PurposeThis study explores how paternalistic leadership (PL) influences Chinese expatriates' work engagement in a cross-cultural context, and examines how expatriates' cross-cultural adaptability sets a boundary condition for this relationship.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from two-wave surveys of 82 supervisors and 318 Chinese expatriate teachers from 57 Confucius Institutes in 18 countries. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized relationships.FindingsBenevolent and moral leadership as job resources are negatively related to work–family conflict (WFC), whereas the job demand of authoritarian leadership positively relates to WFC. Further, WFC mediates the effect of PL styles on Chinese expatriates' work engagement. Cross-cultural adaptability moderates the negative relationship between WFC and work engagement, and the indirect effect of PL styles on work engagement through WFC.Practical implicationsOrganizations should consider WFC an important intervening mechanism linking PL and Chinese expatriates' work engagement. Cross-cultural organizations can mitigate the negative impact of WFC on work engagement by enhancing expatriates' cross-cultural adaptability.Originality/valueThis study is the first to examine the PL–work engagement relationship via a work–family interface, which contributes to integrating leadership and work–family outcomes. It enriches research on the JD-R model by showing that job resources and job demands affect employee outcomes through the mediation of stressors. Furthermore, this study identifies a new personal resource by examining cross-cultural adaptability's moderating role.

These are questions that are worthy of further exploration, and as Batchelor repeatedly underlines, the research questions in a study will largely define the selection and place of paratexts in it.

BACKGROUND The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) has driven many companies to actively adopt AI-oriented changes; leaders’ AI-oriented change behaviors (i.e., leaders’ proactive behaviors aim to promote organizational innovation and improve employee work efficiency by modifying inappropriate technologies, ways of working, and production methods using AI-related technologies) have therefore become increasingly prevalent in contemporary organizations. However, knowledge on the effects of such behavior remains limited. Additionally, literature on change-oriented behavior (e.g., taking charge, change-oriented citizenship) has uniformly demonstrated that it is beneficial for employees, teams, and organizations. The potential dark side of leaders’ change-oriented behavior has largely been ignored. OBJECTIVE This study aims to reveal the double-edged sword effect of leaders’ AI-oriented change behavior by examining how and when such behavior may lead to increased employee job performance and unethical behavior. METHODS We proposed a moderated mediation model based on social information processing theory and variables from human-machine interaction-related studies. Data were collected from 81 supervisor and 271 employee dyads at three time points with one-week intervals. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was employed to test our hypotheses. RESULTS Leaders’ AI-oriented change behavior is positively associated with employee performance orientation (β=.38, P< .001), in turn increasing both employee job performance (β=.13, P=.007) and unethical behaviors (β=.06, P= .002). Furthermore, employee trait competitiveness strengthens the effect of leaders’ AI-oriented change behavior on employee job performance (β=.05, 95% CI = .02, .09) and unethical behavior (β=.02, 95% CI = .01, .04) via employee performance orientation. CONCLUSIONS Our research has shown that leaders’ AI-oriented change behavior has mixed effects on employee outcomes. While it can promote employee job performance, it can also lead to increased unethical behavior, mediated by performance orientation. Additionally, for employees with high trait competitiveness, the positive impact of leaders’ AI-oriented change behavior on both job performance and unethical behavior via performance orientation is more pronounced. In conclusion, our findings underscore the potential risks and benefits of AI-oriented change behavior by leaders and highlight the importance of considering employee trait competitiveness in this unique leadership process.

PurposeThis study aims to explore whether, how and when leaders' artificial intelligence (AI) symbolization (i.e. the demonstration of leaders' acceptance of and support for AI by engaging in AI-related behaviors and/or displaying objects that reflect their affinity for AI) affects employee job crafting behaviors.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted two studies (i.e. an experiment and a multi-wave field survey) with samples from different contexts (i.e. United States and China) to test our theoretical model. The authors used ordinary least squares (OLS) and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to test the hypotheses.FindingsLeaders' AI symbolization is positively related to employee change readiness and, in turn, promotes employee job crafting. Moreover, employee-attributed impression management motives moderate the positive indirect effect of leaders' AI symbolization on employee job crafting via change readiness, such that this indirect effect is stronger when employee-attributed impression management motives are low (vs high).Practical implicationsLeaders should engage in AI symbolization to promote employee job crafting and avoid behaviors that may lead employees to attribute their AI symbolization to impression management.Originality/valueBy introducing the concept of leaders' AI symbolization, this study breaks new ground by illustrating how leaders' AI symbolization positively influences employees' change readiness, as well as job crafting in the workplace. Further, integrating AI as a novel and timely context for evaluating job crafting contributes to the literature where empirical research is relatively scant, particularly regarding the factors that prompt employees to engage in job crafting.

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