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The COVID-19 pandemic presents an unprecedented case of organisation–environment interaction in the occupational settings. Using Palmer and colleagues (2003) model of work stress, this study aims to examine the influence of COVID-19 stress on employee performance and psychological well-being. Furthermore, drawing on conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll, 1989), the role of trust in management and psychological capital as moderators has also been explored.

Data were collected from the service sector employees (N = 507) using purposive sampling technique.

Structural equation modelling analysis revealed the negative impact of COVID-19 stress on employee performance and psychological well-being; moderated by trust in management and psychological capital, respectively.

The proposed conceptual model contributes to the stress management literature by providing an understanding of how COVID-19-related stress impacts employee behaviour in organisational context. The present study considers the COVID-19 stress as bio-psycho-socioeconomic challenge that impacts and determines nearly all the activities of the individuals, groups and organisations at a global scale.

The findings of the studies offer several managerial implications pertaining to performance and well-being at workplace especially during such crisis characterised by the elements of uncertainty and ambiguity. Identification of the personal resources would prove beneficial for the management in devising and implementing customised interventions for employees and the organisation. Since the pandemic has impacted each individual differently, human resource managers should remind their employees to be vigilant about self-care and take advantage of their health care benefits, particularly with regards to mental health.

The proposed conceptual model contributes to the workplace stress management literature by providing an understanding of how COVID-19-related stress impacts employee outcomes in the organisational context. Furthermore, identifying personal resources would prove beneficial for the management in devising and implementing customised interventions at the workplace.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of transformational leadership in psychological empowerment in Indian retail industry. This study also tries to examine whether organizational culture plays a mediating role in the relationships between transformational leadership and psychological empowerment.

A sample of 310 respondents was randomly selected from different Indian retail organizations for the study. Data collections were carried out using a set of standardized questionnaires. Raw data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0 and process plugin of Hayes for mediation analysis.

The empirical investigations of the study have shown that transformational leadership is positively related to psychological empowerment. The study also found partial mediation of organizational culture between transformational leadership and psychological empowerment.

First of all, the sample size of the study is relatively small (n=310). The study is limited to the employees of eastern Indian retail organizations. Second, the common method bias is presumed to influence and inflate the relationships between the variables of the study as the data on all three variables were collected at the same point of time from respondents.

The road map presented in this paper may be helpful for the retail executives to diagnose organizational culture and leadership styles prevailing in the organization and their influence on psychological empowerment. The study may be helpful for retail managers to develop a desirable culture through the practice of transformational leadership that would enhance the empowerment process.

This paper adds value to the limited body of knowledge about the association among transformational leadership, psychological empowerment, and organizational culture. The findings presented in this paper would be beneficial for Indian researchers, OD experts and organization scientists in developing a culture of empowerment by the help of transformational leadership. Unique statistical tools have been used for mediation analysis.

Employee happiness is crucial in any organization as happy employees are said to be more committed in their work. However, COVID-19 stress in the current situation is a major problem for employees and it can negatively influence their happiness level. Therefore, it is critical to understand how the stressful nature of the current pandemic threatens workplace happiness. Based on conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll, 1989), this study aims to examine the resources to be protected (i.e. psychological capital) and resource investment (i.e. coping) to ensure the happiness of the employees amidst a bio-psycho-socioeconomic crisis like COVID-19 pandemic. The study explores the mediating role of psychological capital and the moderating effect of coping on the relationship between COVID-19 stress and employee happiness.

Data were collected from the Indian working population by means of purposive sampling (N = 336). Standardized instruments were used to measure the variables under study. Data analysis were done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences 20.0 and Analysis of Moment Structure 20.0 software tools and PROCESS macro was used for mediation and moderation analysis.

Structural equation modelling analysis showed that COVID-19 stress negatively influenced employee happiness; whereas psychological capital partially mediated the relationship between these two variables. Further, coping was found to buffer against the harmful implications of COVID-19 stress on employee happiness.

In an effort to respond timely to the present pandemic scenario, the current study provides an account of the harmful effects of COVID-19-related stress on the workplace happiness of the Indian service sector employees. The study also offers insights into the possible mediating and moderating mechanisms in this relationship.

In this paper, an adaptive fuzzy sliding mode controller (AFSMC) is developed for the formation control of a team of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) subjected to unknown payload mass variations during their mission.

A sliding mode controller (SMC) is designed to drive the state trajectories of the AUVs to a switching surface in the state space. The payload mass variation results in parameter variation in AUV dynamics leading to actuator failure. This further leads to loss of communication among the members of the team. Hence, an adaptive SMC based on fuzzy logic is developed to maintain the coordinated motion of AUVs with payload mass variation.

The results are obtained by employing adaptive SMC for AUVs with and without payload variations and are compared. It is observed that the proposed adaptive SMC exhibits improved performance and tracks the desired trajectory in less time even with variation in the payload. The adaptive fuzzy control algorithm is developed to handle variation in payload mass variation. Lyapunov theory is used to establish stability of AFSMC controller.

Perfect alignment is assumed between centres of gravity (OG) and buoyancy (OB), thus AUVs maintaining horizontal stability during motion. The AUVs’ body centres are aligned with centres of gravity (OG), thus the distance vector being rg = [0,0,0]T. As it is a tracking problem, sway motion cannot be neglected as the AUVs are travelling in a curved locus, hence susceptible to Coriolis and centripetal forces. The AUV is underactuated as only two thrusters at the stern plate that are employed for the surge and yaw controls and error in Y- direction are controlled by adjusting control input in surge and heave direction. Control inputs to the thruster are constants, and depth control is achieved by adjusting the rudder angle.

AUVs are employed in military mission or surveys, and they carry heavy weapons or instrument to be deployed at or picked from specific locations. Such tasks lead to variation in payload, causing overall mass variation during an AUV’s motion. A sudden change in the mass after an AUV release or pick load results in variation in depth and average velocity.

The proposed controller can be useful for military missions for carrying warfare and hydrographic surveys for deploying instruments.

A proposed non-linear SMC has been designed, and its performances have been verified in terms of tracking error in X, Y and Z directions. An adaptive fuzzy SMC has been modelled using quantized state information to compensate payload variation. The stability of AFSMC controller is established by using Lyapunov theorem, and reachability of the sliding surface is ensured.

The COVID-19 pandemic and technological advancements have enabled employees to telework. Referring to this emerging phenomenon, the authors aim to examine how employees' levels of trust in management mediated by psychological well-being impact their performance as they telework. Deploying the theoretical lens of person-environment misfit, the authors also explore the role of technostress in the trust-wellbeing-performance relationship.

The data was collected from 511 full-time service sector employees across Indian organizations through a structured survey questionnaire. The proposed moderation-mediation model for this study was tested using structural equation modeling and bootstrapping method.

Structural equation modeling results indicate that trust in management significantly impacts employee performance while teleworking. While psychological well-being was observed as a significant mediator, technostress played the moderator role in the trust-performance relationship. The moderated-mediation effect of psychological well-being in the trust-performance relationship was stronger when technostress was low and weaker when technostress was high.

The authors extend the person-environment misfit theory in the context of telework, highlighting the role of technostress that may impact the trust-wellbeing- performance relationship in such work settings.

The study informs leaders and managers on balancing delicate aspects such as employee trust and well-being that significantly impact performance as they telework. The authors also highlight the critical role of managers in respecting employees' personal and professional boundaries to alleviate technostress.

The authors make a novel theoretical contribution to the emerging literature on teleworking by examining the trust-psychological wellbeing-performance link and the role of technostress in this relationship.