Corporate social responsibility and Chinese employees’ creative behavior: Supervisor–subordinate guanxi as a mediator

Although researchers have reported a positive link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and employee creative behavior, how this connection develops remains an underexplored topic, particularly in the Chinese context. From the Chinese guanxi perspective, we investigated if supervisor–subordinate guanxi plays a crucial role in mediating the relationship between these two variables. We conducted a survey to collect data from 239 subordinate–supervisor dyads employed in a variety of organizations in China. Structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. We observed a positive association between CSR and employee creative behavior, and supervisor–subordinate guanxi partially mediated this link. Our findings will assist in improvement of understanding of CSR and supervisor–subordinate guanxi for enhancing employees’ creative behavior in organizations. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.