Antecedents and consequences of organizational politics: a select study of a central university

The impact of green accounting on environmental performance: mediating effects of energy efficiency

This study investigates the relationship between green accounting, energy efficiency, and environmental performance in the context of Bangladeshi pharmaceutical and chemical companies. The study also explores the mediating role of energy efficiency in the relationship between green accounting and environmental performance. A total of 326 responses were collected using a simple random sampling technique from pharmaceutical and chemical companies in Bangladesh. The study employed Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze the data. The results indicate that green accounting has a significant positive impact on both energy efficiency and environmental performance. Moreover, energy efficiency partially mediates the relationship between green accounting and environmental performance. The study also found that economic, environmental, and social practices of green accounting positively impact energy efficiency and environmental performance, with environmental practices having the highest impact. The findings of this study provide important insights for managers and policymakers of pharmaceutical and chemical companies in Bangladesh, highlighting the need for green accounting practices that promote environmental sustainability. The study suggests that integrating green accounting practices can lead to better energy efficiency and environmental performance, which can enhance the reputation and competitive advantage of these companies. This study identifies the mediating role of energy efficiency in the relationship between green accounting and environmental performance, providing a unique perspective on the mechanism behind the relationship.

The Paradox of Citizenship Cost: Examining a Longitudinal Indirect Effect of Altruistic Citizenship Behavior on Work-Family Conflict Through Coworker Support

The objective of this study was to address the paradox of citizenship cost by hypothesizing an indirect rather than a direct effect of altruistic citizenship behavior (ACB) on employee work–family conflict (WFC) through coworker support (CWS). Data were gathered in a three-wave longitudinal survey of employees from private commercial banks (N = 318). A multiple linear autoregressive longitudinal mediation model was analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results indicate that rather than directly, ACB affects indirectly employee WFC through CWS. This indirect effect is negative, which reflects that the costs of citizenship behavior are paradoxical. The present study contributes to the ongoing debate on the positive and negative outcomes of employee citizenship behavior by providing empirical evidence on the beneficial rather than harmful effect of performing such behavior. For organizational managers, promoting a culture of CWS by encouraging altruistic behaviors can be a most viable strategy to reduce WFC among their employees. The study discusses its limitations and provides future research directions.

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.

Moderating role of employee engagement on conflict–politics relationship

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between relationship conflict and the perception of organization politics (POP) and the moderating role of employee engagement. The study hypothesizes that the conflict results in the presence of POP only for those employees who are relatively less engaged with the organization. The paper further explores the mediating role of perceived politics between the relationship conflict and job-related outcome variables including openness to diversity, turnover intent and perception of justice. In sum, the authors contend that employee engagement will act as a moderator between relationship conflict and POP, and POP further will act as a mediator between relationship conflict and its job-related outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

A descriptive study was carried on to conduct this research. Data were collected at two different points of time from the employees of two public sector undertakings (n=206). About 80 questionnaires were not returned by the respondents, reducing the sample size to be 126. Of these, 115 were usable, resulting in a 55.83 percent response rate. SEM was employed to test the hypotheses with the help of Smart PLS 3.0. A two-step process was followed to test the hypothesized model. Testing the significance of proposed relationships in the structural model was followed by the evaluation of the measurement model.

Findings

The results of the study highlighted a positive association between the relationship conflict and POP. A moderating effect of employee engagement on relationship conflict and perceived organizational politics (POP) was observed. Further, POP was found to have a positive relationship with the intention to leave and a negative relationship with openness to diversity and perception of justice was observed. POP mediated the relationship between relationship conflict with the intention to leave and the perception of justice.

Research limitations/implications

The very first limitation of the present study is its cross-sectional design. Since the data were gathered from the same respondents, the causal relationships between variables are subject to biases (Bobko and Stone-Romero, 1998). Further, the data were gathered with the help of self-report questionnaires, and the findings of this study might have been influenced by the social desirability response bias (Podsakoff et al., 2003). Hence, future work should focus on using a combination of sources for data collection. This study also proposes a possible role of emotional intelligence in employee engagement and their POP, which can be tested in future studies.

Practical implications

The study suggests that relationship conflict leads to POP, which eventually results in adverse job-related outcomes. In order to control the negative effects of politics perception, organizations should undertake conflict prevention and conflict management techniques. To further reduce the level of POP, organizations shall take steps to better engage their employees because even when the level of relationship conflict is high, people perceive less politics if they are highly engaged with the organization.

Originality/value

The study is an original work carried out to understand the relationship between relationship conflict and the POP, and the moderating role of employee engagement.

Resource and Information Access for SME Sustainability in the Era of IR 4.0: The Mediating and Moderating Roles of Innovation Capability and Management Commitment

In the era of industrial revelation 4.0 (IR 4.0), sustainability has been a serious challenge of contemporary small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Using Natural Resource-Based-View (NRBV), the current paper examines the moderated mediation model of the role of information access in the sustainability of SMEs, through the mediating role of access to resource and innovation capability in the relationship between information access and sustainability, and the moderating role of management commitment in the relationship between innovation capability and SME sustainability. This paper gathered data from 222 SMEs in Pakistan. The study used a purposive sampling technique to distribute the survey questionnaire. Smart-PLS software was used to analyze the data. The study finding indicates that access to information affects both sustainability and innovation capability. Moreover, access to resources affects innovation capability, though it did not affect SME sustainability. Furthermore, innovation capability mediates the relationship between access to resources, access to information, and SME sustainability. Additionally, management commitment moderates the relationship between access to information and innovation capability; however, it does not moderate the relationship between access to resources and innovation capability. Practical, theoretical, and methodological implications are discussed in the study.