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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of organizational rewards on two forms of knowledge sharing – explicit knowledge sharing and tacit knowledge sharing in virtual communities, and further to explore the mediating effect of intrinsic motivation on the effect of virtual community rewards on implicit knowledge sharing. Design/methodology/approach Based on relevant knowledge sharing theories, this study develops an integrated framework to explore virtual community rewards and tacit and explicit knowledge sharing in a virtual context. This study then collected data from 429 virtual community users in four virtual communities via an online survey. Hierarchical regression analyzes were used to test the proposed research model. Findings The results of this study show that virtual rewards have a significantly positive linear relationship with explicit knowledge sharing but have an inverse U-shape relationship with tacit knowledge sharing in virtual communities. In addition, intrinsic motivations including enjoyment and self-efficacy mediate the relationship between rewards and tacit knowledge sharing. Practical implications This study suggests more virtual community rewards may not always lead to more tacit knowledge sharing. Instead, too many rewards may weaken the motivation for tacit knowledge sharing. Knowledge management practitioners should make full use of the positive impact of self-efficacy and enjoyment to set up appropriate reward incentives to encourage knowledge-sharing, in particular, tacit knowledge sharing and to better manage virtual communities. Originality/value This study explores knowledge-sharing behavior in virtual communities, an important step toward more integrated knowledge-sharing theories. While online communities have become increasingly important for today’s knowledge economy, few studies have explored knowledge and knowledge sharing in a virtual context and this study helps to bridge the gap. In addition, this study develops an integrated framework to explore the mechanism through which virtual community rewards affect knowledge sharing with intrinsic motivation mediating this relationship in online communities, which further enriches the understanding on how to use virtual rewards to motivate knowledge sharing behaviors in the virtual context.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate how a team leader’s conflict management style (CMS) affects team innovation performance (TIP) in entrepreneurial teams using a team emotion perspective. Design/methodology/approach It is proposed in this study that team passion mediates the impact of team leader’s CMSs on team performance, which is further moderated by team emotional intelligence (TEI). Then this study collected paired data from 105 teams including 105 team leaders and 411 team members to test the proposed model. Findings The results show that a team leader’s cooperative CMS has a significant positive impact on TIP and team passion further mediates the relationship between the team leader’s CMSs and TIP. The results also show that TEI moderates the relationship between the leader’s CMSs and team passion. Originality/value This study helps enriches the literature of conflict management by exploring the mechanisms through which a team leader’s CMSs affect team performance in entrepreneurial activities, and the findings of this study highlight the important role of team passion in this process. In addition, this study integrates the research on conflict management and the research on team passion in entrepreneurial teams to provide a new perspective to explore the dynamic process of entrepreneurial activities, which sheds light on the investigation of the important implications of effective conflict management in the entrepreneurship.

PurposeThis field study aims to investigate the interactive relationships of millennial employee’s gender, supervisor’s gender and country culture on the conflict-management strategies (CMS) in ten countries (USA, China, Turkey, Germany, Bangladesh, Portugal, Pakistan, Italy, Thailand and Hong Kong).Design/methodology/approachThis exploratory study extends past research by examining the interactive effects of gender × supervisor’s gender × country on the CMS within a single generation of workers, millennials. The Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory–II, Form A was used to assess the use of the five CMS (integrating, obliging, dominating, avoiding and compromising). Data analysis found CMS used in the workplace are associated with the interaction of worker and supervisor genders and the national context of their work.FindingsData analysis (N= 2,801) was performed using the multivariate analysis of covariance with work experience as a covariate. The analysis provided support for the three-way interaction. This interaction suggests how one uses the CMS depends on self-gender, supervisor’s gender and the country where the parties live. Also, the covariate – work experience – was significantly associated with CMS.Research limitations/implicationsOne of the limitations of this study is that the authors collected data from a collegiate sample of employed management students in ten countries. There are significant implications for leading global teams and training programs for mid-level millennials.Practical implicationsThere are various conflict situations where one conflict strategy may be more appropriate than others. Organizations may have to change their policies for recruiting employees who are more effective in conflict management.Social implicationsConflict management is not only important for managers but it is also important for all human beings. Individuals handle conflict every day and it would be really good if they could handle it effectively and improve their gains.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has tested a three-way interaction of variables on CMS. This study has a wealth of information on CMS for global managers.

Purpose This paper aims—based on past research works which have shown that transformational leadership has positive impact on knowledge sharing—to explore the impact of different leadership dimensions of transformational leadership on knowledge sharing and further to explore the mechanism through which transformational leadership affects employee knowledge sharing in China. Design/methodology/approach Based on the transformational leadership theory and the team learning theory, it is proposed that all four dimensions of transformational leadership, including intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, inspirational motivation and idealized influence, have unique impact on employee knowledge sharing. It is further proposed that psychology safety and team efficacy mediate these relationships. Then data were collected from over 400 employees from knowledge-based companies in China to empirically test the proposed relationships with the method of structural equation modeling. Findings The results show that psychological safety fully mediated the impact of intellectual stimulation on knowledge sharing, and team efficacy fully mediated the impact of inspirational motivation on knowledge sharing. Both factors also mediated the impact of individualized consideration on knowledge sharing. The results thus provide empirical support for the impact of transformational leadership on employee knowledge sharing in an international context. Originality/value The past years have seen increasing interest in leadership and knowledge sharing in emerging markets, yet the mechanism through which leadership affects employee knowledge sharing remains understudied. This study explores the impact of different dimensions of transformational leadership on employee knowledge sharing, and further shows that psychological safety and team efficacy mediate these relationships in a collectivistic society where knowledge sharing is consistent with cultural norms. The findings help develop more robust knowledge sharing theories in the international context and provide insightful suggestions for management practitioners in emerging markets.

This study examines what factors contribute to firm innovation performance as a result of successful launch of new products in China. Rather than simply applying theories of product innovation ofte...

PurposeOverseas work experiences have played a critical role in venture creation and success, yet the impact of overseas work experience on returnee entrepreneurs’ venture capital funding in the Chinese market remains understudied. This paper aims to explore the impact of returnee entrepreneurs’ overseas experiences on their opportunities of venture capital funding in China to help better understand the potential benefits that overseas work experiences bring to emerging markets.Design/methodology/approachThe authors have conducted a two-year inductive field study to explore the impact of overseas experiences on Chinese returnee entrepreneurs’ funding in the Chinese market with in-depth interviews with returnee capital seekers (or the venture founders) and capital providers.FindingsThe results show that returnee entrepreneurs are more likely to succeed in acquiring financial resources for their new ventures if they skillfully present their overseas work experiences and international networks to manage the impression constructed by capital providers.Originality/valueThis research sheds light on how returnee entrepreneurs use impression management in external resource acquisition. It is clear that overseas experience has been regarded a symbol of personal capability closely associated with advanced knowledge and valuable human and social capital in the Chinese context. Resource holders appreciate such an association. The authors suggest that returnee entrepreneurs concerned about how to effectively acquire external resources should reflect upon the ways of presenting themselves to potential investors and fostering a positive image that encourages investors to commit to their ventures.

Purpose This study aims to explore the impact of well-educated young Chinese employees’ notions of work on their conflict management styles in the increasingly turbulent workplace to help better manage work-related conflict in the time of transition in China. Design/methodology/approach Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from over 400 young Chinese employees. The data were first factor analyzed to explore the underlying dimensions of contemporary work notions in China’s transition period. Hierarchical regression analysis was then conducted to explore the relationship between dimensions of work notions and conflict management styles. Findings The results showed that well-educated young Chinese employees’ notions of work consisted of sense of control, fulfilling and rewarding, holistic concerns, personal growth and development and meaningfulness. The results further indicated that young Chinese employees with strong needs to satisfy individual interests in their work tend to use competitive methods to manage work-related conflicts, employees with strong needs to satisfy group interests in their work prefer to use collaborative methods and those who believe in collective efforts in achieving individual goals through group goals’ obtainment are more likely to use collaborative and compromising approaches. Originality/value This study provides a new perspective to manage work-related conflict in the Chinese context. The findings of this study are able to help enrich conflict management theories in China and suggest insightful conflict resolution approaches to work-related conflicts in China’s changing environment. This study also helps bridge the research gap between work notions and conflict management styles. The results of this study can greatly facilitate Chinese companies’ endeavors toward crafting a more innovative workforce and help improve employee performance in China’s transition to industrialization.

Purpose The study aims to map the intellectual structure of business ethics studies by analyzing 17,246 citations of 225 papers published in Business Ethics Quarterly (BEQ) in the year between 2005 and 2014. Specifically, the purpose of the study is to describe the current state of BEQ, identify the most influential journals and works, identify the key themes of business ethics studies during 2005-2014 and, at the same time, report the changes in themes by making a comparison between two time periods – 2005-2009 and 2010-2014. Design/methodology/approach First, the study presents the information of the authors, institutions and countries that contribute to BEQ with a statistical analysis. Second, the study identifies the most cited journals and works in BEQ during 2005-2014 with a citation analysis. Third, the study identifies the key research themes in business ethics studies with a co-citation analysis. With the help of factor and social network analysis (NA), the study groups the research themes and maps their links. Findings First, the statistical results show that many well-known researchers from famous US institutions publishing in BEQ. Second, the citation analysis results show that quite a few journals become mature gradually in business ethics domain. Besides, most of the influential works are normative and theoretical. Third, the co-citation results indicate that “stakeholder management” and “corporate social responsibility” (CSR) are two main themes in business ethics studies in the past decade. Specifically, “stakeholder management” attracts the most research interests in both two sub-time periods. In addition, compared with the pure studies on CSR during 2005-2009, increasing researchers are keen on the theme of “political CSR under globalization” in the second five years. Meanwhile, other focus like “society, state and business ethics” earns a certain degree of attention in the time window 2005-2009. And “accountability in MNCs” and “political philosophy” are the new concerns in the year between 2010 and 2014. Originality/value The study confirms BEQ’s leadership role in business ethics domain. And, it further proves that business ethics has evolved as an independent discipline. It also helps the researchers to have a concise knowledge of the main contents and key points of business ethics research. Methodologically, co-citation analysis combined with factor and NA provides clear results and visualized figures which can be understood easily by the researchers and practitioners.

Purpose – This paper aims to explore cross-cultural differences in perceived ethicality of negotiation strategies among China, Taiwan and Canada by examining five categories of strategies often used in business negotiations. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses a survey method to investigate a group of over 600 business students’ opinions on the ethicality of a variety of negotiation strategies often used during the bargaining process. Findings – The results show that the Chinese both from the mainland and from Taiwan consider it more appropriate to use ethically questionable negotiation strategies than Canadians. In addition, significant gender differences are found for Canadians, in that male Canadians are more likely to consider it appropriate to use ethically questionable strategies in all five categories than females, while no gender differences are found for mainland Chinese in all but one category, with a moderate level of gender differences found for the Taiwanese. Practical implications – The findings of this paper help explain why there are different understandings toward what is ethical and what is not in negotiations, which can be used to better equip practitioners to accurately label and understand negotiation strategies they may otherwise deem unethical. A better understanding of cross-cultural differences in business ethics can also help practitioners avoid the feelings of anger and mistrust toward their opponents and thus avoid using tactics that might incite more anger and hatred from the other party. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the cross-cultural literature on ethical attitudes and behaviors and helps us better understand cross-cultural differences in business ethics in a negotiation context. This paper narrows this gap by empirically validating some of the Western findings in China and Taiwan. The results also provide support for a set of commonly accepted strategies to be used in business negotiation.

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to identify key factors that facilitate knowledge sharing in collectivistic cultures and further help better understand knowledge management in the international context.Design/methodology/approach– Using a survey method, this study collected data from over 200 managerial employees in knowledge management-based project teams from China. Regression analysis was then conducted to analyze the impact of individual differences and environmental factors on the willingness to share knowledge among team members to identify key factors for successful knowledge retention in the constantly changing organizational environment in a collectivistic context.Findings– The results show that incentives are very important in individual’s decision to share knowledge in project teams even in a collectivistic culture like China and both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated individuals tend to share more knowledge with their team members. Individuals with high altruism are also found more likely to share knowledge with others. Moreover, a trusting environment and explicit knowledge will facilitate knowledge sharing for better retention.Research limitations/implications– More studies should be conducted in other collectivistic cultures to explore cultural barriers in knowledge management in the international context and comparative studies using samples from different cultural backgrounds are also encouraged to help extend the theories on knowledge management.Originality/value– While it is well-known that knowledge sharing is essential for organization to maintain competitive advantage, relatively few studies have examined knowledge sharing in collectivistic cultures, and even fewer have done so in China. This study adds values to the literature by identifying key factors for knowledge sharing in China, and thus helps refine the knowledge management theories and provides insights for multinationals on knowledge management in the Chinese market.

China has become one of the most important economies in the global market, but negotiating with the Chinese remains a great challenge for most Westerners. This study is to help better understand Chinese business negotiation styles with an indigenous perspective by exploring the impact of Confucian ideal personality on business negotiation process in China. This study tests the effects of three key components of Confucian ideal personality—benevolence (Ren), wisdom (Zhi), and courage (Yong) on Chinese negotiation behaviors and further on negotiation outcomes with 200 business students in a simulated negotiation exercise. The results support the significant effects of benevolence and courage on Chinese business negotiation styles but wisdom is not found to have any significant impact in China. The overall pattern of the results substantiates the strong influence of Confucianism on Chinese negotiation styles, and provides an important supplement to negotiation theories developed in the West.

Globalization has led to increased attention to cultural diversity in workforces and its influences on organizational practice. This study examines group-oriented values and their impact on choice of conflict management styles as well as on conflict resolution outcomes in Turkey. Using a sample of 315 managerial personnel from various public and private organizations, this study shows that norms of subordination of personal needs to group interests and beliefs about the effects of personal pursuit on group productivity are the most important predictors of choice of conflict management styles in Turkey. In addition, dominating and obliging styles are associated with individual profits in actual conflict resolution process and integrating style is the primary determinant of satisfaction and relationship building in conflict management. Managerial implications are then discussed on diversity and conflict management training for effective international human resources management.

This article examines the literature of international ethnic entrepreneurship research and explores its historical development over the past four decades. With citation data from Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), including 627 journal articles and 25,731 cited references, we conducted a co-citation analysis to explore the intellectual structure of international ethnic entrepreneurship studies. The results show that international ethnic entrepreneurship studies focus on Chinese ethnic entrepreneurs, followed by Cubans, Koreans and blacks. The results also show that contemporary international ethnic entrepreneurship studies have shifted their foci from exploring ethnic-immigrant enclaves to studying immigrant business and self-employment as well as social embeddedness in ethnic business over the past four decades. This study thus identifies the knowledge essentials of ethnic entrepreneurship research and profiles the most influential journals, publications and scholars and their relationships in this field. The results of this study also provide a useful tool for researchers to access the literature of international ethnic entrepreneurship research.

It is always a challenge to deal with ethical dilemmas in negotiations and it is even more difficult when the other party is from a different culture. Understanding the differences between what is ethically appropriate and what is not in an international context has thus become important for a better understanding of different negotiation practices across the globe. This study explores the likelihood of Chinese negotiators’ using unethical strategies in negotiations by examining Chinese managerial employees’ perceived appropriateness of five categories of ethically questionable strategies. The results show that, in comparison with their counterparts from the USA, Chinese managers are more likely to consider it appropriate to use ethically questionable negotiation strategies in all five categories except the traditional bargaining strategies. In addition, contrary to the West where women tend to maintain higher ethical standards, no gender difference is found in China in the perceived appropriateness of using these strategies in all but one category. Implications for negotiation practitioners and international managers that often participate in international negotiations with the Chinese are then discussed, along with potential future research directions.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the process of internationalization and its associated risk of marginalization for the emerging Chinese multinationals; also to examine typical strategies emerging Chinese multinationals employ to deal with this challenge in order to provide insights for Chinese firms that are planning to enter the global market.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of Chinese multinationals that are listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, this study conducts a multiple‐case analysis on three different Chinese multinationals to explore their experiences in the process of internationalization and their unique approaches to the risk of marginalization.FindingsThe results show that internationalized Chinese firms are strengthening their control over core businesses, designing effective corporate governance policy and adjusting their capital structure to increase their actual control in order to minimize the risk of marginalization accompanying their internationalization process.Originality/valueWhile an increasing number of Chinese firms are on a fast track of internationalization to enter the global market, the risk of marginalization has become a prominent concern for emerging multinationals and many newly internationalized Chinese firms are faced with a crisis of identity, and consequently they may be marginalized, with the risk of losing control over their own companies and being excluded from major government projects or significant R&D funding opportunities in China. This paper explores Chinese firms' risk of marginalization in their internationalization process and their approaches to dealing with this risk. The paper's findings will provide important insights for Chinese firms that plan to go international and will make an important contribution to the literature and enrich our understanding of Chinese multinationals and their strategic expansion in the era of globalization.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of collectivism on conflict management styles in Turkey and to help conflict management researchers and practitioners better understand conflict and conflict management in an international context.Design/methodology/approachSelf‐administered questionnaires with the ROCI scale were used in this study. Data were collected by surveying 244 managerial employees from both public and private organizations. Factor analysis and regression analysis were then used to explore the relationships between conflict management styles and different aspects of collectivism. Differences in demographic factors were also discussed.FindingsThis study shows Turkish people are more likely to use collaborating style, instead of compromising or avoiding as expected from a collectivistic culture. Further, different aspects of collectivism have different effects on Turkish conflict management styles: the importance of competitive success leads to preferences for competing style; the value of working alone leads to less collaboration; the norms of subordination of personal needs to group interest are positively related to more collaborating and accommodating; and the beliefs of the effects of personal pursuit on group productivity are positively related to more compromising.Originality/valueWhile Turkey has become more important in world markets, very few studies have been conducted to explore Turkish conflict management styles. This paper examines the ranking of preferences in conflict management methods in Turkey, as well as the impact of collectivism on different conflict management styles, which extends the understanding of cross‐cultural differences in conflict management.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the research paradigms of contemporary knowledge management studies in the past decade using citation and co‐citation analysis.Design/methodology/approachResearch in any academic area often clusters into informal networks that focus on common questions in common ways, and the accumulated knowledge often flows between members of these networks, revealed in patterns of citations. The research paradigms of a given field can be identified by analyzing corresponding knowledge flows and citation and co‐citation process. The methods used in the study include citation analysis, co‐citation analysis, and social network analysis.FindingsThe paper draws an intellectual map of knowledge flows between knowledge management scholars. Key research themes and concepts as well as their relationships in the field of knowledge management are identified.Research limitations/implicationsAn in‐depth analysis of the relationships between knowledge management research and industrial practices should be conducted in future in order to examine the impact of academic research on knowledge management and the management of knowledge accumulated in the practice.Originality/valueThe paper profiles knowledge management studies in the past decade and presents a solid foundation for a better understanding of different research paradigms in the area of knowledge management. It helps identify the invisible network of knowledge management studies that traces the evolution of knowledge management research, which thus provides a new perspective on knowledge management research.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to map the intellectual structure of conflict management studies and to investigate the key themes, concepts, and their relationships of conflict management literature in the past decade.Design/methodology/approachCitation and co‐citation analysis and social network analysis were used to trace the development path of conflict management research. The data were collected by searching the SSCI databases, based on 556 journal articles which were published between 1997 and 2006, and their cited references were analyzed and profiled.FindingsThe paper shows that conflict management literature focuses on three key themes: workplace conflict and conflict management styles, cultural differences in conflict management, and conflict management in practice. In addition, research on group conflict and work performance has gained momentum in recent years.Originality/valueThe intellectual structure of conflict management literature has received little attention in spite that a large number of studies have been done on conflict management. This paper will expose researchers to a new way of profiling key themes and their relationships in conflict management area, which will help academia and practitioners understand better contemporary conflict management studies.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine whether conflict management styles are able to predict actual behaviors in business negotiation in two different countries.Design/methodology/approachSubjects were recruited from both Canada and China to participate in a laboratory study. Three simulated business negotiations were used for participants to negotiate deals in both countries in order to compare the validity of conflict management styles in predicting negotiation behaviors.FindingsThis study shows that conflict management styles are valid predictors of actual negotiation behaviors in Canada, but not in China. The results also show that Chinese people use a more avoiding approach and demonstrate a higher level of integrativeness during business negotiation simulations, while Canadians use a more compromising approach and show a higher level of distributiveness.Practical implicationsPractical implications of the findings are discussed in terms of the usefulness of self‐reported conflict management styles for negotiation researchers and practitioners in training seminars and in terms of the effectiveness of first offer as one negotiation strategy to achieve better negotiation outcomes.Originality/valueThis study is particularly pertinent, given that the relationship between conflict management styles and actual behaviors in negotiation receives little attention and that even less attention is given to this relationship in a cross‐cultural context.

Researchers believe that personality affects both the negotiation process and outcomes, but have yet to provide reliable evidence. Using a culturally balanced personality scale SAPPS, we explore the impact of personality on negotiation within a collectivist context–China. Hypothesized relationships based on a buyer/seller model are supported that assertive negotiators are more likely to behave competitively, which leads to better economic outcomes, and open-minded negotiators are more likely to use an integrative approach, which leads to higher satisfaction. This result, similar to those obtained in North America, suggests a universal model of negotiation might exist. Our study also indicates, however, that personality only accounts for a small portion of variance in negotiation behaviors. More research from other perspectives is needed for further exploration.

To map the intellectual structure of human resource management studies in the past decade, this study investigated the most important publications and the most influential scholars as well as the correlations among these documents by analyzing 33,132 citations of 1,267 articles published by SSCI journals in human resource management area between 1996 and 2005. This study further mapped the invisible network of knowledge of human resource management using co-citation analysis. Such a mapping can help identify the paradigm shift of human resource management research, and provide a valuable tool for researchers to access the literature in this area.

Researchers have been investigating the distinctness of Chinese conflict management styles, yet have to provide solid evidence for such differences. This study provides support for this issue by using multiple negotiation simulations to illustrate how Chinese people conflicts and how their preferred conflict management styles affect their negotiation behaviour and outcomes in business negotiation. Results show that compromising and competing, instead of accommodating, are two preferred methods for conflict resolution in China. Managerial implications are then discussed, which concludes this paper.