IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i16p12407-d1217787.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Paradoxical Leadership Promotes Employees’ Career Sustainability: Evidence from the Chinese Cross-Border E-Commerce Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Qi Li

    (International College, Dhurakij Pundit University, Bangkok 10210, Thailand)

  • Tachia Chin

    (International College, Dhurakij Pundit University, Bangkok 10210, Thailand
    School of Management, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China)

  • Benjian Peng

    (School of Business, Honghe University, Mengzi 661199, China)

Abstract

The ultra-fast development of digital technologies exerts immense pressure on employees in the cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) industry, especially those who are older and have lower levels of education. These employees may appear resistant to digital technologies, which can harm their careers. Leadership can address negative mentalities and sustain employees’ career development. Using job demands–resources (JD–R) theory, this study explored how paradoxical leadership can increase employees’ career sustainability by mitigating resistance to digital technology. Additionally, the moderating effects of age and education were examined. We analyzed time-lagged data from 141 employees in the Chinese CBEC industry, employing Partial Least Squares–Structural Equation Modeling (PLS–SEM) to test the hypothesized model. Our results revealed that: (1) paradoxical leadership relates negatively to resistance to digital technology but positively to career sustainability; (2) resistance to digital technology negatively relates to career sustainability; (3) resistance to digital technology partially mediates the relationship between paradoxical leadership and career sustainability; (4) age positively moderates the negative relationship between resistance to digital technology and career sustainability, while education negatively moderates that relationship. We offer novel insights into the trade-off effects among the five variables. Furthermore, our study provides practical guidance for firms, emphasizing the critical influence of paradoxical leadership and individual characteristics on ensuring employees’ career sustainability in the Chinese CBEC context.

Suggested Citation

  • Qi Li & Tachia Chin & Benjian Peng, 2023. "How Paradoxical Leadership Promotes Employees’ Career Sustainability: Evidence from the Chinese Cross-Border E-Commerce Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-17, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:16:p:12407-:d:1217787
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/16/12407/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/16/12407/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rabindra Kumar Jena, 2022. "Investigating and Predicting Intentions to Continue Using Mobile Payment Platforms after the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Empirical Study among Retailers in India," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-24, July.
    2. Williams, Larry J. & Brown, Barbara K., 1994. "Method Variance in Organizational Behavior and Human Resources Research: Effects on Correlations, Path Coefficients, and Hypothesis Testing," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 185-209, February.
    3. Szymkowiak, Andrzej & Melović, Boban & Dabić, Marina & Jeganathan, Kishokanth & Kundi, Gagandeep Singh, 2021. "Information technology and Gen Z: The role of teachers, the internet, and technology in the education of young people," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    4. Oded Nov & Chen Ye, 2009. "Resistance to change and the adoption of digital libraries: An integrative model," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 60(8), pages 1702-1708, August.
    5. Yan Wang & Tachia Chin & Francesco Caputo & Hanfeng Liu, 2022. "How Supportive Leadership Promotes Employee Innovation under Uncertainty: Evidence from Chinese E-Commerce Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-14, June.
    6. Sungho Park & Sachin Gupta, 2012. "Handling Endogenous Regressors by Joint Estimation Using Copulas," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(4), pages 567-586, July.
    7. Chunyan Li & Chien-Liang Lin & Tachia Chin, 2022. "How Does the Paradoxical Leadership of Cross-Border e-Commerce (CBEC) Gig Workers Influence Chinese Company Performance: The Role of Psychological Well-Being," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-15, September.
    8. Shah, Syed Ale Raza & Zhang, Qianxiao & Abbas, Jaffar & Tang, Hui & Al-Sulaiti, Khalid Ibrahim, 2023. "Waste management, quality of life and natural resources utilization matter for renewable electricity generation: The main and moderate role of environmental policy," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    9. Khalid Hamad Abaalzamat & Khalid Ibrahim Al-Sulaiti & Nidal Mohammed Alzboun & Hamzah Ali Khawaldah, 2021. "The Role of Katara Cultural Village in Enhancing and Marketing the Image of Qatar: Evidence From TripAdvisor," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, June.
    10. Zhenhao Xu & Tachia Chin & Lele Cao, 2020. "Crafting Jobs for Sustaining Careers during China’s Manufacturing Digitalization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-9, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ahmed M. Asfahani & Ghadeer Alsobahi & Dina Abdullah Dahlan, 2023. "Navigating the Saudi Gig Economy: The Role of Human Resource Practices in Enhancing Job Satisfaction and Career Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-22, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ibrahim Mohamed Ibrahim Elassal & Ricardo David Hernandez-Rojas & Luz Arelis Moreno Quispe, 2023. "Loyalty to World Heritage Cities: A Case Study of the Historic Ibn Ṭūlūn Mosque in Cairo (Egypt)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-16, September.
    2. Michel Clement & Anke Lepthien & Tim Schulze, 2016. "Erfolgsfaktoren bei der Vermarktung von Kunst [Success Factors for Marketing of Arts]," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 68(4), pages 377-400, December.
    3. Yan Wang & Tachia Chin & Francesco Caputo & Hanfeng Liu, 2022. "How Supportive Leadership Promotes Employee Innovation under Uncertainty: Evidence from Chinese E-Commerce Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-14, June.
    4. Mei, Maggie Qiuzhu & Wang, Le & Yan, Jie, 2023. "Maintaining product quality consistency when offshoring to emerging markets: The role of subsidiary control," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(1).
    5. Aydinli, Aylin & Lamey, Lien & Millet, Kobe & ter Braak, Anne & Vuegen, Maya, 2021. "How Do Customers Alter Their Basket Composition When They Perceive the Retail Store to Be Crowded? An Empirical Study," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 207-216.
    6. Khan, Nawab Ali & Azhar, Mohd & Rahman, Mohd Nayyer & Akhtar, Mohd Junaid, 2022. "Scale development and validation for usage of social networking sites during COVID-19," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    7. Ostovan, Nima & Khalili Nasr, Arash, 2022. "The manifestation of luxury value dimensions in brand engagement in self-concept," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    8. Riffat Ara Zannat Tama & Md Mahmudul Hoque & Ying Liu & Mohammad Jahangir Alam & Mark Yu, 2023. "An Application of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to Examining Farmers’ Behavioral Attitude and Intention towards Conservation Agriculture in Bangladesh," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-22, February.
    9. Fang, Lan & Quan, Yurong & Mao, Hui & Chen, Shaojian, 2022. "The Information Communication Technology and Off-farm Employment of Rural Laborers: An Analysis Based on the Micro Data of China Family Panel Studies," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322088, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Girish Mallapragada & Aditya Gupta & Brett Josephson, 2022. "The impact of social capital and transaction efficacy on salesperson performance," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(9), pages 3525-3542, September.
    11. Hian Teck Hoon & Margarita Katsimi & Gylfi Zoega, 2023. "Investment and the long swings of unemployment," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 611-632, July.
    12. Ulm, M. & Hambuckers, J., 2022. "Do interest rate differentials drive the volatility of exchange rates? Evidence from an extended stochastic volatility model," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 125-148.
    13. Zhuoyao Cui & Haochen Yang, 2023. "From Game Elements to Active Learning Intentions: Exploring the Driving Factors in Digital Learning Platforms," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, November.
    14. Yan Mandy Dang & Yulei Gavin Zhang & James Morgan, 0. "Integrating switching costs to information systems adoption: An empirical study on learning management systems," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-20.
    15. Sarker, Moniruzzaman & Mohd-Any, Amrul Asraf & Kamarulzaman, Yusniza, 2021. "Validating a consumer-based service brand equity (CBSBE) model in the airline industry," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    16. Saeed Janani & Ranjit M. Christopher & Atanas Nik Nikolov & Michael A. Wiles, 2022. "Marketing experience of CEOs and corporate social performance," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 460-481, May.
    17. Rouven E. Haschka & Helmut Herwartz, 2022. "Endogeneity in pharmaceutical knowledge generation: An instrument‐free copula approach for Poisson frontier models," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 942-960, November.
    18. Mehran Nejati & Azadeh Shafaei, 2023. "Why do employees respond differently to corporate social responsibility? A study of substantive and symbolic corporate social responsibility," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 2066-2080, July.
    19. repec:thr:techub:10025:y:2021:i:1:p:496-514 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Vassallo, Jarrod P. & Banerjee, Sourindra & Zaman, Hasanuzzaman & Prabhu, Jaideep C., 2023. "Design thinking and public sector innovation: The divergent effects of risk-taking, cognitive empathy and emotional empathy on individual performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    21. Zhang, Yufei & Voorhees, Clay M. & Lin, Chen & Chiang, Jeongwen & Hult, G.Tomas M. & Calantone, Roger J., 2022. "Information Search and Product Returns Across Mobile and Traditional Online Channels," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 98(2), pages 260-276.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:16:p:12407-:d:1217787. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.