Harmony as means to enhance affective commitment in a Chinese organization. Issue 3 (29th July 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chin, Tachia
• Is Part Of: Cross cultural management. Volume 21:Issue 3(2014)
• Page Start: 326
• Page End: 344
• Publication Date: 2014-07-29
• Subjects: Management -- Cross-cultural studies -- Periodicals; Management -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; International business enterprises -- Management -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Diversity in the workplace -- Periodicals; 658
• DOI: 10.1108/CCM-05-2012-0038
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1352-7606

Abstract

<abstract> <title> <x content-type="archive" xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Purpose</title> <p> – Identifying the in-built art-based, multi-dimensionally dynamic nature of the Chinese notion of harmony from the philosophical perspective of Yijing, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanisms among the degree of harmony, employee affective commitment (AC) and compliance behavior at workplace in China. </p> </sec> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Design/methodology/approach</title> <p> – This paper follows an empirical research design. To reduce extraneous sources of variation and measurement error, this study constrained the sample collection to full-time employees in manufacturing. Regression analysis was used to examine the hypotheses. </p> </sec> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Findings</title> <p> – Results show that the degree of harmony is positively related to AC and compliance behavior. Findings also confirm the mediation effect of AC on the relationship between the degree of harmony and employee compliance behavior. </p> </sec> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Practical implications</title> <p> – The research suggests that firms in China may exploit boosting the degree of harmony in organizations as an effective means to enhance employee AC to and compliance with their employers. It enables non-Chinese managers to gain a better understanding of the importance of creating harmonious environment for Chinese employees. </p> </sec> <sec> <title content-type="abstract-heading">Originality/value</title> <p> – This study demonstrates the East-West cultural differences on the notion of harmony (art-based vs science-based views), investigating HR-related issues in China through a newer and broader lens, namely a revolutionary view of "East-West" integrative thinking. Using the model decoded by Yijing's eight trigrams to measure organizational harmony, this paper proposes a novel framework illustrating the relationships between a unique Chinese cultural variable (harmony) and two well-established Western measures (AC and compliance behavior), in response to the recent call for analyzing context-specific implications to develop new context-sensitive theories in HRM.</p> </sec> </abstract>