Search results

1 – 10 of 294
Article
Publication date: 17 April 2023

Dirk De Clercq

The purpose of this study is to examine how employees’ deference to leader authority may induce their unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) and whether this translation is…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine how employees’ deference to leader authority may induce their unethical pro-organizational behavior (UPB) and whether this translation is more likely to materialize in the presence of two personal factors (dispositional greed and proactive personality) and two organizational factors (workplace status and job rotation).

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical assessment of the research hypotheses relies on quantitative survey data collected among 350 Canadian-based employees who work in the healthcare sector. The statistical analyses include hierarchical moderated regression.

Findings

The role of deference to leader authority in stimulating UPB is greater when employees (1) have a natural disposition to always want more, (2) enjoy initiative taking, (3) believe that they have a great deal of prestige in the organization and (4) operate in an organizational environment in which job rotation across different departments is encouraged.

Practical implications

The results inform managers about the risk that employees’ willingness to obey organizational authorities unconditionally might escalate into negative behaviors that can cause harm to both the organization and employees in the long run, as well as the personal and organizational circumstances in which this escalation is more likely to occur.

Originality/value

This study extends extant research by investigating the conditional effects of an unexplored determinant of UPB, namely, a personal desire to defer to organizational leaders.

Article
Publication date: 14 December 2023

Shilin Liu, Noor Adwa Sulaiman and Suhaily Shahimi

Using attribution theory, this study examined the effects of situational factors [time budget pressure (TBP), organisational ethical culture (OEC) and quality control procedures…

Abstract

Purpose

Using attribution theory, this study examined the effects of situational factors [time budget pressure (TBP), organisational ethical culture (OEC) and quality control procedures (QCPs)] and dispositional factors [auditor professional commitment (APC) and internal locus of control (ILOC)] on audit quality threatening behaviour (AQTB). In addition, it observed the moderating role of religiosity in the relationship between situational and dispositional factors and AQTB.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 189 external auditors responded to the survey questionnaire. This study employed structural equation modelling via SmartPLS to analyse the proposed model.

Findings

The results documented that the OEC and QCPs situational factors were negatively related to the incidence of AQTB, whilst TBP was positively linked to the incidence of AQTB. Dispositional factors APC and ILOC were negatively connected to AQTB. Furthermore, the findings recorded the moderating effect of religiosity on most of the situational and dispositional factors related to AQTB.

Practical implications

Regulators and accounting firms' efforts to promote high audit quality (AQ) may consider the theological/religious lens and reinforce ethical culture and quality control to reduce AQTB.

Originality/value

The findings provide further insights into situational and dispositional factors that may cause or impede the incidence of AQTB in auditing practices, as well as the moderating role of religiosity in curbing AQTB.

Details

Asian Review of Accounting, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1321-7348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 April 2023

Krzysztof Nowak

When young employees enter the workforce, young employees typically require extensive task support to perform well and adjust to the workplace setting. However, this support often…

Abstract

Purpose

When young employees enter the workforce, young employees typically require extensive task support to perform well and adjust to the workplace setting. However, this support often incorporates controlling supervisor behaviors that can be stressful for them, such as negative feedback, close monitoring and time pressure. This can negatively impact young employees' turnover and work satisfaction. This article presents an empirical investigation of how individual differences related to self-regulation at work determine whether controlling supervisor behaviors are appraised as stressful by young adults preparing to enter the workforce.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 315 university students completed the Survey of Activity Styles (SAS) along with items relating to dispositional traits related to self-regulation in the workplace and appraising controlling supervisor behaviors. A hierarchical regression approach was used to test the study's hypotheses.

Findings

The findings demonstrate that perceiving controlling supervisor behaviors as stressful by young adults preparing to enter the workforce depends on a combination of dispositional traits: emotional reactivity, extraversion and the need for achievement as well as preferences in structuring and completing tasks: multitasking and a methodical approach to tasks.

Practical implications

The study's results suggest that depending on individual characteristics, providing effective task support to young adults entering the workforce may require adjusting how the task support is provided or guiding and training on how to approach and organize work tasks.

Originality/value

Previous studies focused on the organizational and personal benefits of task support provided to young adults entering the workforce; the study demonstrates how individual differences linked to perceiving controlling supervisor behaviors can undermine these benefits.

Details

Evidence-based HRM: a Global Forum for Empirical Scholarship, vol. 11 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-3983

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 April 2023

Sof Thrane, Lars Balslev and Ivar Friis

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how fairness evaluations are constructed in a B2B context.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how fairness evaluations are constructed in a B2B context.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper conducts a field study of Air Greenland and its internal and external customers based on strong structuration theory (Stones, 2005). The authors employ context and conduct analysis to analyze how fairness evaluations emerge across four levels of structuration.

Findings

The paper finds that fairness evaluations emerge as a result of the interaction between external institutional pressures, agents' internal structures, and situated reflection and outcomes. The construction of fairness evaluations was embedded in contradictory institutional structures, where groups of actors constructed different evaluations of fair profits, procedures and prices. Actors furthermore worked on changing position-practice relations which shifted relations, external structures and affected outcomes and fairness evaluations.

Originality/value

This paper offers a conceptualization of embedded agency as emerging across the four levels of structuration. This contributes to debates in strong structuration theory through conceptualizing and analyzing how actors may be both be constrained and oriented by structures while reflexively adapting structures across the four levels of structuration. The paper extends extant pricing fairness research by illustrating how actors' construction of fairness flexibly develop fairness evaluations while responding to legitimacy and societal demands, including the needs of particular customer groups.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 37 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 April 2023

Muhammad Rafique, Mastura Jaafar, Aliya Zafar and Saira Ahmed

Little research has focused on abusive supervision in the context of project management, despite its prevalence and detrimental influence on the psychological health of…

Abstract

Purpose

Little research has focused on abusive supervision in the context of project management, despite its prevalence and detrimental influence on the psychological health of subordinates. Therefore, drawing on affective event theory (AET), this study sought to investigate supervisor-level antecedents of abusive supervision by considering the mediating role of emotional exhaustion and moderating role of psychological resilience.

Design/methodology/approach

Utilizing a time-lagged design, data were collected through questionnaires from project managers and their immediate subordinates in construction projects. PROCESS macros were utilized to analyze a sample of 241 supervisor-subordinate dyads.

Findings

The findings revealed that time pressure and emotional exhaustion significantly predicted project manager abusive supervision. The authors also found that emotional exhaustion mediates the relationship between time pressure and project manager abusive supervision. Furthermore, the results show that highly resilient project managers become less emotionally exhausted when facing time pressure. Lastly, psychological resilience moderated the indirect effect of time pressure on project manager abusive supervision through emotional exhaustion.

Originality/value

According to Fordjour et al., abusive supervision is a critical factor that deteriorates the psychological health of subordinates in the project. Nevertheless, this phenomenon remains uninvestigated. Therefore, this research contributes to the project management literature by investigating key predictors of abusive supervision, thus filling both a theoretical and practical gap.

Details

International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior, vol. 26 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1093-4537

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 12 July 2023

Gideon Jojo Amos

The study examines the social and environmental responsibility indicators disclosed by three International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) corporate mining members in their…

1542

Abstract

Purpose

The study examines the social and environmental responsibility indicators disclosed by three International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) corporate mining members in their social and environmental reporting (SER) from 2006 to 2014. To achieve this aim, the author limits the data two years before (i.e. from 2006 to 2007) and six years after (i.e. from 2009 to 2014) the implementation of the Sustainable Development Framework in the mining sector in 2008.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the techniques of content analysis and interpretive textual analysis, this study examines 27 social and environmental responsibility reports published between 2006 and 2014 by three ICMM corporate mining members. The study develops a disclosure index based on the earlier work of Hackston and Milne (1996), together with other disclosure items suggested in the extant literature and considered appropriate for this work. The disclosure index for this study comprised six disclosure categories (“employee”, “environment”, “community involvement”, “energy”, “governance” and “general”). In each of the six disclosure categories, only 10 disclosure items were chosen and that results in 60 disclosure items.

Findings

A total of 830 out of a maximum of 1,620 social and environmental responsibility indicators, representing 51% (168 employees, 151 environmental, 145 community involvement, 128 energy, 127 governance and 111 general) were identified and examined in company SER. The study showed that the sample companies relied on multiple strategies for managing pragmatic legitimacy and moral legitimacy via disclosures. Such practices raise questions regarding company-specific disclosure policies and their possible links to the quality/quantity of their disclosures. The findings suggest that managers of mining companies may opt for “cherry-picking” and/or capitalise on events for reporting purposes as well as refocus on company-specific issues of priority in their disclosures. While such practices may appear appropriate and/or timely to meet stakeholders’ needs and interests, they may work against the development of comprehensive reports due to the multiple strategies adopted to manage pragmatic and moral legitimacy.

Research limitations/implications

A limitation of this research is that the author relied on self-reported corporate disclosures, as opposed to verifying the activities associated with the claims by the sample mining companies.

Practical implications

The findings from this research will help future social and environmental accounting researchers to operationalise Suchman’s typology of legitimacy in other contexts.

Social implications

With growing large-scale mining activity, potential social and environmental footprints are obviously far from being socially acceptable. Powerful and legitimacy-conferring stakeholders are likely to disapprove such mining activity and reconsider their support, which may threaten the survival of the mining company and also create a legitimacy threat for the whole mining industry.

Originality/value

This study innovates by focusing on Suchman’s (1995) typology of legitimacy framework to interpret SER in an industry characterised by potential social and environmental footprints – the mining industry.

Details

Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-1168

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 July 2023

Natalie Booth, Gail Derefaka, Roxanne Khan and Gayle Brewer

This study aims to build on existing literature on face-to-face aggression in intimate relationships and adopts Finkel’s I3 theory to investigate the relationship between adult…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to build on existing literature on face-to-face aggression in intimate relationships and adopts Finkel’s I3 theory to investigate the relationship between adult attachment style, dispositional self-control and cyber intimate partner aggression (IPA) perpetration and victimization.

Design/methodology/approach

Participants (N = 173) 20–52 years of age (M = 32.75 years, SD = 7.73, mode = 29 years) completed a series of standardized online measures to assess anxious and avoidant attachment, dispositional self-control and experience of cyber IPA (psychological, sexual and stalking), as both a perpetrator and victim.

Findings

Avoidant attachment was associated with increased perpetration of stalking and psychological abuse. Those high on avoidant attachment were also more likely to report that they were victims of cyber IPA psychological abuse and stalking. Self-control did not predict experience of cyber IPA, as a perpetrator or victim. Interactions between self-control and attachment were also non-significant.

Originality/value

This study addressed the paucity of cyber IPA research conducted with adult populations, by examining processes and factors to improve understanding of the experiences of online perpetration and victimization. The study also found evidence for the importance of impellance factors but not inhibiting factors (Finkel, 2008).

Details

Journal of Criminal Psychology, vol. 13 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2009-3829

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 June 2022

Dirk De Clercq and Renato Pereira

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between employees’ deference to leaders’ authority and their upward ingratiatory behavior, which may be invigorated by…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between employees’ deference to leaders’ authority and their upward ingratiatory behavior, which may be invigorated by two personal resources (dispositional greed and social cynicism) and two organizational resources (informational justice and forgiveness climate).

Design/methodology/approach

In this study survey data were collected among employees who work in the banking sector.

Findings

Strict adherence to leaders’ authority stimulates upward ingratiatory behavior, especially when employees (1) have a natural tendency to want more, (2) are cynical about people in power, (3) believe they have access to pertinent organizational information and (4) perceive their organization as forgiving of mistakes.

Practical implications

For human resource (HR) managers, this study points to the risk that employees’ willingness to comply blindly with the wishes of organizational leaders can escalate into excessive, inefficient levels of flattery. Several personal and organizational conditions make this risk particularly likely to materialize.

Originality/value

This study extends prior human resource management (HRM) research by revealing the conditional effects of an unexplored determinant of upward ingratiatory behavior, namely, an individual desire to obey organizational authorities unconditionally.

Article
Publication date: 9 April 2024

Evans Kwesi Mireku, Ernest Kissi, Ivy Maame Adwoa Abu, Alex Acheampong and Nana Kwame Peprah Armah

The construction sector is recognized for subjecting its workers to various psychological pressures and mental stressors. As a result, it is crucial to explore and discover…

Abstract

Purpose

The construction sector is recognized for subjecting its workers to various psychological pressures and mental stressors. As a result, it is crucial to explore and discover effective strategies to support these workers in managing and enduring these demanding circumstances. Mental toughness is a concept that has been advocated to aid individuals in coping and adapting to pressures and challenges. Therefore, it is imperative to explore strategies critical to developing mental toughness among construction professionals. Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify critical strategies for the development of mental toughness among construction professionals.

Design/methodology/approach

A comprehensive literature review was conducted using Google Scholar, Scopus, ScienceDirect and PubMed databases to identify the strategies for the development of mental toughness. These identified strategies were used to develop a structured closed-ended questionnaire to aid in data collection. Of the 317 questionnaires distributed, 207 were collected and used for data analysis. The data were analysed using mean score ranking and one sample t-test.

Findings

The study highlighted 12 critical strategies for the development of mental toughness among construction professionals. These include recognizing and rewarding achievements, taking time for self-care, organizing mental training programs, using positive self-talk, embracing a growth mindset, providing social support/developing a strong support network, creating a challenging training environment, engaging in regular physical exercise, fostering a mastery motivational climate, setting clear but challenging goals, practicing mental imagery and practicing reflection on setbacks and failures. The analysis results indicated that all of the strategies, except one (which involves practicing reflection on setbacks and failures), displayed significance. By incorporating these strategies, construction firms and the industry as a whole can empower their workforce to cope and/or overcome the various demands and stressors that work and life places on them.

Research limitations/implications

The study highlights the significance of recognizing and rewarding achievements, fostering a growth mindset and implementing mental training programs to cultivate mental toughness among construction professionals. Moreover, promoting self-care practices and offering social support are essential strategies for enhancing mental resilience in the construction industry. By adopting these evidence-based approaches, construction organizations can create a mentally tough workforce capable of handling the challenges and demands of the industry effectively.

Originality/value

This study contributes significantly to the general body of knowledge in mental health management among employees in the construction industry. It does set the pace for the development of the general well-being of construction professionals in the achievement of mental toughness goals.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology , vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2022

Matthew J.W. McLarnon, Ian R. Gellatly, David A. Richards and Ofer Arazy

Past research on the motivational processes underpinning knowledge sharing has assumed that the sharing processes are similar for all individuals. Yet, sharing is a fundamental…

Abstract

Purpose

Past research on the motivational processes underpinning knowledge sharing has assumed that the sharing processes are similar for all individuals. Yet, sharing is a fundamental affiliative behavior, and the sharing processes can differ between people. This study aims to propose and test a model of the moderating influence that employee attachment patterns have on the theory of reasoned action (TRA)-defined knowledge sharing processes.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors administered a questionnaire to 1,103 employees from a range of industries who participated in an online Qualtrics survey. Advanced forms for structural equation modeling and latent profile analysis were used to assess the proposed model.

Findings

The results revealed that participants in the study exhibited the latent profiles corresponding to secure, dismissive, preoccupied and fearful patterns. The preoccupied cohort had the lowest knowledge sharing behavior, yet the strongest links within the sharing process. Secure, dismissive and fearful had similar sharing levels, but the strength of the TRA-defined processes differed. These findings underscore equifinality: although sharing may be approximately equal across different attachment patterns, the fundamental processes underpinning sharing differ.

Research limitations/implications

The authors used self-report data, given that sharing attitudes, norms and intentions may not be overly amenable to ratings even from well-acquainted others. Further, the use of advanced analytical methods helps to minimize common method concerns. Additionally, causal mechanisms underscoring the TRA have been demonstrated (Ajzen and Fishbein, 2005), allowing us to explore the moderating role of attachment patterns.

Practical implications

This study speaks to the importance of considering employees’ attachment patterns, and developing comprehensive intra-organizational norms, policies and systems that support and encourage knowledge sharing from employees with a variety of attachment patterns.

Originality/value

This study uniquely contributes to knowledge sharing literatures by incorporating attachment patterns as moderators within the TRA-defined sharing processes. The authors provide important insights on the role of individuals’ attachment patterns have for knowledge sharing behaviors, but also highlight how structure of knowledge sharing differed across subgroups of employees, determined based on their dispositional attachment pattern.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 27 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

1 – 10 of 294