Inclusive Leadership Promotes Challenge-Oriented Organizational Citizenship Behavior Through the Mediation of Work Engagement and Moderation of Organizational Innovative Atmosphere

Lu Chen; Fan Luo; Xiaomei Zhu; Xinjian Huang; Yanhong Liu

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.560594

Inclusive Leadership Promotes Challenge-Oriented Organizational Citizenship Behavior Through the Mediation of Work Engagement and Moderation of Organizational Innovative Atmosphere

Front Psychol. 2020 Nov 27:11:560594. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.560594. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Lu Chen^{1

2}, Fan Luo³, Xiaomei Zhu⁴, Xinjian Huang⁵, Yanhong Liu¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Management, Nanchang University, Nanchang, China.
² School of Economics and Management, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang, China.
³ Department of Contemporary Chinese Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
⁴ School of Management, Beijing Union University, Beijing, China.
⁵ School of Economics and Management, Nanchang University, Nanchang, China.

Abstract

Challenge-oriented organizational citizenship behavior or the organization-improving tasks employees perform beyond their job description is important for high organizational performance, but the organizational factors influencing it are poorly understood. In this study, we explored how inclusive leadership influences employees' challenge-oriented organizational citizenship behavior in the Chinese context, drawing on data from 558 employees in high-tech industries. Multivariate correlation analysis showed that inclusive leadership promotes employees' challenge-oriented organizational citizenship behavior and that this influence is partly mediated by work engagement. Further, it showed that organizational innovative atmosphere has a moderating effect on the relationship between inclusive leadership and employees' challenge-oriented organizational citizenship behavior. In effect, this study expands the range of predictive variables for challenge-oriented organizational citizenship behavior and provides not only theoretical insight but also practical guidance for leaders who seek to motivate this behavior in their employees.

Keywords: challenge-oriented organizational citizenship behavior; high-tech industries; inclusive leadership; organizational innovative atmosphere; work engagement.