THE DARK SIDE OF GUANXI HRM PRACTICES: EXAMINING MORAL DISENGAGEMENT, UNETHICAL PRO-SUPERVISOR BEHAVIOR, AND ORGANIZATIONAL CYNICISM UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF POWER DISTANCE ORIENTATION

Abstract

TRelational favoritism in human resource management remains pervasive in high power distance economies, yet its simultaneous behavioral, cognitive-moral, and attitudinal consequences are poorly understood. Drawing on social information processing theory, this study examines how guanxi HRM practices personnel decisions based on personal relationships rather than merit shape employee pro-supervisor behavior, moral disengagement, and organizational cynicism, and tests power distance orientation as a cultural boundary condition of each relationship. Survey data were collected from 400 full-time employees of commercial banks in Punjab, Pakistan, and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling in SmartPLS 4. Results show that guanxi HRM practices positively predict all three outcomes, revealing a bifurcation of loyalty whereby employees behaviorally invest in the supervisor who controls relational rewards while morally and attitudinally withdrawing from the organization that tolerates them. Power distance orientation moderates these relationships asymmetrically: it strengthens the effect of guanxi HRM on pro-supervisor behavior while buffering its effects on moral disengagement and organizational cynicism. Multi-group analysis indicates the cynicism response is more pronounced among female employees. The findings extend social information processing theory by specifying cultural value orientation as the interpretive filter through which identical HRM cues yield divergent responses, transport the guanxi HRM framework beyond China to the referall-driven South Asian workplace, and alert managers and regulators to the hidden costs of relational personnel systems that purchase supervisory loyalty at the price of moral and attitudinal erosion.