Title: Job crafting and guanxi networks: sustaining organisational commitment among non-tenured faculty in Chinese double first-class universities

Authors: Xingyu Lin; Aida Hanim A. Hamid; Yi Li

Addresses: Faculty of Education, The National University of Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia ' Faculty of Education, The National University of Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia ' School of Marxism, Shenzhen University of Information Technology, Guangdong, China

Abstract: Amid increasing employment precarity within China's double first-class universities, understanding how non-tenured faculty sustain organisational commitment addresses a critical challenge. This study posits that these academics strategically leverage job crafting and guanxi-based relational capital to navigate institutional constraints. Using a mixed-methods approach - quantitative data from 412 faculty and in-depth interviews with 35 educators - we examine the mechanisms underlying their commitment. The findings highlight the pivotal mediating role of guanxi networks: they transform proactive behaviours into sustained organisational attachment by facilitating resource access, relational negotiation, and cultural loyalty. This relational mediation not only sustains faculty engagement but also reveals a culturally embedded resilience mechanism that counters prevailing narratives of academic precarity as passivity. By emphasising the strategic use of informal social capital, the study advances theoretical understanding of organisational commitment in a Chinese context and offers practical insights for supporting precarious academics through culturally sensitive management strategies. We argue that in hierarchical, relationship-oriented cultures, informal relational resources function as a vital organisational asset, enabling resilience where formal structures create precarity.

Keywords: organisational commitment; job crafting; guanxi; relational capital; precarious employment; Chinese higher education; cultural resilience.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBPIM.2026.153293

International Journal of Business Process Integration and Management, 2026 Vol.13 No.1, pp.43 - 53

Received: 02 Aug 2025
Accepted: 05 Nov 2025
Published online: 01 May 2026 *

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