Influence Behaviors and Employees’ Reactions: an Empirical Test Among Six Societies Based on a Transactional–Relational Contract Model

Journal of World Business 48 (2013) 373–384

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Journal of World Business

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jwb

Influence behaviors and employees’ reactions: An empirical test among six societies based on a transactional–relational contract model

Melody P.M. Chong a,*, Miriam Muethel b,1, Malika Richards c,2, Ping Ping Fu d,3, Tai-Kuang Peng e,4, Yu Fan Shang f,5, Miguel P. Caldas g,6

a

City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, Burgplatz 2, 56179 Vallendar, Germany Pennsylvania State University – Berks, Reading, PA 19610, USA d The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR e I-Shou University, No.1, Sec. 1, Syuecheng Rd., Dashu Dist., Kaohsiung City 84001, Taiwan, ROC f University of Xi’an Jiao Tong, No.28, Xianning West Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710049, P.R. China g FGV-EAESP, Av. Nove de Julho, 2029, ADM, CEP 01313-902, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil

b c

A R T I C L E I N F O

A B S T R A C T

Keywords: A transactional–relational contracts model Influence strategies Influence tactics Immediate task commitment Organizational commitment National culture

Organizational and task commitment are central drivers of firm performance as they affect employees’ willingness to exert effort for the organization. This paper argues that supervisors who consistently use socio-emotional and supportive influence strategies are likely to enhance subordinates’ immediate commitment to the tasks as well as their psychological attachment to the organization. Drawing on the transactional–relational contracts framework, we develop and empirically examine the effects of supervisors’ influence behaviors on two types of commitment. Data collected from 1150 respondents from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Germany, United States and Brazil provided support for the positive relationship between the persuasive influence strategy and both immediate task...