The influence of clan culture and supervisor support on Korean female managers’ subjective career success: mediating role of leadership competencies

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the structural relationships between clan culture, perceived supervisor support, leadership competencies and subjective career success among South Korean female managers. Design/methodology/approach A structural equation modeling was used to analyze the sixth wave of data from the Korean Women Manager Panel (KWMP) survey by the Korean Women’s Development Institute in South Korea. The panel respondents were 1,384 female managers in tenured positions at South Korean companies. Findings The results showed that clan culture and perceived supervisor support directly influenced female managers’ subjective career success and indirectly affected their subjective career success through leadership competencies at the same time. Research limitations/implications The respondents’ self-report can be a limitation as it can result in inflated outcomes in research findings. Even though no common method bias was found using Harmans’ single-factor test, the bias might not be removed completely. The study’s limitation includes the panel data and measures from KWMP, which constrained attempts to create constructs for measuring variables more precisely. Originality/value There is little research on the relationships between leadership competencies and other variables of female managers. The current study expanded the research on female managers’ leadership competencies by verifying that the leadership competencies play an important role in the relationships between clan culture, perceived supervisor support and subjective career success. The findings highlight that it is essential for female managers in South Korea to have supportive environments to receive fair treatment, demonstrate leadership competence in organizations and perform challenging tasks.