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Asia Pacific Journal of Management
Published in: Asia Pacific Journal of Management 3/2017

30-03-2017

Whipping into shape: Construct definition, measurement, and validation of directive-achieving leadership in Chinese culture

Authors: Tingting Chen, Fuli Li, Kwok Leung

Published in: Asia Pacific Journal of Management | Issue 3/2017

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Abstract

Based on Confucian thought, this research theorizes a new form of hierarchical approach to leadership in Chinese culture. This leadership concept, termed as directive-achieving leadership, reflects the Confucian juxtaposition of hierarchical control with a training and achieving focus. Study 1 developed a measure for this leadership style and found evidence of its construct validity. In Study 2, we collected three-wave, multi-source data from 208 employees and their immediate supervisors working in a large state-owned group corporation located in China. This study examined how directive-achieving leadership affects subordinate job performance, in comparison with authoritarian leadership. Our findings revealed that directive-achieving leadership had a positive mediated relationship with subordinate job performance through role clarity and cognition-based trust. By contrast, authoritarian leadership showed no effect on the role clarity, trust, or job performance of subordinates. We discuss the implications of the hierarchical approach to leadership in the Chinese context and provide directions for future research.
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Metadata
Title
Whipping into shape: Construct definition, measurement, and validation of directive-achieving leadership in Chinese culture
Authors
Tingting Chen
Fuli Li
Kwok Leung
Publication date
30-03-2017
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Asia Pacific Journal of Management / Issue 3/2017
Print ISSN: 0217-4561
Electronic ISSN: 1572-9958
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-017-9511-6

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