Guanxi, human resource management and employee performance: explanations from different theoretical perspectives

Abstract

Strategic Human Resource Management (HRM) research acknowledges that a better explanation of the HRM-performance relationship requires more emphasis on employee perceptions and responses to management practices. This thesis attempts to do this using a variety of theoretical perspectives. The thesis comprises five chapters, three of which are empirical studies that focus on two types of management practices: supervisor-subordinate guanxi (SSG) and HRM. Together the three studies examine how these management practices are perceived by employees and how employee reactions influence their performance. Study one demonstrates how SSG relations contribute to subordinate performance from a conservation of resources perspective. The proposed model was tested on a sample of 599 subordinate-supervisor dyads from seven manufacturing firms in China. Supporting the proposed model, the results indicate that two process variables, job resources and job crafting, sequentially mediate the influence of SSG on employee performance. Study two uses the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity framework to explain the relationship between training and employee performance. The study highlights the mediating role of work engagement and the moderating role of HRM strength on employees’ task performance and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB). Results from a sample of 348 employees in two Chinese factories indicate that training improves employee task performance through work engagement. This effect is amplified when employees perceive a strong HRM system. Explanations are provided including interpretations of some unexpected results. Study three examines how work engagement and job crafting mediate the relationship between employee perceptions of HRM strength and employee performance. Drawing on HRM process theory and the job crafting literature, I find that where management maintain a strong HRM system, employees are more likely to be engaged in their work and participate in job crafting, which enhances both task performance and OCB. This argument is supported by an analysis based on a sample of 455 employees in five Chinese manufacturing firms. The study also shows that job crafting on its own, and work engagement and job crafting together, mediate the HRM-performance relationship. Overall, the thesis contributes to the understanding of the role of guanxi and HRM in explaining employee performance including the mechanisms that underpin these relationships.