Search results

Grounded in the framework of social learning theory (SLT), the current study explores the impact of leaders’ unethical proorganizational behavior (UPB) on their subordinates’ self-management and moral self-efficacy, which, in turn, affect knowledge hiding and sharing among followers. This study aims to examine how instrumental thinking influences the relationship between leader UPB and subordinate behaviors, shaping knowledge sharing and hiding.

Using a longitudinal approach, this research uses a two-wave data collection strategy with a one-month interval. The study cohort comprises 378 employees drawn from technology service firms situated in China.

Empirical findings confirm that leader UPB is linked to increased follower self-management and knowledge hiding, as well as reduced moral self-efficacy. Instrumental thinking moderates these effects, amplifying knowledge hiding and diminishing moral self-efficacy while reducing knowledge sharing.

The study contributes to the existing literature on UPB by offering insights into the distinct consequences of leader UPB on knowledge-related behaviors of followers. Furthermore, the exploration of employees’ instrumental thinking in the context of leader UPB underscores the strategic manipulation of knowledge to fulfill individual goals, thereby enriching the underpinnings of the SLT. The study underscores the imperative for organizations to grasp the implications of UPB and underscores the necessity for stringent ethical frameworks to mitigate its deleterious impact.

The study contributes to the existing literature on UPB by offering insights into the distinct consequences of leader UPB on knowledge-related behaviors of followers. Furthermore, the exploration of employees’ instrumental thinking in the context of leader UPB underscores the strategic manipulation of knowledge to fulfill individual goals, thereby enriching the underpinnings of the SLT. The study underscores the imperative for organizations to grasp the implications of UPB and underscores the necessity for stringent ethical frameworks to mitigate its deleterious impact.

The present study addresses a gap in the current literature by elucidating the multifaceted outcomes of leaders’ UPB on paradoxical behaviors related to knowledge sharing and hiding among followers. This nuanced examination underscores the need to comprehend the intricate contingencies that accentuate the effects of UPB, particularly in the realm of leadership dynamics. Grounded in SLT, this study delves into leadership dynamics and ethical decision-making.

The rise in the instances of ethical scandals in recent times has brought to light the hitherto ignored phenomenon of unethical proorganizational behavior (UPB) by employees. Drawing upon the social exchange theory, this study aims to examine the role of perceived organizational support (POS) and organizational identification on UPB. The research also investigated the moderating role of core self-evaluation (CSE) and positive reciprocity beliefs.

The hypotheses were tested with three-wave survey data collected from 306 executives from India. Data was analyzed using mediation and moderated mediation analyses on PROCESS v 3.0 macro.

Results showed that organizational identification mediated the relationship between POS and UPB. Further, CSE and positive reciprocity beliefs were seen to moderate the mediated relationship providing support for the moderated mediation framework.

The study highlights the importance of clear code of ethics, communication of ethical guidelines and ethical behavior of the managers as some of the ways to reduce the menace of UPB. Further, managers should be more vigilant toward the employees low on CSE and high on positive reciprocity beliefs as they are more prone to engage in UPB given their identification with the organization.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the mediating role of organizational identification in the relationship between POS and UPB. Further, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous study has explored the moderating role of CSE and positive reciprocity beliefs in the aforesaid mediation.

Purpose: Although there has been increasing scholarly attention regarding the unethical concerns of prosocial behavior at work, scarce research has been done to conceptualize this type of compassionate behavior. To address this research gap, we identify the unethical concerns of a supervisor's compassion and address how this compassion, when combined with unethical implications, impacts subordinates' unethical behavior. Study Design/Methodology/Approach: We drew on sensemaking theory to develop a theoretical model and a four-quadrant taxonomy explaining how subordinate's interpretation of the context and supervisors' actions affected their unethical behavior through emotional responses and shared moral identity with supervisors. Findings: Our propositions suggest that subordinates' different roles in supervisors' compassionate process – the sufferer (receiver) or bystander (witness), and supervisors' unethical behavior at the domain of private or public activities impact their interpretations of meaning and shape their corresponding emotional responses, moral identity, and unethical behavior. Originality/Value: Our theoretical model contributes to a wholistic understanding of compassion at work by identifying the unethical implications of compassion appraisal. It depicts the complex process of how leaders' contradictory information shapes employees' unethical behavior. Research Limitations: The theoretical model and propositions lack the support of empirical data.

Knowledge hiding, intentionally withholding work-relevant information, is detrimental to organizations, yet practiced by supervisors and employees. Based on social learning and social exchange theories, this study aims to uncover the effects of supervisor knowledge hiding, abusive supervision and employee political skill on employee knowledge hiding behaviors, namely, evasive hiding, playing dumb and rationalized hiding. We compare the two destructive supervisor behaviors in their predictive values toward employee knowledge hiding and examine the role of employee political skill in mitigating their effects.

Based on survey data collected from 598 German-speaking employees, we used path analysis to test the hypotheses.

The two destructive supervisor behaviors and employee political skill predicted employee evasive hiding and playing dumb; supervisor knowledge hiding additionally predicted employee rationalized hiding. The predictive value of supervisor knowledge hiding was 2.5 times larger than that of abusive supervision and political skill. The effects of destructive supervisor behaviors were weaker for more politically skilled employees.

We examine two destructive supervisor behaviors conjointly and show the differences between them regarding their predictive value toward employee knowledge hiding. Furthermore, we investigate the role of political skill in knowledge hiding.

Purpose: The psychological contract involves expectations and responsibilities from both employees and organizations. Recently, arguments have emerged that link employee expectations to increasing individual entitlement beliefs which may not involve reciprocity. Equity theory suggests that employees continually assess their personal outcomes for fairness and that these equity perceptions could be affected by entitlement beliefs. The question that then arises is, how do entitled employees pursue these unmet beliefs and what are the implications if these beliefs are met or unmet? Approach: In this chapter, we present a conceptual model proposing that emotion regulation motives (instrumental or hedonic) influence how employees with unmet entitlement beliefs seek to advance their claims. Using equity theory as an underpinning theory, we conceptualize that instrumental and hedonic emotion regulation motives lead to different job satisfaction levels. We also argue that actual job performance moderates this relationship. Originality/Value: Understanding this process is essential as managers may constantly deal with employee entitlement beliefs, and low job satisfaction has been linked to poor employee and organizational outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The paper investigates whether a family firm's control context is directly associated with a manager's stewardship attitude or whether this relationship is mediated by the manager's perception with respect to the fairness of the control processes.

The authors have sent a survey to family businesses in Brazil. The authors tested the hypotheses with the data collected from 141 responding family and nonfamily managers with the use of structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses (SmartPLS).

The authors find that more participative and more formal controls are associated with higher procedural justice perceptions. Zooming in on the types of control, namely forward-looking action controls, like target setting (TS), and backward-looking results controls, like performance measurement (PM), the authors observe that TS is significantly positively associated with stewardship identification through a manager's procedural justice perceptions for both control characteristics (partial mediation for participative TS and full mediation for formal TS). PM on the other hand is only significantly directly related to a stewardship identification if it is of a participative character. In addition, the authors find a significant moderating effect of family affiliation, increasing the strength of the association between PM procedural justice and stewardship identification for nonfamily managers.

Prior literature focused on discussing stewardship attitudes and behaviors in family firms, but few provided empirical evidence that a stewardship attitude in a family firm is associated with contextual factors, like the design of controls in family firms in combination with a manager's individual perception of family firm's process factors.