Influence strategies and work outcomes: effects of attributions
ISSN: 1750-614X
Article publication date: 12 March 2019
Issue publication date: 9 December 2019
Abstract
Purpose
Previous research on influence strategies has almost exclusively indicated negative relationships between assertive influence and employee work outcomes; the purpose of this study is to argue that an assertive influence strategy can also lead to both positive and negative work outcomes, when subordinates hold different attributions towards the leaders’ motive of using assertive influence (hereafter “the cause”).
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical study was based on data collected from 930 employees in China. The authors developed hypotheses to test the mediating effects of three types of perception in the relationship between an assertive influence strategy and five outcomes, and additional analyses on persuasive and relational influence strategies are also conducted.
Findings
Results show that when subordinates attribute the cause to their ability (internal attribution), an assertive influence has indirect positive effect on felt obligation, organizational commitment, job performance and organizational citizenship behavior; when subordinates attribute the cause to the poor relationship with their superiors (relational attribution), an assertive influence has indirect negative impact on most outcomes except for job performance; when subordinates perceive that the cause is to the superiors, such as authoritarian leadership (external attribution), an assertive influence has indirect positive effect on job performance.
Practical implications
The study highlights the importance of subordinates’ perceptions during the leadership influence processes.
Originality/value
This study was the first to examine the mediation relationship between three types of influence strategies and five organizational outcomes based on a large sample of front-line staff in China. The findings of the study also enrich the literature of leadership and attribution theories.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Editor, Professor Cherrie Zhu, and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on drafts.
The work described in this article was fully supported by a grant from the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, City University of Hong Kong (Project Number 9610266) to the first author.
Citation
Chong, M.P.M., Zhu, X., Fu, P. and Wong, L.Y.S. (2019), "Influence strategies and work outcomes: effects of attributions", Chinese Management Studies, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 967-984. https://doi.org/10.1108/CMS-09-2018-0673
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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