Using social exchange theory and social learning theory, we examined the influence of ethical leadership on employee creativity through the mediation of knowledge sharing and self-efficacy. We tested our hypotheses with a sample of 309 employees and their supervisors from 4 Chinese companies, using a multiple mediation model. The results showed that ethical leadership was positively related to employee creativity and that this relationship was mediated by knowledge sharing and self-efficacy.

Although researchers emphasize that the construct of authentic leadership (AL) is relevant to resolving different kinds of failures and inadequacies of leadership, it remains unknown whether or not, and how, authentic leadership style intrinsically evokes employees' innovation. Using multilevel data from 76 teams sourced from 5 enterprises in China, we applied hierarchical linear modeling and found a positive relationship between AL and employees' innovation. Employees' positive emotions were found to have a mediating effect in this relationship, whereas employees' negative emotions did not act as a mediator. Our study results extend AL theory by revealing the cross-level effects of authentic leadership, and provide practical implications to help leaders perform relevant interventions in promoting employee innovation.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare and understand how age, gender and culture affect individual career and work-related attitudes in Chinese and American samples. Design/methodology/approach – Online and printed questionnaires were administered to employees and managers in China, whereas in the USA, faculty, staff and students at a Midwestern university responded to an online survey. Snowball sampling technique was used to collect data. Independent sample t-tests were conducted to test the hypothesis. Findings – The study showed different work values and attitudes in the workplace between Chinese and the US samples, and indicated the specifics influences that national culture has on them. Culture affects generational changes; generational differences in the US sample are bigger than in Chinese sample; work values differ across generations and cultures; traditional gender role differences persist more strongly across generations in Chinese sample than in the US sample. Research limitations/implications – Generalizability issues; cross-sectional data. Practical implications – US-based multi-national corporations need to understand these differences and better manage their diverse employees operating in China. Originality/value – This study compared generation, culture and gender differences simultaneously; parallel groups at similar life stages were used by basing the boundaries of each generation on the distinct cultural events of each nation. This approach is more consistent with generation definitions than by using influential specific events of each country, respectively. Useful to managers, it will provide guidance for understanding work values and attitudes across gender and generations in the USA and China. Most benefit will occur for US based multinational companies that have Chinese operations, and manage employees with cultural, gender and generational differences.

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