Search results

The purpose of this study is to investigate the various enablers of and constraints on employees' information sharing on an enterprise social media platform. It draws on two theoretical perspectives, communication privacy management theory and the technology affordance framework, as well as on empirical data in an attempt to paint a comprehensive picture of the factors shaping employees' decisions to share or not share information on enterprise social media.

This qualitative field study is based on semi-structured interviews and enterprise social media review data from a large Nordic media organization.

On an enterprise social media platform, privacy management principles shape employees' information-sharing decisions in relation to personal privacy boundaries, professional boundaries and assumed risks, online safety concerns and perceived audience. Additionally, the technological affordances of visibility, awareness, persistence and searchability shape employees' information sharing in varying and sometimes even contradictory ways. Finally, organizational factors, such as norms, tasks and media repertoires, are associated with employees' information-sharing decisions. Together, these three dimensions, personal, technological and organizational, form a model of the enablers of and constraints on employees' decisions to share information on enterprise social media.

This study extends the understanding of different factors shaping employees' decisions to share or not share information on enterprise social media. It extends the two applied theories by uniquely combining interpersonal privacy management principles with a technological affordance framework that focuses on the relationship between the user and the technology. This research also furthers the authors' knowledge of what privacy management principles mean in the organizational context. This study shows connections between the two theories and extends the understanding of technology affordances as not only action possibilities but also constraining factors. Additionally, by revealing what kinds of factors encourage and inhibit information sharing on enterprise social media, the results of this study support organizations in their efforts to manage information sharing on enterprise social media systems.

Since its inception, helping behavior has been viewed as a cooperative and affiliative behavior with prudent employee involvement. The paradox of employee involvement, however, implies that helping behavior can be intrusive and obstructive. The primary purpose of this article is to conceptualize helicopter helping as an intrusive and obstructive type of discretionary workplace behavior. In addition, the authors discuss possible antecedents and consequences of helicopter helping.

To conceptualize helicopter helping, the authors utilized the ABI/INFORM Global, Academic Search Complete, Business Source Complete, PsycARTICLES and JSTOR Archive Collection databases focusing on the helping behavior and helicopter parenting research. In particular, the authors applied the hovering nature of helicopter parenting to the conceptualization of helicopter helping exhibited by an employee in the organization. Additionally, the authors discuss antecedents and consequences of helicopter helping by integrating the bright and dark side of helping behavior research.

The authors conceptualize helicopter helping as an employee's excessive involvement in and interference with coworkers' task environment. Based upon the conceptualization of helicopter helping, the authors further propose that the need for achievement, Type-A personality, group rewards, high-performance group norms, a hierarchy organizational culture and strong social ties are possible antecedents of helicopter helping. Furthermore, the authors suggest that helicopter helping can result in reduced organization-based self-esteem, general self-efficacy, group creativity and innovation, quality of social-exchange relationships, learning and development and increased organizational vulnerability.

This article is one of the few studies exploring helping behavior from an intrusive and invasive perspective. Theoretically, the authors advance the dark side of helping behavior literature. Drawing upon the propositions, the authors offer some managerial recommendations that help managers mitigate the intrusive and obstructive type of helping in the organization.

The current paper aims to analyse the antecedents of leader–member exchange relationships (LMX) by specifically focusing on the influence of the supervisor’s feedback delivery tactic.

This study uses qualitative research methods with primary interviews as the main data source. Primary interviews with 40 managers from top supermarkets in Nigeria, South Africa and the UK were undertaken.

The authors found that both high-quality positive feedback and constructive criticisms produced the same feelings – more positive interpersonal relationships with their supervisors, higher levels of commitment to their organisations, higher job satisfaction and thus, high-quality LMX relationships. Where criticisms were delivered without greater interpersonal treatment, feedback was perceived as negative, and participants revealed lack of job satisfaction, lack of commitment to their organisations, poor interpersonal relationship with their supervisors, high turnover intent and thus low-quality LMX relationship.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the current paper is one of the first studies to highlight the consequences of different feedback delivery tactics on subsequent LMX quality particularly in African context. The authors specifically develop a process-based model of enhancing high-quality LMX, which shows the role of the supervisor’s feedback delivery tactic in the process. The authors also develop a process-based model that illustrates how negative/unconstructive feedback could result in a low-quality LMX. Finally, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is also one of the first to offer a comparative assessment between African and British (the UK) empirical settings and highlight some interesting dynamics concerning LMX quality and role of supervisor’s feedback delivery tactic.

Despite widespread recognition of the importance of mindfulness in organizational science literature, little is known about how mindfulness motivates individuals to configure information processing and team member exchange relationships to increase creative process engagement. Drawing on motivated information processing theory, this study conceptualizes and empirically examines whether and how mindfulness motivates individuals toward creative process engagement.

The authors collected data through an online survey from 311 respondents working in the Research and Development (R&D) departments of organizations in multiple industries in Pakistan. For analytical purposes, the authors have applied the structural equation modeling technique.

This study advances a different view of individual mindfulness on the creative process engagement in the following ways. First, mindfulness enables individuals to self-regulate in specific situations and become effective in fostering creative process engagement. Second, this study extends research on relational information processing by linking it to mindfulness and creative process engagement. Relational information processing partially mediates the relationship between mindfulness and creative process engagement. Third, this study highlights that mindfulness motivates individuals to focus more on developing quality working relationships, but they seem less willing to participate in idea generation and problem-solving solutions.

The study findings provide implications for research on mindfulness, creativity and motivated information processing to enhance individuals’ creative process engagements. The authors also discuss the implications for executives on the relational and creative benefits of mindfulness.