Liu, J., Hui, C.,Lee, C.,& Chen, Z.X.(2013). Why do I feel

valued and Why do I contribute? A relational approach to

employee's organizational-based self-esteem and Job

performance. Journal of Management studies , 50(6), 1018-39.

Sadia Hanif

AbstractDrawing on the relational perspective and self-consistency theory, we theorize how

relationships involving work-centric, off-work-centric, and/or personal components

can affect an employee’s organization-based self-esteem and job performance in

Chinese organizational contexts. Matched data were collected from a multi-source

sample that included 219 employee–supervisor dyads from a Chinese bank. Results

based on hierarchical regression analyses reveal that a high-quality relationship with a

supervisor through work and off-work domains (leader–member exchange and

guanxi) is positively related to organization-based self-esteem. Organization-based

self-esteem plays a mediating role in the relationship between guanxi and job

performance. Additionally, career mentoring from a supervisor (a work-centric

relationship involving personal components) moderates the relationship between

organization-based self-esteem and job performance.

Keywords: career mentoring, guanxi, job performance, leader-member exchange,

organization-based self-estee

Introduction

Organization-based self-esteem (OBSE) is ‘the self-perceived value that individuals have of

themselves as organization members acting within an organizational context’

We propose a relational approach to studying how OBSE can be enhanced and how OBSE

may lead to performance.

In the present study, we examine how relationships that vary in work-relatedness and personal

components may affect OBSE and performance.

Research in the West has identified leader–member exchange (LMX), the relationship with

one’s immediate supervisor, as the major powerful connection an employee can build in an

organization

Research on LMX relies heavily on the social exchange frame work for understanding how

relationships at work affect employee outcomes, but it rarely addresses how LMX may affect

an employee’s sense of self-worth

Our relational model fills this gap in both the OBSE and the LMX literature by examining

how different forms of relationships may affect employee performance via OBSE

In addition to work-centric relationships, off-work-centric relationships with significant others

in organizations may also affect employee outcomes

Guanxi is an indigenous form of relationship inChina that is off-work-centric and refers to a

relationship that is formed based on particularistic ties such as kinship or social networks

‘Guan’ in Chinese literally means ‘a door lock’ or a ‘gateway’; ‘xi’ means ‘linkage’ or a ‘system of links’. Combing the two characters, ‘guanxi’ refers to ‘the connection between two parties through a system of links when one party canchoose to“lock oneself away from”or“open the link”to the other party’

In this study, we propose that off-work-centric relationships may also enhance employee performance via OBSE, much like the effects of work-centric relationships, as guanxi conveys to employees that they are important and valuable to their superiors.

Career mentoring that refers to providing advice and support for career-growth activities such as helping the protégé learn the ropes, coaching, facilitating exposure, and promotion nomination

During the process of mentoring, especially on personal issues such as career development, disclosure of personal interests, priorities and wishes by the protégé, developing a personal relationship with a protégé would greatly enhance the mentor’s ability to offer specific advice.

Figure 1depicts our conceptual model.In this model,OBSE is the mechanism through which LMX and guanxi lead to increased performance with career mentoring as a moderator of the OBSE–performance relationship.

We suggest that having a work centric relationship in the form of LMX and an off-work-centric relationship in the form of guanxi would affect an employee’s OBSE and ultimately his/her task and contextual performance

Cont…………….

Task performance is a form of in-role performance and refers to the particular duties that employees are hired to perform. Contextual performance is a form of extra-role performance that is defined as activities that ‘support the broader organizational, social, and psychological environment in which the technical core must function’

Our model integrates self-consistency theory and relational theory for understanding employee development and behaviours .Self-consistency theory suggests that individuals’ self-esteem is formed around their social and organizational experiences, which in turn play a significant role in determining their attitudes and behaviours Relational theory, on the other hand, proposes that personal growth is related to the ability to connect oneself to others in ways that foster mutual development and learning

Significance

We suggest that high OBSE employees self-verify through higher performance and the

presence of career mentoring further facilitates the self-verification process. Our study

contributes to theorization of how relationships may enhance employee self-concept as

well as performance in a cross cultural context.

Research Gap

A number of studies have examined and found support for the mediating effect of

OBSE on the relationship between work environment characteristics (e.g. managerial

respect and job complexity) and employees’ behaviors and attitudes; pay level and

job performance, demographic dissimilarity and organizational citizenship behavior,

organizational support and affective commitment and delegation and job

performance Surprisingly, there is no systematic effort in examining how OBSE

would mediate the effects of work relationships on employee behaviours

Theoretical Background and Hypothesis

Self-esteem is ‘an attitude of approval or disapproval and indicates the extent to which the

individual believes the self to be acceptable, significant, successful and worthy’

Employees with high OBSE have come to believe that ‘I count around here (in the

organization)’. OBSE, therefore, reflects ‘an employee’s evaluation of his or her personal

adequacy and worthiness as an organizational member’

Our relational model suggests that relationships with significant others will enhance OBSE,

which in turn affects an employee’s behaviours

LMX enhances employee OBSE because it signals to the employees that they or their

jobcontributionsarevaluedandrecognized.

Hypothesis 1: LMX positively relates to employee OBSE.

Guanxi also contributes to employee OBSE. Guanxi is an extremely important determinant of

interpersonal interactions in China

In China, guanxi is a critical form of social network that defines one’s place and social status

in any group, personal network, or organization. The particularistic ties embodied in the

employee–supervisor guanxi signifythe‘unique’valueofanemployeeto his/her supervisor and

also to the organization

Hypothesis 2: Employee–supervisor guanxi positively relates to employee OBSE.

As argued previously, while LMX enhances employees’ job competency and leadership

development, employee–supervisor guanxi provides the additional recognition of

employee loyalty and opportunities for career growth that relate to employee OBSE.We

further propose that the work and off-work relationships jointly influence employee OBSE

with a synergistic effect in between.

LMX, coupled with guanxi, provides a more holistic message that spans across both the

work and off-work lives of the employees

LMX and guanxi jointly promote employee OBSE

Hypothesis 3: Employee–supervisor guanxi moderates the effect of LMX on employee

OBSE. Specifically, for employees with stronger guanxi with their supervisors, the

relationship between LMX and OBSE would be stronger than for employees with

weaker guanxi with their supervisors

We propose that when a supervisor is successful in strengthening an employee’s OBSE

from high-quality LMX and guanxi experiences, the employee is likely to expend effort to

achieve high performance goals, thereby making contributions to the organization.

Employees who are socialized by their supervisors inside and outside of the work

environment will be motivated to seek opportunities and encouragement to attain goals

Hypothesis 4: Employee OBSE partially mediates the effects of (a) LMX and (b)

employee–supervisor guanxi on an employee’s task and contextual performance.

Cont……

Career mentoring is a work relationship that includes both work and off-work elements

through which the supervisor can facilitate employee performance

Career mentoring includes career-growth activities such as helping the protégé learn the ropes,

coaching, facilitating exposure, and nominating the employee for promotions. Career

mentoring by the supervisor constitutes an informal skill development mechanism that not

only enhances the employability of subordinates but also develops the employee’s skills and

competencies that are critical to effective implementation of the organization’s strategy

Hypothesis 5: Career mentoring by the supervisor moderates the effects of OBSE on

employee task and contextual performance. Specifically, for employees with stronger

supervisor-provided career mentoring, the relationship between OBSE and employee

performance would be stronger than for employees with weaker supervisor-provided career

mentoring.

Cont….

Sample and procedure:

Respondents were employees and their immediate supervisors in a locally owned bank in a

major city of Southern China

Subordinates were randomly selected from a list of non-managerial employees obtained from

the personnel department.

A structured questionnaire was used to obtain data on the employee’s experiences of LMX,

guanxi with his/her supervisor, career mentoring, and OBSE

From the employees’ responses, we obtained the names of the immediate supervisor and sent

questionnaires to the supervisors to obtain employee performance data

Of the 289 employee questionnaires administered,246 completed questionnaires were

returned, resulting in a response rate of 85 per cent. Twenty-seven supervisors did not

complete the supervisor questionnaires, so the responses of their immediate subordinates were

excluded from the analysis

The final sample therefore consisted of 219 employee– supervisor dyads representing an

overall response rate of 76 per cent, far exceeding the 55.6 per cent average response rate

norm suggested by Baruch (1999).

Measures:

Leader-member exchange(LMX).Employees rated the perceived quality of their exchange

with their immediate supervisor using a 7-item LMX scale developed by Graen et al. (1982).

The Cronbach’s alpha of this scale was 0.75.

Guanxi with the supervisor. An employee’s guanxi with his/her supervisor was measured

using the six-item scale developed and validated by Lawet al.(2000)

Methodology

Career mentoring: We adapted four items from a vocational mentoring subscale developed

by Scandura and Ragins (1993). The Cronbach’s alpha of the scale was 0.88.

Organization-based self-esteem: This was measured by ten items developed by Pierce et al.

(1989), reported alpha coefficients of 0.86 to 0.96 for this scale . In our study, the alpha

coefficient was 0.90

Job performance: In the study, we measured both task and contextual performance

Task performance: was measured via a four-item scale developed by Farh and Cheng

(1999). The Cronbach’s alpha of the scale was 0.83

Contextual performance: measured by Motowidlo and van Scotter’s (1994) 15-item scale.

Their Cronbach’s alpha values were 0.90 and 0.94, respectively.

Control variables: In the present study, we controlled for the demographic variables of age,

gender, education, and organizational tenure, as these variables were found to influence

OBSE and job performance

Cont….

Discriminant Validity Testing :

We conducted confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) using LISREL 8.50 to examine the

distinctiveness of the multi-item variables in the study.

Seven latent constructs were involved in the analysis: LMX, guanxi, career mentoring,

OBSE, task performance, and the two dimensions of contextual performance,

interpersonal facilitation and job dedication.

Given the small sample size relative to the measurement items, we created item-parcels

prior to conducting the analyses

Specifically, we first conducted an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to obtain each

item’s factor loading coefficient.

We then created item-parcels until we yielded three indicators for each construct

Using this method, we obtained 21 parcels that were specified to seven prescribed latent

factors

We also compared the seven-factor model to an alternative six-factor model (combining

interpersonal facilitation and job dedication), a second six-factor model (combining

LMX and guanxi), a five-factor model (combining the three performance measures), a

second five-factor model (combining LMX, guanxi, and career mentoring), and a one-

factor model (combining all items into one latent factor)

Data Analysis

Cont…..

Common Method Variance Issues Testing: Of the seven multi-item variables we studied, four (LMX, career mentoring, guanxi, and OBSE) were drawn from a common source (employees) and the other three (task performance, interpersonal facilitation, and job dedication) were drawn from another source (supervisor). We followed the suggestions of Podsakoff et al. (2003) to test if there was a strong common method effect that underpinned the data from the same source. We conducted analyses of the two sources separately.Result: The model’s fitness was not superior to the proposed measurement model. Taken together, these results indicated that the constructs could be discriminated from each other and common method bias was not likely to have detrimental effects on the validity of our results and conclusions

Hypothesis Testing

Testing Model: To test our model that involved both moderating and mediating effects, we adopted the moderated causal steps approach in the regression analysis .We examined these effects hierarchically: direct effects (including control variables, LMX, and guanxi) first, then the LMX–guanxi interaction, mediating effects (OBSE), and finally the OBSE–career mentoring interaction. Multi-collinearity problems were investigated in these tests, and no serious threat was identifiedHypotheses 1 and 2 stated that LMX and guanxi have positive effects on OBSELMX was positively related to OBSE (b=0.46, p < 0.01; Model 2). guanxi was positively related to OBSE (b=0.23, p < 0.01; Model 3).

Hypothesis 3 predicted that guanxi would moderate the effect of LMX on employee OBSE. However, the regression coefficient of the LMX–guanxi interaction on OBSE was not significant (b=0.10, ns; Model 4). Hypothesis 3 was not supported by the data. Hypothesis 4 predicted that OBSE would partially mediate the effects of LMX and guanxi on an employee’s job performance.Results indicate that our data supported Hypothesis 4b but not Hypothesis 4a. Hypothesis 5 predicted that career mentoring would moderate the effects of OBSE on an employee’s task and contextual performanceOBSE had a greater positive impact on task performance when the employee received higher

rather than lower-level career mentoring from his/her supervisor

This study examined how work-centric (LMX) and off-work-centric (guanxi) employee–

supervisor relationships relate to employees’ OBSE, which in turn, relates to task and

contextual performance.

Specifically, we found that both LMX and guanxi related to OBSE. However, OBSE mediated

only the relationship of guanxi on both task and contextual performance. We also found that

career mentoring moderated the relationship between OBSE and both task and contextual

performance

We did not find support for the interactive effects of LMX and guanxi on OBSE. This is

slightly surprising given the importance of relationships in China. We found that although

both LMX and guanxi bolster OBSE, LMX shows a stronger relationship to OBSE than

guanxi. This may come from both LMX and OBSE referencing the work domain

The findings of this study have theoretical and practical implications. In view of the

motivational implications of the relational ties between an organization and its employees, the

first theoretical implication is an insight into the development of OBSE and ultimately

employee contributions in terms of task and contextual performance.

Our results show that the relational and consistency perspectives reinforced one another in

suggesting that career mentoring strengthens the OBSE effect on employee performance.

According to self-consistency theory, once self-esteem is crystallized, people behave in ways

and develop attitudes that are consistent with their level of self-esteem

Discussion

Future studies should examine how other implicit (such as supportive management

culture or job security) and explicit cues (such as positive feedback, experience of success

from promotion, and salary increase) from the work environment interact with social

messages and contribute to the development and maintenance of OBSE.

Future Research