What happens when “younger” helpers meet “older” recipients? A theoretical analysis of interpersonal helping behaviour in Chinese organizations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical model describing psychological states and behavioral outcomes experienced and exhibited by older generation interpersonal helping behavior (IHB) recipients in Chinese organizations. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws upon relevant literature and develops a theoretical model. Findings – The analysis suggests that the extent of IHB that older generation Chinese employees receive from younger generation employees will lead to loss of mianzi, which will then result in reduced perceived generational guanxi, increased intended social isolation, and reduced intention to share task-related knowledge with the younger generation employees. The paper also proposes that perceived generational guanxi and intended social isolation will mediate the relationship between loss of mianzi and intention to share task-related knowledge with younger generation employees. Practical implications – Because mianzi is an important cultural feature in Chinese ...

[1]  Patrick J. Rosopa,et al.  Helping yourself by helping others: examining personality perceptions , 2013 .

[2]  A. Liefooghe,et al.  Attracting gold-collar workers: comparing organizational attractiveness and work-related values across generations in China, India and Thailand , 2013 .

[3]  G. Graen,et al.  Toward a psychology of dyadic organizing. , 1987 .

[4]  Jiing-Lih Farh,et al.  Special Issue on Corporate Transformation in the People's Republic of China: Organizational Citizenship Behavior in the People's Republic of China , 2004, Organ. Sci..

[5]  Li Wang,et al.  An investigation on the attitudes of Chinese workers towards individually based performance-related reward systems , 2007 .

[6]  K. Hutchings,et al.  National Cultural Influences on Knowledge Sharing: A Comparison of China and Russia , 2006 .

[7]  Joanna L. Y. Ho,et al.  The Openness of Knowledge Sharing within Organizations: A Comparative Study of the United States and the People's Republic of China , 2000 .

[8]  Hettie A. Richardson,et al.  Human Resource Systems and Helping in Organizations: A Relational Perspective , 2011 .

[9]  Yong Han,et al.  Supervisor–Subordinate Guanxi and Trust in Supervisor: A Qualitative Inquiry in the People’s Republic of China , 2012 .

[10]  Zhuo Chen,et al.  Testing Differential Mediation Effects of Sub-dimensions of Political Skills in Linking Proactive Personality to Employee Performance , 2011 .

[11]  Ying Fan,et al.  Ganxi's Consequences: Personal Gains at Social Cost , 2002 .

[12]  Y. Gong,et al.  Proactive personality, social capital, helping, and turnover intentions , 2011 .

[13]  Jay W. Rojewski,et al.  Confucian values and the implications for international HRD , 2005 .

[14]  Chieh-Peng Lin,et al.  Clarifying the Relationship Between Organizational Citizenship Behaviors, Gender, and Knowledge Sharing in Workplace Organizations in Taiwan , 2008 .

[15]  Ingrid C. Chadwick,et al.  The emergence of team helping norms: Foundations within members' attributes and behavior , 2012 .

[16]  Chinho Lin,et al.  A relational model of medical knowledge sharing and medical decision-making quality , 2008, Int. J. Technol. Manag..

[17]  Netta Weinstein,et al.  When helping helps: autonomous motivation for prosocial behavior and its influence on well-being for the helper and recipient. , 2010, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[18]  James E. Littlefield,et al.  Entering Guanxi: A Business Ethical Dilemma in Mainland China? , 2001 .

[19]  Tradition Versus Change: Evaluating the Currency of Some Traditional Chinese Values in Today's Business Environment , 2009 .

[20]  Yingyan Wang.  Emotional bonds with supervisor and co-workers: Relationship to organizational commitment in China's foreign-invested companies , 2008 .

[21]  Wei-Chi Tsai,et al.  Test of a model linking employee positive moods and task performance. , 2007, The Journal of applied psychology.

[22]  J. Jetten,et al.  The hidden costs of surveillance for performance and helping behaviour , 2013 .

[23]  P. Blau.  Exchange and Power in Social Life , 1964 .

[24]  D. Organ.  Organizational citizenship behavior: The good soldier syndrome. , 1988 .

[25]  F. Schoorman,et al.  Trust as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Mentoring and Knowledge Transfer , 2011 .

[26]  Steven W. Whiting,et al.  Effects of task performance, helping, voice, and organizational loyalty on performance appraisal ratings. , 2008, The Journal of applied psychology.

[27]  E. F. Stone-Romero,et al.  Effects of helper sex, recipient attractiveness, and recipient femininity on helping behavior in organizations , 2009 .

[28]  Zhen Zhang,et al.  Belief in Reciprocity in a Chinese Sample , 2012, Psychological reports.

[29]  Warren C. K. Chiu,et al.  The differential effects of work- and family-oriented women-friendly HRM on OC and OCB: the case for single female employees in Hong Kong , 2001 .

[30]  Wei-Chi Tsai,et al.  Employee positive moods as a mediator linking transformational leadership and employee work outcomes , 2009 .

[31]  L. V. Dyne,et al.  Work status and organizational citizenship behavior: a field study of restaurant employees , 2001 .

[32]  Rosalie L. Tung,et al.  Achieving business success in Confucian societies: The importance of guanxi (connections) , 1996 .

[33]  Dean Tjosvold,et al.  Participative Leadership by American and Chinese Managers in China: Role of Relationships , 2006 .

[34]  Neil R. Abramson,et al.  Using guanxi-style buyer-seller relationships in China: Reducing uncertainty and improving performance outcomes , 1997 .

[35]  J. Bond,et al.  The Social World of Older People , 2008 .

[36]  Nan Li,et al.  Knowledge management in Chinese organizations: collectivist values for open-minded discussions , 2011 .

[37]  Yu‐Fang Yen,et al.  Examining the mechanisms linking guanxi, norms and knowledge sharing: the mediating roles of trust in Taiwan's high-tech firms , 2012 .

[38]  R. Davison,et al.  Impact of personal and cultural factors on knowledge sharing in China , 2008 .

[39]  Y. H. Wong,et al.  The development of a Guanxi framework , 1999 .

[40]  Lingqing Zhang,et al.  The interaction between leader–member exchange and perceived job security in predicting employee altruism and work performance. , 2011 .

[41]  Kim T. Hinrichs,et al.  Five dimensions of organizational citizenship behavior: Comparing antecedents and levels of engagement in China and the US , 2013 .

[42]  Aleda V. Roth,et al.  Incentives That Induce Task-Related Effort, Helping, and Knowledge Sharing in Workgroups , 2007, Manag. Sci..

[43]  Adam M. Grant,et al.  Good soldiers and good actors: prosocial and impression management motives as interactive predictors of affiliative citizenship behaviors. , 2009, The Journal of applied psychology.

[44]  Liang-Hung Lin,et al.  Cultural and Organizational Antecedents of Guanxi: The Chinese Cases , 2011 .

[45]  Wei Zheng,et al.  Sources of social capital: Effects of altruistic citizenship behavior and job involvement on advice network centrality , 2009 .

[46]  T.K.P. Leung,et al.  Face, favour and positioning – a Chinese power game , 2003 .

[47]  Chieh-Peng Lin,et al.  To Share or Not to Share: Assessing Knowledge Sharing, Interemployee Helping, and Their Antecedents Among Online Knowledge Workers , 2011, Journal of Business Ethics.

[48]  Mike K Willis,et al.  ‘Out With the Old’—An Evaluation of the Relevance of Traditional Chinese Cultural Beliefs in Today's China , 2009 .

[49]  Barjinder Singh,et al.  Racial Differences in Helping Behaviors: The Role of Respect, Safety, and Identification , 2012 .

[50]  Michael J. Ashworth.  Preserving knowledge legacies: workforce aging, turnover and human resource issues in the US electric power industry , 2006 .

[51]  Xiujian Peng.  Demographic Shift, Population Ageing and Economic Growth in China: A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis , 2008 .

[52]  Raymond T. Sparrowe,et al.  Leader-member exchange theory: The past and potential for the future. , 1997 .

[53]  Daniel J. McAllister,et al.  Disentangling role perceptions: how perceived role breadth, discretion, instrumentality, and efficacy relate to helping and taking charge. , 2007, The Journal of applied psychology.