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1 – 10 of 814Inam Ul Haq, Usman Raja, Muhammad Umer Azeem and Naeem Bajwa
Extending the efforts of previous scholars, this study examines how abusive supervision undermines employees’ ability to meet performance expectations and propensity to engage in…
Abstract
Purpose
Extending the efforts of previous scholars, this study examines how abusive supervision undermines employees’ ability to meet performance expectations and propensity to engage in helping behavior. Specifically, we investigate a hitherto unexplored mediating role of quality of work life (QWL) in this relationship. We further suggest that employees’ psychological resources, namely willpower and waypower, act as protective shields against this harmful process.
Design/methodology/approach
We tested the proposed hypotheses using multisource (self- and supervisor-rated) three-wave time-lagged data (N = 185) collected from employees and their supervisors in eight organizations that operate in the service sector of Pakistan.
Findings
The findings corroborate our predicted hypotheses. The results indicate that employees' exposure to abusive supervision deteriorates their quality of work life (QWL), hindering their ability to deliver expected performance and tendency to help other colleagues. However, this negative process is less pronounced for employees who possess sufficient psychological resources of willpower and waypower.
Practical implications
This study provides valuable insights to organizations by explicating the process that undermines employees’ ability to channel their energies into performance-enhancing activities when faced with humiliation from their supervisors.
Originality/value
This study details three previously unexplored factors that explain how and when abusive behavior steers service sector employees away from meeting performance expectations and assisting colleagues, via thwarting their quality of work life.
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Bei Ma, Rong Zhou and Xiaoliang Ma
Integrating balance theory and social identify theory, this paper proposes a multilevel model to explain how abusive supervision climate of team impacts the relationship among…
Abstract
Purpose
Integrating balance theory and social identify theory, this paper proposes a multilevel model to explain how abusive supervision climate of team impacts the relationship among team members as well as subordinates’ behavior towards their teammates, especially organizational citizenship behavior (OCB).
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was conducted to collect two-wave and multi-source data from 398 employees nested in 106 teams from Chinese high-technology companies. Hierarchical linear modeling was conducted to examine the theoretical model.
Findings
The results indicate that there is an inverted U-shape association between abusive supervision climate and subordinates’ OCB towards coworker; team member exchange (TMX) mediates their inverted U-shaped link. Furthermore, we confirm that coworker support plays a vitally moderating role upon the curvilinear link of abusive supervision climate (ASC)–TMX; specifically, when employees perceive low coworker support, negative relations between ASC and TMX will be stronger.
Originality/value
This study identifies team members’ advantageous and adverse relational response to shared threat of ASC and examines coworker support as a moderator of ASC, which provides valuable insights into when and why employees tend to cooperate with their teammates to jointly confront their leader’s abuse and highlights the importance of coworkers, thus enabling organizations to deeply understand the wider influences of ASC on interpersonal relationship between team members.
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Talat Islam, Aiman Asif, Saqib Jamil and Hafiz Fawad Ali
This study aims to investigate how abusive supervisor affects knowledge hiding (KH). Specifically, this study investigates employee silence as a mediating mechanism between…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how abusive supervisor affects knowledge hiding (KH). Specifically, this study investigates employee silence as a mediating mechanism between abusive supervision and employees’ KH. Further, psychological ownership is examined as a buffer between abusive supervision and employee silence.
Design/methodology/approach
KH has become a major issue for both manufacturing and service sectors. Therefore, this study collected data from 322 employees working in manufacturing and service sectors through “Google Forms” during COVID-19. The respondents were contacted through LinkedIn platform between January and July 2021.
Findings
This study noted that when employees working in high-power distance cultures perceive their leaders/supervisors as abusive, they avoid confrontation and engage in silent behavior, which positively affects their KH behavior. However, employees with a high level of psychological ownership are less likely to respond to their abusive supervisors through silence because such employees feel a greater sense of belongingness and prefer to benefit their organization.
Research limitations/implications
This study used a cross-sectional design that restricts causality. However, the findings of this study suggest management to focus on leadership style to minimize KH at the workplace.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to explore the underlying mechanism (employee silence) and boundary condition (psychological ownership) to explain the association between abusive supervision and KH.
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Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, the present study aims to design and explore the influence of abusive supervision and coworker incivility on turnover intention…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, the present study aims to design and explore the influence of abusive supervision and coworker incivility on turnover intention among frontline employees (FLEs). Besides the mediating effects of work stress between abusive supervision and turnover intention, coworker incivility and turnover intention also be explored.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from 311 FLEs are collected by a self-administered structured questionnaire and analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation model.
Findings
The empirical results established that abusive supervision and coworker incivility significantly predicts work stress and work stress significantly predicts turnover intention. Abusive supervision significantly predicts a positive relationship with turnover intention, whereas coworker incivility with turnover intention is vis-à-vis. Besides, abusive supervision and coworker incivility significantly predict turnover intention via work stress. The study further illustrated the control variables, e.g. education, experience, and proactive personality of FLEs.
Research limitations/implications
The study finds abusive supervision and coworker incivility as stressors in the emerging economy for FLEs. However, coworker incivility on turnover intention cannot predict as expected because the roles of the supervisor and coworker are different in this context.
Practical implications
The continuous support of supervisors and coworkers can reduce the stress and consequences of reducing the intention of turnover of FLEs. The concerns can enhance their support by using respect and credit for work, maintaining privacy, providing proper feedback, being sensible to the performance, and entitlement to any achievement. They also suggest ensuring a work environment of privacy, fair treatment, importance to suggestions, and ascertaining punishment for any colleague's mistreatment.
Social implications
The frontliners always contribute a large pie of output for any organization. Supervisors and coworkers impact the day-to-day life of FLEs.
Originality/value
As a study on FLEs in the context of evolving economy, the investigation fulfills the inconsistencies of the previous result with the mediating role of work stress with a strong theoretical base.
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Huda Masood, Marlee Mercer and Len Karakowsky
The purpose of this research is to examine the narratives of victims of abusive supervision. We explore the meaning or “lessons” victims derive from those experiences and how they…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to examine the narratives of victims of abusive supervision. We explore the meaning or “lessons” victims derive from those experiences and how they shape the victims’ views of self, work and organization in relation to navigating their subsequent jobs.
Design/methodology/approach
We analyzed how appraisals of supervisory abuse transform victims’ narratives and their consequent work attitudes through sensemaking processes. Semi-structured interviews with the past victims of abusive supervision generated a four-stage model of how sensemaking shapes victims’ future work attitudes. Our interpretations were guided through narrative thematic analysis based on the constructionist approach.
Findings
Victims’ lessons learned are predominantly framed by their retrospective post-event appraisal of abuse (based on its severity) once individuals are no longer subject to abusive supervision. With greater distance from the abuse, victims can process the abuse and better understand the motivation of the abuser, enabling the process of causal attributions. These attributions further shape victims’ narratives and future work attitudes through a complex interplay of retrospective and prospective sensemaking mechanisms. The victims broadly reported proactive (with higher self-awareness and endurance) and reactive (self-protection, and emotional scars) lessons. A four-stage model was proposed based on our findings.
Originality/value
Abusive supervision remains a persistent issue experienced by many individuals at some point in their working life. However, little is known about how victims make sense of the event post-abuse and how this sense-making guides their future work behaviors. Understanding this phenomenon provides insight into how employees navigate through adversity and construct a more positive future. The contribution of this narrative inquiry is threefold. First, it explores how individual appraisals of supervisory abuse frame their (1) mechanisms of narrative construction; and (2) future work attitudes. Second, our findings demonstrate how narrative construction is a fluid process often informed by the process of retrospective and prospective sensemaking. Finally, our research suggests two broader categories of lessons that victims internalize and carry forward to their subsequent jobs.
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Carole Serhan, Nour Nasr, Georges Cheikh and Gerard Nachar
This research study investigates the relationship between management practices and young employee retention in the hospitality and tourism industry in Lebanon. Besides, it…
Abstract
Purpose
This research study investigates the relationship between management practices and young employee retention in the hospitality and tourism industry in Lebanon. Besides, it examines the moderating role of the workplace context in the relationship between management practices and employment retention in the industry.
Design/methodology/approach
Non-probability purposive sampling method was used to collect 421 questionnaires through a survey of young employees. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and Cronbach's alpha test are conducted to test the construct validity, reliability, and internal consistency of collected data. Descriptive statistics are used to interpret the data. Zero-order correlations, multiple regression analysis and Fisher's Z-test are applied to assess the interrelations of the various groups of variables and the determinants of young employee retention.
Findings
The findings show that management practices tested in this study have significant relationships with young employee retention in the hospitality and tourism industry in Lebanon. Further, the findings reveal that the workplace context moderates the relationship between three management practices (participation in decision-making, training, and performance recognition) and young employee retention.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that managers in hospitality and tourism businesses must improve their management practices and promote a positive workplace context to retain young employees.
Originality/value
Finally, this study is the only one that tests the moderating role of the workplace context in the relationship between five selected management practices (participation in decision-making, training, performance recognition, remuneration and job continuity) and young employee retention. Previous studies used fewer variables.
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Diego Alejandro Peralta-Borray, Johana Sareth Acuña and Sebastián Zapata
Despite the most efficient mechanism to fight against corruption is whistleblowing, in most cases, civil servants prefer to remain silent. For this reason, this research seeks to…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the most efficient mechanism to fight against corruption is whistleblowing, in most cases, civil servants prefer to remain silent. For this reason, this research seeks to understand the decision-making process by which civil servants, who witness corrupt actions, prefer to remain silent.
Design/methodology/approach
A grounded theory was constructed, based on the coding of 27 in-depth interviews with civil servants from Bogotá, Colombia, who claimed having witnessed acts of corruption.
Findings
It is proposed that corruption tolerance is a process in which, upon observing an act of corruption, there is an emotional response (apathy, anger and fear) that influences the way civil servants rationalize irregular situations and determines their intention to whistleblowing. Additionally, it was found that behaviors such as patronage are normal for civil servants while irregular procurement and fraud are considered serious moral transgressions.
Originality/value
This research explores two important elements to advance the understanding of public corruption: (1) The comprehension, of the role that plays emotions in the corruption tolerance process by civil servants. Results revealed the existence of an ambivalence between anger and fear that could condition the decision to whistleblowing. (2) The validation of some theoretical elements that had been analyzed in previous research comparing them with the collected empirical information.
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Adrian Wilkinson, Michael Barry, Leah Hague, Amanda Biggs and Paula Brough
In recent years, in research and policy circles, there is growing interest in the subject of speaking up (and silence) within the health sector, and there is a consensus that it…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent years, in research and policy circles, there is growing interest in the subject of speaking up (and silence) within the health sector, and there is a consensus that it is a major issue that needs to be addressed. However, there remain gaps in our knowledge and while scholars talk of a voice system – that is the existence of complementary voice channels designed to allow employees to speak up – empirical evidence is limited. We seek to explore the notion of a voice system in a healthcare organisation as comprising structures and cultures as seen from different stakeholder perspectives. What do they see and how do they behave and why? To what extent do the users see a voice system they can access and easily navigate?
Design/methodology/approach
Interviews and focus groups were conducted with a voice stakeholder group (e.g. designers of the system from senior management and HR, which comprised 23 staff members) as well as those who have to use the system, with 13 managers and 26 employees from three units within a metropolitan hospital: an oncology department, an intensive care unit and a community health service. Overall, a total of 62 staff members participated and the data were analysed using grounded theory to identify key themes.
Findings
This study revealed that although a plethora of formal voice structures existed, these were not always visible or accessible to staff, leading to confusion as to who to speak up to about which issues. Equally other avenues which were not designated voice platforms were used by employees to get their voices heard.
Originality/value
This papers looks at the voice system across the organisation rather than examining a specific scheme. In doing so it enables us to see the lived perceptions and experiences of potential users of these schemes and their awareness of the system as a whole.
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Muhammad Arshad, Neelam Qasim, Emmanuelle Reynaud and Omer Farooq
This research seeks to examine the mitigating effect of religiosity on the relationship between abusive supervision and unethical behavior in employees, with moral disengagement…
Abstract
Purpose
This research seeks to examine the mitigating effect of religiosity on the relationship between abusive supervision and unethical behavior in employees, with moral disengagement serving as a mediating factor. Drawing on social cognitive theory, the study proposes an overarching moderated mediation framework to analyze this complex dynamic.
Design/methodology/approach
The testing of the model was based on hierarchical data obtained from 70 work units in services sector. Within this framework, 70 supervisors evaluated the unethical conduct of employees, while 700 employees assessed the abusive supervision they experienced and reported on their own moral disengagement and religiosity. For the analysis of both the measurement and the hypothesized models, multilevel modeling techniques in the Mplus software were utilized.
Findings
The study's findings indicate a direct positive link between abusive supervision and employees' unethical behavior, with moral disengagement mediating this relationship. Furthermore, the research discovered that abusive supervision leads to unethical behavior in employees through moral disengagement only in instances where their religiosity is low.
Originality/value
This research delves deeper by elucidating the role of moral disengagement in the dynamic between abusive supervision and unethical behavior. Diverging from prior research, this study uniquely highlights the moderating role of religiosity, showing its potential to weaken the impact of abusive supervision on unethical behavior in employees through moral disengagement.
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To propose the use of indirect survey protocols, in general and the item count technique (ICT), in particular, that ensure participant anonymity in organizations to explore the…
Abstract
Purpose
To propose the use of indirect survey protocols, in general and the item count technique (ICT), in particular, that ensure participant anonymity in organizations to explore the effect of employee perceived abusive supervision on job performance.
Design/methodology/approach
We apply ICT to a sample of 363 employees (52.6% female) from Greek organizations. Utilizing multivariate statistical techniques, we investigated how employees assess the impact of their personal encounters with abusive supervision on job performance. This approach allowed us to explore the percentage of employees perceiving negative effects on job performance, distinguishing our study from previous studies that primarily focus on quantifying the extent or magnitude of abusive supervision in organizational settings. Also, we investigated how employee socio-demographic characteristics, human capital characteristics and affective traits relate to the evaluation of experienced abusive supervision as a negative factor for their job performance.
Findings
We found that approximately 62% of the respondents evaluated personal experience of abusive supervision as negatively affecting their job performance. We also found that the likelihood of employees evaluating personal experience of abusive supervision as having a negative impact on their job performance is: (1) higher for female employees, (2) does not depend on employee age, job tenure and education; (3) is lower for employees with managerial roles and (4) increases with employee trait negative affectivity.
Originality/value
The study is a response to the call for researchers to use innovative methods for advancing abusive supervision research. The study highlights the significance of taking a proactive stance towards addressing abusive supervision in the workplace, by using indirect survey methods that ensures employee anonymity. The results have implications for organizational strategies aimed at increasing awareness of abusive supervision and its impact on employee performance.
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