Leadership Style and Followers’ Organizational Commitment in the Chinese Context

In recent years, China has faced a labor shortage crisis. In Chinese organizations, the issue of employee organizational commitment (OC) is also getting worse, and it was found to be an important reason for high employees' turnover rate. Leadership style was also found to be related to employees’ work attitude and performance. Through a systematic review, this dissertation examined the relationship between leadership style and followers’ OC in the mainland Chinese context. The results showed that leadership style had a significant impact on followers' OC. There were exceptions. For example, ethical leadership was not a universally positive practice in all organizations; it might not be effective in some instances. There was no one universal leadership style that would be most useful to enhance followers' OC. Different leadership styles had different focuses. Each provided a guideline from its unique perspective. Their influence varied in different industries and different environments and for different individuals. Leadership styles in the Chinese context differed from Western models. Reciprocity mediated the association between leadership and followers’ OC. Finally, this dissertation suggests the implications for management, limitations, and offers recommendations for future research