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High-performance work systems HPWS, goal

conguence and
and organizational citizenship servant
leadership
behavior: the role of goal
congruence and servant leadership
Md. Shamsul Arefin and Omar Faroque Received 16 March 2019
Revised 9 May 2020
Department of Management Studies, 21 April 2021
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, 10 December 2021
Accepted 18 February 2022
Gopalganj, Bangladesh
Junwei Zhang
School of Management, Guangdong University of Technology,
Guangzhou, China, and
Lirong Long
School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology,
Wuhan, China

Abstract
Purpose – Aligning employees’ goals with organizational goals is an overarching objective of an organization
to increase employees’ outcomes and, ultimately, the firm’s performance. Employees’ perceived goal
congruence is proposed to be an important mediator of the effect of high-performance work systems (HPWS) on
organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB). In this paper, the authors proposed and tested a moderated
mediation model that depicted how servant leadership increased or restrained these effects.
Design/methodology/approach – This study used data from 56 managers and 322 employees working in
Bangladeshi organizations. The study conducted cross-level analyses using hierarchical linear modeling
(HLM) to examine the hypothetical relationships among variables.
Findings – This study revealed that employees’ perceived goal congruence mediated the influence of HPWS
on OCB. Consistent with the moderated mediation prediction, employee-perceived goal congruence mediated
the relationship between HPWS and OCB when servant leadership is high.
Originality/value – This study examined how and when HPWS affects OCB by incorporating perceived goal
congruence and servant leadership as mediating and moderating variables, respectively.
Keywords High-performance work systems, Perceived goal congruence, Servant leadership, Organizational
citizenship behavior, Bangladesh
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
Organizations actively strive to pursue multiple goals in order to survive in a complex and
turbulent business environment (Lubogoyi et al., 2018). To sustain in the volatile environment and
maintain a competitive position, organizations continuously focus on aligning organizational
goals with employees’ goals. Perceived goal congruence is defined as the consistency between a
person’s individual goals and organizational goals and provides an essential condition that
motivates employees to show positive attitudes and behavior (Kristof-Brown et al., 2005). Strong
goal relevance guides employees to show constructive behavior desired by the organization
(Vancouver and Schmitt, 1991). Goal-congruent employees are inspired to work toward the
International Journal of Emerging
Markets
The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their helpful comments on © Emerald Publishing Limited
1746-8809
the different versions of this manuscript. DOI 10.1108/IJOEM-03-2019-0209
IJOEM strategic objectives of the top management, which eventually makes the company successful
(Ding et al., 2017). Goal congruence ensures increased operational efficiency, service performance
and employee satisfaction (Kristof-Brown et al., 2005). When goal incongruence is not prevented
in due course, it allows organizational people to follow their own individual goals at the cost of
formal organizational objectives. As an important type of person-organization (P-O) fit, goal
congruence is largely ignored in P-O fit literature (Hoffman and Woehr, 2006; Colbert and Witt,
2009). We draw on goal congruence since it is critical in achieving its strategic objectives, ensuring
the coordination and motivation of all employees involved (Ding et al., 2017). Prior research
suggests that individuals’ goals are shaped by contextual factors (Bouckenooghe et al., 2015;
Coote et al., 2004; Colbert and Witt, 2009). However, little is known about how a high-performance
work system (HPWS) influences individuals’ goal congruence.
Over the last couple of decades, there has been a flurry of interest among researchers on
HPWS designed to increase firms’ competitive advantage by enhancing employees’
performance. Takeuchi et al. (2007, p. 1,069) define HPWS as “a group of separate but
interconnected human resource (HR) practices designed to enhance employees’ skills and
effort.” A plethora of studies on strategic human resource management (HRM) has shown that
the adoption of HPWS is related to the more proximal employee outcomes, i.e. attitudes and
behaviors, such as increased job satisfaction, affective commitment, job involvement, job
engagement, turnover and citizenship behaviors (Arefin et al., 2019; Pak and Kim, 2018; Huang
et al., 2018; Zhang et al., 2018; Miao et al., 2021; Messersmith et al., 2011). Moreover, researchers
paid a keen interest in revealing the black-box of the mediating mechanism through which
HPWS leads to employee performance (Messersmith et al., 2011; Jiang et al., 2013; Karadas and
Karatepe, 2019; Jo et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2018, 2019). The research identified numerous
mediating mechanisms, including job satisfaction (e.g. Nishii et al., 2008), job engagement (e.g.
Alfes et al., 2013), job involvement (e.g. Nishii et al., 2008), psychological empowerment (e.g.
Aryee et al., 2012; Messersmith et al., 2011; Liao et al., 2009) empowerment climate (e.g. Aryee
et al., 2012), person-organization fit (Mostafa and Gould-Williams, 2014), psychological contract
(e.g. Raeder et al., 2012), affective and continuance commitment (e.g. Kehoe et al., 2013) human
capital (e.g. Liao et al., 2009) and adaptive capability (e.g. Wei and Lau, 2010). Research on
HPWS-performance linkage focused on how and why HPWS affects employee behavior, rather
than merely emphasizing this direct association (for review see Messersmith et al., 2011; Jiang
et al., 2013; Zhang et al., 2018, 2019). We focus on the alignment in goal (i.e. goal congruence) as a
mediating mechanism neglected in the P-O fit literature. Therefore, this study highlights
perceived goal congruence as a link between an organization and an employee.
The interactionist theory emphasizes that neither personal characteristics nor situational
factors alone can determine individuals’ responses or attitudes; rather, the interaction of these
two is most important (Terborg, 1981). According to this perspective, behavior is a function of
the person and the environment; therefore, the joint function should be considered rather than
thinking exclusively about one or the other (Terborg, 1981). Interactions between people and
their environment have become the main focus for many researchers and practitioners, notably
the P-O fit area of applied psychology (Kristof-Brown et al., 2005). While scholars emphasize the
indirect relationship between HPWS and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) (Pak and
Kim, 2018), little is known about how goal congruence mediates the relationship. Individuals’
perception of goal congruence may be influenced by HPWS, which in turn leads to OCB.
Incorporating personal and environmental factors, the first goal of this study is to examine the
mediating role of goal congruence in the relationship between HPWS and OCB.
Based on social information processing theory (Salancik and Pfeffer, 1978), our second goal
is to examine the use of a manager’s leadership style as a contextual factor on the relationship
between HPWS and employee-perceived goal congruence. Previous research emphasizes the
leaders’ role in shaping employees’ goals (Colbert and Witt, 2009). Servant leadership appears to
be a particularly effective leadership style for assisting people in aligning to organizational
goals and work environments (Franco and Antunes, 2020). Given that servant leadership is a HPWS, goal
follower-centered leadership strategy, it promises to support employees to align with the conguence and
organizational goals. Servant leadership is based on the principle of putting the needs of
followers ahead of the leader’s own (Greenleaf, 1970; Van Dierendonck, 2011). According to
servant
meta-analytic findings, servant leadership holds more potential in explaining a wide range of leadership
outcomes than transformational, authentic and ethical leadership (Hoch et al., 2018). Servant
leaders are sincere about creating valued outcomes and assisting subordinates in fulfilling their
goals, which distinguishes servant leadership from ethical and authentic leadership styles
(Lemoine et al., 2019). Servant leaders focus on subordinates’ inner potentials, building one-on-
one communication by exploring their skills, goals, expectations and talents (Liden et al., 2008).
In particular, servant leaders emphasize increasing followers’ competency and helping
followers set and meet goals (Chiniara and Bentein, 2016; Rodrıguez-Carvajal et al., 2019). The
contingency theory of HRM argues that HRM practices can only be ultimately successful if they
are in accordance with the organization’s internal contextual variables and external factors
(Jackson and Schuler, 1995). Several scholars have explored the interactive relationship
between HRM and leadership (Chuang et al., 2016; Jiang et al., 2015; Wang et al., 2019; Jo et al.,
2020; Rabiul et al., 2021). Moreover, a burgeoning body of research suggested untangling the
HPWS-performance process boundary conditions (Jyoti and Rani, 2019; Garcıa-Chas et al., 2019;
Han et al., 2018). Although HPWS indicates a strong climate of employee development, servant
leaders may play an interpretive role in accentuating HR practices positively.
The present study contributes to the extant strategic HRM and leadership literature,
answering how and when firms’ HR systems affect OCB. First, it examines the mediating role
of perceived goal congruence in the relationship between HPWS and OCB. As a contextual
cue, HPWS influences employees to align their goals with that of the organization; in turn,
they are more likely to engage in OCB. This study responded to the research call by Hoffman
and Woehr (2006) on goal congruence as an alternate definition of P-O fit. Second, bridging
the strategic HRM (SHRM) and leadership literature, this study seeks to reveal how the
interaction of two contextual factors (i.e. HPWS and servant leadership) affects OCB through
goal congruence. We responded to the calls for identifying the role of line managers in the
HRM process (e.g. Jo et al., 2020; Leroy et al., 2018; Jiang et al., 2015; Jackson et al., 2014;
Brewster et al., 2013) and investigated how servant leadership interplays with HRM.

2. Literature review and hypotheses

2.1 HPWS and perceived goal congruence
HPWS comprises a bundle of interconnected and interdependent HR practices that work as a
synergy to boost productivity. Such practices include selection and recruitment, employee
training, performance management, management consultation of employees in decision-
making, career opportunities, adequate communication, teamwork and competitive
compensation (Chuang and Liao, 2010; Lepak and Snell, 2002; Sun et al., 2007). While
researchers have argued for the practices included in HPWS, a common understanding is that
they include those practices that influence an employee’s ability, motivation, and development
(Wright and Boswell, 2002; Pak et al., 2018). Previous studies have found a positive influence of
HPWS on employee outcomes (Karadas and Karatepe, 2019) and firm performance (Shin and
Konrad, 2017). In line with the prior research (Jiang et al., 2013; Messersmith et al., 2011; Jo et al.,
2020), this study has utilized HPWS as a departmental level variable.
Organizational goals are formulated to attain strategies and objectives. The organization
wants employees’ goals to be identical to their organization. In contrast, employees strive to
match their goals with organizational goals. Goal congruence explains the extent to which the
individual’s goals are compatible with organizational goals (Vancouver and Schmitt, 1991;
Kristof, 1996). Goal congruence is generally discussed in P-O fit literature (Boon et al., 2011;
IJOEM Kooij and Boon, 2018; Raja et al., 2018), which is different from other measures of fit such as
value congruence, personality congruence and demands-abilities fit (Kristof, 1996; Chiang
and Birtch, 2010; Schneider et al., 1995). Few studies focused on goal congruence as a measure
of P-O fit (Hoffman and Woehr, 2006; Colbert and Witt, 2009). In the attraction-selection-
attrition (ASA) framework, Schneider et al. (1995) emphasized goal congruence as a
significant predictor and suggested that organizations attract and select people with
compatible goals. Based on the ASA framework, Siyal et al. (2020) identified the mediating
role of P-O fit in the influence of HR practices and employee outcomes. Prior research
examined goal congruence between different parties or entities, such as between supervisors
and subordinates (e.g. Vancouver and Schmitt, 1991; Zhang et al., 2018), workers and
management (e.g. Jauch et al., 1980), organization and managers (e.g. Bouillon et al., 2006),
group and organization (e.g. Chen et al., 2005) and among members in an organization (e.g.
Kristof-Brown and Stevens, 2001). Research suggested the positive influence of employees’
goal congruence on employees’ attitudes (Kristof-Brown et al., 2005; Vancouver and Schmitt,
1991; Vancouver et al., 1994; Witt, 1998) and job performance (Colbert and Witt, 2009). Since
employees are primarily connected to the department, employees with compatible goals are
more likely to be motivated, contribute to achieving departmental goals and remain with the
organization (Boon et al., 2011; Oh et al., 2014; Kooij and Boon, 2018; Raja et al., 2018). In
contrast, employees with goal mismatched may find the organization challenging to work for
and ultimately leave it (Supeli and Creed, 2014).
HR systems include practices commonly assumed to match employees’ goals with
organizational goals (Boon et al., 2011; Mostafa and Gould-Williams, 2014; Kooij and Boon,
2018; Siyal et al., 2020). HR practices are designed to shape employees’ expectations to fulfill
both individual and organizational goals. For example, fairness in compensation systems
signals employees about pay equity recognizing their performance (Kooij and Boon, 2018).
Moreover, training signals to employees that the organization is concerned about fulfilling
their goals and organizational goals (Mostafa and Gould-Williams, 2014). Specifically,
employees prefer to have more opportunities to increase their skills and knowledge through
training, while the organization focuses on preparing employees to achieve organizational
objectives. In the organization, employees can participate and share information about the
organization’s strategies, policies and goals with the organization (Messersmith et al., 2011;
Mostafa and Gould-Williams, 2014). As a bundle, HPWS encourages employees to enjoy more
empowerment in managing their jobs with self-directed decision-making (Mostafa and
Gould-Williams, 2014; Kooij and Boon, 2018; Siyal et al., 2020). Furthermore, HPWS adoption
motivates employees to feel responsive to be more likely to participate in goal setting and goal
attainment.
In the social exchange theory, Blau (1964) suggests that employees tend to give feedback
in response to any contribution they receive from the organization. Echoing this theory, if the
organization adopts HPWS, an employee receives a signal that their knowledge, skills and
abilities are valued. In exchange, employees are more likely to align their goals with
departmental goals and strive to attain them. As a contextual cue, HPWS influences
employees to engage in the social exchange process. Accordingly, employees are more likely
to match their goals with departmental goals when they perceive that the organization values
them (Whitener, 2001; Mostafa and Gould-Williams, 2014). Therefore, we posit that HPWS
has a positive relationship with employees’ perceived goal congruence.
H1. HPWS is positively related to employees’ perceived goal congruence.

2.2 Perceived goal congruence and OCB

Organ (1988, p. 4) defines OCB as “individual behaviors that are discretionary, not directly or
explicitly recognized by the formal reward system and that in the aggregate promote the
effective functioning of the organization.” Extra-role job behavior entails behavior or HPWS, goal
performance that is not guided by the organization’s formal rules or job description. In this conguence and
study, the extra-role behaviors include altruism (e.g. behavior directly intended to help a
specific person in a face-to-face situation), voice (e.g. behaviors related to making suggestions
servant
to the management) and conscientiousness (e.g. impersonal behaviors such as compliance leadership
with norms defining a good worker). Employees with high goal congruence are more likely to
identify with the organization, achieve goals by applying their discretion, help their
colleagues perform their tasks and provide necessary information to supervisors. In contrast,
employees with goal mismatch are more likely to give less priority in attaining the
organization’s goals. Hence, we assume that goal congruence is positively related to OCB
because goal alone is a significant motivating factor that helps employees select the activities
they should focus on (Locke and Latham, 2002). In other words, goal congruence increases
individuals’ motivation to spend a high level of personal energy at work. Such dedication is
supposed to benefit individuals in particular and the organization (Bouckenooghe et al., 2015).
In a broad sense, high levels of P-O fit indicate congruence between organizational and
employees’ goals, values and expectations (Mostafa and Gould-Williams, 2014).
According to the job demand-resources (JD-R) model, job demands are features that
necessitate persistent effort and are associated with physiological and psychological
demands. In contrast, job resources are the features of a job that minimize the negative
consequences of job demands, are functional to achieve work goals,and promote individual
development and growth (Demerouti et al., 2001). By motivating intrinsically and
extrinsically, job resources aid individuals to achieve organizational goals, satisfy their
basic needs and foster their personal development (Bakker and Demerouti, 2007; Deci and
Ryan, 2000). The JD-R model’s motivational process asserts that job resources lead to
increased levels of engagement through the satisfaction of basic needs or the attainment of
work goals, which is linked to a variety of work outcomes such as OCB (Shim et al., 2019). The
JD-R model suggests a positive relationship between perceived goal congruence and OCB like
the social exchange theory. Goal congruence is a job resource as employees are attracted to
and remain in organizations where they share similar goals because it enables them to
achieve their work goals (Schneider, 1987). Goal congruence is a type of job resource because
the perception of fit realizes individuals’ core psychological requirements, such as
relatedness, linked to individuals’ development and progress (Deci and Ryan, 2000). As a
result, goal-congruent employees are more likely to feel self-fulfillment in their jobs. Since the
organization satisfies employees’ intrinsic needs, employees are inspired to devote efforts to
their daily performance demonstrating their engagement in OCB. Previous research has
suggested an association between goal-based P-O fit and OCB (Cable and DeRue, 2002;
Kristof-Brown et al., 2005; Mostafa and Gould-Williams, 2014). In a meta-analysis, Hoffman
and Woehr (2006) found that goal-based P-O fit influences employees’ positive attitudes to
work and enhances their retention, task performance and OCB. Taken together, we posit our
second hypothesis.
H2. Employees’ perceived goal congruence is positively related to OCB.

2.3 The mediating role of perceived goal congruence

We propose that employees’ perceived goal congruence mediates the relationship between
HPWS and OCB for at least two reasons. First, the implementation of HPWS aligns
employees with organizational strategy (Boon et al., 2011; Mostafa and Gould-Williams, 2014;
Kooij and Boon, 2018). As we mentioned earlier, when organizations adopt HPWS, it signals
to employees regarding the organization’s valuation of the employees. These pro-employee
HR practices are more likely to link with employees’ expectations and goals. If employees
experience high goal congruence, they are more likely to show a positive attitude toward the
IJOEM organization (Kristof-Brown et al., 2005; Vancouver and Schmitt, 1991; Vancouver et al., 1994)
and exhibit OCB (Hoffman and Woehr, 2006). Such practices help employees align their goals
with organizational goals, and in turn, they are more likely to be motivated and willing to
show OCB.
Second, to ensure a sustainable competitive advantage, strategic HR management must
continuously pursue ways to use its HR to achieve organizational strategic goals. Without
aligning employees’ goals with organizational strategy, organizational success is difficult.
The implementation of HPWS is an effective way to reach organizational goals (Becker and
Gerhart, 1996). For example, the improved selection enables the organization to identify
employees who are better suited to the organization’s culture and have a greater fit for the job
(Becker and Huselid, 2006). Besides, enhanced and improved communications will increase
the goal commitment, as employees may understand more about what needs to be done
(Pfeffer and Veiga, 1999).
Moreover, compensation aligns an employee’s effort with an organization’s goals and
increases opportunities to maintain alignment with the objectives, providing incentives for
workers to maintain goal alignment (Pfeffer and Veiga, 1999). The synergistic interaction
among these HR practices may bring higher goal congruence in employees; they may exert
OCB. Employees, in exchange, respond by taking initiatives beyond formal job duties and
demonstrating loyalty and enthusiasm for their employer. This reasoning line proposes that
HR practices’ effects on employee behaviors can occur via goal-based P–O fit. Employees of a
particular organization can do better or worse based on how well they match their goals
(Boon et al., 2011). Since one of the purposes of HR is to match employees to the organization,
perceived goal congruence may mediate the effect of HPWS on OCB. According to the JD-R
model, employees’ access to job resources, such as autonomy, performance feedback and
developmental opportunities, enhance motivation and work engagement, ultimately
influencing employees to engage in OCB (Demerouti and Cropanzano, 2010; Shim et al.,
2019). This notion is also supported by the previous studies (Boon et al., 2011; Mostafa and
Gould-Williams, 2014; Kooij and Boon, 2018). Given these findings and the initial hypotheses,
we assume that HPWS aids employees to experience high goal congruence and ultimately
motivates employees to show OCB. Hence, this leads to the third hypothesis.
H3. Employees’ perceived goal congruence mediates the relationship between HPWS
and employees’ OCB.

2.4 The moderating role of servant leadership

Servant leadership facilitates organizational functioning through a high degree of employee
trust in management (Ehrhart, 2004). Van Dierendonck (2011) articulated servant leadership
as composed of six leader behaviors: empowering and developing people, showing humility,
being authentic, accepting people for who they are, providing direction and being stewards
who work for the good of the whole. Servant leaders prioritize the interests of the followers
and are committed to meeting their personal and professional needs. In this study, we expect
that a servant leader may strengthen the positive impacts of HPWS on goal congruence. First,
although the notion of HPWS provides consistent messages to all employees, the
interpretation of HPWS is self-explanatory, and the perceptions of HPWS often vary from
individuals to individuals (Nishii and Wright, 2008). More specifically, employees may
interpret a single HR practice differently, and the variability in perceptions is persisted
between employees and supervisors (Nishii and Wright, 2008). The cost of misinterpretation
of HR practices may lead employees to goal mismatch and decreased employee performance.
The research argues that leaders assist employees in communicating the expected behaviors
associated with HR practices (Bowen and Ostroff, 2004; Pak and Kim, 2018; Jo et al., 2020) and
shaping employees’ goals with that of the organization (Colbert and Witt, 2009). Servant
leaders may shape employees’ goals by explaining the expectation of the organizations. HPWS, goal
Moreover, a servant leader may act as a contextual cue to interpret the HPWS to subordinates conguence and
elaborately and positively. Servant leaders may help employees understand the
organizational demands translating the HPWS. Nevertheless, servant leaders provide
servant
special care to goal incongruent employees and align them with the organizational goals. leadership
Second, by virtue of leaders’ competencies, servant leaders value subordinates’ self-
interest and keep their development as the top priority (Liden et al., 2008). By following the
organizational HR practices, servant leaders set an example for subordinates and guide them
to achieve employees’ goals. Leaders set employees’ goals according to employees’
capabilities and identify goal priorities according to employees’ interests (Ehrhart, 2004;
Chiniara and Bentein, 2016; Jo et al., 2020). In particular, servant leaders motivate followers by
creating an atmosphere that encourages followers to become self-directed decision-makers
and achieve common goals (Hu and Liden, 2011; Rodrıguez-Carvajal et al., 2019). Besides,
these leaders take steps to improve employees to their highest potentials and establish work
settings to foster those potentials. When employees are failed to achieve goals, employees are
shown a forgiving attitude and a sense of trust, fostering no fear of rejection and threats (Van
Dierendonck, 2011). Furthermore, servant leaders keep followers on track by directing them
to the organization’s expectations and shape dynamic work in favor of followers to take new
approaches to tackle old problems (Liden et al., 2008).
According to social information processing theory (Salancik and Pfeffer, 1978), employees
get information from their immediate social environment and shape their understanding of
organizational values, norms and practices. In this sense, through HR systems, employees
receive messages that organizations value their efforts and contributions. On the other hand,
leaders offer situational cues from which employees interpret the work environment
(Takeuchi et al., 2009). Servant leaders’ follower-centric behaviors help employees align their
goals with the organization. Relatively limited research investigated how HRM interacts with
leadership. Chuang et al. (2016) found that knowledge sharing specific HRM systems can
substitute for the positive effect of empowering leadership on team knowledge share and
acquisition. In the same vein, Jiang et al. (2015) found that customer service-oriented HRM
systems can substitute for the effect of customer service-oriented leader behaviors on
employees’ customer knowledge and store service climate. Nevertheless, Wang et al. (2019)
found that the positive interplay between service-oriented HPWS and servant leadership
helps employees reduce strain, leading to improved mental and physical health. Taken
together, we posit the following hypothesis:
H4. Servant leadership moderates the relationship between HPWS and employees’
perceived goal congruence, such that the relationship becomes stronger as servant
leadership increases.

2.5 A moderated mediation model

The previous discussion outlines the theoretical justification for the mediation effect of
perceived goal congruence and the moderating effect of servant leadership at different
organizational levels. Specifically, the perceived goal congruence mediates the relationship
between HPWS and OCB (Hypothesis 3). Additionally, servant leadership moderates the
positive relationship between HPWS and perceived goal congruence (Hypothesis 4). These
hypotheses describe the individual paths that are not sufficient to justify mediation and
moderated mediation effects (Edwards and Lambert, 2007; Preacher et al., 2007). The
theoretical rationales also propose a moderated mediation model. More specifically, servant
leadership may moderate the indirect effect of HPWS on OCB via perceived goal congruence.
Hypotheses 1–4 propose that by strengthening the influence of HPWS on perceived goal
congruence, supervisors’ servant leadership affects the degree to which HPWS motivates
IJOEM employees’ willingness to show OCB. Therefore, we posit the fifth hypothesis in line with our
predicted model specifying the overall moderated mediation effects. Figure 1 depicts the
hypothesized theoretical framework of this study.
H5. Servant leadership moderates the indirect positive effect of HPWS on employees’
OCB via employees’ perceived goal congruence, such that the relationship between
HPWS and employees’ OCB is moderated by servant leadership and mediated by
employees’ perceived goal congruence.

3. Methods
3.1 Sample and procedure
Data were collected from Bangladesh, where business organizations have been emphasizing
the strategic value of humans in recent years (Arefin et al., 2019). Both internal and external
pressures drive organizations to adopt western HRM practices (e.g. HPWS) to boost
productivity (Arefin et al., 2015, 2019). Private organizations are more likely to adopt HPWS
because they face intense competitive pressures and perform better than public organizations
valuing HR (Arefin et al., 2019). We randomly selected 15 private manufacturing and service
organizations from different industries that practiced HPWS. All firms were located in
Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. Before the survey, we contacted the HR managers of
each organization and asked for their consent to conduct the survey. In total, 12 firms agreed
to participate in the survey, which included pharmaceutical, ready-made garments,
telecommunications and hospitals.
Two sets of questionnaires were developed for employees and their immediate
supervisors. Supervisors were asked to complete the department-level HPWS scale and
their subordinates’ OCB scale. In contrast, employees were asked to complete the
questionnaire measuring their perceptions of goal congruence and the supervisor’s servant
leadership behavior. Previous research suggested manager-rated HR systems (e.g. Collins
and Smith, 2006) and employee-rated servant leadership (e.g. Liden et al., 2008; Ehrhart, 2004).
Before data collection, the HR managers of each firm were asked to provide a list of full-time
employees and their immediate supervisors. Along with six research assistants, the first
author visited each firm and distributed the survey questionnaires to randomly selected full-
time employees. The questionnaire was distributed with a cover letter and a return envelope
to each participant. After completing the questionnaire, participants were asked to seal the
envelope and return it to the researchers.
Researchers assigned a self-defined identification code on each completed questionnaire to
ensure the matching of each employee’s response to their direct supervisor’s evaluation. The
second set of questionnaires was distributed to the employees’ direct supervisors. Both
employees and supervisors were also assured that their responses would be anonymous and

High-Performance
Servant Leadership
Work Systems
Department Level

Individual Level

Figure 1. Perceived Goal Organizational

The proposed model Congruence Citizenship Behavior
confidential. All measures were initially in English. We translated all measures into Bengali HPWS, goal
following the back-translation procedure (Brislin, 1980). We asked two bilingual university conguence and
professors who teach management to review the translation process. After that, we asked one
of the HR managers and three employees from our selected firms to review the translated
servant
items. Based on their propositions, we made some alterations in wording. In particular, we leadership
used the English terminologies (e.g. servant leadership, HPWS) in the Bengali version of the
questionnaire.
In total, we received responses from 62 department managers and 367 employees. After
matching their responses and excluding incomplete responses, we obtained a useable sample
of 56 department managers and 322 employees. About 65.5% (211) of the employees were
male. Furthermore, 56.8% of the employees’ ages were between 30 and 39 years, 22.4% were
between 18 and 29 years and only 20% were over 40 years old. The average tenure of the
employees was relatively medium, as 41.9% of the employees who worked for the
organization had a tenure between 1 and 4 years, 25.2% of the employees had a tenure
between 5 and 9 years and 23.9% for over 10 years. In addition, 67.4% (217) of the employees
received a higher secondary school certificate in terms of education. Of the 56 managers,
71.4% (40) were male. In all, 53.6% of the managers’ ages were between 30 and 39 years, and
41.1% were between 40 and 49 years old. The average tenure of the managers was relatively
high, as 53.6% had worked for the organization for more than five years. Managers were
relatively well educated as 25% (14) received graduate and higher degrees, and 57.1% (32)
received undergraduate degrees.

3.2 Measures
Measures from past research were used. The constructs were measured using multiple items
and scored on a 5-point Likert scale (from 1 5 strongly disagree to 5 5 strongly agree).
3.2.1 High-performance work systems. Department-level HPWS was measured using 18
items commonly used in past research (e.g. Chuang and Liao, 2010; Lepak and Snell, 2002; Sun
et al., 2007) and was rated by supervisors. The sample items of six typical practices of HPWS
were selective staffing (e.g. “Selection emphasizes traits and abilities required for providing a
high quality of performance”), comprehensive training (e.g. “This department invests
considerable time and money in training”), developmental performance management (e.g.
“Performance appraisals are based on objective, quantifiable results”), performance-based
compensation (e.g. “Employees’ salaries and rewards are determined by their performance”),
flexible work design (e.g. “This department has its ways or methods to help employees
alleviate work stress”) and participation in decision-making (e.g. “If a decision made might
affect employees, the department asks them for opinions in advance”). Cronbach’s alpha
coefficient for HPWS was 0.71.
3.2.2 Perceived goal congruence. Employees were asked to indicate their goal congruence
with their organization according to three items developed by Ozcelik (2013). The scale
included the items, “My goals match or fit the goals of this organization and its current
employees,” “I believe in and support the goals of this organization,” and “I can reach my
professional goals working for this organization.” Cronbach’s alpha score for this scale
was 0.83.
3.2.3 Organizational citizenship behaviors. We measured an employee’s OCB with a 9-item
scale from Farh et al. (2004) as rated by the supervisor. We used three types of OCB that
includes altruism (e.g. “Employee initiates assistance to co-workers who have a heavy
workload”), voice (e.g. “Employee actively raises suggestions to improve work procedures or
processes”) and conscientiousness (e.g. “Employee works diligently and with a great sense of
responsibility even when work outcomes will not count toward one’s performance
evaluation”). The first three items measured altruism, the next two-item measured voice
and the last four items measured conscientiousness. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.88.
IJOEM 3.2.4 Servant leadership. We used a 14-item scale with seven dimensions consisting of two
items for each (forming relationships with subordinates, empowering subordinates, helping
subordinates grow and succeed, behaving ethically, having conceptual skills, putting
subordinates first and being involved in community service) developed by Ehrhart (2004) to
measure servant leadership. Employees were asked to respond to the item, such as, “My
supervisor works hard at finding ways to help others be the best they can be.” Cronbach’s
alpha coefficient was 0.93. As servant leadership is a department-level variable in the current
study, we calculated its within-group agreement (rwg(j)), intraclass correlation (ICC1) and
reliability of the mean (ICC2). The average rwg(j) was 0.91, the median rwg(j) was 0.92, the ICC1
was 0.22 and the ICC2 was 0.74. In sum, these statistics supported the plausibility of
aggregating individual perceptions of servant leadership to the department level.
3.2.5 Control measures. We controlled employees’ age, gender, education and organizational
tenure. Because previous research found that these variables may influence employees’
perceptions of goal congruence. Age was divided into six categories ranging from “1 5 between
18 and 29 years” to “6 5 more than 70 years”. Gender was measured as a dichotomous variable
(i.e. 1 5 male, 0 5 female). Education level included five categories ranging from “1 5 middle
school or below” to “5 5 master’s degree or above.” Organizational tenure comprised six
categories ranging from “1 5 less than one year” to “6 5 more than 20 years”.

3.3 Analysis
We conducted confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using Amos 24 software to confirm the
dimensionality and discriminant validity of the variables. This study used manager-rated
HPWS and servant leadership as departmental-level variables, whereas perceived goal
congruence and OCB were used as individual-level variables. Thus, individual employees are
nested in departments. Prior research called for further research on HR systems at different
levels (Boon et al., 2019; Jiang et al., 2013). Due to the multi-level nature of the study,
hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was applied using HLM 3 software. Two levels were
investigated in which individuals were nested in workgroups. To justify the usage of HLM 3
for analyzing two-level data, we ran null models with perceived goal congruence and OCB as
dependent variables, respectively. The results showed that the within-group, between-group
and between-firm variance of OCB were 0.34, 0.06 and 0.13, respectively. The results also
showed that the within-group, between-group and between-firm variance of perceived goal
congruence were 0.41, 0.11 and 0.09, respectively. ICC(1)firm was 0.11, indicating 11% of
variance residing in between-firms in perceived goal congruence. ICC(1)firm for servant
leadership and OCB were 9.54 and 8.62%, respectively. Chi-square tests revealed that the
between-group variances were significant; that is, the intercept terms significantly varied
across groups.
We followed Kenny et al.’s (1998) four-step process to test the mediating role of perceived
goal congruence. Researchers suggest computing compound coefficients that are not
distributed normally (Edwards and Lambert, 2007; Shrout and Bolger, 2002). A re-sampling
technique is generally suggested to ensure an empirical distribution for constructing bias-
corrected confidence intervals (CIs) (Shrout and Bolger, 2002). We used the Monte Carlo
simulation method suggested by Preacher and Selig (2012) to derive the 90% CIs. We
executed the Monte Carlo method using R software (version 3.4.1) with 20,000 simulations.

4. Results
4.1 Measurement issues
We conducted a series of confirmatory factor analyses to identify the discriminant validity of
the constructs. We compared the fit of the hypothesized three-factor model with five
alternative models: two-factor models combining perceived goal congruence and OCB (Model HPWS, goal
A), combining perceived goal congruence and servant leadership (Model B) and combining conguence and
servant leadership and OCB (Model C), and a one-factor model combining perceived goal
congruence, servant leadership and OCB. In Table 1, the results of CFA indicated a
servant
significantly good data fit for the hypothesized three-factor model (χ 2 5 219.65, df 5 167, χ 2/ leadership
df 5 1.32, p < 0.01, CFI 5 0.98, GFI 5 0.94, TLI 5 0.98, RMSEA 5 0.03) and confirmed the
recommendation of Hu and Bentler (1999) for the cutoff value of 0.08 for RMSEA and
minimum value of 0.95 for CFI and TLI. Therefore, the results supported the discriminant
validity. Table 2 shows the study variables’ descriptive statistics, reliabilities and
correlations.

4.2 The main and mediating effects of perceived goal congruence

In testing Hypothesis 3, we controlled for employees’ age, gender, educational level and
organizational tenure as Level 1 effects. The results of the HLM analysis were reported in
Table 3. In the first step, the direct relationship between HPWS and OCB was tested. As
shown in Model 2 in Table 3, HPWS had a significant positive relationship with OCB
(γ 5 0.53, p < 0.01). In the second step, we examined the direct influence of HPWS on the

Model χ2 df χ 2/df CFI GFI TLI RMSEA

Null model 3028.41 190

Three-factor model 219.65 167 1.32 0.98 0.94 0.98 0.03
Two-factor model A 407.28 169 2.41 0.92 0.89 0.91 0.07
Two-factor model B 621.30 169 3.68 0.84 0.84 0.82 0.09
Two-factor model C 420.74 169 2.49 0.91 0.88 0.90 0.07
One-factor model 816.08 170 4.80 0.77 0.80 0.75 0.11
Note(s): CFI 5 Comparative fit index; GFI 5 Goodness of fit index; TLI 5 Tucker–Lewis index;
RMSEA 5 Root mean square error of approximation
Two-factor model A: perceived goal congruence (PGC) and OCB were combined into one factor
Two-factor model B: PGC and servant leadership (SL) were combined into one factor Table 1.
Two-factor model C: OCB and SL were combined into one factor Confirmatory factor
One-factor model: PGC, OCB and SL were combined into one factor analysis

Variables M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Level 1: individual level

1. Age 2.02 0.73
2. Gender 0.66 0.48 0.01
3. Education level 4.18 0.91 0.17**
0.13*
4. Organization tenure 2.74 1.14 0.58*** 0.06
0.14*
5. SL 4.17 0.55 0.16** 0.07 0.07 0.05 (0.93)
6. PGC 4.13 0.73
0.13* 0.06 0.04
0.08
0.01 (0.83)
7. OCB 3.91 0.63
0.11
0.05 0.10
0.05 0.03 0.15** (0.88)
Level 2: department level
1. HPWS 4.36 0.25 (0.71)
2. SL 4.16 0.53 0.19* Table 2.
Note(s): N 5 56 work units (322 employees, 56 supervisors). Reliabilities (coefficient alpha) appear in Means, standard
parentheses on the diagonal. PGC 5 Perceived goal congruence; SL 5 Servant leadership. *p < 0.05. deviations and
**
p < 0.01. ***p < 0.001 correlations
IJOEM mediator. Results showed that HPWS was positively related to perceived goal congruence
(γ 5 0.70, p < 0.05, Model 4, Table 3). Thus, Hypothesis 1 was supported. Furthermore, we
tested the direct relationship between perceived goal congruence and OCB. Results showed
that perceived goal congruence was significantly related to OCB (γ 5 0.11, p < 0.05, Model 5,
Table 3). Hence, Hypothesis 2 was accepted. Hypotheses 3 suggested that perceived goal
congruence would mediate the influence of HPWS on OCB. The results of this study revealed
that the positive relationship between HPWS and OCB remained significant, but the influence
was reduced in magnitude (γ 5 0.48, p < 0.05, Model 5, Table 3). The results suggested that
the perceived goal congruence mediated the positive influence of HPWS on OCB. Bootstrap
results revealed that 95% CIs around the indirect effect excluded zero (0.07, 0.17).

4.3 The moderating effects of servant leadership

Hypothesis 4 suggested that servant leadership moderated the positive relationship between
HPWS and perceived goal congruence. Results showed that the interaction between HPWS
and servant leadership was significant (γ 5 1.02, p < 0.001, Model 6, Table 3). Therefore,
Hypothesis 4 received support. Following the suggestion of Aiken and West (1991), we
conducted a simple slope test to plot the interaction effects. Figure 2 showed that there was a
significant positive relationship between HPWS and perceived goal congruence when
servant leadership was high (γ 5 1.25, t 5 3.69, p < 0.001), but a nonsignificant relationship
between HPWS and perceived goal congruence when servant leadership was low (γ 5 0.13,
t 5 0.50, n.s.).

4.4 A moderated mediation model

Hypothesis 5 predicted that servant leadership moderated the indirect effect of HPWS on
OCB through perceived goal congruence. Table 4 showed that the indirect effect of HPWS on
OCB was significantly moderated by servant leadership (Δγ 5
0.13, p < 0.05). Specifically,
the indirect effect was stronger with high servant leadership (γ 5 0.14, p < 0.05) than with low
servant leadership (γ 5 0.01, n.s.). Additionally, Table 4 also showed that servant leadership
moderated the indirect effect of HPWS on OCB owing to its moderating effect on the

Level and OCB OCB PGC PGC OCB PGC

variable (Model 1) (Model 2) (Model 3) (Model 4) (Model 5) (Model 6)

Level 1 (n 5 322)
Intercept 3.92*** (0.05) 3.92*** (0.04) 4.14*** (0.06) 4.15*** (0.05) 3.92*** (0.04) 4.15*** (0.05)
Age
0.14* (0.07)
0.13 (0.07)
0.16* (0.08)
0.14 (0.08)
0.10 (0.07)
0.13 (0.07)
Gendera
0.04 (0.07)
0.03 (0.07) 0.15 (0.08) 0.15* (0.08)
0.04 (0.06) 0.18* (0.07)
Education 0.07 (0.04) 0.06 (0.04) 0.02 (0.05) 0.01 (0.04) 0.06 (0.04) 0.03 (0.04)
level
Organization 0.05 (0.04) 0.03 (0.04) 0.02 (0.05) 0.00 (0.05) 0.03 (0.04) 0.00 (0.05)
tenure
*
PGC 0.11 (0.05)
Level 2 (n 5 56)
HPWS 0.53** (0.20) 0.70* (0.28) 0.48* (0.20) 0.69* (0.28)
SL
0.03 (0.06)
Interaction
HPWS 3 SL 1.02*** (0.21)
Note(s): Values in parentheses are standard errors; entries are unstandardized coefficients
Table 3.
a
Male 5 1, female 5 0
Hierarchical linear PGC 5 perceived goal congruence; SL 5 Servant leadership
*
modeling results p < 0.05. **p < 0.01. ***p < 0.001
relationship between HPWS and perceived goal congruence (i.e. the first-stage effect; HPWS, goal
Δγ 5
1.12, p < 0.001). Hence, Hypothesis 5 was supported. Table 5 showed the summary of conguence and
the hypothesis testing.
servant
leadership
5. Discussion
The study examined how the interaction between HPWS and servant leadership affects the
indirect relationship between HPWS and OCB through perceived goal congruence. The multi-
level analyses revealed that servant leadership moderated the positive relationship between
HPWS and perceived goal congruence. The relationship was stronger when servant
leadership was high. Furthermore, the study revealed that HPWS was positively related to
employees’ perceived goal congruence, which was positively related to OCB. Also, employees’
perceived goal congruence mediated the positive influence of HPWS on OCB.

4.8
Low SL
4.6 High SL
4.4
PGC

4.2
Figure 2.
4 The interactive effect
of HPWS and servant
3.8 leadership (SL) on
perceived goal
3.6 congruence (PGC)
Low HPWS High HPWS

Moderator variable HPWS→PGC Indirect effect 95% CI of indirect effect

Low SL (
1 s.d.) 0.13 0.01 [
0.06, 0.10]

High SL (þ1 s.d.) 1.25*** 0.14* [0.01, 0.30] Table 4.
Differences between low and high
1.12***
0.13* [
0.26,
0.01] Bootstrapping results
Note(s): PGC 5 Perceived goal congruence; SL 5 Servant leadership; CI 5 Confidence interval for test of moderated
*
p < 0.05. **p < 0.01. ***p < 0.001 mediation effects

Hypotheses Decision

H1: High-performance work systems is positively related to employees’ perceived goal Supported
congruence
H2: Employees’ perceived goal congruence is positively related to OCB Supported
H3: Employees’ perceived goal congruence mediates the relationship between HPWS and Supported
employees’ OCB
H4: Servant leadership moderates the relationship between high-performance work systems and Supported
employees’ perceived goal congruence, such that the relationship becomes stronger as servant
leadership increases
H5: Servant leadership moderates the indirect positive effect of HPWS on employees’ OCB via Supported Table 5.
employees’ perceived goal congruence, such that the relationship between HPWS and employees’ Results of the
OCB is moderated by servant leadership and mediated by employees’ perceived goal congruence hypotheses
IJOEM 5.1 Theoretical contributions
These findings contribute to the HPWS, goal congruence and servant leadership literature in
several ways. First, this study examined the perceived goal congruence as a mediator
through which HPWS influences OCB. Although Hoffman and Woehr (2006) called for more
research on goal congruence as an alternate definition of P-O fit, limited is known about the
contextual impact on goal congruence in the current literature. This study examined and
found that HPWS, as a contextual cue, influenced OCB through perceived goal congruence by
addressing this gap. This finding is consistent with the proposition of Wei et al. (2010).
Moreover, this study revealed that HPWS influences employees to shape their goals
according to the organization, and in response, they are likely to show OCB. Specifically, goal-
aligned employees may perceive the fulfillment of their desired goals and basic needs through
HR systems, which, in turn, motivate them to exhibit OCB. Furthermore, this result is
consistent with the previous studies on HPWS that argued for the “strength” of HRM systems
(Bowen and Ostroff, 2004) that affects employees’ perceptions. Second, consistent with the
social exchange theory (Blau, 1964), the results demonstrated the positive effect of HPWS on
perceived goal congruence. The organization sends signals of its valuation of employees by
adopting a bundle of HR practices (Bowen and Ostroff, 2004). In turn, employees feel
motivated to be a part of the organization and treat its goals as their own, which helps them
experience goal congruence. Previous studies demonstrate that HPWS plays an important
role in individuals’ goal perceptions (Whitener, 2001; Gong et al., 2009; Zhang et al., 2018).
Moreover, HPWS encompasses practices that motivate employees to align their goals with
the organization’s goals. Thus, this finding may tie together the strategic HR and P-O fit
literature.
Additionally, by examining the interaction between HPWS and servant leadership
interaction, this study may extend our understanding of how organizational HRM and
leadership jointly influence employees. HRM and leadership have increasingly evolved
separately, although there are strong interrelationships. Front-line managers or leaders are
primarily responsible for implementing HR practices in the organizations (Nishii and Paluch,
2018). Through their attitudes and behaviors, leaders influence employees’ perception and
interpretation of HRM and ultimately, impact how employees react to HRM, thereby, stating
the critical role of leaders in understanding HRM and its consequences (Wang et al., 2019;
Buengeler et al., 2018). Although the research calls for investigating the role of line managers
on the HRM process (e.g. Jackson et al., 2014; Brewster et al., 2013; Leroy et al., 2018), relatively
few studies articulated the linkage in the current literature. Based on social information
processing theory (Salancik and Pfeffer, 1978), this study found that servant leaders
prioritized employees’ personal goals and provided necessary support to achieve them
through translating HPWS and influencing employees’ perception and understanding of
organizational HRM practices. In line with these findings, Wang et al. (2019) confirmed the
servant leaders’ collaborative relationship with the firm’s HPWS. The results demonstrated
that servant leaders put employees’ interests at the top priority, aid in achieving employees’
individual goals, focus on the employees’ development and relate employees’ specific skills to
achieve individual goals (Hu and Liden, 2011; Rodrıguez-Carvajal et al., 2019). Therefore, the
mutual effects of servant leaders and HR systems will enhance the harmonization of
individual goals and organizational priorities, enabling individual workers to perform extra-
role behavior.

5.2 Practical implications

Managers should identify the supporting HRM systems that promote employees to
implement organizational goals compatible with individual goals. For example, participative
decision-making and flexible work design are conducive to goal alignment, motivating
employees to engage in discretionary behaviors. Moreover, empowerment and autonomy HPWS, goal
guide employees to fulfill organizational goals. To foster goal congruence among employees, conguence and
managers should incorporate servant leadership with an HR system that strengthens goal
congruence. The managerial implications include clarifying how servant leadership can best
servant
optimize HPWS for goal congruence. In addition to recognizing and cultivating managers leadership
with servant leadership qualities or potentials, companies may inspire their employees to step
beyond their boundaries and display discretionary behavior by increasing the perceptions of
goal congruence.
Besides, our research emphasizes the importance of servant leadership, indicating that
organizations should nurture servant leadership and focus on the determinants of servant
leadership. Individuals with servant leaders’ attributes should be evaluated in the recruiting
process and appropriate training programs should be designed to promote servant
leadership attributes. Moreover, management should incorporate adequate performance
appraisal and compensation systems endorsing servant leadership attributes among
managers.

5.3 Limitations and future research

As with any research, the study findings should be considered in light of several limitations.
First, we acknowledge that we used cross-sectional data that could not uncover the causal
relations among the variables. Future research can investigate the relationship by using a
longitudinal approach. Second, this study focused on the individual employee’s goal
congruence with organizational goals, operationalizing the organization as a single entity
(Colbert and Witt, 2009). Several researchers used the constituency approach that
conceptualized the organization into different units for goal comparability among
employees (Vancouver and Schmitt, 1991; Vancouver et al., 1994). Furthermore, the study
may explore incorporating supervisor-subordinate goal congruence and its impact on
employees’ performance. Third, while the responses from managers might overstate the
existing HR practices (Bowen and Ostroff, 2004; Wright and Boswell, 2002), this limitation
cannot be overlooked. The study could undertake employees’ perceived HPWS with existing
manager-perceived HPWS in cross-level analysis, focusing on employees’ perceived HPWS
on perceived goal congruence and OCB. Furthermore, several studies argue that HPWS
implementation differs from intended practices, such that employee-perceived HPWS are
distinct from manager-perceived HPWS (Bowen and Ostroff, 2004; Den Hartog et al., 2004).
Future research can examine both intended and perceived HPWS to broaden the
understanding of how employee-perceived HPWS affects perceived goal congruence
and OCB.
Fourth, even though the concept of servant leadership overlaps with other leadership
styles (e.g. transformational leadership, authentic leadership, self-sacrificing leadership and
ethical leadership), researchers have found a salient difference in characteristics and
dimensions of servant leadership (Liden et al., 2008; Van Dierendonck, 2011). However,
further study may focus on other leadership styles (e.g. transactional) to examine the
interactive effects on perceived goal congruence. Finally, although our study provides initial
evidence of the generalizability of the study variables in Bangladesh, future research may
replicate the current study in other countries to enhance acceptance. Furthermore, a cross-
cultural comparative study may reveal more generalized results.

6. Conclusion
This study examined a multi-level moderated mediation model, including the moderation
effect of servant leadership in the indirect effect of HPWS on OCB through perceived goal
IJOEM congruence. Results showed that HPWS is an important tool in generating perceptions of goal
congruence, which in turn motivates employees to exhibit OCB. Besides, the results
confirmed that employees’ perceived goal congruence mediated the impact of HPWS on
employees’ OCB for higher levels of servant leadership. This study aimed to contribute to the
extant research bridging the strategic HRM and leadership literature and identifying the
effect of contextual factors (i.e. HPWS) on perceived goal congruence. The practitioners
should focus on designing HPWS and nurturing servant leadership to align employees’ goals
with organizational goals and motivate them to exhibit discretionary behaviors.

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About the authors

Md. Shamsul Arefin is an Associate Professor of management in the Faculty of Business Studies at
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University in Gopalganj, Bangladesh.
He holds a BBA in management studies and an MBA in human resource management from the
University of Dhaka in Bangladesh. He received his PhD in human resource management from the
School of Management at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China. His research
interests include high-performance work systems, leadership, strategic HRM, work-family interface, and
employee-organization relationship. Md. Shamsul Arefin is the corresponding author and can be
contacted at: arreefin@gmail.com
Omar Faroque is an Assistant Professor of management in the Faculty of Business Studies at
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University in Gopalganj, Bangladesh.
He holds a BBA in management studies and an MBA in human resource management from the
IJOEM University of Chittagong in Bangladesh. He is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Business Studies at
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Gopalganj, Bangladesh.
His research interests include cross-cultural study, human behaviors at work.
Junwei Zhang is an Associate Professor of management in the School of Management, Guangdong
University of Technology, Guangzhou, China. He holds an MSc in Applied Psychology from the School
of Psychology at the Central China Normal University in China. He received his PhD in human resource
management from the School of Management at Huazhong University of Science and Technology,
China. His research interests include high-performance work systems, leadership, justice, and workplace
forgiveness.
Lirong Long is a Professor of management at the School of Management, Huazhong University of
Science and Technology in China. He received his PhD in psychology from Chinese Academy of
Sciences. His research interests include high-performance work systems, leadership, employee relations,
justice, employee creativity and career management. He has written numerous articles that have been
published in leading academic journals, such as Human Resource Management, Personnel Psychology,
Journal of Organizational Behavior, Human Resource Management Journal, Journal of Vocational
Behavior, and Asia-Pacific Journal of Management.

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