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“Things have to change!” How and when change-oriented leaders and idea championing employees can address organizational underperformance through performance pressures

Muhammad Umer Azeem (Organization, Management and Human Resources Department, ESSCA School of Management, Lyon, France)
Dirk De Clercq (Goodman School of Business, Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada)
Inam Ul Haq (Research Center, Léonard de Vinci Pôle Universitaire, Paris, France)

Management Decision

ISSN: 0025-1747

Article publication date: 22 December 2022

Issue publication date: 25 April 2023

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Abstract

Purpose

This study investigates how and when employees' exposure to organizational leaders who propose major changes might direct those employees toward efforts to mobilize support for innovative ideas. It specifically theorizes a mediating role of performance pressure beliefs and a moderating role of perceived organizational underperformance in this process.

Design/methodology/approach

Three-wave, multi-rater survey data were collected among employees and their supervisors across various industries.

Findings

A critical explanatory mechanism that links change-oriented leadership with enhanced championing efforts is that employees experience performance-related hardships. The extent to which employees perceive that their organization is unable to meet its own performance targets triggers this process.

Practical implications

For organizational decision makers, the findings identify results-driven pressures as key mechanisms by which employees' exposures to change-oriented leadership can be leveraged to promote novel ideas. This translation is more likely among employees who are convinced that there is significant room for organizational improvement.

Originality/value

This study unravels the previously unexplored link between change-oriented leadership and idea championing, pinpointing the influences of two performance-related aspects: beliefs about strenuous organization-induced performance expectations and perceptions of an underperforming employer.

Keywords

Citation

Azeem, M.U., De Clercq, D. and Ul Haq, I. (2023), "“Things have to change!” How and when change-oriented leaders and idea championing employees can address organizational underperformance through performance pressures", Management Decision, Vol. 61 No. 5, pp. 1395-1412. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-03-2022-0307

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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