relationship between ML’s dimensions and IWB.

Design/methodology/approach

To test the moderated mediation model, this study collected the data from 283 workers and their respective supervisors at a Beijing-based multinational network company. The research applied a quantitative approach. SPSS and AMOS were used to analyze the data.

Findings

ML’s dimensions are positively linked to IWB. CSE was found as a mediator in these relationships. CS did not play its moderation roles on ML – CSE, ML – IWB direct or ML – IWB indirect (via CSE) links. ML’s direction-giving speech is found to be more effective in predicting CSE and IWB.

Originality/value

This is the first paper to examine the impacts of the three dimensions of ML on IWB.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This research work has been carried out in the School of Economics and Management, University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB), Beijing, China. I am thankful to my coauthors Daoping Wang and Amjad Younas who provided great assistance during the course of the research paper.

Declarations of interest: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Citation

Usmanova, K., Wang, D. and Younas, A. (2022), "Leader’s strategy to encourage employee’s innovative work behavior in multicultural workplace: do supportive colleagues matter?", Chinese Management Studies, Vol. 16 No. 2, pp. 274-292. https://doi.org/10.1108/CMS-08-2020-0344

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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