Research On The Influence Mechanism Of Subordinates’ Moqi On Voice Behavior

In China’s highly situational background,communication between supervisors and subordinates is relatively vague,so subordinates are more inclined to conjecture the thoughts of their supervisors according to clues and hints in the situation.Zheng et al.called such a kind of tacit understanding of supervisor’s work-related expectations and intentions as subordinates’ moqi,which reflects the state between supervisor and subordinate in which the supervisor implies something and the subordinate senses and understands it tacitly.As a variable that has just been introduced into the field of OB,research on the consequences of subordinates’ moqi is still scarce.Zheng et al.used Goal achievement theories as the theoretical basis to explore the role of moqi in employee roles such as job performance and work efficiency,and found that it effectively promoted the supervisors to give subordinates who have moqi with them more reward suggestions.However,we believe that subordinates’ moqi as an interaction that can improve employee performance and gain favor from supervisors has far more effect than subordinate role behavior.Drawing on self-categorization theory(SCT),we choose to concentrate on the moderating role of SOE between subordinates’ moqi and perceived insider status.In addition,this research will further examine the mediating role of the perceived insider status which refers to the extent to which an individual can perceive himself/herself as an “in-group member” within a particular organization.Data were collected from 171 supervisor-subordinate dyads.We invited part-time MBA students in our research during their classes.A student or assistant in each class who volunteered to help us distribute the questionnaire.The whole research is divided into three parts: Time1-we collected questionnaires in the class,measuring demographic information,subordinates’ moqi,SOE.Time2-we collected perceived insider status and psychological safety.Time3-we measured subordinates’ voice behavior.Hierarchical linear modeling and structural equation modeling technique were employed to test theoretical hypotheses.Our research has developed a theoretical model explicating when and why subordinates’ moqi promotes subordinate voice behavior.The results revealed that SOE moderates the relationship between subordinates’ moqi and the perceived insider status,when a subordinate’s SOE is high,the relationship gets stronger.Moreover,subordinates’ moqi positively influences subordinate voice behavior,while the perceived insider status functions as a mediator of this influence.In the end,some theoretical are suggested.The first and most important contribution is,we were adopted SCT as a theoretical basis,having established and tested a conceptual model which was focusing on the potential impact of subordinates’ moqi on a kind of challenging,extra-role behavior,namely voice.Second,our study is trying to identify the boundary conditions that govern the relationship between subordinates’ moqi and subordinate perceived insider status.Third,we have established an important theoretical framework capable of explaining why subordinates who have moqi with their supervisor are more likely to voice,via perceived insider status,thus opening the “black box” between subordinates’ moqi and voice behavior.As for practical application,our findings suggested that for managers who want to encourage subordinate voice behavior,cultivating moqi between subordinates and their supervisors could be an effective strategy.One the other hand,the moderating role of SOE has indicated that,in developing perceived insider status and motivating subordinates to display voice behavior,just relying on supervisors and subordinates to have tacit understanding is not enough,one also needs to improve supervisor’s representative of their organization.