When is pay for performance related to employee creativity in the Chinese context? The role of guanxi HRM practice, trust in management, and intrinsic motivation

Summary This study aims to provide new insights into the reward–creativity link in the Chinese context by exploring the moderating effect of guanxi human resource management (HRM) practice—reflecting the extent to which HR decisions are influenced by personal relationships in an organization—on the relationship between pay for performance (PFP) and employee creativity. Using two independent samples that were composed of 222 and 216 supervisor–subordinate dyads from Mainland China and Taiwan, we found that the effect of pay for performance on creativity was invariantly moderated by perceived guanxi HRM practice in such a way that when guanxi HRM practice was low, PFP had stronger positive effects on creativity. Furthermore, trust in management, as reduced by guanxi HRM practice, mediated this moderating effect. Moreover, moderated path analysis revealed that intrinsic motivation mediated these moderated relationships among PFP, guanxi HRM practice, trust in management, and creativity. Findings shed light on the processes through which, and the conditions under which, PFP may promote creativity. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.