Managing to Lead in Private Enterprises in China: Work Values, Demography and the Development of Trust

Abstract

Previous work on trust has focused on employee trust in management. However, issues of how leaders develop trust in their followers in leader—member exchange (LMX) are under-explored. Based on theories of leader—member exchange, attribution and industrial convergence, this study investigates how the work values of leaders influence the development of their trust in followers and how this is moderated by demographic factors. A survey of 219 leaders was conducted in privately owned enterprises in China. The findings suggest that the work value of centralization is negatively related to leader trust in follower predictability. Group orientation and formalization are positively related to the development of trust in follower good faith. Moreover, age and level of formal education are found to moderate significantly the relationships between leader work values and development of their trust in followers within the context of China.