Global Journal of Education, Finance and Management (GJEFM) · Research article · Open access
From Upward Career-Development Signals to Employee Loyalty: The Mediating Roles of Promotion Opportunity Fairness and Organisational Support Under Resource Concentration in Chinese Private Firms
Dr. Gan Weixiang, Liu Qiaoran, Dr. Xiao Mengfei
18 July 2026 · Vol. 2, Issue 7, pp. 231-250
DOI: 10.65150/EP-gjefm/V2E7/2026-04
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What is this article about?
This study examines why employee loyalty declines among rank-and-file employees in Chinese private firms when promotion opportunities are unequally distributed and critical organisational resources are concentrated. Drawing on signalling theory, organisational justice theory and organisational support theory, it develops a PLS-SEM model of the effect of upward career-development signalling strength on employee loyalty and analyses 486 valid questionnaires using SmartPLS 4.
Article at a glance
- Published
- 18 July 2026
- Volume / issue / pages
- Vol. 2, Issue 7, pp. 231-250
- ISSN
- 3117-6771 (online) · 3117-6763 (print)
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0 — free to read and reuse with attribution
- Peer review
- Double-blind, at least two independent reviewers
- Publisher
- EP Journals Group
Abstract
This study examines why employee loyalty declines among rank-and-file employees in Chinese private firms when promotion opportunities are unequally distributed and critical organisational resources are concentrated. Drawing on signalling theory, organisational justice theory and organisational support theory, it develops a PLS-SEM model of the effect of upward career-development signalling strength on employee loyalty and analyses 486 valid questionnaires using SmartPLS 4. The results show that upward career-development signals have a positive effect on loyalty (β = 0.118, p = 0.008) and significantly strengthen perceived fairness of promotion opportunities (β = 0.462) and perceived organisational support (β = 0.418). The two indirect effects are 0.148 and 0.119, together accounting for 69.4% of the total effect. Perceived resource concentration weakens the effect of signalling on opportunity fairness (β = -0.146), reducing the conditional indirect effect from 0.176 to 0.120. The model explains 49.2% of the variance in loyalty and demonstrates out-of-sample predictive capability. These findings suggest that loyalty in private firms is strengthened not by repeating promotion-related slogans, but by making development signals credible through transparent criteria, genuinely contestable opportunities, process feedback and a demonstrable record of honouring commitments, while using procedural safeguards to limit the discounting effect of resource concentration.
Keywords: private enterprises, upward career-development signals, employee loyalty, fairness of promotion opportunities, perceived resource concentration, structural equation modelling
Cite this article
Dr. Gan Weixiang, Liu Qiaoran, & Dr. Xiao Mengfei (2026). From Upward Career-Development Signals to Employee Loyalty: The Mediating Roles of Promotion Opportunity Fairness and Organisational Support Under Resource Concentration in Chinese Private Firms. Global Journal of Education, Finance and Management, 2(7), 231-250. https://doi.org/10.65150/EP-gjefm/V2E7/2026-04
@article{Dr2026,
title = {From Upward Career-Development Signals to Employee Loyalty: The Mediating Roles of Promotion Opportunity Fairness and Organisational Support Under Resource Concentration in Chinese Private Firms},
author = {Dr. Gan Weixiang and Liu Qiaoran and Dr. Xiao Mengfei},
journal = {Global Journal of Education, Finance and Management},
year = {2026},
volume = {2},
number = {7},
pages = {231-250},
doi = {10.65150/EP-gjefm/V2E7/2026-04},
url = {https://doi.org/10.65150/EP-gjefm/V2E7/2026-04}
}Questions about this article
Who wrote this article?
Dr. Gan Weixiang, Liu Qiaoran, Dr. Xiao Mengfei.
Where and when was it published?
In Global Journal of Education, Finance and Management, Volume 2, Issue 7, pages 231-250, published by EP Journals Group on 18 July 2026.
Is this article free to read?
Yes. It is open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) licence, so anyone can read, share and reuse it with attribution.
What is the DOI of this article?
10.65150/EP-gjefm/V2E7/2026-04 (https://doi.org/10.65150/EP-gjefm/V2E7/2026-04).
How do I cite this article?
APA: Dr. Gan Weixiang, Liu Qiaoran, & Dr. Xiao Mengfei (2026). From Upward Career-Development Signals to Employee Loyalty: The Mediating Roles of Promotion Opportunity Fairness and Organisational Support Under Resource Concentration in Chinese Private Firms. Global Journal of Education, Finance and Management, 2(7), 231-250. https://doi.org/10.65150/EP-gjefm/V2E7/2026-04
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