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The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the positive psychological strengths of undergraduate business students, collectively known as positive psychological capital (PsyCap), and their levels of engagement.

This study has a cross-sectional design in which students from two Midwestern universities were surveyed regarding their levels of PsyCap and levels of engagement in educationally sound activities. Item response theory (IRT) and hierarchical regression were used to test study hypotheses. The authors assessed measurement validity using confirmatory factor analyses in MPLUS 7.0 using four-category 2PL graded response models with a weighted least squares means and variance adjusted estimator. Hierarchical regression was used to control for alternative explanations of variance in assessing the effects of PsyCap on student engagement.

Using measures of student engagement drawn from the National Survey of Student Engagement, the analysis indicated significant positive relationships between the academic PsyCap of 323 undergraduate business students and their levels of student-faculty engagement (SFE; r=0.30, p<0.01), community-based activities (CBA; r=0.28, p<0.01), and transformational learning opportunities (TLO; r=0.19, p<0.01). A series of hierarchical regressions also indicated that PsyCap is a significant predictor of student engagement as assessed against SFE, CBA, and TLO.

The findings from this study suggest that further research examining the relationship between PsyCap development and student engagement could have significant implications for management educators. The positive associations found between these key variables could be utilized by management educators to implement novel and effective teaching interventions for developing the PsyCap of their students and, ultimately, increase their students’ levels of engagement.

Although extant research has demonstrated connections between positive psychological constructs (i.e. hope, self-efficacy, resilience, optimism) and student engagement, this is the first study to take a holistic view of developable, positive psychological capacities, collectively assessed as PsyCap, and examine the potential impact on three recognized dimensions of student engagement.

In this study, the authors consider the mediating role of psychological capital (i.e. PsyCap) in the relationship between integrity and academic performance. Specifically, the authors propose that integrity is a relatively stable and distal character strength that is likely to have a minimal direct effect on academic performance. Going further, the authors argue that integrity is more likely to have an indirect effect on academic performance via the psychological resources that encompass one's PsyCap.

Drawing from a sample of 179 undergraduate business students and student grade point average (GPA) data, the authors find support for the notion that PsyCap partially mediates the relationship between integrity and academic performance.

These findings reveal the key role that PsyCap plays in translating a student's integrity toward behaviors that lead to higher levels of academic performance.

Prior research suggests the direct relationship between integrity and academic performance has been mixed. In this study, the authors consider how mediation may help explain this relationship. The authors believe this to be among the first empirical studies to consider integrity, PsyCap and academic performance.

The purpose of this study is to hypothesize and test a conceptual model linking concepts of leadership and positive organizational behavior to a reduction in employee negativity, with empowerment as an important mediator in the causal relationships.

A heterogeneous sample of 341 working adults completed survey measures as two separate points in time. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate psychometric properties of instruments, and path analysis using structural equation modeling software was used to test hypotheses.

As hypothesized, both transformational leadership (β=0.27) and positive psychological capital (hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism) (β=0.61) were significantly related to feelings of empowerment. Empowerment was significantly related to intentions to quit (β=−0.38) but not employee cynicism. Empowerment also fully mediated the relationship between the independent variables and intentions to quit.

A convenience sampling method limited the generalizability of results. Causal and longitudinal research designs would extend findings discussed here. Implications for management are significant in terms of countering employee negativity using leadership processes, employee selection and development.

This study offers the first conceptual model integrating emerging concepts from positive organizational behavior, in the form of positive psychological capacities, with validated leadership models (transformational leadership). Both were suggested to influence negative outcomes, with empowerment as an effective mediator of these relationships. Findings generally support the hypotheses advanced herein.

Desai, a College Student, faced a job search dilemma. Desai applied for two internships – one with a company known for a good culture, Strategic Carrier Logistics (SCL), the other with Thijs Marketing, a company in an industry more familiar and desirable to Desai. After a number of recruitment interactions with both companies, Desai received an offer from SCL and was given two days to decide. Unsure whether Thijs Marketing would make an offer, Desai considered accepting the offer from SCL, but reneging if Thijs eventually offered a job.

The case was developed from primary sources, where “Desai’s” first-hand experience in searching for a job provides the true account of the events noted in the case. The names and demographic information for individuals were changed.

This case study is appropriate for graduate and undergraduate courses in organizational behavior (i.e. decision-making), human resources management (i.e. employee recruitment), and business ethics (i.e. ethical decision-making).

This paper aims to examine a type of interorganizational learning called Industry Peer Networks (IPNs), in which a network of non-competing small businesses cooperates to improve their skills and to stay abreast of the industry trends, so that the firms remain competitive in the local and regional markets. The key characteristic of an IPN is the regular gathering of peers in small groups (typically 20 or fewer carefully selected members) in an atmosphere of significant trust, guided by a facilitator, to participate in a series of formal and informal activities through established guidelines, to share knowledge about management and marketing, exchange information about industry trends beyond their core markets, discuss issues related to company performance and provide constructive criticism about peer companies.

The qualitative research on the context included visits to 13 peer meetings, three workshops for peer members, seven semi-structured interviews with members and many communications with the founder, chairman, committee chairpersons and several facilitators of peer meetings that spanned across five years. Data collection and analysis followed grounded theory building techniques.

The authors identified both cooperative and competitive learning practices that a small business could carry out to grow from a novice to an expert IPN peer member. The cooperative elements such as peer discussions, disclosure of financial data and exposure to various business models allow member firms to learn vicariously through the successes and/or failure of their peers. At the same time, the competitive elements such as service delivery critiques, business performance benchmarking and firm ranking also prompt the members to focus on execution, to emphasize accountability and to strive for status in the network. The IPN in this research has also built network legitimacy over time, and it has sustained a viable administrative entity that has a recognizable form and structure, whose functions are to strategically manage network activities and network growth to attract like-minded new members.

First, because this research focused on fleshing out the transformative practices engaged by IPN peers, it necessarily neglected other types of network relationships that affect the small businesses, including local competitors, vendors and customers. Second, the small employment size of these firms and the personal nature of network ties in the IPN may provide an especially fertile ground for network learning that might not exist for larger firms. Third, the technology-intensive and quality-sensitive nature of IT firms may make technological trend sensitization and operating efficiency more competitive advantages in this industry than in others. Finally, although participation in IPN is associated with higher level of perceived learning, the relationship between learning and business performance is not yet articulated empirically.

The study contributes to the understanding of cooperative/competitive transformative practices in the IPN by highlighting the defining features at each transformation stage, from firms being isolated entities which react to market forces to connected peers which proactively drive the markets. IPNs are most effective for business owners who are at their early growth stage, in which they are positioned to grow further. Nevertheless, the authors also present the paradoxical capacity of IPNs to propel firms along trajectories of empowerment or disengagement.

As 78.5 per cent of the US firms are small businesses having fewer than 10 employees, the knowledge of firm and IPN transformation is important for both researchers and advocates of small businesses to understand the roots of success or failure of firms and the IPNs in which they are embedded.

Earlier research has not explored the network-level effects as part of a full array of outcomes. Instead, research involving IPNs has focused primarily on the motivation and immediate firm-level outcomes of IPNs. Research to this point has also failed to examine IPNs from a developmental perspective, how the firms and the IPN as a network transform over time.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the linkage between nurses' levels of optimism and performance outcomes.

The study sample consisted of 78 nurses in all areas of a large healthcare facility (hospital) in the Midwestern United States. The participants completed surveys to determine their current state of optimism. Supervisory performance appraisal data were gathered in order to measure performance outcomes. Spearman correlations and a one‐way ANOVA were used to analyze the data.

The results indicated a highly significant positive relationship between the nurses' measured state of optimism and their supervisors' ratings of their commitment to the mission of the hospital, a measure of contribution to increasing customer satisfaction, and an overall measure of work performance.

This was an exploratory study. Larger sample sizes and longitudinal data would be beneficial because it is probable that state optimism levels will vary and that it might be more accurate to measure state optimism at several points over time in order to better predict performance outcomes. Finally, the study design does not imply causation.

Suggestions for effectively developing and managing nurses' optimism to positively impact their performance are provided.

To date, there has been very little empirical evidence assessing the impact that positive psychological capacities such as optimism of key healthcare professionals may have on performance. This paper was designed to help begin to fill this void by examining the relationship between nurses' self‐reported optimism and their supervisors' evaluations of their performance.

A number of studies have identified a relationship between the positive psychological capital (PsyCap) of employees and desirable outcomes. Given current and projected shortages of truck drivers that could become the “Achilles heel” of the global supply chain, the purpose of this paper is to test whether and how drivers’ attitudes and PsyCap relates to their intentions to quit.

Using survey data from truckload drivers (n=251) from two major transportation firms, correlation, regression, and path analysis were conducted to assess the relationship between job satisfaction, organizational commitment, PsyCap, and intentions to quit.

Results of this study indicate strong positive relationships between PsyCap and job satisfaction and organizational commitment and a strong negative correlation with intentions to quit. Structural equation modeling suggests that job satisfaction and organizational commitment mediate the relationship between PsyCap and turnover intentions.

Managerial implications for recognizing, understanding, and developing PsyCap in the transportation industry are derived from this study. Specific training guidelines are provided.

The major contribution of this paper is that it provides, for the first time, empirical evidence that PsyCap can be utilized to improve retention rates for truckload drivers.

This article first reviews the status of expatriate training and the need to evaluate the transfer of this training to expatriate managers on‐the‐job in a foreign culture. A multisource or 360‐degree feedback system is proposed as both a way to evaluate expatriate cultural training at the behavioral and performance levels, as well as a way to develop expatriates to make them more effective once in the local culture. A proposed expatriate management effectiveness questionnaire (EMEQ) is described in terms of its theoretical foundation and specific scales, and how it could be used in a multisource feedback program for the effective development of expatriate managers.

This research aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the evolution and trends in psychological capital (PsyCap) research and related issues.

This research uses bibliometric analysis. A total of 2,244 journal articles were extracted from the Scopus database using relevant keywords, covering the period from 1997 to 2023. The data analysis was conducted utilizing VOSviewer software, Microsoft Excel, and an online text analysis tool.

There is a rapid rise in the quantity of PsyCap publications, especially from 2017, with significant contribution of research from Chinese scholars with 577 articles in the period 2019–2023. The antecedents of PsyCap have a stagnation of leadership-related topics and increased focus on social support and perceived organizational support. The attention has been specifically directed toward well-being and mental health, with special emphasis on work engagement, job satisfaction, and job performance.

The exclusion of certain publications in this research may overlook emerging trends. Thus, future research endeavors should adopt a multifaceted approach that combines bibliometric analysis with qualitative and quantitative methods to glean comprehensive insights into PsyCap research.

PsyCap research is growing rapidly, with more publications in the last three years than in all the previous years combined. This study, updating data until the end of 2023, provides the most up-to-date insights on research trends in PsyCap to aid scholars in discerning suitable avenues for their research endeavors.

As part of an exploratory study on the nature of global leaders' power, we interviewed 23 global leaders to address the question: “How do the task, culture, and relationship complexities of global leadership shape the way global leaders exercise power and influence their followers?” We identify five complicating factors that shape the use of power by global leaders: Language, culture, time zones, physical distance, and matrix organizational structures. When compared with domestic leaders, these five factors make the use of power more complex for global leaders and require global leaders to invest substantially more time and energy into building relationships, sharing leadership, and prioritizing communication to ensure common understanding of vision and goals. We highlight a sixth factor, high-quality relationships, as an enabling resource for global leaders to succeed despite contexts of global leadership complexity. We provide a conceptual model summarizing how global leader influence attempts are complicated and enhanced and offer implications for future research and practice.