Purpose Existing research has illustrated that underdog expectations – individuals’ perceptions that others view them as unlikely to succeed – can lead to unethical behaviors. Yet, the field is limited in understanding the affective mechanisms that link underdog expectations to unethical behaviors and the specific types of unethical behaviors that are triggered by underdog expectations. Drawing upon the appraisal theory of emotion, this study explores the “hot” emotional mechanism between underdog expectations and employee expediency. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from a two-wave time-lagged field study with a sample of 435 employees from eight companies. The hypotheses were supported through regression analysis and simple slope analysis. Findings Underdog expectations are positively related to workplace anxiety, which in turn leads to employee expediency. Additionally, the desire to gain face consciousness exerts a positive moderating effect on the positive correlation between underdog expectations and workplace anxiety, while the fear of losing face does not exhibit significant moderation. Practical implications This study provides theoretical enlightenment for organizational practitioners in managing underdog employees, recommending that enterprises treat underdog employees equitably and maintain positive expectations for them to prevent unethical behaviors that could harm organizational development. Originality/value This research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of how and when underdog expectations can influence employee expediency through an emotional appraisal mechanism.

Based on social cognitive theory, our study proposes a conceptual model where psychological capital is regarded as a precursor variable influencing the entrepreneurial intentions of Chinese females, and it is shaped by their participatory behaviours within virtual communities. A total of 351 young Chinese females completed the research questionnaire, and regression analysis was utilized to test the proposed hypotheses. The results indicate that both active and passive participation can enhance the psychological capital of Chinese females and subsequently increase their entrepreneurial intentions. Additionally, closer valuation and social valuation positively moderate the effect of psychological capital on Chinese females' entrepreneurial intentions.

Maintaining and improving the work ability and motivation of older workers is considered successful aging at work. Unfortunately, existing research on the antecedents of successful aging at work, especially in terms of interpersonal interactions, remains insufficient. Drawing on conservation of resource theory, we constructed a moderated mediation model in which workplace interpersonal capitalization affects successful aging at work via harmonious passion, with coworker responsiveness as a second-stage moderator. To test our model, we conducted a three-wave survey to collect data from 365 employees, aged 45 to 55, in China. The results displayed that workplace interpersonal capitalization was positively related to successful aging at work and harmonious passion mediated this relationship. We also found that coworker responsiveness reinforced the positive relationship between harmonious passion and successful aging at work. Our study enriches the investigation into the antecedents of successful aging at work through the lens of interpersonal interactions. In the era of extended working lifespans and delayed retirement ages, our research offers organizational managers and practitioners new perspectives on successful aging at work from the viewpoint of interpersonal interactions.

While the majority of research on leader mindfulness demonstrates its benefits for organizations, we deviate from this consensus by identifying a potential dark side of leader mindfulness. Drawing on social cognitive theory, we propose that leader mindfulness may inadvertently foster moral disengagement among subordinates, subsequently leading to their unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB). Specifically, we argue that subordinate bottom-line mentality (BLM) serves as a reversal factor, such that leader mindfulness increases (vs. decreases) subordinate moral disengagement when subordinate BLM is higher (vs. lower). Furthermore, we theorize that the indirect effect of leader mindfulness on UPB through moral disengagement is positive for subordinates with higher BLM and negative for those with lower BLM. Findings from a time-lagged field study involving 262 leader-subordinate dyads provide support for our moderation and moderated mediation hypotheses. We thus shed light on the potential perils of leader mindfulness by combining the “good intentions” of leaders with the “bad traits” of subordinates to explain the ethical decision-making process underlying UPB.

This study addresses how voluntary sector employment can enhance an individual's general entrepreneurial alertness and intentions. Specifically, it examines the mediating role of entrepreneurial alertness and the moderating role of the societal values of benevolence and egalitarianism, across several countries. We tested the model using a larger dataset of 457,407 country-year matched samples based on Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to alleviate endogeneity and selection bias from 38 countries/regions spanning 2015-2019. Results reveal that individuals with voluntary sector experience are more alert to recognizing entrepreneurial opportunities, and this relationship is amplified in societies with strong benevolence and egalitarian values. Consequently, this research advances the theoretical understanding of opportunity and provides actionable implications for individuals navigating the intersection of voluntary work and entrepreneurship.

As an advanced information technology, social media has increasingly become a significant and prevalent source of information for both firms and people, and has reshaped entrepreneurial activities. Our article draws on the information processing perspective to build a model to explore the relationship between social media use and entrepreneurial entry and whether the relationship differs for disadvantaged populations in terms of gender, ethnicity, geographic divide (rural versus urban), and regional marketization. Using a nationally representative survey of 22 614 adults in the China Family Panel Studies, we test our model quantitatively with regression analysis. The results reveal that social media use can have a positive effect on individuals' entrepreneurial entry and that the relationship between social media use and entrepreneurial entry is stronger for disadvantaged populations in terms of gender, rural versus urban divide, and regional marketization. Our identification of females, rural populations, and people in low marketization regions is among the first to distinguish the effect of social media on entrepreneurship for distinct populations. By highlighting the role of social media use in shaping entrepreneurial entry among disadvantaged populations, this study opens the black box of social media vis-a-vis entrepreneurial entry, and highlights that the role of social media use on entrepreneurial entry is stronger for disadvantaged populations, who have greater barriers to accessing entrepreneurship-related information in their offline environment.

PurposeThis paper aims to explore how psychological perceptions and family situations drive women into necessity- or opportunity-based female entrepreneurship (NBFE or OBFE) and the moderating role of gender equality.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts multilevel logistic regression analysis to examine relationships based on a sample of 6,843 women across eight developing countries drawn from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM).FindingsThe findings suggest that capability and opportunity perceptions positively affect NBFE and OBFE. Family responsibility burden positively affects NBFE and has a U-shaped relationship with OBFE. Household income negatively affects NBFE but positively affects OBFE. Gender equality weakens the U-shaped relationship between family responsibility burden and OBFE but strengthens the positive relationship between capability perception and NBFE and between opportunity perception and NBFE.Research limitations/implicationsThe study highlights the need for targeted policies and support that consider the distinct antecedents and mechanisms of NBFE and OBFE, as well as the importance of promoting gender equality and entrepreneurial education to empower women in their entrepreneurial endeavors. A limitation of this study is the reliance on older data from the GEM, which may not fully capture the current dynamics of developing societies. While the study provides valuable insights, future research should incorporate more recent data to enhance the applicability of the results.Originality/valueThis study deepens the understanding of antecedents of NBFE and OBFE, breaking through the existing literature that neglects the heterogeneity of female entrepreneurship (FE).

The study of female entrepreneurship (FE) unfolds as an intricate puzzle woven by a myriad of contextual factors that shape necessity (NBFE) and opportunity-based (OBFE) female entrepreneurship. Motivated by the urgency to decipher this complexity, this research delves into the nuanced dimensions of FE across countries. Utilizing a mixed embeddedness perspective, we aim to gain a comprehensive understanding of the family, market, and institutional contexts that exert influence on FE. Leveraging data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor the Gender, Institutions, and Development Database, and the World Development Indicators Database, we employ fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis to examine the configurational impact of multiple embeddedness on NBFE and OBFE across 50 countries. The results spotlight divergent configurations for enabling and constraining NBFE and OBFE, contributing to the FE literature by emphasizing the need to move beyond a one-size-fits-all approach in policy formulation. Our findings advocate for adopting targeted measures tailored to the unique challenges and opportunities faced by different groups of female entrepreneurs.

While innovation literature has extensively explored geographic proximity, limited attention has been devoted to geographic proximity with competitor. In this study, we build a framework to elucidate how geographic proximity with competitor impacts small firm innovation, based on the theoretical perspectives of the liability of smallness and knowledge spillovers. We propose that geographic proximity with competitor has a U-shaped relationship on R&D intensity and a moderating effect on R&D intensity-small firm innovation relationship. Moreover, we propose that industrial park entry moderates the effect of geographic proximity with competitor on R&D intensity. Based on a sample of 673 firms from the China Micro and Small Enterprise Survey (CMES), our results underscore the relevance of geographic proximity with competitors for small firm innovation. Our study advances existing literature by contextualising geographic proximity within a competitive framework and investigating the role of geographic proximity with competitor across the two stages of small firm innovation.

This paper explores how psychological perceptions (capability perception and opportunity perception) and family situations (family responsibility burden and household income) drive women into necessity- or opportunity-based female entrepreneurship (NBFE or OBFE) and the moderating role of gender equality. Based on a sample of 6,843 women across eight developing countries, this study adopts multilevel logistic regression analysis to examine relationships. The findings suggest that capability perception and opportunity perception positively affect NBFE and OBFE. Family responsibility burden positively affects NBFE and has a U-shaped relationship with OBFE. Household income negatively affects NBFE but positively affects OBFE. Gender equality weakens the U-shaped relationship between family responsibility burden and OBFE but strengthens the positive relationship between capability perception and NBFE and between opportunity perception and NBFE. This study deepens the understanding of antecedents of NBFE and OBFE, breaking through the existing literature that neglects the heterogeneity of different types of female entrepreneurship. The findings can guide women’s entrepreneurial decision-making and enlighten policymaking to promote female entrepreneurship.

Prior studies overwhelmingly focused on the positive effects of leader humility, which may neglect the implicit behavioral motivation of leader’s humble expression. Moving beyond the general positive effect, this research recognized two distinct motivations that actually exist behind the expressed humility: the authentic expression of internal trait or self-expression strategy of self-interesting, which may have different effectiveness. Drawing from the distinguish of authentic or hypocritical of leader humility,this study develops positive effect model of authentic leader humility, negative effect model of strategic leader humility, and conversion effect model of strategic leader humility. Specifically, from the “follower reaction” perspective, this study first develops a developing strategy model for employees under authentic humble leader, and survival strategy model and ingratiate strategy model for employees under strategical humble leader. From “leader conversion” perspective, this study further reveals the formation mechanism of strategic leader humility at the individual level, and verifies the intervention mechanism of strategic leader humility at the organizational level. This research contributes to expand the understanding of leader humility theory, as well as provide potential directions for managers to fully stimulate authentic effectiveness of leader humility in the era of post-pandemic.

Networked (neoendogenous) development is a prescriptive of rural development that merges the positive aspects of exogenous and endogenous approaches by integrating bottom-up demands and top-down planning, internal and external resources and networks, and vertical political-administrative and interterritorial contexts. The current paper opted for a multicase analysis approach and used a tailored networked rural development institutional analysis and development (NRD-IAD) framework to analyse four organizational aspect changes, namely, institutional characteristics, configuration and structure, actions and activities, and outcomes and evaluation, among four case studies; two studies came from the EU LEADER (links between actions for the development of the rural economy), and the other two came from China’s resident work team in poor villages (RWTIPV). The research questions are as follows: What is the difference and common principle between these two approaches, and to what extent can they engage in exchange and be mutually learned from? Primary data were collected through involvement, observation, and open-ended interviews with actors in rural regions of China. Secondary data consisted of the resident cadre’s job log, resident work team ledger, minutes of the meeting, village’s work reports, government regulations, guidelines for poverty-alleviation planning in China’s RWTIPV cases, and published journals and internet sources in EU LEADER cases. In terms of difference, we identified the LEADER system mainly as a regulation-based network with relationships as supplementary information, while the RWTIPV system was mainly found to be a relationship-based network with regulations as supplementary information. Although the two systems seem different, the underlying logic is the same, that is, to engage with a collective reflexivity and action agency (CRAA), embedded in the locality and representing much of the local resource base, and to obtain a sufficient level of relational capacity to create the necessary conditions for integrated rural development. These common principles enable exchange and mutual learning to occur between the LEADER and RWTIPV systems through the unified idea (theory) of CRAA. The current findings contribute to the emergence of a new rural development paradigm mechanism and the role of institutional work.

We developed and tested a theoretical model to examine how and when inclusive leadership affected collective voice behavior in this study. We identified two voice-relevant mediators—group psychological safety (an emergent state) and information elaboration (a group process) to clarify the mechanisms between inclusive leadership and collective voice behavior. Further, according to the person–situation interaction approach, we brought the faultlines theory to the inclusive leadership literature and considered group faultlines as a positive moderator to maximize the effects of inclusive leadership. With a two-wave, two-source design, we collected data from 301 employees within 67 research and development groups in China. We found that inclusive leadership positively affected collective voice behavior through the mediating mechanisms of both group psychological safety and information elaboration. Additionally, this effect was stronger in high faultlines situation. The findings suggest that leaders should show inclusiveness to motivate collective voice, especially in groups with high faultlines.

Integrating the family embeddedness perspective with research on commensality and family meals, we develop a framework that explains why some families are more likely to fuel entrepreneurship than others. Inspired by the diversity literature and the role of the Chinese Confucian culture in shaping family dynamics, we explore how two demographic (i.e., age and gender) and two knowledge-based (i.e., education and industry) sources of diversity within family households predict a family member starting a business. We further theorize that these relationships are contingent on the frequency of family meals, as family meals serve as a conduit for how family diversity affects entrepreneurship by providing the setting where socialization and interaction take place. Using data from a representative sample of 8,162 individuals via the China Family Panel Studies in the 2014 to 2018 period, our findings demonstrate that although greater age and gender diversity hamper entrepreneurship, family meals “feed the fire” of entrepreneurship for families with greater industry and education diversity.