Personnel Review

Ghosh, Debjani; Sekiguchi, Tomoki; Fujimoto, Yuka

2020 Personnel Review

doi: 10.1108/pr-12-2018-0480

The purpose of this paper is to develop an additional perspective on when and why intrinsic motivation predicts employee engagement by presenting a contextual boundary of psychological detachment in relation to the relationship between intrinsic motivation, employee creativity and employee engagement of workers.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 288 full-time Japanese workers using an online survey. The study used a bootstrap method (Preacher and Hayes, 2008) to test mediation, and a Hayes method (2013) to test moderation and a first-stage moderated mediation model.FindingsEmployee creativity mediated the relationship between intrinsic motivation and employee engagement, and the relationship between intrinsic motivation and creativity was moderated by psychological detachment. Additionally, the indirect effect of intrinsic motivation on employee engagement via creativity was moderated by psychological detachment.Research limitations/implicationsThe cross-sectional design may have limited the empirical inferences; however, the proposed model was based on robust theoretical contentions, and the study included an unrelated “marker variable” (neuroticism) as an effective means of identifying common method variance (CMV), thus mitigating the limitation of the design.Practical implicationsThis study has shown that intrinsically motivated employees who practice psychological detachment from work achieve higher creativity and stronger employee engagement.Originality/valueBased on the unconscious thought theory (UTT), job demand resource theory (JD-R), recovery processes (i.e. effort-recovery model) and self-determination theory (SDT), this paper adds to the literature by demonstrating the mediating and moderating mechanisms driving intrinsic motivation and employee engagement relationship.

Lyndon, Shiji; Pandey, Ashish; Navare, Ajinkya

2020 Personnel Review

doi: 10.1108/pr-05-2019-0262

The purpose of this paper is to extend the theoretical understanding and conceptualization of shared leadership by examining the impact of cognitive trust as an antecedent of shared leadership. Further, the study examines the mediating effect of team learning on relationship between shared leadership and team creativity.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a mixed method approach with sequential explanatory research strategy. Using a survey questionnaire, data from 44 teams were collected at two different time points. Semistructured interviews were carried out with 22 teams to explain the results that emerged from the quantitative study.FindingsThe study found that cognitive trust positively influences shared leadership. Further, team learning fully mediates the relationship between shared leadership and team creativity. The major themes that emerged from the qualitative study are participant's experiences of shared leadership in team, reasons to exert leadership, reasons to accept leadership and consequences of shared leadership.Practical implicationsOrganizations can enhance team creativity by promoting shared leadership in the organization.Originality/valueThis study examines the mediating process of team learning between shared leadership and team creativity. Mixed method approach adopted in the study explains the shared leadership process by building on both quantitative and qualitative research.

Ab Wahab, Mastura; Tatoglu, Ekrem

2020 Personnel Review

doi: 10.1108/pr-01-2019-0026

This study aims to examine the impact of chasing productivity demands on worker well-being and firm performance in manufacturing firms in Malaysia. Flexible work arrangements and human resources support are used as moderators to mitigate the adverse impacts associated with chasing productivity demands.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 213 workers from manufacturing firms through a survey questionnaire utilizing structural equation modeling.FindingsThe findings of the study show that flexible work arrangements play a significant role in moderating the relationship between chasing productivity demands and well-being, and between chasing productivity demands and firm performance. The study also shows that flexible work arrangements are important to buffer the adverse effects of chasing productivity demands on worker well-being. In addition, flexible work arrangements strengthen the positive effect of worker well-being on firm performance.Research limitations/implicationsThis study highlights the importance of flexible work arrangements in overcoming the negative impact of the relationship between chasing productivity demands and worker well-being and strengthening the positive impact of the relationship between worker well-being and firm performance.Originality/valueThis study has extended the variable of chasing productivity demands in the existing literature on the job demands–job control model, specifically in manufacturing firms.

Wang, Chih-Chieh; Hsieh, Hui-Hsien; Wang, Yau-De

2020 Personnel Review

doi: 10.1108/pr-04-2019-0147

Previous studies have found that abusive supervision undermines employees' work motivation and attitudes, namely work engagement and job satisfaction. However, less is known about the mechanisms by which abusive supervision negatively relates to employees' work engagement and job satisfaction. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, this study examines employee silence as a mediating mechanism linking abusive supervision to employees' work engagement and job satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data were collected from a sample of 233 full-time employees of a large hotel service company in Taiwan. Structural equation modeling analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results showed that abusive supervision has a positive association with employee silence. Moreover, the results showed that employee silence mediates the negative associations of abusive supervision with employees' work engagement and job satisfaction.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that organizational managers should provide supervisors with leadership interventions to prevent the occurrence of abusive supervision. Furthermore, organizational managers should provide employees with opportunities to voice their concerns through the use of organizational communication and participation, which can reduce employee silence and subsequently foster employee engagement and satisfaction at work.Originality/valueThis study advances our understanding of how abusive supervision results in poor work motivation and attitudes among employees. This contributes to the literature by identifying employee silence as a suitable mediating mechanism linking the negative associations of abusive supervision with employees' work engagement and job satisfaction.

Fernández-Menéndez, José; Rodríguez-Ruiz, Óscar; López-Sánchez, José-Ignacio; Delgado-Piña, María Isabel

2020 Personnel Review

doi: 10.1108/pr-02-2019-0082

The purpose of this paper is to study how job reductions affect product innovation and marketing innovation in a sample of 2,034 Spanish manufacturing firms in the period 2007–2014.Design/methodology/approachPoisson and logistic regression models with random effects were used to analyse the impact of downsizing on some innovation outcomes of firms.FindingsThe results of this research show that the stressful measure of job reductions may have unexpected consequences, stimulating innovation. However downsizing combined with radical organisational changes such as new equipment, techniques or processes seems to have a negative impact on product and marketing innovation.Originality/valueThis research has two original features. First, it explores the unconventional direction of causality from the planned elimination of jobs to innovation outputs. Secondly, the paper looks at the combined effect of downsizing and other restructuring measures on different types of innovation. Following the threat-rigidity theory, we assume that this combination represents a major threat for survivors that leads to lower levels of product and marketing innovation.

Lin, Chieh-Peng; Huang, Her-Ting; Huang, Tse Yao

2020 Personnel Review

doi: 10.1108/pr-12-2018-0527

Drawing upon social exchange theory, this study justified the indirect effects of responsible leadership and knowledge sharing on job performance through the mediation of work engagement and helping initiatives. Job tenure was examined as a moderator.Design/methodology/approachThe hypotheses of this study were empirically tested with structural equation modeling (SEM) and moderated regression analyses. This study conducted a field survey on 512 knowledge workers who employed a high portion of or highly specialized tacit knowledge to do their job.FindingsThis research presented that both work engagement and helping initiatives mediated the indirect effects of responsible leadership and knowledge sharing on job performance. The empirical results revealed that job tenure moderated the relationships between responsible leadership and work engagement, and between responsible leadership and helping initiatives. However, job tenure did not moderate the relationships between knowledge sharing and work engagement, and between knowledge sharing and helping initiatives.Originality/valueThis research is one of the few to verify the key role of responsible leadership from the theoretical aspect of social exchange, complementing the leadership literature based on stakeholder theory. This research is a pioneer by taking into account the simultaneous influences of responsible leadership and knowledge sharing on job performance in a single model setting.

Klimchak, Malayka; Ward Bartlett, A.K.; MacKenzie, William

2020 Personnel Review

doi: 10.1108/pr-03-2019-0096

The purpose of this study is to explore factors that help to determine employee trust in and affective commitment toward the organization.Design/methodology/approachData for this study were collected using surveys administered to employees of a company located in the southeastern United States. The final sample included 391 matched supervisor–subordinate dyads.FindingsWe found organizational signals of trustworthiness led to affective commitment through increased levels of employee trust. Employees and supervisors who perceived HR professionals to be competent, who felt organizational information distributions were of high quality and who felt the organization disclosed relevant information exhibited higher levels of trust in the organization. Employees showed higher affective commitment when they trusted the organization. We found that supervisor trust directly impacted subordinate affective commitment as well.Originality/valueThese findings help extend signaling theory from the attraction of employees to their retention and help researchers and practitioners alike to understand the organizational trust- and commitment-building process.

Edgar, Fiona

2020 Personnel Review

doi: 10.1108/pr-03-2019-0110

The behavioral framework presents a logic for understanding the relationships between characteristics of the organization and the HRM system. Drawing on this logic to connect the broader management oriented area of strategy with HRM, a micro-level lens is used to examine how competitive strategies and human resource (HR) practice subsystems cohere to influence employees' role behaviors and performance outcomes.Design/methodology/approachOnline survey data were collected from 301 employees working in the retail trade and hospitality segments of New Zealand's service industry.FindingsRelationships represented in the behavioral model are supported. Specifically, this study finds identifiable differences between the types of HR practices employed and the competitive strategy followed by an organization. Distinguishable sets of HR practices could also be connected to discernible employee role behaviors, which in turn, were related to strategically-aligned performance outcomes. Some commonality in these relationships were evident however.Practical implicationsHR practitioners need to be cognizant of their organization's competitive strategy and ensure the design and messages sent by their HRM system supports the realization of desirable employee role behaviors that promote organizational success. This alignment is supported with job descriptions that clearly articulate to prospective employees the role behaviors required, along with screening processes that support this assessment.Originality/valueThis descriptive, exploratory study presenting data about the alignment between competitive strategies, HR practices, behavioral and performance outcomes contributes to our understanding of contingency arguments and employees' experiences and reactions to HRM. Moreover, by adopting a particularistic focus, this research is able to highlight the salient role of context in SHRM research.

Melián-Alzola, Lucía; Domínguez-Falcón, Carmen; Martín-Santana, Josefa D.

2020 Personnel Review

doi: 10.1108/pr-08-2019-0456

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the role of hospital leaders and high-performance work practices (HPWPs) in intensive care units (ICUs) in organizational agility and its impact on healthcare personnel satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachThis study was carried out in three ICUs of an important Spanish public hospital, one for adults, one paediatric and one neonatal. The unit of analysis was ICUs personnel (324 individuals: 14.5%, 48.8% and 36.7% from the categories of doctors, nurses and nurses' aides, respectively) who were invited to participate in the study. The sample had 248 individuals, with a sampling distribution by categories that was quite similar to that of the population. To test the hypotheses proposed, structural equations modeling (SEM) were used as the maximum likelihood estimation method.FindingsThe results confirm the proposed model and reveal the importance of the human dimension in ICUs on hospital agility and performance in terms of satisfaction of the clinical staff working in this area.Originality/valueThis paper is original because it analyses units of high complexity, such as ICUs from a management and non-clinical perspective. In addition, it studies the role of hospital managers and HPWPs on employee outcomes, as well as in-hospital responsiveness in a very dynamic context that demands agility on the management approach.

Wijewardena, Nilupama; Samaratunge, Ramanie; Kumara, Ajantha Sisira; Newman, Alex; Abeysekera, Lakmal

2020 Personnel Review

doi: 10.1108/pr-05-2019-0251

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether family-to-business support acts as a job resource that attenuates the negative effects of work demands on the stress and creativity of women micro-entrepreneurs in the informal sector in Sri Lanka.Design/methodology/approachData from 359 women micro-entrepreneurs and their respective case officers in local government were used to test the hypothesized relationship between work demands and their creativity through the mediating mechanism of stress and the moderating effect of family-to-business support on the said relationship.FindingsWork demands reduced creativity through heightening the levels of stress faced by women micro-entrepreneurs. However, family-to-business support reduced the negative influence of work demands on creativity through stress.Practical implicationsWomen micro-entrepreneurs should build strong family ties to obtain support from family members. In addition, government training programs that target women micro-entrepreneurs should be extended to include their immediate family members.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature by examining whether family-to-business support buffers the negative effects of work demands for women micro-entrepreneurs in the informal sector. In doing so it makes a theoretical contribution by testing the key tenets of the JD-R model in entrepreneurial settings.