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Article
Publication date: 4 August 2022

Jenny Chen and Helena D. Cooper-Thomas

Being different from others can be stressful, and this may be especially salient for newcomers during organizational socialization when they may be expected to fit in. Thus…

Abstract

Purpose

Being different from others can be stressful, and this may be especially salient for newcomers during organizational socialization when they may be expected to fit in. Thus, drawing on conservation of resources theory, the authors examine the effects of newcomers' individual differentiation on their subsequent emotional exhaustion.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors test a multiple mediation model with data from 161 UK graduates collected at three times using structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results largely support the hypotheses, identifying individual differentiation as a motivational resource associated with the proactive behavior of changing work procedures. In turn, changing work procedures links with the personal resource of positive affect, which facilitates the relational resource of social acceptance and predicts lower emotional exhaustion. Individual differentiation predicts lower social acceptance also, but not via monitoring as anticipated.

Originality/value

The results provide novel insights into the effects of individual differentiation on emotional exhaustion in the context of organizational socialization. The study highlights that, while newcomers high in individual differentiation face depletion of the relational resource of social acceptance, they can still adjust well and avoid emotional exhaustion through changing work procedures to foster positive affect.

Details

Evidence-based HRM: a Global Forum for Empirical Scholarship, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-3983

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 March 2021

Elena Zubielevitch, Helena D. Cooper–Thomas and Gordon W. Cheung

The growing instability of the labor market will almost certainly result in more employees whose values misfit with their organization’s. This paper draws from the…

Abstract

Purpose

The growing instability of the labor market will almost certainly result in more employees whose values misfit with their organization’s. This paper draws from the exit-neglect-voice-loyalty model to examine a broader range of responses to misfit; explores sociopolitical resources as the mechanisms through which misfit transmits its effects and investigates job mobility as a boundary condition enhancing or constraining responses to misfit.

Design/methodology/approach

A novel model (N = 152 New Zealand employees) examined links from misfit to two sociopolitical resources (perceived influence and organizational responsiveness) and from these to exit-neglect-voice-loyalty moderated by job mobility. Supplemental analyses examine moderated-mediation.

Findings

Misfit negatively predicted both sociopolitical resources, perceived influence and organizational responsiveness. Moderated-mediation analyses showed that the constructive reactions to misfit (voice and loyalty) were predicted conditionally at low levels of job mobility and indirectly via the respective sociopolitical resources. In contrast, destructive reactions to misfit (exit and neglect) were predicted directly, with neglect predicted at high levels of job mobility.

Research limitations/implications

Implications for human resource practitioners highlight the deleterious repercussions of misfit but also include the conditions under which misfit employees may attempt to constructively salvage their employment relationship.

Originality/value

This study integrates a broader set of concurrent responses to misfit using the exit-neglect-voice-loyalty typology, as well as introducing sociopolitical perspectives to the literature on misfit.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 36 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 May 2021

Jenny Chen and Helena D. Cooper-Thomas

With organizations hiring from increasingly diverse labor markets, this study aims to examine the implications of newcomers’ individual differentiation for their group…

Abstract

Purpose

With organizations hiring from increasingly diverse labor markets, this study aims to examine the implications of newcomers’ individual differentiation for their group identification. The paper proposes and tests a self-verification process in which individual differentiation predicts group identification through role innovation under positive social feedback on innovation (moderated mediation). Simultaneously, a self-categorization pathway is examined of the indirect negative influence of individual differentiation on group identification through role modeling (mediation).

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data were collected at three time points from 161 UK university alumni.

Findings

The analyses support a self-verification pathway: newcomers with high individual differentiation report higher group identification via role innovation only when they receive positive feedback on their innovative actions. However, there was no support for a self-categorization pathway, with no indirect relationship found between individual differentiation and group identification via role modeling.

Practical implications

HR practitioners and managers who are responsible for helping newcomers adjust should consider newcomers’ individual differentiation. Specifically, newcomers with high individual differentiation may more successfully navigate their transition and identify with their workgroup when given appropriate support, such as positive social feedback on their innovative actions.

Originality/value

The study extends organizational socialization research by focusing on when newcomers with high individual differentiation may experience group identification. The findings highlight the important role of positive social feedback on group identification; this suggests a potential means by which newcomers with high individual differentiation can settle successfully.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 36 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 November 2020

Yasha Afshar-Jalili, Helena D. Cooper-Thomas and Mahshad Fatholahian

This study aims to identify and classify the range of antecedents of counterproductive knowledge behavior (CKB) to provide a better understanding of their implications for…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to identify and classify the range of antecedents of counterproductive knowledge behavior (CKB) to provide a better understanding of their implications for addressing CKB.

Design/methodology/approach

The study includes three studies. Using meta-analysis (Study 1) and meta-synthesis (Study 2), the authors reviewed extant primary quantitative and qualitative studies to aggregate information on the antecedents of CKB identified to date. In Study 3, these antecedents were modeled schematically by using the matrix of cross-impact multiplications (MICMAC) analysis.

Findings

The meta-analysis and meta-synthesis (Studies 1 and 2) yielded 28 antecedents of CKB. These were categorized into five groups of characteristics, relating to the workplace, leadership, interpersonal, individual differences and knowledge. Then, in Study 3, the antecedents were categorized according to their interrelatedness and strength of effects (using four quadrants comprising autonomous, dependence, driving and linkage factors).

Originality/value

This study takes an integrative approach to the CKB literature, both by aggregating underlying constructs (knowledge hoarding, hiding, etc.) and in aggregating quantitative and qualitative literature. This prevents silos and integrates knowledge across a range of CKB studies. Besides, the authors reveal the relative role of antecedents by modeling them.

Abstract

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 35 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Article
Publication date: 4 March 2021

Rebecca S. Lau, Gordon W. Cheung and Helena D. Cooper–Thomas

This study aims to examine two individual dispositions, propensity to trust and reciprocation wariness, as antecedents of team–member exchange (TMX) and how shared leadership…

1006

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine two individual dispositions, propensity to trust and reciprocation wariness, as antecedents of team–member exchange (TMX) and how shared leadership moderates these relationships. It also investigates work engagement as a consequence of TMX.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 175 employees in 42 teams; a multilevel random slope model was used to test the moderating effect of shared leadership at the team level and across levels.

Findings

Shared leadership provides a boundary condition for the relationships from propensity to trust and reciprocation wariness to work engagement through TMX. At the individual level, the positive effects of propensity to trust and negative effects of reciprocation wariness on TMX, and their indirect effects on work engagement through TMX, were weaker at higher shared leadership. At the team level, the positive relationship between propensity to trust and TMX was unconditional on shared leadership, whereas the relationship between reciprocation wariness and TMX was moderated by shared leadership. At the team level, shared leadership had positive effects on TMX and work engagement.

Practical implications

Managers can adopt shared leadership to encourage social exchanges among team members to enhance TMX and work engagement.

Originality/value

The study extends the TMX research by investigating dispositions as antecedents and work engagement as a consequence at both individual and team levels. It also identifies the moderating role played by team-level shared leadership, which provides a strong situation supporting reciprocal interactions.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 36 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 September 2022

Tago L. Mharapara, Helena D. Cooper-Thomas, Matthias Stadler and Ann Hutchison

To provide evidence-based recommendations on the types of leader behaviors organizations should target for a better return on leader training investment the authors draw on the…

Abstract

Purpose

To provide evidence-based recommendations on the types of leader behaviors organizations should target for a better return on leader training investment the authors draw on the destructive and constructive leadership behavior model and the bad is stronger than good proposition to examine the following question: Compared to constructive leader behavior, does destructive leader behavior have a greater effect on follower outcomes or is something more nuanced occurring?

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used Qualtrics online panels to collect data (N = 211 and N = 342) from full-time office-based participants. They used multivariate latent regression and dominance weights analyses to examine the relative strength of destructive versus constructive leader behaviors on followers' satisfaction with leader, and task performance.

Findings

Across both samples, leader hypocrisy and leader social undermining had relatively stronger effects on follower satisfaction with leader. Leader knowledge hiding had a relatively strong effect on follower task performance. Leader ethical conduct had the strongest association with follower satisfaction with leader in both samples. Hence, the authors' results were aligned with the bad is stronger than good proposition.

Originality/value

The authors' show that white-collar organizations can benefit from improved follower attitudes and performance by reducing leader hypocrisy and social undermining (destructive behavior) while simultaneously promoting leader ethical conduct (constructive behavior).

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 43 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 September 2020

Bianca N. Jackson, Suzanne C. Purdy and Helena D. Cooper Thomas

Highly-experienced allied health professionals have the opportunity to perform at the expert-level by sharing knowledge and skills with more junior staff, with the aim of…

Abstract

Purpose

Highly-experienced allied health professionals have the opportunity to perform at the expert-level by sharing knowledge and skills with more junior staff, with the aim of upskilling the workforce. The study explored the current motivators, aspirations and the role of work in the life of highly-experienced practitioners, revealing factors that hinder or support them to further develop their own expertise and be inspiring role-models and mentors for less experienced staff.

Design/methodology/approach

Taking a grounded theoretical research design, we report on interviews with 45 allied health practitioners with at least seven years of professional experience from different professions and across organisational sectors. Transcripts were coded iteratively in conjunction with reviewing the literature, and cases were categorised to form a conceptual typology of work orientation.

Findings

Four work orientations are characterised capturing the diversity of the allied health workforce, particularly in relation to two dimensions of personal fulfilment and future ambition. The relationship between the types and expert-level performance is discussed, leading to recommendations for support that can be implemented to develop and sustain expert-level performance within a community.

Originality/value

A new view of work orientation is introduced that relates expert-level performance with meaningful work. The findings highlight a diversity of work orientation for highly-experienced allied health professionals, that all require managerial awareness. Once recognised, the four types would benefit from different supports that could develop and maintain expert-level performance in those that seek it. Alternatives are also available for those that do not. Implications for workforce policy are discussed.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 31 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 March 2021

Paulette L. Brazzale, Helena D. Cooper–Thomas, Jarrod Haar and Roy K. Smollan

The purpose of this paper is to address assumptions about the prevalence of change in human resource management (HRM) and organizational change literature, providing evidence from…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address assumptions about the prevalence of change in human resource management (HRM) and organizational change literature, providing evidence from employee perceptions across three countries. The results indicate change was commonplace even before the pandemic disruptions of 2020.

Design/methodology/approach

Given this study's exploratory, employee perspective, a cross-sectional self-report survey was used. Three survey panel samples were collected in 2017: US (n = 718), Australia (n = 501) and New Zealand (n = 516). Analysis of variance was used to test whether the prevalence of change differed significantly between countries or specific groups of employees. An analysis of comments on change types and emotional response provides further insights.

Findings

The paper provides evidence of the ubiquity of change: 73% of employees are experiencing change at work and 42% perceived it as moderate to massive, with little variation between countries. Employees commonly experience more than one change, with those experiencing large amounts of change reporting predominantly negative emotional impacts.

Research limitations/implications

The research provides a snapshot across three countries during a prosperous and relatively stable period, providing a point of comparison for the turbulent times we have faced in 2020. Since change can be arduous, the authors recommend that HRM researchers consider change prevalence as a contextual factor, and practitioners heed employee reactions to change, particularly during periods of significant change.

Originality/value

In providing foundational evidence of change ubiquity in contemporary workplaces, this paper enables more accurate discussions regarding change.

Details

Personnel Review, vol. 51 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0048-3486

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 August 2018

Helena D. Cooper-Thomas, Jessica Xu and Alan M. Saks

The purpose of this paper is to apply and test a theory specifying which resources are most important for employee engagement. Specifically, this paper draws on resource theory to…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to apply and test a theory specifying which resources are most important for employee engagement. Specifically, this paper draws on resource theory to outline six resources (love, status, services, information, goods, money) provided by the organization that employees will exchange for engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper’s main focus is theoretical, outlining how resource theory provides a more nuanced classification and understanding of the workplace antecedents of engagement. Specifically, engagement is proposed to represent love as a resource, since engagement represents the whole-hearted investment of oneself. Thus, employees will exchange engagement for employer resources that similarly denote individual warmth and caring. The resource classification is assessed using engagement data from IBM NZ (n=13,929).

Findings

The theoretical analysis identifies eight workplace resources, five of which are proposed to be exchanged for engagement: mission, vision and values; opportunities for development; supportive leadership; job resources; and teamwork. Subsequent empirical analysis of IBM NZ data identified three similar constructs, with two being stronger predictors of employee engagement: learning and development; and vision and purpose. This provides some initial support for the application of resource theory to engagement.

Practical implications

Resource theory enables the identification of specific resources that will more strongly facilitate engagement: those which demonstrate warmth and caring for the employee.

Originality/value

Resource theory adds specificity in identifying which workplace resources will be exchanged for engagement, and therefore extends existing models of engagement, and is valuable for future employee engagement research and practice.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 33 no. 4/5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

1 – 10 of 22