Why Do I Feel Valued and Why Do I Contribute? A Relational Approach to Employee’s Organization-Based Self-Esteem and Job Performance

Why Do I Feel Valued and Why Do I Contribute?A Relational Approach to Employee’sOrganization-Based Self-Esteem and Job Performance

Jun Liu, Chun Hui, Cynthia Lee and Zhen Xiong ChenRenmin University of China; University of Hong Kong; Northeastern University and Hong Kong Polytechnic

University; The Australian National University

ABSTRACT Drawing on the relational perspective and self-consistency theory, we theorize howrelationships involving work-centric, off-work-centric, and/or personal components can affectan employee’s organization-based self-esteem and job performance in Chinese organizationalcontexts. Matched data were collected from a multi-source sample that included 219employee–supervisor dyads from a Chinese bank. Results based on hierarchical regressionanalyses reveal that a high-quality relationship with a supervisor through work and off-workdomains (leader–member exchange and guanxi) is positively related to organization-basedself-esteem. Organization-based self-esteem plays a mediating role in the relationship betweenguanxi and job performance. Additionally, career mentoring from a supervisor (a work-centricrelationship involving personal components) moderates the relationship betweenorganization-based self-esteem and job performance.

Keywords: career mentoring, guanxi, job performance, leader-member exchange,organization-based self-esteem

INTRODUCTION

Organization-based self-esteem (OBSE; Pierce et al., 1989) is ‘the self-perceived valuethat individuals have of themselves as organization members acting within an organiza-tional context’ (p. 625). Similar to the importance of self-concept and self-evaluation tohuman beings, OBSE is important to employees and it has implications for linkingorganizational initiatives to employee behaviours. A number of studies have examinedand found support for the mediating effect of OBSE on the relationship between workenvironment characteristics (e.g. managerial respect and job complexity) and employees’behaviours and attitudes (Pierce et al., 1989); pay level and job performance (Gardneret al., 2004); demographic dissimilarity and organizational citizenship behaviour

Address for reprints: Jun Liu, Department of Organization and Human Resources, School of Business, RenminUniversity of China, Beijing 100872, China ( [email protected])

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© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for the Advancement of Management Studies

Journal of Management Studies 50:6 September 2013doi: 10.1111/joms.12037

(Chattopadhyay, 1999); organizational support and affective commitment (Lee andPeccei, 2007); and delegation and job performance (Chen and Aryee, 2007). Surpris-ingly, there is no systematic effort in examining how OBSE would mediate the effects ofwork relationships on employee behaviours (Aryee et al., 2005) despite Pierce andGardner’s (2004) suggestion that social messages sent from significant others constitutean important source of OBSE. This indicates the importance of examining how rela-tionships (especially those with his or her supervisor) may affect an employee’s OBSE andjob outcomes.

We propose a relational approach to studying how OBSE can be enhanced and howOBSE may lead to performance. The relational approach to OBSE recognizes thatrelationships with people are critical for an employee’s success in an organization. Thereare different forms of relationships at work, however, and we know little about how socialmessages concerning the self are ‘transmitted by role models, teachers, mentors, andthose who evaluate the individual’s work’ (Pierce and Gardner, 2004, p. 594). In thepresent study, we examine how relationships that vary in work-relatedness and personalcomponents may affect OBSE and performance. Research in the West has identifiedleader–member exchange (LMX), the relationship with one’s immediate supervisor, asthe major powerful connection an employee can build in an organization (e.g. Graen andScandura, 1987; Wayne et al., 1997). LMX pertains to an effective relationship that ischaracterized by mutual trust, respect, and obligation between a supervisor and asubordinate (Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995). LMX is a work-centric construct in that it doesnot have to involve personal components beyond work (cf. Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995;Law et al., 2000). Research on LMX relies heavily on the social exchange framework forunderstanding how relationships at work affect employee outcomes, but it rarelyaddresses how LMX may affect an employee’s sense of self-worth. Quality relationshipswith significant others would not only prompt employees to reciprocate with betterefforts and output, but they would also convey to employees the signal that they arevalued, important, competent, and capable members of the organization. Our relationalmodel fills this gap in both the OBSE and the LMX literature by examining howdifferent forms of relationships may affect employee performance via OBSE.

Human beings are gregarious, and relationships they build at work may not berestricted entirely within work contexts. In particular, relationships at work may spaninto off-work or personal domains. This is especially the case for collectivistic people likethe Chinese (Hui et al., 2004). For example, it has been noted that off-work activitiessuch as visiting the family of a boss are important components of Chinese relationships(e.g. Law et al., 2000). Thus, in addition to work-centric relationships, off-work-centricrelationships with significant others in organizations may also affect employee outcomes.

Guanxi is an indigenous form of relationship in China that is off-work-centric and refersto a relationship that is formed based on particularistic ties such as kinship or socialnetworks (Tsui and Farh, 1997). ‘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 partycan choose to “lock oneself away from” or “open the link” to the other party’ (Law et al.,2000, p. 753). Chinese employees cultivate their guanxi with supervisors, primarily, viathose informal and off-work activities such as gift presenting, family visits, and resolving

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the supervisors’ personal problems (Law et al., 2000). Although the norm of reciprocitydrives the employee–supervisor guanxi relationship, given the two parties’ unequal socialstatuses within the high power distance cultural context of China (Hofstede and Bond,1988), the superiors hold the initiatives in deciding the quality of guanxi. In this study, wepropose that off-work-centric relationships may also enhance employee performance viaOBSE, much like the effects of work-centric relationships, as guanxi conveys to employeesthat they are important and valuable to their superiors.

There are also relationships at work that are dual-natured, in that both work andoff-work components are involved. We characterize this kind of relationship as careermentoring that refers to providing advice and support for career-growth activities such ashelping the protégé learn the ropes, coaching, facilitating exposure, and promotionnomination (Kram and Isabella, 1985; Scandura, 1992). Mentors are typically moresenior supervisors and serve to guide and develop more junior subordinates (Hunt andMichael, 1983; Kram, 1985). Mentorship can be a work relationship, as mentors provideadvice on work-related matters. Mentorship may also involve personal components,however. During the process of mentoring, especially on personal issues such as careerdevelopment, disclosure of personal interests, priorities and wishes by the protégé,developing a personal relationship with a protégé would greatly enhance the mentor’sability to offer specific advice. Thus, an effective mentor would build a relationship withthe protégé that is grounded on specific work elements, as in providing career andwork-related advice, but extend to non-work elements, as in developing a personalrelationship with the protégé or being a confidant of the protégé (Kwan et al., 2011). Inthe present study, we propose that career mentoring strengthens the effects of OBSE onemployee performance.

Figure 1 depicts our conceptual model. In this model, OBSE is the mechanism throughwhich LMX and guanxi lead to increased performance with career mentoring as amoderator 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 formof guanxi would affect an employee’s OBSE and ultimately his/her task and contextualperformance. Task performance is a form of in-role performance and refers to theparticular duties that employees are hired to perform. Contextual performance is a formof extra-role performance that is defined as activities that ‘support the broader organi-zational, social, and psychological environment in which the technical core mustfunction’ (Borman and Motowidlo, 1993, p. 73). This kind of performance is not asquantifiable as task performance but is important to the efficient and effective functioning

Organization-based self-esteem

Leader-member exchange

Guanxi with the supervisor

Employee contribution Task performance Contextual performance

Supervisor-provided career mentoring

Figure 1. Conceptual model of the study

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of the organization. A dual-natured relationship in the form career mentoring wouldenhance the effects of OBSE on performance.

Our study makes three contributions to the literature. First, research on OBSEprimarily has used self-consistency (Ferris et al., 2009; Korman, 1970), self-enhancement(Korman, 2001), self-protection (Korman, 2001), or behavioural plasticity (Brockner,1988) as the theoretical perspective from which to examine the origins and consequencesof OBSE (Pierce and Gardner, 2004). We extend such theorizing to include the rela-tional perspective. Our model integrates self-consistency theory and relational theory forunderstanding employee development and behaviours. Self-consistency theory suggeststhat individuals’ self-esteem is formed around their social and organizational experi-ences, which in turn play a significant role in determining their attitudes and behaviours(Korman, 1970, 1976). Relational theory, on the other hand, proposes that personalgrowth is related to the ability to connect oneself to others in ways that foster mutualdevelopment and learning (Fletcher and Käufer, 2003). Second, Pierce and Gardner(2004) have identified an important antecedent of OBSE in the form of social messagesthat communicate to the employees their value and competence. However, there has notbeen systematic examination of the source and contents of such messages. We charac-terize the source and contents of such messages and distinguish relationships that vary inhow much they pertain to work versus off-work domains in terms of LMX and guanxi.Third, we theorize and examine how a dual-natured relationship, career mentoring, maystrengthen the effects of OBSE on performance. We suggest that high OBSE employeesself-verify through higher performance and the presence of career mentoring furtherfacilitates the self-verification process. Our study contributes to theorization of howrelationships may enhance employee self-concept as well as performance in a cross-cultural context.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESES

Self-esteem is ‘an attitude of approval or disapproval and indicates the extent to whichthe individual believes the self to be acceptable, significant, successful and worthy’(Coppersmith, 1967, p. 45). As a hierarchical and multifaceted construct, self-esteem hasbeen conceptualized both as a global measure of overall evaluation of the self and as asituation-specific measure of self-evaluation that results from a specific situation or role.Korman (1970, p. 33) suggested that ‘organizations and their environments and theiractors may be viewed in terms of self-evaluations that such environments cultivate’.OBSE is a context-specific kind of self-esteem (Pierce et al., 1989). Employees with highOBSE 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 wor-thiness as an organizational member’ (Gardner and Pierce, 1998, p. 50).

To have high OBSE, employees need to have positive self-evaluations grounded intheir work environment. Epstein (1973) develops the notion that one’s self-concept, aswell as self-evaluation, develops out of personal experience, especially those interactionswith significant others. According to Korman (2001), positive feelings result when theemployee’s work environment provides the opportunity to attain positive goals throughthe employee’s own efforts and when the employee sees him/herself as deserving of and



competent in attaining goals. For instance, an employee’s most relevant ‘significantother’ or the immediate supervisor can effectively facilitate the development of theemployee’s positive self-evaluation by the messages that he/she conveys. This reasoningis consistent with theory of ‘relational (or interpersonal) self’, which recognizes thatknowledge about the self is linked with knowledge about significant others (Andersen andChen, 2002; Brewer and Gardner, 1996).

LMX and OBSE

Our relational model suggests that relationships with significant others will enhanceOBSE, which in turn affects an employee’s behaviours. As suggested by Pierce andGardner (2004), a major source of OBSE emerges from social messages that come frommeaningful and significant others such as teachers, role models, mentors, or those whoevaluate the individual’s work. Relationships, in general, can foster mutual developmentand learning through connecting to others (Fletcher and Käufer, 2003). Workplacerelationships, especially those with immediate supervisors, have long been recognized asimportant antecedents to employee outcomes.

LMX enhances employee OBSE because it signals to the employees that they or theirjob contributions are valued and recognized. A fundamental proposition of LMX theoryis that supervisors do not treat all subordinates the same. Instead, LMX represents adyadic approach to leadership in that the leader–member relationship should be exam-ined within each leader–member dyad (cf. Graen and Uhl-Bien, 1995). To cultivate ahigh-quality LMX, the supervisor continuously serves as the role model of the employee,develops the employee’s job skills, communicates the employee’s value to the work andorganization, and builds a dyadic partnership (Fairhurst, 1993; Graen and Uhl-Bien,1991, 1995; McClane, 1991). This high-quality work relationship conveys to the employ-ees that they are able and competent and enables the employees to recognize their valueto the organization. Furthermore, employees with high LMX are trusted and respectedby their supervisors. When employees receive such signals from supervisors, this positiveexperience from important representatives of their organizations would enhance theemployees’ sense of worth in organizations.

Hypothesis 1: LMX positively relates to employee OBSE.

Guanxi and OBSE

Guanxi also contributes to employee OBSE. Guanxi is an extremely important determi-nant of interpersonal interactions in China (Hwang, 1987; Jacobs, 1982). In transitionaleconomies where laws and formal rules are under-developed and less relied upon,personal relationships such as guanxi can serve as effective lubricants to facilitate trans-actions (Luo, 1997). Pearce et al. (1994) also commented that workers in transitionalsocieties have been observed to rely more heavily upon person-specific relations, such asguanxi. Personal relationships with powerful people in organizations in such societies areoften the primary mechanism through which individuals experience the employmentrelationship (Pearce, 2001). In addition, in the Chinese society that is characterized more

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by the rule of the people (where relationships matter) than by the rule of law (Walder,1991), decision making (i.e. career promotion) is strongly influenced by the supervisor’spersonal prerogatives (Chen and Tjosvold, 2006; Liu and Wang, 2012; Wei et al., 2010).When a Chinese employee establishes and develops high-quality guanxi with the super-visor, he/she demonstrates his or her commitment (and loyalty) to the supervisor, as wellas to the organization. Reciprocally, the supervisor will more likely categorize him or heras an in-group member, which enhances that employee’s identification with the organi-zation. In China, guanxi is a critical form of social network that defines one’s place andsocial status in any group, personal network, or organization. The particularistic tiesembodied in the employee–supervisor guanxi signify the ‘unique’ value of an employee tohis/her supervisor and also to the organization. Additionally, consistent with Pierce andGardner (2004), guanxi is another form of social message that further conveys to theemployees about their social standing with the authority who evaluates their work. Theoff-work behavioural exchanges between supervisor and the employees internalize intothe evaluation that the employee is worthy of the organization’s investment. Thus, wepredict that:

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

Joint Effect of LMX and Guanxi

As argued previously, while LMX enhances employees’ job competency and leadershipdevelopment, employee–supervisor guanxi provides the additional recognition ofemployee loyalty and opportunities for career growth that relate to employee OBSE. Wefurther propose that the work and off-work relationships jointly influence employeeOBSE with a synergistic effect in between. According to the theory of self-concept,evaluations of self-esteem have to be drawn from both personal and environmental cues.While the self-concept may be a summary evaluative judgment of how important andvaluable one is, the formation of such a judgment, in many cases, depends on more thanone type of message. Researchers have recognized that the self-concept includes a diversecollection of information about the self (Cantor et al., 1986). When information ofdifferent foci provides converging evidence of one’s importance and competence, theresulting self-concept would be based on stronger foundations. In work contexts, LMXsignifies to employees their value to their supervisors in work-related matters. Perceptionsof one’s own importance and competence would be greatly strengthened if there are alsomessages from the supervisor that the employee is worthy of his/her supervisor’s timeand effort beyond work contexts. Supervisors have at their disposal numerous ways tospend their off-work time. Thus, when a supervisor is willing to develop guanxi – apersonal relationship beyond work contexts – with a subordinate, this sends a powerfulmessage to the subordinate that he/she is not only valued by the supervisor as asubordinate at work, but is also as an important individual beyond work. LMX, coupledwith guanxi, provides a more holistic message that spans across both the work andoff-work lives of the employees. Such converging evidence of the importance andcompetence of the subordinate will greatly strengthen OBSE. LMX conveys signals ofthe employee’s competency for organizational tasks. Guanxi, in addition, signifies the



employee’s prominent social status to the supervisor and, hence, in the organization.Taken together, LMX and guanxi jointly promote employee OBSE. Thus, we predictthat:

Hypothesis 3: Employee–supervisor guanxi moderates the effect of LMX on employeeOBSE. Specifically, for employees with stronger guanxi with their supervisors, therelationship between LMX and OBSE would be stronger than for employees withweaker guanxi with their supervisors.

Mediating Role of OBSE

In our model, OBSE is an important employee attitude that links work relationships tothe employee’s job performance. We propose that when a supervisor is successful instrengthening an employee’s OBSE from high-quality LMX and guanxi experiences, theemployee is likely to expend effort to achieve high performance goals, thereby makingcontributions to the organization. Both LMX and guanxi provide positive and favourableinformation that satisfies the employee’s self-views (i.e. OBSE). To the extent that theemployee’s esteem need is satisfied by others’ evaluations, the employee will respondfavourably by contributing to the welfare of the organization. The self-consistency systemis activated when an individual sees an opportunity to achieve high performance goals,believes that he/she can achieve them, and also sees that the authorities or the supervisorencourages them to do so (Korman, 1970). Thus, employees who are socialized by theirsupervisors inside and outside of the work environment will be motivated to seek oppor-tunities and encouragement to attain goals. Furthermore, subordinates who have lowOBSE may perform at a low level, as they would behave in ways that are consistent withtheir low self-esteem. This suggests that the high-quality relationship from the work andoff-work interactions between the employee and supervisor should help enhance theemployee’s sense of OBSE. When established, this sense of OBSE would drive theemployee to achieve high performance goals and to contribute to the organization at alevel that is consistent with his/her level of self-esteem.

Research has demonstrated that OBSE motivates employees’ work attitudes andbehaviours (Chen and Aryee, 2007; Chen et al., 2005; Hui and Lee, 2000; Pierce andGardner, 2004; Pierce et al., 1989). Additionally, OBSE has been shown to relatepositively to job and extra-role performance (Alarcon, 2010; Pierce and Gardner, 2004).Borman and Motowidlo (1997) demonstrated that supervisors roughly weight subordi-nate tasks and contextual performance equally when making overall judgments of theirperformance. Consistent with the self-consistency model and previous research, weexamined both task and contextual performance as the outcome of OBSE. Since workrelationships are only one source of OBSE (Aryee et al., 2005), there are some otherimportant mediating mechanisms such as personal learning (Lankau and Scandura,2002), career motivation (Day and Allen, 2002), and role stressors (Lankau et al., 2006)linking supervisor–employee relationships and employee outcomes. Therefore, in thepresent study, we argue for a partial mediation role of OBSE in the relationship amongLMX, guanxi, and employee job performance.

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Hypothesis 4: Employee OBSE partially mediates the effects of (a) LMX and (b)employee–supervisor guanxi on an employee’s task and contextual performance.

The Moderating Role of Career Mentoring in the OBSE–JobPerformance Relationship

While LMX and guanxi communicate to the employee their value to the supervisor andpromote employee OBSE, career mentoring is a work relationship that includes bothwork and off-work elements through which the supervisor can facilitate employee per-formance. As discussed above, employees with high levels of OBSE would be more likelyto perform at higher levels to be consistent with their self-images. We suggest that careermentoring helps high OBSE people self-verify by improving their performance. Con-sistent with the employee’s self-image, those low in OBSE would perform at a lower level(Pierce and Gardner, 2004; Pierce et al., 1989). In this case, even when supervisorsprovide mentoring, low-OBSE employees would be less likely to take advantage inexerting the additional effort to attain higher levels of performance. This is becauseattaining higher performance is inconsistent with their self-image. However, the high-OBSE individuals would be more likely to take advantage of supervisor mentoring toenhance their performance. The attainment of higher performance would verify theirself-image as high OBSE people (Dipboye, 1977; Korman, 1970). Career mentoringincludes career-growth activities such as helping the protégé learn the ropes, coaching,facilitating exposure, and nominating the employee for promotions. Career mentoringby the supervisor constitutes an informal skill development mechanism that not onlyenhances the employability of subordinates but also develops the employee’s skills andcompetencies that are critical to effective implementation of the organization’s strategy.In addition, mentors have personal interest in and care for the well-being of the protégé.In this growth-fostering interaction, the mentor has the skills to enable the protégé, onthe one hand, while the protégé is willing to be influenced by the mentor on the other.With such mentoring help, protégés would be better motivated and equipped to performbetter in both their task and contextual performance. High OBSE enables self-verification through higher performance, and the presence of career mentoring makes itmore likely they can succeed at self-verification (i.e. have higher performance). Wepropose that:

Hypothesis 5: Career mentoring by the supervisor moderates the effects of OBSE onemployee task and contextual performance. Specifically, for employees with strongersupervisor-provided career mentoring, the relationship between OBSE and employeeperformance would be stronger than for employees with weaker supervisor-providedcareer mentoring.

METHOD

Sample and Procedure

Respondents were employees and their immediate supervisors in a locally owned bank ina major city of Southern China. In the organization, all supervisors were required to play



the role of career mentor to their subordinate employees. Subordinates were randomlyselected from a list of non-managerial employees obtained from the personnel depart-ment. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain data on the employee’s experiencesof LMX, guanxi with his/her supervisor, career mentoring, and OBSE. Each employeewas also requested to provide the name of his/her immediate supervisor. After complet-ing the questionnaire, the employee sent it directly to the research team. We ceasedemployee questionnaire collection after three months. From the employees’ responses,we obtained the names of the immediate supervisor and sent questionnaires to thesupervisors to obtain employee performance data. Identity numbers were assigned toeach employee–supervisor dyad to facilitate the matching of responses. Attached to eachquestionnaire was a cover letter that explained the objectives of the survey, providedassurances of confidentiality, informed respondents that participation in the survey wasvoluntary, and explained procedures for completing and returning the questionnaires.Enclosed in each questionnaire package was a self-addressed envelope for returning thecompleted instrument to the research team.

Of the 289 employee questionnaires administered, 246 completed questionnaires werereturned, resulting in a response rate of 85 per cent. Twenty-seven supervisors did notcomplete the supervisor questionnaires, so the responses of their immediate subordinateswere 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 the55.6 per cent average response rate norm suggested by Baruch (1999).

Of the 219 employee respondents, 41 per cent were male. They reported an averageage of 31.45 years (SD = 7.87), an average of 13.56 years of education (SD = 2.09), andan average organizational tenure of 9.61 years (SD = 6.73). In terms of occupationalcomposition, 27 per cent were tellers, 32.7 per cent were in accounting/finance, 12.5 percent were in sales/marketing, 14.1 per cent were in customer service, 5.2 per cent werein administration/human resources, 2 per cent were in computer/information technol-ogy, and 5.6 per cent did not indicate their job functions.

Measures

The survey instrument was initially constructed in English and was translated intoChinese and then back-translated into English. Translation and back-translation is astandard procedure in cross-cultural research designed to ensure the equivalence ofmeasures used in both versions of the survey instrument (Brislin, 1980). We subsequentlyperformed a pilot test of the Chinese survey instrument using employees in the partici-pating organization who were not included in the final sample. Based on feedbackobtained from the pilot test, we reworded a few items to enhance clarity. With theexception of LMX, guanxi, and OBSE, which used a seven-point rating format, responseoptions for all other measures ranged from (1) ‘strongly disagree’ to (5) ‘strongly agree’.

Leader-member exchange (LMX). Employees rated the perceived quality of their exchangewith their immediate supervisor using a 7-item LMX scale developed by Graen et al.(1982). This scale is the most frequently used measure of LMX (Liden and Maslyn,1998). The Cronbach’s alpha of this scale was 0.75.

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Guanxi with the supervisor. An employee’s guanxi with his/her supervisor was measuredusing the six-item scale developed and validated by Law et al. (2000). We asked respond-ents to indicate the likelihood of exhibiting each of these behaviours/activities: ‘Duringholidays or after office hours, I call my supervisor or visit him/her’, ‘My supervisorinvites me to his/her home for lunch or dinner’, ‘On special occasions such as mysupervisor’s birthday, I would definitely visit my supervisor and send him/her gifts’, ‘Ialways actively share my personal thoughts, problems, needs and feelings with mysupervisor’, ‘I care about and have a good understanding of my supervisor’s familyconditions’, and ‘When there are conflicting opinions, I will definitely stand on mysupervisor’s side’. The Cronbach’s alpha of this scale was 0.87.

Career mentoring. We adapted four items from a vocational mentoring subscale developedby Scandura and Ragins (1993). The original mentoring measure also includes a psy-chosocial mentoring dimension that deals with friendship and counselling of the protégé.We omitted this dimension because we wanted to focus on the career-enhancing functionof mentoring that has a specific work component and also a personal component. Thefour items were: ‘My immediate supervisor has given me important assignments’, ‘Myimmediate supervisor advised me about promotional opportunities’, ‘My immediatesupervisor takes a personal interest in my career’, and ‘My immediate supervisor hasdevoted special time and consideration to my career’. We dropped one item from theoriginal scale that reads ‘My mentor helps me coordinate professional goals’ since in oursample (a bank), part of the respondents (e.g. tellers) were not professionals, and it wouldbe difficult to set a clear professional goal for this type of employee. The Cronbach’salpha of the scale was 0.88.

Organization-based self-esteem. This was measured by ten items developed by Pierce et al.(1989). Sample items included: ‘I count around here’, ‘I am taken seriously around here’,and ‘I am an important part of this place’. Pierce et al. (1989, 1993) reported alphacoefficients of 0.86 to 0.96 for this scale. In our study, the alpha coefficient was 0.90. Thestrength of the internal consistency estimates provided evidence of the homogeneity ofthe scale items.

Job performance. In the study, we measured both task and contextual performance. Taskperformance consists of job-specific behaviours including core job responsibilities. Con-textual performance consists of non-job-specific behaviours, such as cooperating withco-workers and showing dedication (Borman and Motowidlo, 1993). Research hasshown that contextual performance contributes uniquely (over and above task perform-ance) to an individual’s contribution to the organization (Conway, 1999). Task performancewas measured via a four-item scale developed by Farh and Cheng (1999). Sample itemswere: ‘This employee makes an important contribution to the overall performance of ourwork unit’ and ‘The performance of this employee always meets requirements andexpectations’. The Cronbach’s alpha of the scale was 0.83. Motowidlo and van Scotter’s(1994) 15-item scale was used to measure the two dimensions of contextual performance,interpersonal facilitation and job dedication. Following the stem ‘While performing hisor her job, how likely is it that this employee would . . .’, supervisors rated the likelihood



that an employee would, for example, ‘praise co-workers when they are successful’(interpersonal facilitation) and ‘persist in overcoming obstacles to complete a task’( job dedication). Interpersonal facilitation and job dedication were measured byseven and eight items, respectively. 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(Bowling et al., 2010; Campbell, 1990) and job performance (Beaudry et al., 2005;Giniger et al., 1983). Gender was coded female = ‘0’ and male = ‘1’. Education wasmeasured with an item that ascertained the number of years of formal education therespondent had completed.

RESULTS

Discriminant Validity Testing

We conducted confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) using LISREL 8.50 (Jöreskog andSörbom, 2001) 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, interper-sonal facilitation and job dedication. Given the small sample size relative to the meas-urement items, we created item-parcels prior to conducting the analyses (Landis et al.,2000). Specifically, we first conducted an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to obtain eachitem’s factor loading coefficient. We then created item-parcels until we yielded threeindicators for each construct. For example, items with the highest and the lowest loadingswere averaged to form the first new indicator, and the items with the next highest and thenext lowest factor loadings were averaged to form the second new indicator, and so on.The method is a common and acceptable practice in management research (e.g. Aryeeet al., 2002; Hui et al., 1999; Mathieu and Farr, 1991).

Using this method, we obtained 21 parcels that were specified to seven prescribedlatent factors. We also compared the seven-factor model to an alternative six-factormodel (combining interpersonal facilitation and job dedication), a second six-factormodel (combining LMX and guanxi), a five-factor model (combining the three perform-ance measures), a second five-factor model (combining LMX, guanxi, and career men-toring), and a one-factor model (combining all items into one latent factor). Results ofcomparison are presented in Table I. As shown, the hypothesized seven-factor model(c2 = 290.50, d.f. = 168; TLI = 0.95, GFI = 0.89, RMSEA = 0.06) fit the data better thandid the two six-factor models (c2 = 422.43/456.21, d.f. = 174; TLI = 0.89/0.89,GFI = 0.84/0.83, RMSEA = 0.08/0.09), the two five-factor models (c2 = 587.14/738.97, d.f. = 179; TLI = 0.84/0.78, GFI = 0.80/0.74, RMSEA = 0.10/0.13), and theone-factor model (c2 = 1889.48, d.f. = 190; TLI = 0.37, GFI = 0.53, RMSEA = 0.21).The results indicated support for the hypothesized seven-factor model and, therefore, thedistinctiveness of the variables in the study.

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Common Method Variance Issues Testing

Of the seven multi-item variables we studied, four (LMX, career mentoring, guanxi, andOBSE) were drawn from a common source (employees) and the other three (taskperformance, interpersonal facilitation, and job dedication) were drawn from anothersource (supervisor). We followed the suggestions of Podsakoff et al. (2003) to test if therewas a strong common method effect that underpinned the data from the same source.We conducted analyses of the two sources separately. As shown in Table I, results of theHarman one-factor test yielded unacceptable fit (c2 = 809.24/312.12, d.f. = 54/27;TLI = 0.35/0.69, GFI = 0.58/0.73, RMSEA = 0.27/0.24). In addition, for each source,we also specified a structural equation model consisting of the theoretical constructstogether with an unmeasured latent method factor. The model’s fitness was not superiorto the proposed measurement model. Taken together, these results indicated that theconstructs could be discriminated from each other and common method bias was notlikely to have detrimental effects on the validity of our results and conclusions.

Hypothesis Testing

Table II presents the descriptive statistics and zero-order correlations among the vari-ables. To test our model that involved both moderating and mediating effects, weadopted the moderated causal steps approach in the regression analysis (Muller et al.,2005). We examined these effects hierarchically: direct effects (including control vari-ables, LMX, and guanxi) first, then the LMX–guanxi interaction, mediating effects

Table I. Results of confirmatory factor analyses of the measures

c2 d.f. TLI a GFI b RMSEAc

Distinctiveness test modelsSeven-factor model 290.50 168 0.95 0.89 0.06Six-factor model 1 (interpersonal facilitation and job

dedication were combined into one factor)422.43 174 0.89 0.84 0.08

Six-factor model 2 (guanxi and leader–member exchangewere combined into one factor)

456.21 174 0.89 0.83 0.09

Five-factor model 1 (three performance measures werecombined into one factor)

587.14 179 0.84 0.80 0.10

Five-factor model 2 (guanxi, leader–member exchange,and mentoring were combined into one factor)

738.97 179 0.78 0.74 0.13

One-factor model (all 21 items were combined into oneoverall factor)

1889.48 190 0.37 0.53 0.21

Common method variance test modelsHarman one-factor model for employee data 809.24 54 0.35 0.58 0.27Harman one-factor model for supervisor data 312.12 27 0.69 0.73 0.24

Notes: a TLI = Tucker–Lewis Index.b GFI = Goodness of Fit Index.c RMSEA = Root Mean Square Error of Approximation.



Tab

leII

.M

eans

,sta

ndar

dde

viat

ions

,and

corr

elat

ions

ofth

est

udy’

sva

riab

les

Var

iabl

eM

ean

SD1

23

45

67

89

10

11

1.A

ge31

.45

7.87

–2.

Gen

dera

0.41

0.49

0.03

–3.

Edu

catio

n(y

r)13

.56

2.09

-0.1

2-0

.02

–4.

Org

aniz

atio

nalt

enur

e(y

r)9.

616.

730.

79**

-0.1

4-0

.18*

–5.

Lea

der–

mem

ber

exch

ange

3.46

0.59

0.08

0.12

-0.0

20.

07(0

.75)

c

6.G

uanx

iw

ithsu

perv

isor

3.57

1.09

-0.2

7**

0.19

**-0

.02

-0.2

6**

0.29

**(0

.87)

7.C

aree

rm

ento

ring

3.13

0.84

-0.1

00.

08-0

.05

-0.1

00.

39**

0.31

**(0

.88)

8.O

BSE

b4.

600.

910.

00-0

.03

0.15

*0.

010.

40**

0.27

**0.

32**

(0.9

0)9.

Tas

kpe

rfor

man

ce3.

380.

63-0

.01

0.14

0.13

0.04

0.12

0.06

0.15

*0.

31**

(0.8

3)10

.In

terp

erso

nalf

acili

tatio

n3.

780.

590.

040.

090.

120.

030.

21**

0.15

*0.

21**

0.31

**0.

51**

(0.9

0)11

.Jo

bde

dica

tion

3.89

0.66

0.07

0.05

0.21

**0.

030.

18*

0.18

*0.

25**

0.36

**0.

57**

0.73

**(0

.94)

Not

es:

aG

ende

rco

ding

:0=

fem

ale;

1=

mal

e.b

OB

SE=

orga

niza

tion-

base

dse

lf-es

teem

.c

Num

bers

inth

ebr

acke

tsar

eC

ronb

ach’

sal

pha

valu

es.

*Si

gnifi

cant

atth

e0.

05le

vel.

**Si

gnifi

cant

atth

e0.

01le

vel.

J. Liu et al.1030


(OBSE), and finally the OBSE–career mentoring interaction. Multi-collinearity prob-lems were investigated in these tests, and no serious threat was identified. The hierar-chical regression results are presented in Tables III and IV.

Hypotheses 1 and 2 stated that LMX and guanxi have positive effects on OBSE. Asshown in Table III, LMX was positively related to OBSE (b = 0.46, p < 0.01; Model 2).In addition, guanxi was positively related to OBSE (b = 0.23, p < 0.01; Model 3). Theresults supported Hypotheses 1 and 2. Our Hypothesis 3 predicted that guanxi wouldmoderate the effect of LMX on employee OBSE. However, the regression coefficient ofthe 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 andguanxi on an employee’s job performance. According to Baron and Kenny’s (1986)criteria (later elaborated by Muller et al. (2005) in the moderated-mediation situation),mediation is supported if four conditions are met: (1) the predictor (i.e. LMX, guanxi, orLMX¥guanxi) is significantly related to the outcome variable (i.e. job and contextualperformance); (2) the predictor is significantly related to the mediator (i.e. OBSE); (3) themediator is significantly related to the outcome variable; and (4) when both the predictorand the mediator are entered into the model, the relationship between the predictor andthe outcome variable becomes non-significant (full mediation) or diminishes (partialmediation). Following these criteria, we found four significant predictor–outcome rela-tionships turned to non-significant or less significant in the presence of OBSE (see

Table III. Hierarchical regression results of the mediated moderationtests

OBSE c

Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4

Step 1: Control variablesAge -0.13a -0.10 -0.10 -0.09Gender 0.01 -0.08 -0.13* -0.15*Education 0.11 0.11 0.13* 0.13*Company tenure 0.13 0.07 0.13 0.11

Step 2: LMXb 0.46** 0.37** 0.36**Step 3: Guanxi 0.23** 0.22**Step 4: LMX ¥ Guanxi 0.10

R2 0.64 0.21** 0.26** 0.27**F 0.02 7.84 8.04 7.30DR2 – 0.19** 0.05** 0.01DF – 37.48 6.75 1.79

Notes: a Standardized regression coefficients are reported.b LMX = leader–member exchange.c OBSE = organization-based self-esteem.* Significant at the 0.05 level.** Significant at the 0.01 level.



Tab

leIV

.H

iera

rchi

calr

egre

ssio

nre

sults

ofth

em

edia

ted

mod

erat

ion

test

s

Tas

kpe

rfor

man

ceIn

terp

erso

nal

faci

litat

ion

Job

dedi

catio

n

Mod

el5

Mod

el6

Mod

el7

Mod

el8

Mod

el9

Mod

el1

0M

odel

11

Mod

el1

2M

odel

13

Mod

el1

4M

odel

15

Mod

el1

6

Step

1:C

ontr

olva

riab

les

Age

-0.1

6a-0

.11

-0.0

9-0

.09

-0.2

5*-0

.22

-0.2

0-0

.20

-0.1

4-0

.09

-0.0

7-0

.07

Gen

der

0.22

**0.

130.

18*

0.17

*0.

20*

0.11

0.14

*0.

120.

14*

0.03

0.07

0.06

Edu

catio

n0.

17*

0.19

**0.

15*

0.12

0.14

0.16

*0.

130.

100.

26**

0.28

**0.

24**

0.22

**C

ompa

nyte

nure

0.22

0.22

0.19

0.15

0.30

*0.

30*

0.28

*0.

24*

0.27

*0.

27*

0.25

*0.

22*

Step

2:L

MX

ban

dgu

anxi

effe

cts

LM

X-0

.03

-0.1

6-0

.14

0.12

0.04

0.04

0.04

-0.0

7-0

.07

Gua

nxi

0.20

*0.

130.

100.

16*

0.10

0.06

0.27

**0.

21*

0.17

*L

MX

¥G

uanx

i0.

21**

0.17

*0.

13*

0.09

0.07

0.03

0.12

0.09

0.06

Step

3:M

edia

tor

OB

SEc

0.36

**0.

37**

0.24

**0.

24**

0.30

**0.

28**

Step

4:M

oder

ator

and

inte

ract

ion

Car

eer

men

tori

ng-0

.01

0.04

0.06

OB

SE¥

Car

eer

men

tori

ng0.

18*

0.19

*0.

17*

R2

0.07

*0.

15*

0.25

**0.

28**

0.07

*0.

13**

0.18

**0.

21**

0.09

**0.

19**

0.25

**0.

28**

F3.

003.

775.

985.

432.

693.

103.

783.

713.

724.

625.

865.

37DR

2–

0.08

**0.

10**

0.03

*–

0.06

**0.

05**

0.03

*–

0.10

*0.

06**

0.03

*DF

–4.

5118

.23

2.67

–3.

477.

523.

00–

5.36

12.0

32.

78

Not

es:

aSt

anda

rdiz

edre

gres

sion

coef

ficie

nts

are

repo

rted

.b

LM

X=

lead

er–m

embe

rex

chan

ge.

cO

BSE

=or

gani

zatio

n-ba

sed

self-

este

em.

*Si

gnifi

cant

atth

e0.

05le

vel.

**Si

gnifi

cant

atth

e0.

01le

vel.

J. Liu et al.1032


Table IV for details). The four predictor–outcome relationships were those betweenguanxi and task performance (from 0.20 in Model 6 to 0.13 in Model 7), guanxi andinterpersonal facilitation (from 0.16 in Model 10 to 0.10 in Model 11), guanxi and jobdedication (from 0.27 in Model 14 to 0.21 in Model 15), and finally, the LMX–guanxiinteraction and task performance (from 0.21 in Model 6 to 0.17 in Model 7). We thenconducted a Sobel test (Preacher and Hayes, 2004) to test the significance of thereduction of regression coefficient for the four predictor–outcome relationships. Resultsshowed that three of the four were significant: guanxi–OBSE–task performance (Sobelt = 2.22, p < 0.05), guanxi–OBSE–interpersonal facilitation (Sobel t = 1.99, p < 0.05), andguanxi–OBSE–job dedication (Sobel t = 2.08, p < 0.05). Taken together, these resultsindicate that our data supported Hypothesis 4b but not Hypothesis 4a.

Our Hypothesis 5 predicted that career mentoring would moderate the effects ofOBSE on an employee’s task and contextual performance. Regression results inTable IV showed that the OBSE–mentoring interaction was significantly related to taskperformance (b = 0.18, p < 0.05; Model 8), interpersonal facilitation (b = 0.19, p < 0.05;Model 12), and job dedication (b = 0.17, p < 0.05; Model 16). To interpret the generalpattern of the interactive influence, we followed the procedure suggested by Aiken andWest (1991). For instance, in Figure 2, we plotted OBSE–task performance relationshipsaccording to three levels of career mentoring: the mean, one standard deviation abovethe mean, and one standard deviation below the mean. As shown in the figure, OBSEhad a greater positive impact on task performance when the employee received higher-rather than lower-level career mentoring from his/her supervisor. In addition, Figures 3and 4 visually illustrate how the OBSE–interpersonal facilitation and OBSE–job dedi-cation relationships varied with the level of career mentoring.

DISCUSSION

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 andcontextual performance. We further examined how a dual-natured relationship (careermentoring) moderates the relationship between OBSE and employee contributions.Results from 219 employee–supervisor dyads supported our model in a general sense.

1SD below mean 1SD above mean

OBSE

Tas

k pe

rfor

man

ce High-level of career mentoring

Average-level of career mentoring

Low-level of career mentoring

Figure 2. Moderating effect of career mentoring on the relationship between OBSE and task performance



Specifically, we found that both LMX and guanxi related to OBSE. However, OBSEmediated only the relationship of guanxi on both task and contextual performance. Wealso found that career mentoring moderated the relationship between OBSE and bothtask and contextual performance.

As suggested by Hui et al. (2004), a Chinese employee’s relationship with his/hersupervisor takes on paramount importance and is an essential component of the Chinesesocial structure. The relationship with one’s supervisor, including guanxi, may anchor theemployee’s relationship with the organization and his/her willingness to contribute to it.We argue that employees who form special relationships with supervisors would likelyfeel that they are special to the supervisor and the organization. This argument issupported by the effects of guanxi but not LMX on the employee’s performance. It ispossible that, especially in a relationship-oriented society such as China’s, developingquality work-based relationships with subordinates is taken for granted as one of super-visor obligations. Besides, Chinese employees had been found to define their job scopesmore broadly than American or Australian employees (Lam et al., 1999). Chineseemployees, especially those who espouse traditional Chinese values, are likely to engagein extra-role performance regardless of LMX quality (Hui et al., 2004). Thus, having


OBSE

Inte

rper

sona

l fac

ilita

tion

High-level of career mentoring



Figure 3. Moderating effect of career mentoring on the relationship between OBSE and interpersonalfacilitation


OBSE

Job

dedi

catio

n

High-level of career mentoring



Figure 4. Moderating effect of career mentoring on the relationship between OBSE and job dedication

J. Liu et al.1034


high LMX at work is less of a discriminating signal for how special someone is to thesupervisor and the organization. Further, its effects on employee performance may bedue to mechanisms other than OBSE. Developing off-work relationships such as guanxi,however, is not an obligation but is at the discretion of the supervisors. Thus, havingguanxi with a supervisor is more likely to signal a special relationship that strengthensOBSE and, subsequently, performance.

We did not find support for the interactive effects of LMX and guanxi on OBSE. Thisis slightly surprising given the importance of relationships in China. We found thatalthough both LMX and guanxi bolster OBSE, LMX shows a stronger relationship toOBSE than guanxi. This may come from both LMX and OBSE referencing the workdomain. The correlation table showed that career mentoring, which contains relation-ships from both work and off-work domains, had a moderate correlation with OBSE.Future studies should pay attention to this pattern of relationships.

Further, our results support the moderating effects of a dual-natured, growth-fosteringrelationship of career mentoring on the relationship between OBSE and employeeperformance. This result suggests that for relationships to be effective in Chinese organi-zations, they should contain off-work components. LMX is a work-centric relationshipand on its own, as compared to guanxi, provides more limited information on how specialsomeone is to the supervisor and the organization.

The findings of this study have theoretical and practical implications. In view of themotivational implications of the relational ties between an organization and its employ-ees, the first theoretical implication is an insight into the development of OBSE andultimately employee contributions in terms of task and contextual performance. Specifi-cally, the findings revealed that work-related and off-work-related employee–supervisorrelationships constitute sources of OBSE. Developing social relationships and offeringthese work and off-work activities to employees are signals to employees that theirorganization cares for their well-being. McAllister and Bigley (2002) noted that bycentring its values and principles on fulfilling employees’ needs and acting in their bestinterests, an organization will cultivate higher OBSE. However, in terms of affectingemployee performance, relationships that include off-work personal components areimportant in China.

Our results show that the relational and consistency perspectives reinforced oneanother in suggesting that career mentoring strengthens the OBSE effect on employeeperformance. According to self-consistency theory, once self-esteem is crystallized,people behave in ways and develop attitudes that are consistent with their level ofself-esteem (Ferris et al., 2009; Korman, 1970). However, in organizations, whenemployees perceive an opportunity to improve their OBSE, such as when their super-visors provide personal interest and support, they too will try to enhance their perform-ance that reflects the growth of self-esteem (Korman, 2001). As we previously indicated,the Chinese ‘self’ is more interdependent and largely built around a network of roles andrelationships than is the ‘self’ in Western settings. In traditional Confucian thinking, the‘self’ does not exist outside of others. The ‘self’ is a relational one, emphasizing a sense ofconnectedness and interdependence. Therefore, the growth-in-connection perspectivebuilding from supervisor-provided career mentoring supports and extends the currentconceptualization of OBSE.



Conceptually, our study advances understanding of how the social messages embed-ded in different relationships at work affect OBSE. Pierce and Gardner (2004) suggestedtwo other types of antecedents to OBSE: environmental structures and personal expe-riences. Specifically, they suggested that organic organizational structures that offeremployees control and autonomy, and positive personal experiences such as success inthe organization, would be more conducive to cultivating high OBSE. It is likely thatthese different antecedents may operate synergistically to enhance OBSE. For example,as suggested by Pierce and Gardner (2004), employees operating in an organic organi-zational structure would be more likely to develop high OBSE. The effects of organiza-tional structure on OBSE would be strengthened to the extent that employees havealready attained previous success in the organization. OBSE would be maximizedwhen these employees develop important relationships with significant others in theorganization. The resulting high OBSE may have an impact on task performance, aswell as on career progression. Future studies may examine how these different categoriesof OBSE antecedents interact together to affect OBSE and individual and organizationaloutcomes.

From a practical or managerial perspective, the finding that components of theself-concept have motivational implications for an employee’s work-related attitudes andbehaviours suggest a role for human resource practices in fostering positive employeeself-concepts. For these human resource practices to be effective, organizations couldconsider communicating respect and addressing the relational and esteem needs ofemployees. By satisfying the ‘belongingness’ needs of employees, these human resourcepractices promote stronger personal relationships between employees and their employ-ers, which, in turn, enhance feelings of self-worth in the context of work or OBSE. Oneimplication of the importance of off-work activities is that managers would have to spendmore time in off-work contexts with their subordinates for them to be effective. Futurestudies should examine how other implicit (such as supportive management culture orjob security) and explicit cues (such as positive feedback, experience of success frompromotion, and salary increase) from the work environment interact with social messagesand contribute to the development and maintenance of OBSE.

As with most studies, this one has a number of limitations. First, the cross-sectionaldesign implies that causal relations cannot be inferred from our findings. Future researchmay utilize longitudinal designs to ascertain the causalities that we examined in this study.Second, with the exception of task and contextual performance (supervisor-rated), dataon the study variables were based on self-reports. Consequently, our findings may beattributed to method bias, particularly with regard to the antecedents of OBSE. However,statistical examination of this issue revealed that there is no serious common method bias.To mitigate concerns about method bias and to build multi-level research, future studiesmay obtain data from sources other than respondents as antecedents. Third, data wereobtained from a single organization in a mono-cultural context, which limits the gener-alizability of our findings. Fourth, in theory, we speculate that our findings, in whichoff-work relationships are important to employee OBSE and performance, could beapplicable in a Western setting. However, the variable we used to reflect this off-workrelationship in our study (i.e. guanxi) may be somewhat unique to Chinese culture. Wesuggest that future research should test our findings, using other operationalization of

J. Liu et al.1036


off-work relationships in the particular culture studied or examine the relevance of guanxiin a cross-cultural context.

Despite these limitations, our study provides insight into how employers or superiorscan influence the self-concepts and performance of employees via work and off-workrelationships. In general, our findings revealed that it may be important to considerpersonal elements in relationships at work and how such relationships affect the selfconcepts of employees.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The study was supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council of HKSAR, China (ProjectHKU745410H). The work described in this paper by Cynthia Lee was supported by the Provost Enhance-ment Award, College of Business Administration, Northeastern University.

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Why Do I Feel Valued and Why Do I Contribute? A Relational Approach to Employee’s Organization-Based Self-Esteem and Job Performance