Supervisor-subordinate guanxi and innovative behavior: the roles of psychological ownership and emotional uncertainty

Innovation is an important driver for organizational development. Stimulating innovative behavior among employees becomes an important way to improve the competitive advantage of a company. The main purpose of this study is to explore the mechanisms of influence of superior-subordinate guanxi (SSG) on employees' innovative behavior and to test the mediating role of psychological ownership and the moderating role of emotional uncertainty. We collected data from 88 China Mobile's service centers in Shandong Province. The research participants comprised 88 supervisors and 321 subordinates. The results indicated that SSG enhanced employees' psychological ownership and innovative behavior. Moreover, the mediation effect of psychological ownership on the relationship between SSG and subordinates' innovative behavior was significant only for employees with high emotional uncertainty and not for employees with low emotional uncertainty.