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1 – 10 of over 3000The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of conscientiousness on entrepreneurship over and above the impact of other factors that are associated with entrepreneurship…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of conscientiousness on entrepreneurship over and above the impact of other factors that are associated with entrepreneurship in the literature.
Design/methodology/approach
The design uses household responses from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) biennial survey that follows the same heads of households over time to measure their conscientiousness, businesses owned and other demographic and financial characteristics. Ordinary least squares (OLS), Probit and Poisson regression techniques are applied at the head of household and state level to examine the relationship.
Findings
The results show heads of households’ conscientiousness positively relating to the average number of businesses owned, beyond other Big Five traits and the impact of other characteristics. A one-standard deviation increase in conscientiousness is significantly associated with a 0.012 increase in the number of businesses owned. This association is robust to alternative regression specifications and variable measurements.
Originality/value
The results are original to the finance literature, complementing studies by linking intrinsic head of household-level traits to entrepreneurship while controlling for external financial and demographic factors. The study also attempts to externally validate previous findings using aggregate-level outcomes. The data and setting used to measure personality traits as well as entrepreneurial outcomes are original to the entrepreneurship literature, validating previous findings.
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Ling Tan, Jian Guan, Yongli Wang, Jingyu Wang, Wenjing Qian and Chundan Zheng
Despite extensive research on personality and leader emergence, very little is known about the process by which employees become or emerge as leaders based on their performance…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite extensive research on personality and leader emergence, very little is known about the process by which employees become or emerge as leaders based on their performance. Integrating functional leadership theory and a behavior perspective, the authors aim to explore the parallel multiple behavioral mediators in the conscientiousness–leader emergence link.
Design/methodology/approach
By integrating a field survey study and two experimental studies, the authors use parallel multiple mediation analysis to explore the mechanisms by which conscientiousness leads to high levels of leader emergence.
Findings
Conscientiousness is positively associated with employee leader emergence. Employee functional behaviors are positively associated with leader emergence. The authors consistently found that the effect of conscientiousness on leader emergence is primarily explained by increases in task- and change-oriented behaviors but not relations-oriented behaviors.
Practical implications
Organizations can design relevant training programs to cultivate and enhance employees' functional behavior, as the study findings suggest that an effective way to translate employees' conscientiousness into their leader emergence is to improve their task- and change-oriented behaviors.
Originality/value
This research highlights the consistent and important role of employees' functional behaviors in the form of task- and change-oriented behaviors linking conscientiousness to leader emergence.
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Jessica L. Doll and Patrick J. Rosopa
The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate whether employee attitudes, prior engagement in workplace romances, conscientiousness, and organizational policies…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate whether employee attitudes, prior engagement in workplace romances, conscientiousness, and organizational policies predicted the willingness to engage in workplace romances.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 148 full-time employees completed an online survey measuring antecedents of workplace romances. Participants were also randomly assigned to read vignettes that varied the strictness of organizational workplace romance policies. Then, participants completed measures of their willingness to engage in a workplace romance.
Findings
Favorable attitudes about, and prior engagement in, workplace romances were positively related to the willingness to engage in a workplace romance. Prior engagement in workplace romances and conscientiousness were both related to attitudes about workplace romances. Additionally, the interaction between conscientiousness and organizational workplace romance policies significantly predicted the willingness to engage in a workplace romance.
Research limitations/implications
The current study used hypothetical scenarios and a convenience sample to collect data, which may affect the study’s external validity.
Practical implications
Organizations grappling with the issue of workplace romances should consider how employee characteristics may interact with policies regulating workplace romances.
Originality/value
This study is the first to examine the links between both prior engagement in workplace romances and personality variables (i.e. conscientiousness) and their relation to the willingness to engage in workplace romances. In addition, this is the first experimental study to examine the interaction between personality (i.e. conscientiousness) and organizational policy in predicting the willingness to engage workplace romances.
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The purpose of this paper is to use data available through the hybrid (blended online and face to face) learning environment to explore both a direct behavioral measure of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to use data available through the hybrid (blended online and face to face) learning environment to explore both a direct behavioral measure of conscientiousness and gender in predicting hybrid classroom performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Variables measuring both student conscientious behavior, in the hybrid classroom, and gender were examined to determine their relationship to student final grades (i.e. success) in hybrid undergraduate business ethics courses.
Findings
The author finds that: first, conscientiousness continues to be a solid predictor of academic success; second, gender continues to be an insignificant predictor of success in the online/hybrid environment; third, using direct behavioral measures of conscientiousness yields results consistent with prior research that linked inventory-based conscientiousness levels to academic performance; and finally, the archiving and data-collection functions of the hybrid classroom represent a rich trove of behavioral data that may be mined for clues to predict student academic success.
Research limitations/implications
As the research is based on data from six hybrid business ethics classrooms at one institution, future research could be extended to different classrooms and different institutions compared across nations. Research implications include highlighting the potential value of using direct measures of conscientiousness to predict performance.
Practical implications
The study sheds light on the tremendous possibilities for conducting applied research on educational performance outcomes using the rich data inherent in the hybrid learning environment. The author has suggested numerous ways to mine the data from the online portion of the hybrid classroom to explore antecedents of academic success. The author suggests that the hybrid classroom can provide data to act as an early warning system for educators to identify struggling students.
Originality/value
The paper builds upon an exploratory study of the use of direct behavioral (rather than inventory self-report) measures of personality in research on educational outcomes as well as introducing avenues for original research on learning behavior based on data afforded by the hybrid educational environment.
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Divya Tripathi, Shailendra Singh and Arup Varma
The purpose of this paper is to examine how perceptions of politics (POP) impact individuals’ willingness to engage in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and how this…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how perceptions of politics (POP) impact individuals’ willingness to engage in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and how this relationship is impacted by individuals’ conscientiousness and political skills.
Design/methodology/approach
Primary data collected from 211 employee working in the consultancy sector in India were analyzed using hierarchical moderated regression technique.
Findings
The authors found a significant three-way interaction between POP, conscientiousness and political skill in predicting OCB. Presence of high conscientiousness and high political skill alleviates the negative effect of politics on OCB.
Research limitations/implications
The data were collected from consultancy sector organizations, and thus, generalizability of the results is somewhat limited. Further, self-report surveys are used for data collection. Future studies should use multiple methods to collect data to avoid common method bias.
Practical implications
The results suggest that to alleviate the negative effect of POP on OCB, practitioners should recruit employees with high levels of conscientiousness and impart training to develop political skill.
Originality/value
This study attempts to take a holistic person-centric approach to study the moderating effect of personality variable and political skill when examining the linkage between perceived politics and citizenship behavior.
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Yang Fu and Zhang Lihua
The purpose of this paper is to deepen the understanding of the relationship between perceived organizational support (POS) and organizational justice (distributive justice…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to deepen the understanding of the relationship between perceived organizational support (POS) and organizational justice (distributive justice, procedural justice, and interactive justice), and to test the moderating effect of conscientiousness.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was conducted to measure study variables. Data were obtained utilizing a field survey from a sample of 520 professional managers working in two industries (manufacturing industry and service industry) in China. Confirmatory factor analysis and moderated hierarchical analysis were used to test hitherto untested hypotheses.
Findings
As the result showed, controlling the effect of control variables (age, tenure, education and position), organizational justice (distributive justice, procedural justice, and interactive justice) had a positive effect on POS in the service sample; meanwhile, the interaction effect between distributive justice and conscientiousness has been shown to be significant in both the manufacturing and service samples.
Research limitations/implications
The results have obvious implications for organizational justice and POS in organizations. However, the results are to be viewed in the light of common method variance and same source bias.
Practical implications
The paper sheds light on the potential effects of conscientiousness, which strengthens the positive relationship between organizational justice and POS. Given the importance of conscientiousness, it may be worthwhile for leaders to stimulate managers' conscientiousness.
Originality/value
The paper examines how conscientiousness moderates the relationship between organizational justice and POS in both the manufacturing and service samples. It should be useful to academics and managers who want to understand the importance of conscientiousness.
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Bojan Obrenovic, Jianguo Du, Danijela Godinić and Diana Tsoy
This study aims to examine psychological mechanisms underlying tacit knowledge-sharing behaviours. The personality trait of conscientiousness is tested in relation to knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine psychological mechanisms underlying tacit knowledge-sharing behaviours. The personality trait of conscientiousness is tested in relation to knowledge sharing, and the effect of eagerness and subjective norm on the intention to share is measured in the context of local and multinational knowledge-intensive enterprises in Croatia.
Design/methodology/approach
The quantitative study was conducted on a sample of 288 employees of small and medium-sized companies working on knowledge-intensive tasks. The purposive sampling technique and a survey strategy were used in the study. Organizational affiliation, as it was presumed that these individuals possess a higher degree of tacit knowledge. The data collection was conducted in October 2019. Respondents worked in science and technology companies in Croatia on assignments involving information technology, electronics, petrochemicals, medicine and biochemistry. Statistical product and service solutions analysis of a moment structures software was used to perform confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.
Findings
The findings suggest that the personality trait of conscientiousness has a positive impact on tacit knowledge sharing behaviour. An attitude of eagerness and subjective norm were also confirmed as predictors of tacit knowledge sharing behaviour. Furthermore, conscientiousness influences the eagerness to share knowledge. A significant association between subjective norm and conscientiousness was also established. Finally, the mediating effects were identified, indicating that subjective norm and eagerness mediate the relationship between conscientiousness and tacit knowledge sharing.
Practical implications
Explaining the relationship between personality and attitude in the context of knowledge sharing will result in a better understanding of factors that should be nurtured within individuals. Accordingly, distinct management initiatives are to be developed to suit these factors. Furthermore, to intensify the knowledge exchange when working on knowledge-intensive tasks of significant economic value, organizations tailor a more particularistic application to suit the individual in the domain of leadership, staffing decisions, work organization and incentive systems.
Originality/value
This study provides an in-depth analysis and theoretical understanding of factors salient for knowledge-sharing behaviour. The authors provide an overview of how knowledge sharing evolves during social interaction through intensive problem-solving sessions and teamwork. The authors render the explanation on how the personality trait of conscientiousness, conjoint with the attitude of eagerness to share know-how in the expert surrounding, is conducive to the generation of tacit knowledge sharing. Underpinning this study are employees’ psychological motives and internal drives to communicate individual cognitive capital outweighing the potential negative consequences, such as losing the competitive advantage over the colleagues.
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Robin A. Cheramie and Marcia J. Simmering
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of situational factors in improving learning for trainees with low conscientiousness.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of situational factors in improving learning for trainees with low conscientiousness.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 117 employees completed a survey questionnaire in the context of a training intervention. Perceptions of conscientiousness, legitimacy, and accountability were used to predict employee learning in a training context. Moderated multiple regression was used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
Results support interactions of conscientiousness and perceived accountability to predict learning such that learners who are low in conscientiousness showed higher levels of learning when perceived accountability was considered strong than when perceived accountability was considered weak. There was no support for the proposed interaction of conscientiousness and perceived legitimacy to predict learning.
Practical implications
Results support the view that organizations should implement formal controls to increase perceived accountability and improve learning. Trainees with low conscientiousness had higher levels of learning in situations with strong accountability perceptions.
Originality/value
The study is one of the few to evaluate perceived accountability in a field study, whereas most previous research has evaluated this concept in lab experiments. Therefore, the findings support the wide range of perceived accountability that exists in most organizations. The results imply the need for more accountability controls within an organization to increase learning in a training context.
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Ricardo Mateo, Jose Roberto Hernández, Carmen Jaca and Szabolcs Blazsek
– The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between accuracy and conscientiousness among people working in a tidy/messy work environment.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between accuracy and conscientiousness among people working in a tidy/messy work environment.
Design/methodology/approach
A laboratory experiment was conducted, where participants performing a simple task in a highly controlled environment were sorted into two different treatments, a tidy or a messy work environment.
Findings
The results of this study suggest that conscientious people commit more errors in a messy environment than in a tidy environment. Therefore, one of the most significant findings to emerge from this study is that a messy environment could be detrimental to the accuracy of conscientious people.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited in several respects. First of all, the sample is not large, with 80 participants; some variables, such us IQ levels, fatigue levels, caffeine consumption, etc. were not controlled for. Third, the task was restricted to inputting data into a computer.
Practical implications
Taken together, these findings suggest the need to promote excellence in work environment tidiness, because highly conscientious employees will work with greater accuracy, while the less conscientious will not be affected. Therefore, overall, accuracy will be better. Consequently, the managers of the organization should be committed to defining policies about high standards of tidiness in the workplace environment.
Originality/value
This is the first study to provide evidence of the moderation of the tidy/messy work environment in the relationship between conscientiousness and human accuracy. The present study sheds light on the impact of messy work environment on accuracy of high conscientious people, inducing them to work in a defective way.
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Jin Li, Kuo‐Ting Hung and Chanchai Tangpong
The purpose of this paper is to better understand the main effects of agent conscientiousness and reciprocity norm and the interaction effect of these two factors on layoff…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to better understand the main effects of agent conscientiousness and reciprocity norm and the interaction effect of these two factors on layoff decisions in firm‐employee relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
A scenario‐based experiment with 331 business professionals was conducted and three regression models were run to test three hypotheses proposed in the paper.
Findings
The norm of reciprocity reduces decision‐making agents' tendency to lay off employees in the face of an environmental change. In addition, the norm of reciprocity interacts with decision‐making agents' conscientiousness in influencing their layoff decision.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations of this study are the use of single‐agent decision scenario and the specific focus on one aspect of agent personality – conscientiousness and its collective influence on layoff decisions. In a broader picture, the results of this study support the cross‐level analytical approach to investigating organizational phenomena, in which individual‐level and organizational‐level factors interact and determine organizational outcomes.
Practical implications
Recruiting and promoting managers who exhibit high levels of conscientiousness, coupled with proactively cultivating the norm of reciprocity with employees, are critical to a firm's thrust in attaining and sustaining stakeholder management practices with the emphasis on employees' well‐being.
Originality/value
While the extant literature focuses largely on the effects of layoff and the individual perceptions of downsizing and layoff, this paper examines what actually influences decision‐making agents' layoff decisions. The paper expands the literature by investigating the impacts of agent conscientiousness and reciprocity norm on layoff decisions.
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