Linking paternalistic leadership to work engagement among Chinese expatriates: a job demand-resource perspective
International Journal of Manpower
ISSN: 0143-7720
Article publication date: 20 July 2021
Issue publication date: 25 July 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores how paternalistic leadership (PL) influences Chinese expatriates' work engagement in a cross-cultural context, and examines how expatriates' cross-cultural adaptability sets a boundary condition for this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from two-wave surveys of 82 supervisors and 318 Chinese expatriate teachers from 57 Confucius Institutes in 18 countries. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized relationships.
Findings
Benevolent and moral leadership as job resources are negatively related to work–family conflict (WFC), whereas the job demand of authoritarian leadership positively relates to WFC. Further, WFC mediates the effect of PL styles on Chinese expatriates' work engagement. Cross-cultural adaptability moderates the negative relationship between WFC and work engagement, and the indirect effect of PL styles on work engagement through WFC.
Practical implications
Organizations should consider WFC an important intervening mechanism linking PL and Chinese expatriates' work engagement. Cross-cultural organizations can mitigate the negative impact of WFC on work engagement by enhancing expatriates' cross-cultural adaptability.
Originality/value
This study is the first to examine the PL–work engagement relationship via a work–family interface, which contributes to integrating leadership and work–family outcomes. It enriches research on the JD-R model by showing that job resources and job demands affect employee outcomes through the mediation of stressors. Furthermore, this study identifies a new personal resource by examining cross-cultural adaptability's moderating role.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank all the anonymous participants in the survey of this study.
Funding: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant numbers 71772069 and 71602075]; the General Foundation Program of the Chinese Ministry of Education of Humanities and Social Science [grant numbers 15YJC630197 and 17YJA630101].
Declarations of interest: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Citation
He, G., Wang, Y., Zheng, X., Guo, Z. and Zhu, Y. (2022), "Linking paternalistic leadership to work engagement among Chinese expatriates: a job demand-resource perspective", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 43 No. 4, pp. 889-909. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-07-2020-0322
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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