Abstract
We examined the effect of paradoxical leadership incongruence on Chinese individuals’ followership behaviors. We also hypothesized that paradoxical leadership incongruence (and congruence) will differentially predict followership behaviors, with hierarchical culture and the perceived strength of the HRM system serving as moderators. With multi-source and multi-wave matched data and polynomial regression, our results corroborate the following: (1) paradoxical leadership incongruence (and congruence) can have consequential effects on followership behaviors, (2) paradoxical leadership incongruence increases followership behavior better when hierarchical culture is high, and (3) paradoxical leadership incongruence motivates followership behavior better when the perceived strength of the HRM system is high.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alvesson, M. (2002). Understanding organizational culture. London: Sage.
Baker, S. D. (2007). Followership: The theoretical foundation of a contemporary construct. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 14(1), 50–60.
Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: Collier Macmillan.
Bass, B. M., & Avolio, B. J. (1990). Developing transformational leadership: 1992 and beyond. Journal of European Industrial Training, 14(5), 21–27.
Becker, B. E., & Huselid, M. A. (1998). High performance work systems and firm performance: A synthesis of research and managerial implications. In G. R. Ferris (Ed.), Research in personnel and human resources management (pp. 53–101). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
Blom, M., & Alvesson, M. (2015). Less followership, less leadership? An inquiry into the basic but seemingly forgotten downsides of leadership. Management, 18(3), 266–282.
Bottomley, P., Mostafa, A. M. S., Gould-Williams, J. S., et al. (2016). The impact of transformational leadership on organizational citizenship behaviors: The contingent role of public service motivation. British Journal of Management, 27(2), 390–405.
Bowen, D. E., & Ostroff, C. (2004). Understanding HRM–firm performance linkages: The role of the “strength” of the HRM system. Academy of Management Review, 29(2), 203–221.
Breevaart, K., Bakker, A., Hetland, J., et al. (2014). Daily transactional and transformational leadership and daily employee engagement. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 87(1), 138–157.
Brislin, R. W. (1980). Translation and content analysis of oral and written materials. In H. C. Triandis & J. W. Berry (Eds.), Handbook of crosscultural psychology: Volume 2: Methodology. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Burak, O., & Bashshur, M. R. (2013). Followership, leadership and social influence. The Leadership Quarterly, 24(6), 919–934.
Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper and Row.
Cameron, K. S., & Quinn, R. E. (1988). Organizational paradox and transformation. New York: Ballinger Publishing Co.
Carsten, M. K., Uhl-Bien, M., West, B. J., et al. (2010). Exploring social constructions of followership: A qualitative study. The Leadership Quarterly, 21(3), 543–562.
Cattell, R. B., & Burdsal, C. A., Jr. (1975). The radial parcel double factoring design: A solution to the item-vs-parcel controversy. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 10(2), 165–179.
Chang, J., Bai, X., & Li, J. J. (2015). The influence of leadership on product and process innovations in China: The contingent role of knowledge acquisition capability. Industrial Marketing Management, 50(4), 18–29.
Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., et al. (2013). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences. London: Routledge.
Collinson, D. (2006). Rethinking followership: A post-structuralist analysis of follower identities. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(2), 179–189.
Dai, Y. D., Dai, Y. Y., Chen, K. Y., et al. (2013). Transformational vs transactional leadership: which is better? A study on employees of international tourist hotels in Taipei City. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 25(5), 760–778.
Dameron, S., & Torset, C. (2014). The discursive construction of strategists’ subjectivities: Towards a paradox lens on strategy. Journal of Management Studies, 51(2), 291–319.
Delmotte, J., De Winne, Winne, & Sels, L. (2012). Toward an assessment of perceived HRM system strength: scale development and validation. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(7), 1481–1506.
Denison, D. R. (1990). Corporate culture and organizational effectiveness. New York: Wiley.
DeRue, D. S., & Ashford, S. J. (2010). Who will lead and who will follow? A social process of leadership identity construction in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 35(4), 627–647.
Ding, X., Li, Q., Zhang, H., et al. (2017). Linking transformational leadership and work outcomes in temporary organizations: A social identity approach. International Journal of Project Management, 35(4), 543–556.
Eberhard, W. (2013). A history of China. London: Routledge.
Edwards, J. R. (2002). Alternatives to difference scores: Polynomial regression and response surface methodology., Advances in measurement and data analysis San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Edwards, J. R., & Cable, D. M. (2009). The value of value congruence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(3), 654–677.
Edwards, J. R., & Parry, M. E. (1993). On the use of polynomial regression equations as an alternative to difference scores in organizational research. Academy of Management Journal, 36(6), 1577–1613.
Fairhurst, G. T., & Uhl-Bien, M. (2012). Organizational discourse analysis (ODA): Examining leadership as a relational process. The Leadership Quarterly, 23(6), 1043–1062.
Farh, J. L., & Cheng, B. S. (2000). A cultural analysis of paternalistic leadership in Chinese organizations. In J. T. Li, A. S. Tsui, & E. Weldon (Eds.), Management and organizations in the Chinese context (pp. 84–127). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Feng, Y. (1952). A history of Chinese philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Gibson, C. B., & Birkinshaw, J. (2004). The antecedents, consequences, and mediating role of organizational ambidexterity. Academy of Management Journal, 47(2), 209–226.
Gupta, A. K., Smith, K. G., & Shalley, C. E. (2006). The interplay between exploration and exploitation. Academy of Management Journal, 49(4), 693–706.
Hall, D. L., & Ames, R. T. (1998). Thinking from the Han: Self, truth, and transcendence in Chinese and Western culture. New York: Suny Press.
Hater, J. J., & Bass, B. M. (1988). Superiors’ evaluations and subordinates’ perceptions of transformational and transactional leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 73(4), 695–702.
Ho, D. Y.-F. (1994). Filial piety, authoritarian moralism, and cognitive conservatism in Chinese societies. Genetic, Social, and General Psychology Monographs, 120(3), 347–365.
Jansen, J. J., Vera, D., & Crossan, M. (2009). Strategic leadership for exploration and exploitation: The moderating role of environmental dynamism. The Leadership Quarterly, 20(1), 5–18.
Javed, H. A., Jaffari, A. A., & Rahim, M. (2014). Leadership styles and employees’ job satisfaction: A case from the private banking sector of Pakistan. Journal of Asian Business Strategy, 4(3), 41–50.
Javidan, M., Dorfman, P. W., De Luque, M. S., et al. (2006). In the eye of the beholder: Cross cultural lessons in leadership from Project GLOBE. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 20(1), 67–90.
Johns, G. (2017). Reflections on the 2016 decade award: Incorporating context in organizational research. Academy of Management Review, 42(4), 577–595.
Judge, T. A., & Piccolo, R. F. (2004). Transformational and transactional leadership: a meta-analytic test of their relative validity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(5), 755–768.
Latour, S. M., & Rast, V. J. (2004). Dynamic followership: The prerequisite for effective leadership. Air & Space Power Journal, 18(4), 102–110.
Lee, M. C. C., Idris, M. A., & Delfabbro, P. H. (2017). The linkages between hierarchical culture and empowering leadership and their effects on employees’ work engagement: Work meaningfulness as a mediator. International Journal of Stress Management, 24(4), 392–415.
Lehmann-Willenbrock, N., Meinecke, A. L., Rowold, J., et al. (2015). How transformational leadership works during team interactions: A behavioral process analysis. The Leadership Quarterly, 26(6), 1017–1033.
Li, D., & Glaister, K. W. (2007). The management of culture in Chinese international strategic alliances. Asian Business & Management, 6(4), 377–407.
Lin, C. (2008). Demystifying the chameleonic nature of Chinese leadership. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 14(4), 303–321.
Ma, L., & Tsui, A. S. (2015). Traditional Chinese philosophies and contemporary leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 26(1), 13–24.
Margolis, J. D., & Walsh, J. P. (2003). Misery loves companies: Rethinking social initiatives by business. Administrative Science Quarterly, 48(2), 268–305.
Meindl, J. R. (1995). The romance of leadership as a follower-centric theory: A social constructionist approach. The Leadership Quarterly, 6(3), 329–341.
Miron-Spektor, E., Erez, M., & Naveh, E. (2011). The effect of conformist and attentive-to-detail members on team innovation: Reconciling the innovation paradox. Academy of Management Journal, 54(4), 740–760.
Moghimi, S., & Subramaniam, I. D. (2013). Employees’ creative behavior: The role of organizational climate in Malaysian SMEs. International Journal of Business and Management, 8(5), 1–12.
Nasution, A. P., Mahargiono, P. B., & Soesatyo, Y. (2016). Effect of leadership styles, organizational climate and ethos of work on employee productivity (PT. HP Metals Indonesia the Powder Coating). International Journal of Business and Management, 11(2), 262–273.
Nelson, R. R., & Winter, S. G. (1982). The Schumpeterian tradeoff revisited. The American Economic Review, 72(1), 114–132.
Ostroff, C., & Bowen, D. E. (2016). Reflections on the 2014 decade award: Is there strength in the construct of HR system strength? Academy of Management Review, 41(2), 196–214.
Pieterse, A. N., Van Knippenberg, D., Schippers, M., & Stam, D. (2010). Transformational and transactional leadership and innovative behavior: The moderating role of psychological empowerment. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31(4), 609–623.
Qu, R., Janssen, O., & Shi, K. (2015). Transformational leadership and follower creativity: The mediating role of follower relational identification and the moderating role of leader creativity expectations. The Leadership Quarterly, 26(2), 286–299.
Raza-Ullah, T., Bengtsson, M., & Kock, S. (2014). The coopetition paradox and tension in coopetition at multiple levels. Industrial Marketing Management, 43(2), 189–198.
Redding, S. G. (1990). The spirit of Chinese capitalism. New York: Walter de Gruyter.
Sagie, A., Zaidman, N., Amichai-Hamburger, Y., et al. (2002). An empirical assessment of the loose–tight leadership model: Quantitative and qualitative analyses. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23(3), 303–320.
Salancik, G. R., & Pfeffer, J. (1978). A social information processing approach to job attitudes and task design. Administrative Science Quarterly, 23(2), 224–253.
Schad, L., et al. (2016). Paradox research in management science: Looking back to move forward. Academy of Management Annals, 10(1), 5–64.
Schein, E. H. (1990). Organizational culture. American Psychological, 45, 109–119.
Shanock, L. R., Baran, B. E., Gentry, W. A., et al. (2010). Polynomial regression with response surface analysis: A powerful approach for examining moderation and overcoming limitations of difference scores. Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(4), 543–554.
Sims, H. P., & Szilagyi, A. D. (1976). Job characteristic relationships: Individual and structural moderators. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 17(2), 211–230.
Smith, W. K., & Lewis, M. W. (2011). Toward a theory of paradox: A dynamic equilibrium model of organizing. Academy of Management Review, 36(2), 381–403.
Soltwisch, B. W. (2015). The paradox of organizational rigidity: A contingency model for information processing during times of opportunity and threat. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 22(4), 395–403.
Stanton, P., Young, S., Bartram, T., et al. (2010). Singing the same song: translating HRM messages across management hierarchies in Australian hospitals. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 21(4), 567–581.
Sun, W., Xu, A., & Shang, Y. (2014). Transformational leadership, team climate, and team performance within the NPD team: Evidence from China. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 31(1), 127–147.
Teece, D. J., Pisano, G., & Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 18(7), 509–533.
Trépanier, S. G., Fernet, C., & Austin, S. (1995). A longitudinal investigation of workplace bullying, basic need satisfaction, and employee functioning. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 20(1), 105–117.
Triandis, H. C. (1996). The psychological measurement of cultural syndromes. American Psychologist, 51(4), 407–415.
Tseng, M. M., & Piller, F. (2011). The customer centric enterprise: Advances in mass customization and personalization. Berlin: Springer Science & Business Media.
Tushman, M. L., & O’Reilly, C. A. (1997). Winning through innovation. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Uhl-Bien, M., & Carsten, M. K. (2007). Being ethical when the boss is not. Organizational Dynamics, 36(2), 187–201.
Uhl-Bien, M., Riggio, R. E., Lowe, K. B., et al. (2014). Followership theory: A review and research agenda. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 83–104.
Vera, D., & Crossan, M. (2004). Strategic leadership and organizational learning. Academy of Management Review, 29(2), 222–240.
Vogel, R. M., Rodell, J. B., & Lynch, J. W. (2016). Engaged and productive misfits: How job crafting and leisure activity mitigate the negative effects of value incongruence. Academy of Management Journal, 59(5), 1561–1584.
Winter, S. G. (2003). Understanding dynamic capabilities. Strategic Management Journal, 24(10), 991–995.
Xing, Y. (2016). A Daoist reflection on sea-like leadership and enlightened thinking. Management and Organization Review, 12(4), 807–810.
Xing, Y., & Liu, Y. (2015). Poetry and leadership in light of ambiguity and logic of appropriateness. Management and Organization Review, 11(4), 763–793.
Xing, Y., & Liu, Y. (2016). Linking leader’s identity work and the involvement of HRM: The case of sociocultural integration in Chinese Mergers & Acquisitions. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 27(20), 2550–2577.
Xing, Y., Liu, Y., Tarba, S. Y., & Cooper, C. L. (2016). Intercultural Influences on managing african employees of Chinese firms in Africa: Chinese managers’ HRM practices. International Business Review, 25(1), 28–41.
Xing, Y., & Starik, M. (2017). Taoist leadership and employee green behaviour: A cultural and philosophical microfoundation of sustainability. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(9), 1302–1319.
Zacher, H., & Rosing, K. (2015). Ambidextrous leadership and team innovation. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(1), 54–68.
Zhang, Y., Waldman, D. A., Han, Y. L., et al. (2015). Paradoxical leader behaviors in people management: Antecedents and consequences. Academy of Management Journal, 58(2), 538–566.
Zhou, W. J., Song, J. W., & Li, H. L. (2015). The definition, structure and measurement of followership in Chinese context. Chinese Journal of Management, 12(3), 355–363. (in Chinese).
Zhu, J., Xu, S., Ouyang, K., et al. (2018). Ethical leadership and employee pro-social rule-breaking behavior in China. Asian Business & Management, 17(1), 59–81.
Acknowledgements
Funding was provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 71672031, 71502094, 71632005 and 71332002), The Humanities and Social Science Foundation of the Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. 16YJA630018), The Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (Grant No. N160602001), The Social Science Foundation of Liaoning in China (Grant No. L17AGL005), and National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 71772138 and 71472137).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jia, J., Yan, J., Cai, Y. et al. Paradoxical leadership incongruence and Chinese individuals’ followership behaviors: moderation effects of hierarchical culture and perceived strength of human resource management system. Asian Bus Manage 17, 313–338 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41291-018-0043-9
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41291-018-0043-9