Double-edged sword at work: impacts of guanxi human resource management on employee innovative behavior
Abstract
Purpose
This paper develops and tests a theoretical framework to explain the effect of guanxi human resource management (HRM), a unique Chinese cultural phenomenon, on employee innovative behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
We draw from a sample of 398 employees in 81 teams and test the moderated mediation model using multi-level modeling.
Findings
The results show that guanxi HRM can be perceived by employees as being simultaneously an unethical hindrance that stifles innovative behavior and a strategic challenge that is beneficial for innovative behavior. In addition, the results show that these indirect effects are contingent upon the strength of guanxi HRM.
Originality/value
The study advances our understanding of the mechanism and boundary condition underlying the double-edged nature of guanxi HRM practices.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research is partly funded by The National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 72271231) and The National Social Science Foundation of China (No. 22FGLB095).
Citation
Ren, S., Wang, Z., Usman, M. and Chadee, D. (2024), "Double-edged sword at work: impacts of guanxi human resource management on employee innovative behavior", Personnel Review, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-11-2021-0826
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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