Mechanisms of Organizational Cultural Tightness on Work Engagement during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Moderating Role of Transformational Leadership

Cultural tightness–looseness, one of the cultural dimensions that play an essential role in organizational development, is changing the perception of psychology and behavior in organizations. This study conducted a paired questionnaire survey of leaders and their employees from five Chinese companies over three periods during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results found that organizational cultural tightness was more influenced by transformational leadership. Different from previous findings, in the context of the Chinese epidemic, organizational cultural tightness positively predicted employees’ work engagement with the moderating effect of transformational leadership. Team-member exchange also mediated employees’ work engagement, which had a facilitative effect on employees’ work engagement. In future research, the contingent effects of other leadership styles and organizational cultural tightness will be explored to reveal the different mechanisms of action on employees’ work engagement.