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1 – 10 of over 3000Syed Jamal Shah, Syed Asad Ali Shah, Rizwan Ullah and Adnan Muhammad Shah
With a foundation in the conservation of resource theory, this paper aims to examine the validity of a conceptual model that explains the mechanism connecting perceived threat of…
Abstract
Purpose
With a foundation in the conservation of resource theory, this paper aims to examine the validity of a conceptual model that explains the mechanism connecting perceived threat of terrorism to production deviance. The link between perceived threat of terrorism and production deviance was examined via emotional exhaustion. Notably, the study evaluated whether the relationship between perceived threat of terrorism and production deviance is mediated by emotional exhaustion and moderated by levels of emotional intelligence.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is cross-sectional in nature and data were collected from 432 pharmaceutical sales representatives who operate outdoors in the high-risk region. Two-step approach consisting confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling was used for analysis. To examine conditional direct and indirect effects, the authors used model 8 in PROCESS.
Findings
Results were consistent with prediction made from the conceptual model in that emotional exhaustion partially mediated the relationship between perceived threat of terrorism and production deviance. This was particularly the case when emotional intelligence was low, but not when high. Likewise, perceived threat of terrorism exerted a direct effect on production deviance when emotional intelligence was low, but not when high.
Originality/value
The study is the first to examine the relationship between perceived threat of terrorism and production deviance. Moreover, no study to date has examined the mediating role of emotional exhaustion between perceived threat of terrorism and production deviance. Finally, up till now, it is unknown that emotional intelligence moderates the relationship of perceived threat of terrorism with emotional exhaustion and production deviance.
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Ubedullah Memon, Anees Janee Ali, Zaib Un Nisa and Zahid Hussain Pathan
The purpose of this paper is to curtail the negative effect of job stress on the female teachers’ helping behavior amidst terrorism threat through their dispositional mindfulness.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to curtail the negative effect of job stress on the female teachers’ helping behavior amidst terrorism threat through their dispositional mindfulness.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative research design surveyed a self-administered questionnaire from the female teachers serving in the hard areas of Pakistan. To analyze the data, descriptive and interferential statistics were performed in SPSS (version 23) and SmartPLS3.
Findings
The results revealed the significant positive relationship between teachers’ perceived threats of terrorism and their job stress. The findings also confirmed the significant negative relationship between teachers’ job stress and their helping behavior, and vice-versa. Further, the indirect effect of teachers’ perceived threats of terrorism on helping behavior through their job stress was confirmed. Finally, the moderating effect of dispositional mindfulness to weaken the negative relationship between teachers’ job stress and their helping behavior was also found significant. The results also showed that the job stress of female teachers accounted for 12.9% of variance in their helping behavior.
Research limitations/implications
To address complex ethical issues, relying solely on a research method cannot provide deep insights. Hence, future scholars are directed to combine elements of quantitative and qualitative research methods to investigate female teachers’ helping behavior in grievous conditions. Notwithstanding, the present study revitalizes educational institutions through teachers’ helping behavior in the risky work environment.
Originality/value
Since the past two decades, female education has witnessed exponential growth in terrorist attacks, but there is a scanty research on the vulnerability of female teachers in Pakistan. Nevertheless, the present study is limited yet of the highest importance to foster teachers’ helping behavior in the risky work environment.
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Fang Hong, Yijing Lin, Mikyung Jang, Amanda Tarullo, Majed Ashy and Kathleen Malley-Morrison
The purpose of this study was to examine associations between fear of terrorism and several predictors (gender and nationality) and outcomes (moral disengagement…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine associations between fear of terrorism and several predictors (gender and nationality) and outcomes (moral disengagement, authoritarianism, aggression and social anxiety) in the USA and South Korean young adults. Of particular interest were the potential moderating and mediating roles of moral disengagement between fear of terrorism and the other outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
Samples of 251 college students from the USA and 211 college students from South Korea completed survey packets including measures of fear of terrorism, moral disengagement, authoritarianism, aggression and social anxiety.
Findings
US participants expressed greater concern about a terrorist threat to their country, while South Koreans worried more about terrorist threats to their family or themselves. Females in both countries reported greater fear of terrorism and social anxiety. In both countries, fear of terrorism was associated with aggression, social anxiety and moral disengagement. Mediation analyses showed that fear of terrorism exerted a significant direct effect and an indirect effect via moral disengagement on aggression and authoritarianism in the US sample. Moderation analyses revealed that moral disengagement moderated the relationship between fear of terrorism and social anxiety in the Korean sample.
Research limitations/implications
This study has the common limitations of cross-sectional studies; i.e. it cannot prove causal relationships.
Practical implications
The findings support Albert Bandura’s view that efforts to address the excesses of counterterrorism and other negative outcomes of fear of terrorism, attending to issues of moral disengagement may be helpful.
Originality/value
The authors findings provide support for the view that fear of terrorism is associated with negative psychological and social outcomes and that moral disengagement can play an important role in those negative outcomes. Moreover, it adds to evidence that the negative role of moral disengagement shows considerable generalizability across gender and two very different cultures.
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Inam Ul Haq, Dirk De Clercq and Muhammad Umer Azeem
With a basis in conservation of resources theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of championing behaviour in the relationship between employees’…
Abstract
Purpose
With a basis in conservation of resources theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of championing behaviour in the relationship between employees’ fear of terror and their job performance, as well as the buffering role of their passion for work, as a personal resource, in this process.
Design/methodology/approach
The tests of the hypotheses rely on three-wave, time-lagged data collected from employees and their supervisors in Pakistan.
Findings
An important reason that concerns about terrorist attacks diminish performance is that employees refrain from championing their own entrepreneurial ideas. This mediating role of idea championing is less salient, however, to the extent that employees feel a strong passion for their work.
Practical implications
For human resource managers, this study pinpoints a key mechanism – a reluctance to mobilize active support for entrepreneurial ideas – by which fears about terrorism attacks can spill over into the workplace and undermine employees’ ability to meet their performance requirements. It also reveals how this mechanism can be better contained by the presence of adequate personal resources.
Originality/value
This study adds to burgeoning research on the interplay between terrorism and organizational life by specifying how and when employees’ ruminations about terrorism threats might escalate into diminished performance outcomes at work.
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The purpose of this paper is to present research findings on how the threat of terrorism to Australia affects managers and employees in workplaces in a large city. It investigates…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present research findings on how the threat of terrorism to Australia affects managers and employees in workplaces in a large city. It investigates the various workplace impacts of the terrorist threat and examines how this affects organizational efficiency and effectiveness and employee wellbeing.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review of the impact of the terrorist threat to workplaces is presented using academic research and journalistic commentary. This review informs research collected in seven organizations via in‐depth interviews of 40 minutes length conducted with staff and management in the administrative, legal, retail, sporting and services sectors. In total, 55 interviews were conducted with an additional 50 respondents who were unavailable for interviews completing surveys.
Findings
A number of significant negative impacts of the threat of terrorism on Melbourne workplaces are identified. The most significant were workplace discrimination and diversity management, cultural change to be security oriented, and increased occupational stress.
Research limitations/implications
The sample population for the research is quite small so the conclusions cannot be considered generalizable. Rather, the research represents specific cases where the impacts are felt and, as such, may exist in other sectors and cities. The results are highly concerning and suggest that terrorism has a detrimental effect at work and on life.
Practical implications
The findings can assist organizations in preparing management responses and actions in preventing the negative impacts of the threat of terrorism.
Originality/value
Research of this kind is extremely limited yet of the highest importance to organizations in large cities.
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If aeroplanes and passengers, as well as property and people on the ground are to be protected, potential perpetrators of aviation terrorism must be prevented from breaching…
Abstract
If aeroplanes and passengers, as well as property and people on the ground are to be protected, potential perpetrators of aviation terrorism must be prevented from breaching security checkpoints and gaining access to ‘secure’ airport areas and to aircrafts. Given the interconnectedness of the air transportation system, a sufficiently high level of security must be provided throughout the entire system. In this chapter we examine terrorism issues relevant to airline and airport security internationally, a topic that has received much attention since 9/11. Understanding the key issues is crucial in evaluating the various methods of regulating and providing aviation safety and security. The purpose of this chapter is to review the key features of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act and the characteristics of the resulting security policy. Then we examine terrorism, previous terrorists' acts against aviation as well as current and future aviation threats. A summary of our major points completes the chapter.
Pia Charlotte Faeth and Markus G. Kittler
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differing perceptions of fear of expatriates operating in terror-exposed Nairobi and the high-crime environment of Johannesburg and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differing perceptions of fear of expatriates operating in terror-exposed Nairobi and the high-crime environment of Johannesburg and its impact on stress and well-being. It illustrates how expatriates cope with the challenges associated with these two regions.
Design/methodology/approach
Following an interpretative and inductive research approach, qualitative content analyses were conducted using evidence from in-depth interviews with 12 expatriates in senior management or officer positions within a large global organisation, with respondents based in South Africa and Kenya.
Findings
Data suggest that expatriates in the more terrorism-exposed context perceive fear less strongly than expatriates in environments categorised by high degrees of conventional crime. Fear seems to relate to physical well-being via restricted freedom of movement, but there is little evidence that fear affects mental well-being. The study finds that respondents in terror-exposed Nairobi tend to engage more in avoidance-oriented coping strategies, whereas their counterparts in the high-crime environment of Johannesburg predominantly rely on problem-focused coping.
Practical implications
The qualitative design allows practitioners to better understand expatriates’ perceptions of fear, its consequences for stress, and well-being and potential coping strategies expatriates employ. It discusses a set of practical recommendations focussing on the deployment of expatriates assigned to dangerous locations.
Originality/value
This study develops a distinction between terror and conventional crime and contributes with practical insights for assignments into dangerous work environments. The geographic lens of the study provides an in-depth look at expatriation challenges in an arguably neglected regional context.
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Muhammad Sarfraz, Qasim Ali Nisar and Ali Raza
Drawing upon the social exchange and psychological capital literature and applying a multilevel perspective, this paper examines how personal and organizational factors contribute…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing upon the social exchange and psychological capital literature and applying a multilevel perspective, this paper examines how personal and organizational factors contribute to expatriates' adjustment and performance of international assignments in a terrorism-induced risky environment.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected using a non-probability sampling approach (e.g. purposive and subsequent snowball sampling). The authors tested the hypotheses using survey data of 138 expatriates with current international assignments in Pakistan.
Findings
Expatriates' perceived organizational and risk-taking propensity influences their performance through improved adjustment. Moderating effects suggest that an individual's satisfaction with the received organizational rewards strengthens the risk-taking propensity to adjustment relationship; resilience strengthens the adjustment to performance relationship.
Originality/value
This study extends existing expatriation literature by focusing on a specific type of risk factor pertinent to international assignments, i.e. terrorism. Integrating individual and organizational factors that influence adjustment and subsequent performance provides a clear picture rather if such factors are operationalized separately in the terrorism-induced risky environment context.
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Dirk De Clercq and Renato Pereira
The purpose of this study is to unpack the relationship between employees’ perceptions of organizational politics and their counterproductive work behaviour, by postulating a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to unpack the relationship between employees’ perceptions of organizational politics and their counterproductive work behaviour, by postulating a mediating role of organizational disidentification and a moderating role of perceived external crisis threats to work.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical assessment of the hypotheses relies on survey data collected among employees who work in a large banking organization.
Findings
Perceptions that organizational decision-making is marked by self-serving behaviour increase the probability that employees seek to cause harm to their employer, because they feel embarrassed by their organizational membership. This mediating role of organizational disidentification is especially prominent when they ruminate about the negative impact of external crises on their work.
Practical implications
This study details an important danger for employees who feel upset with dysfunctional politics: They psychologically distance themselves from their employer, which then prompts them to formulate counterproductive responses that likely make it more difficult to take on the problem in a credible manner. This detrimental dynamic is particularly risky if an external crisis negatively interferes with their work functioning.
Originality/value
This study adds to prior research by detailing an unexplored but relevant mechanism (organizational disidentification) and moderator (external crisis threats) by which perceived organizational politics translates into enhanced counterproductive work behaviour.
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Dirk De Clercq and Renato Pereira
For human resource (HR) managers, the harmful outcomes of employees’ ruminations about external crises, such as a pandemic, represent important, timely concerns. This research…
Abstract
Purpose
For human resource (HR) managers, the harmful outcomes of employees’ ruminations about external crises, such as a pandemic, represent important, timely concerns. This research postulates that employees’ perceptions of pandemic threats might diminish the extent to which they engage in change-oriented voluntarism at work. This negative connection may be attenuated by employees’ access to two personal (work-related self-efficacy and organization-based self-esteem) and two relational (goal congruence and interpersonal harmony) resources.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical predictions are tested with survey data collected among employees who work in a banking organization in Portugal.
Findings
Persistent negative thoughts about a pandemic undermine discretionary efforts to alter and enhance the organizational status quo, but this detrimental effect is mitigated when employees (1) feel confident about their work-related abilities, (2) have a positive self-image about their organizational functioning, (3) share a common mindset with coworkers with respect to work goals and (4) maintain harmonious relationships with coworkers.
Practical implications
This study pinpoints several ways HR managers can reduce the danger that employees’ worries about life-threatening crises may lead to complacent responses that, somewhat paradoxically, might undermine their ability to alleviate the suffered hardships.
Originality/value
The findings contribute to research on the impact of external crisis situations on organizations by providing an explanation of why employees may avoid productive, disruptive work activities, contingent on their access to complementary resources.
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