Examining perceived organizational politics among Indian managers: Engagement as mediator and locus of control as moderator

Cross-level research on the impact of self-serving leadership on employee innovation behavior: The roles of workplace anxiety and team psychological safety

Employee innovative behavior is significant in maintaining an organization's sustainable development. This study explored the impact of team psychological safety and workplace anxiety on the association between self-serving leadership and employee innovation behavior by synthesizing social information processing theory, conservation of resources theory, and ego depletion theory. We conducted a hierarchical linear model analysis using three-wave paired data collected from 86 leaders and 392 employees. The research results showed that self-serving leadership is negatively correlated with employee innovation behavior. Meanwhile, team psychological safety and workplace anxiety mediated this relationship. In addition, team psychological safety mitigates the impact of workplace anxiety on employee innovation behavior and the indirect impact of self-serving leadership on employee innovation behavior via workplace anxiety. These findings have a number of theoretical and practical implications in the domains of self-serving leadership and employee innovation behavior.

Perceived organizational politics and turnover intentions: critical roles of social adaptive behavior and emotional regulation skills

With a basis in conservation of resources theory, this study investigates how social adaptive behavior might mediate the relationship between employees' perceptions of organizational politics and their turnover intentions, as well as a buffering role of their emotional regulation skills as a critical personal resource. Data collected from employees in the food sector reveal that beliefs about dysfunctional political games spur turnover intentions, driven by employees' unwillingness to adjust themselves to the actions of their organizational colleagues. This mediating role of social adaptive behavior, or its lack, is less salient when employees have a greater ability to control their own emotions though. For organizations, this study accordingly pinpoints a key mechanism—a reluctance to accommodate other members' preferences—by which perceived organizational politics can escalate into a desire to leave the organization. It also reveals how this mechanism can be better contained by employees' ability to remain calm, even in difficult situations.

A model of perceptions of politics: antecedents and outcomes

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of one personal variable (locus of control) and two relationship variables (leader-member exchange and co-worker cooperation) on perceptions of organizational politics in Lebanese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data was collected from 300 Lebanese employees from different SMEs located between Tripoli and Beirut.

Findings

Results of regression analysis indicated that all the three variables were significant predictors of perceptions of politics, and that perceptions of politics affected employee outcomes. More specifically, higher levels of politics are associated with higher turnover intention and lower job satisfaction.

Practical implications

Results of this study raise several implications for companies and employers. Perceptions of politics were found to have a negative impact on employee attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. Therefore, employers must examine the factors that affect employee perceptions of politics in the workplace. Since leader-member exchange and co-worker cooperation were found to predict politics, management's efforts should focalize on improving the relationships between employees and their supervisor as well as their relationships with each other. Management should develop strategies to create an atmosphere of cooperation and support in the organization.

Originality/value

There is paucity of studies on organizational politics in Arabic cultures. This study extends the organizational politics literature by investigating antecedents and outcomes of politics in Lebanon, a country that differs in its culture from US and European contexts.

Total rewards to enhance employees’ intention to stay: does perception of justice play any role?

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how total rewards might influence intention to stay among employees of private sector banks in India. A moderated-mediation mechanism is hypothesized, in which a system of total rewards leads to intention to stay via engagement and organizational justice (OJ) moderates the linkage of total rewards with engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

Perception of employees about the constructs considered has been assessed by a survey, using a structured questionnaire. Employees of private banks located in the State of Uttar Pradesh were the population for this study. A total of 17 branches of 7 private banks were covered, and the number of valid responses was 761. Hypotheses testing has been done with SPSS PROCESS command.

Findings

Hypotheses proposing mediation (engagement as mediator between total rewards and intention to stay), moderation (OJ as moderator between total rewards and engagement) and moderated mediation have found support.

Practical implications

Results obtained direct us to infer that in addition to the amount or value of any reward, aspects of OJ, such as equity and fairness in allocation of such reward and transparency in the procedure followed, are likely to influence the effectiveness of total rewards practices in engaging employees and motivating them to stay with their present employer.

Originality/value

This study adds to total rewards literature by highlighting how a total rewards system can lead to engagement, and consequently to employees’ intention to stay. Results establish OJ as an important attribute to any total rewards package to make the latter more valuable and effective.

Organizational communication and job satisfaction: what role do generational differences play?

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of the generational category that managers in India belong to on their job satisfaction and on their satisfaction with organizational communication; the authors defined organizational communication as the communication that occurs in interactions between employees. The authors wanted to see whether there would be differences between the generations in the attitudes to and expectations of organizational communication, and whether this, in turn, would influence their job satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 400 managers working in public and private listed companies in India were surveyed using a questionnaire over the period of a year, from August 2016 to July 2017. This resulted in 334 responses. The questionnaire measured the respondents’ choice and comfort with communication media, their satisfaction with the communication at their workplace and the type of interactions that took place. It also measured the respondents’ job satisfaction. The study was inter-disciplinary in nature, in that it drew on several theories of communication, e.g. accommodation theory and media richness theory, alongside the findings from empirical studies that have looked specifically at intergenerational differences.

Findings

The authors found that organizational communication was positively related to job satisfaction, and also that generational category moderated the relationship between these two factors. In addition, the results show that Gen Y managers in particular were the least satisfied generation at work, and that they frequently used avoidance while communicating with older adults. The conclusion is that job satisfaction may be enhanced, by focusing on the development of a positive communication environment; in addition, employees who belong to different generations may define what constitutes a positive communication environment in very different ways.

Originality/value

Despite receiving some attention in other contexts, such as in the family, the impact of intergenerational differences in the workplace has not been widely investigated. A few studies do exist on the influence of generational differences on work outcomes and on attitudes and behaviors, but much still remains to be done. In addition, while there have been many studies on job satisfaction, as well as on levels of attrition in workplace settings, very few have looked specifically at non-Western contexts such as India. The present study attempts to contribute to this debate, by providing a comparison of the workplace communication preferences and experiences within multi-generational organizations in India.

Examining the role of perceived investment in employees’ development on work-engagement of liquid knowledge workers

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the relationship between perceived investments in employees’ development (PIED) on work engagement and the moderating effects of psychological capital on this relationship for liquid knowledge workers, employed in the Indian cutting and polishing of diamond industry (CPD).

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire composed of established scales was administered to 134 liquid knowledge workers. Having established convergent and discriminant validity using structural equation modelling, the model was further analysed using the Process macro to check for direct and moderating effects.

Findings

The research findings suggest that the perceived investment in employee development and psychological contract enhancement (relational and transactional) made by CPD units for liquid knowledge workers positively influenced their work engagement level. The study also finds that relational contract (not transactional contract) positively moderates the relationship between perceived investment in employee development and work engagement.

Research limitations/implications

This is a cross-sectional single source study; future studies could look at longitudinal and multisource perspective.

Practical implications

The study presents a “star matrix of engagement” that guides the application of the two strategies of perceived employee development and psychological contract enhancement for liquid knowledge workers. This has implications for design and implementation of human resource management practices and policies for employee management.

Originality/value

The study makes significant contributions to existing literature on antecedents of work engagement of liquid knowledge workers by examining the direct and moderating influences.

Impact of workplace bullying on employee outcomes: a study of Indian managerial employees

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of workplace bullying on innovative work behavior and neglect with defensive silence as a mediator. The study further examines if the presence of friendship networks in the workplace can weaken the negative impact of workplace bullying.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through self-report questionnaires from 835 full-time Indian managerial employees working in different Indian organizations.

Findings

Results revealed that workplace bullying negatively related to innovative work behavior and positively related to neglect. Defensive silence mediated bullying–outcomes relationships and effects of workplace bullying on proposed outcomes were weaker in the presence of high workplace friendship.

Research limitations/implications

A cross-sectional design and use of self-reported questionnaire data are few limitations of this study.

Originality/value

The study extended the current research stream of workplace bullying to one of the underrepresented developing Asian countries, India. The study also contributes in terms of its sample characteristics as it covers managerial employees working across different organizations.

LINKING PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRACT BREACH, INNOVATIVE WORK BEHAVIOUR AND COLLECTIVISM: A MODERATED MEDIATION MODEL

The present study examines the factors that mediate and moderate the relationship of psychological contract breach (PCB) with innovative work behaviour. Specifically, affective commitment is posited to mediate and collectivism to moderate the above relationship. Data were collected from 707 managers across 12 organisations in India. Hierarchical multiple regression was used for statistical analysis of the moderated-mediation model. Affective commitment was found to mediate the negative relationship between PCB and innovative work behaviour and collectivism moderated the influence of PCB on affective commitment. Results from the moderated mediation analysis revealed that the mediation of affective commitment was moderated by collectivism such that at the lower level of collectivism, the mediation effect of affective commitment became stronger.

Effects of supportive work environment on employee retention

Purpose

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the mediating effect of organizational engagement in the relationship between supportive work environment (SWE) and employee retention.

Design/methodology/approach

Primary data of 211 respondents from 67 organizations were analysed. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the dimensionality and validity of study variables. Further, the hypothesized model was tested with the help of multiple regression analysis.

Findings

The findings suggest that SWE plays a crucial role in predicting employee retention. Organizational engagement partially mediates the relationship between SWE and employee retention.

Research limitations/implications

The data were limited to the Indian setting and of cross-sectional design only; so, it may not be generalized across the world. Further, the sample size is also comparatively smaller but the results are not affected adversely.

Originality/value

The role of SWE along with organizational engagement is currently under-researched in the Indian context. The present study is an intense effort to analyse the mediating effect of organizational engagement in the relationship between SWE and employee retention.