In this study, we examined the associations of the high-performance work system (HPWS) with employee innovative behavior, and tested a theoretical model in which these associations were mediated by employee voice (promotive and prohibitive voice) and moderated by psychological safety. Matched data were collected from 46 HR (Human Resource) managers and 374 full-time employees from 46 companies in China with multi-source and time-lagged techniques. We found that the HPWS is associated with employee behavior. Both the promotive voice and prohibitive voice partially mediate the relationship between HPWS and employee innovative behavior. Psychological safety moderates the relationship between HPWS and the promotive voice. However, psychological safety does not moderate the relationship between HPWS and the prohibitive voice. Furthermore, psychological safety moderates the mediation effect of the promotive voice between HPWS and employee innovative behavior. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

Building on the benign violation theory and self-construal theory, we conducted four studies to examine how culture and social distance would influence humor appreciation, sharing, and production. Study 1 found that Chinese participants appreciated and intended to share a joke involving distant others more than that involving close others. They also generated funnier titles for a joke involving distant others than close others. Studies 2a and 2b compared Chinese and Americans using various types of jokes, replicating the social distance effect among Chinese but finding little effect of social distance among Americans. In Study 3, interdependence-primed participants generated more humorous titles for a joke involving distant than close others, whereas independence-primed participants showed no effect of social distance. The research provides further support to the benign violation theory from a cultural perspective and has important implications for cross-cultural communications.

Based on the dynamic capability theory, this research investigated the effect of a high-performance work system on organizational performance, the mediating role of strategic flexibility, and the moderating role of an enterprise’s social network in this relationship. A total of 214 middle and senior managers from 58 Chinese enterprises were invited to participate in this research. The results showed that the high-performance work system is positively correlated with organizational performance and such correlation is partially mediated by strategic flexibility. Results found that the social network of an enterprise negatively moderated the relationship between a high-performance work system and strategic flexibility. However, the social network did not moderate the mediating role of strategic flexibility in high-performance work systems (HPWS) and organizational performance.