Factors Influencing Employees' Subjective Wellbeing and Job Performance During the COVID-19 Global Pandemic: The Perspective of Social Cognitive Career Theory

When colleague got recognized: Third-party’s reaction to witnessing employee recognition

Employee recognition, an incentive method widely used in management practice, plays an important role in the organization. Although extant studies have confirmed its effectiveness, little attention has been paid to its spillover effect. Based on the Social Cognitive Theory and Affective Events Theory, this study argues that employee recognition encounter can trigger cognitive and behavioral reactions. Through perceived organizational justice and workplace wellbeing, a chain-mediating effect connects witnessing employee recognition to work engagement. This research adopts the empirical research method by asking the participants to do the weekly survey (four times in 1 month), and 258 samples are collected. Using SPSS20.0 and its PROCESS macro module, hypotheses are tested. The results indicate (1) employees who witness leaders’ recognition of colleagues will (a) perceive higher organizational justice and (b) be more engaged in work. (2) Perceived organizational justice will mediate the positive relationship between employee recognition encounters with (a) workplace wellbeing and (b) work engagement. (3) Perceived organizational justice and workplace wellbeing will have a chain-mediating effect in the path of employee recognition encounter and work engagement. The results provide both practical and theoretical contribution to employee recognition.

The underlying mechanism between compulsory citizenship behaviors and employee innovative work behaviors and knowledge sharing: A moderated mediation model

Purpose

This paper draws on conservation of resources theory to advance the literature on extra-role performance behaviors among academics, particularly innovative work behaviors and knowledge sharing, through the lens of work stressors.

Methods

We develop a moderated-mediated model based on multi-source, multi-timed, and multi-level data from a sample of 207 academics and 137 direct supervisors in five higher education institutions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Findings

Results show that academics' compulsory citizenship behaviors positively influence negative affectivity, which, in turn, negatively impacts academics' innovative work behavior and knowledge sharing. The detrimental effect of compulsory citizenship behaviors on negative affectivity is then positively moderated by passive leadership, which amplifies this relationship. The combined effect of compulsory citizenship behaviors and negative affectivity exerted on innovative work behavior and knowledge sharing are magnified amid the elevated presence of passive leadership, while gender does not significantly influence this association.

Originality

This is a pioneering study in the context of UAE to look into the counterproductive impact of CCB on employee innovative work behaviors and knowledge sharing.

Implications

Pertinent theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

The integrated effects of leader-member exchange social comparison on job performance and OCB in the Chinese context

Although it has been long recognized that leader-member exchange social comparison (LMXSC) has critical implications for employee productivity, little attention has been given to systematically exploring the effects of LMXSC on employee performance in a specific cultural context. Integrating social exchange theory with social comparison theory, we examine a dual process model to explain how and when LMXSC affects employee performance outcomes in the Chinese context. Results based on multiphase, multisource data from China revealed that the mediating roles of employees' perceived obligation toward the leader and self-esteem are examined simultaneously in the relationship between LMXSC and job performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Additionally, guanxi strengthens the connection between LMXSC and perceived obligation, while Zhongyong thinking erodes the connection between LMXSC and self-esteem. Taken together, these findings enhance our understanding of LMXSC in China.

The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Expatriate Performance in International Construction Projects

Purpose

In the field of construction, it has been shown that individuals with higher emotional intelligence may perform better on the job. However, it is still a question worth exploring about how emotional intelligence affects expatriate performance in international construction projects. Therefore, this study aimed to verify the relationship between expatriates' emotional intelligence and expatriate performance and explore the mediating role of self-efficacy and psychological resilience.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2021. A non-probability sampling method was used to obtain data. A total of 315 Chinese construction expatriates in 67 countries and regions around the world were evaluated using four scales: the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, the General Self-Efficacy Scale, the Connor-Davidson Resilience scale, and the Kraimer's expatriate's performance scale. The hypothesis model was tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM).

Results

The results of the data analysis indicated that self-efficacy (β_{Indirect effect} = 0.175, p<0.05) and psychological resilience (β_{Indirect effect} = 0.112, p<0.05) served as fully mediating variables (β _{Direct effect} = 0.177, p=0.101), suggesting a way to explain how emotional intelligence affect the performance of contractor expatriates. The findings also suggest that self-efficacy and psychological resilience also play continuous and multiple mediating roles (β_{Indirect effect} = 0.143, p<0.05) between emotional intelligence and expatriate performance.

Conclusion

This study attempted to investigate the mechanism of emotional intelligence's influence on expatriate performance from the perspective of individual psychological resources. The results of the study suggest that the emotional intelligence of expatriates may bring about an increase in performance levels by improving self-efficacy and psychological resilience levels. This provides a practical way to improve the performance of expatriates and a new management perspective for human resource management in international construction projects.

Evaluating the impact of employees’ perception of identity threat on knowledge sharing behavior during COVID-19: The mediation and moderation effect of social capital and reward system

Quarantine policies introduced in the context of COVID-19 are affecting business operations and slowing down the flow rate of the overall economy. Different degrees and types of threats occur in both the living environment and the working environment during the epidemic prevention, which causes many additional uncertainties. The impact on employees is the identity threat from environment and organizations. This is different from the related research on the identification and impact of the threat before the occurrence of COVID-19. However, in the post-pandemic period, companies continue to strengthen important factors that can increase innovation and recovery, including the role of employee knowledge sharing. The organizational inequity and lack of organizational justice bring about the threat of internal identification in organizations. In order to ensure their own interests in organizations, employees may think twice when sharing knowledge. Therefore, this study explores the relationship among employees’ identity threat, social capital and knowledge sharing behavior from the perspective of organizational behavior. In this study, a sample of high-tech employees was conducted, and a total of 434 questionnaires were obtained. The research results show that employees’ perception of identity threat has a negative impact on knowledge sharing behavior and positively affects social capital; employees’ social capital positively affects their knowledge sharing behaviors; and organizational reward system moderates the relationship between identity threat and knowledge sharing behavior. Based on the comprehensive research findings, this research proposes corresponding theoretical and practical implications.

How Does Strategic Human Resource Management Impact on Employee Voice Behavior and Innovation Behavior With Mediating Effect of Psychological Mechanism

Employees' voice and innovation behaviors are an important source of organizational competitiveness. Scholars in the field of organizational behaviors have discussed how to increase the willingness of employees to engage in voice and innovation behaviors from a diversity of perspectives. Innovation has always been a strategic goal of organizations. To motivate employees to offer valuable advice and innovative ideas, organizations have to provide various incentive, feedback and supportive programs. Combined with the social exchange and social cognitive theories, this study presents an argument that the effective strategic human resource management can gradually improve the self-efficacy, psychological contract, voice behaviors and innovation behaviors of employees, and further verifies the relationship among them. A sample of 553 employees was used and analyzed via structure equation modeling. This study adopted PLS-SEM to verify structural model and examine the mediating effect of psychological mechanism. The results showed that strategic human resource management has a significant and positive impact on self-efficacy, psychological contract, voice behavior and innovation behavior; self-efficacy has a significant and positive impact on psychological contract, voice behavior and innovation behavior; psychological contract only has a significant and positive impact on innovation behavior, but not on voice behavior. Given the above research findings, this study gives some practical implications in the end.

Psychological Contract, Self-Efficacy, Job Stress, and Turnover Intention: A View of Job Demand-Control-Support Model

The outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused enterprises to face more challenges, such as operational management, production and sales management, and human resource management, among other issues. In the context of the global knowledge economy, employees with high knowledge and skills have become an important source of corporate growth and breakthroughs. However, employees may intend to transfer to other companies due to the pressure of the external and internal environments, so the main topic explored by this paper will be the change of employees' turnover intention. The purpose of this study was to explore the influence mechanism that propels the employees' self-efficacy, job stress, and turnover intention, and the moderating effect of transformational leadership. A total of 553 valid responses from several information service companies in China are collected via purposive sampling and used in the data analysis. This study conducts partial least squares structural equation modeling partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze collected data. The results of the path analysis with structural equation modeling show that employees' psychological contracts have a positive impact on the self-efficacy and a negative impact on the job stress. Employees' self-efficacy has a negative impact on job stress and turnover intention; transformational leadership plays a significant moderator in the research framework. Based on research findings, the theoretical and managerial implications are presented.

How Do Determiners of Job Performance Matter During COVID-19? The Conservation of Resource Theory

During the COVID-19 pandemic, business managers are facing many challenges from a severe challenge. Many organizations have changed their original management mode and organizational behavior to improve employees' organizational citizenship behavior, thus reducing their sense of anxiety and incapability. Thereinto, job performance of the employees also affects the growth and development of the organization. To explore how to fragment employees' positive psychology and job performance, this study discusses the influence on employees' subjective wellbeing and job performance from relevant factors at the organizational and individual levels. Also, to explore the influence of organizational support and occupation self-efficacy on job performance and the mediating role of subjective wellbeing during COVID-19, a total of 618 valid questionnaires were collected from all walks of life in 2020. Hypotheses were tested by structural equation modeling and Bootstrap technology. The results show that: (1) Professional self-efficacy and subjective wellbeing have a significant positive impact on job performance; (2) Subjective wellbeing plays a complete mediating role between organizational support and job performance, and subjective wellbeing plays a partial mediating role between professional self-efficacy and job performance; (3) Compared with the sense of organizational support, the positive effect of self-efficacy on job performance is more significant.

Employee Perceptions About Participation in Decision-Making in the COVID Era and Its Impact on the Psychological Outcomes: A Case Study of a Cooperative in MONDRAGON (Basque Country, Spain)

This research aims to study possible effects or impacts of COVID-19 in the context of a democratic organizational system analyzing how COVID-19 has influenced employees' perception of their participation in decision-making and its impact on some psychological outcomes and emotions. COVID-19 has accelerated the process of implementation of new frameworks at work (digitalization, teleworking, new skills, and abilities) that have generated the modification of culture and employee management practices. Our hypothesis are, on the one hand, that COVID-19 has generated changes in participation structures and internal communication mechanisms, having to make modifications not to deteriorate the perception of employees about their participation in decision making. On the other hand, COVID-19 has generated changes in the psychological outcomes and emotions of the employees. In the study, we analyze a cooperative belonging to the MONDRAGON cooperative group, where participation in decision-making and ownership is in its DNA. Through qualitative (5 focus groups) and quantitative (short questionnaire) methodologies, involving 42 employees, we investigate firstly, how COVID-19 has affected perceptions about participation in decision-making analyzing what role has played internal communication in these perceptions. Secondly, we investigate how COVID-19 has affected psychological outcomes and emotions. In this case, the perceptions arising from participation in decision-making focus on the assessment that participators make of the governance channels and the day-to-day meetings. Therefore, their appropriateness seems to be a key factor in the perception of participation in the COVID-19 era. Differences have been detected between the perceptions of blue and white collar employees. Such differences have also been founded in the psychological outcomes and emotions. Although this is a single case study, the analysis carried out provides elements of reflection to modify and restructure the decision-making and participation mechanisms, adapting them to the needs of blue and white collar employees in order to "guarantee" the expected outcomes.

The Negative Effect of Job Insecurity in the Virtuous Cycle Between Trust in the Organization, Subjective Well-Being, and Task Performance in the Current Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity Context

Over the past decade, job insecurity referring to the employees' perceived threat to the continuity and stability of employment as it is currently experienced has become a hot topic. A general assumption, supported by the findings, is that job insecurity causes far-reaching negative consequences for the employee health and well-being, attitudes toward organization and the job, and behaviors at work. However, the focus on behavioral outcomes, especially on employee performance at work, is still scant. Moreover, the literature remains fragmented concerning the impact of job insecurity on employee trust in the organization and how the trust influences employee subjective well-being (SWB), which in turn affects employee performance. Consequently, the link between job insecurity and SWB needs more investigation. Trying to narrow the gap, the paper aims at revealing the linkage between job insecurity, trust in the organization, SWB, and task performance. Quantitative data were collected in Lithuania. As predicted, the results revealed that job insecurity had a negative impact on trust in the organization and employee SWB. In case of linkage between job insecurity and task performance, the hypothesis was rejected. In general, these findings affirmed that job insecurity was a hindrance stressor, which needed to be considered when managing human resources in the current volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity context.

How Internal Marketing Drives Employees' Internal Relationship Quality of Service Organizations Between Mainland China and Taiwan: The Moderating Roles of Internal Relationship Investment and Leader-Member Exchange

Recently, issues of human resource management gradually attract a lot of attention from organizational behavior scholars, thus how to effectively improve service employees' job attitude and performance to meet the needs of stakeholders is one of the key issues in internal marketing. Based on the perspective of internal marketing, the study transforms the relevant factors applied to maintaining external customer relations into internal employee-oriented factors, so as to increase the understanding of the relationship between internal service recovery and internal relationship quality (IRQ). This study aims to explore (1) whether internal service recovery enhances IRQ; (2) whether internal relationship investment (IRI) positively moderates relationship between internal service recovery and IRQ; and (3) whether effectiveness of internal service recovery differentiates under different exchange relationship (high/low quality leader-member exchange). In this study, a total of 206 Mainland China and 250 Taiwanese participants were collected. In this study, a variance-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was performed to test the proposed hypothesizes and conduct comparative analysis. Empirical results in both samples show that internal service recovery has positive and significant effects on IRQ; internal relationship investment and leader-member exchange (LMX) positively and significantly moderate the relationship between internal service recovery and IRQ. Finally, based on the results, this study provides some discussions, suggestions and managerial implications for future studies in organizational management.

Understanding the Antecedents of Knowledge Sharing Behavior From the Theory of Planned Behavior Model: Cross-Cultural Comparisons Between Mainland China and Malaysia

Affected by coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in addition to keeping away the impact of the pandemic on their business practices, many enterprises have proposed relevant measures to protect their employees' job safety and security. Especially for enterprises with high dependence on knowledge resources, employees' innovation and knowledge sharing play a vital role. In the context of global economic austerity, how to put forward the corresponding plan of knowledge sharing intention to improve the knowledge sharing behavior of employees for enterprises is worth discussing. Mainland China and Malaysia have different quarantine policies and similar industrial structures. This study examines the awareness of Mainland China vs. Malaysian employees, and evaluates the relationship among self-efficacy, job security, market orientation, knowledge sharing intention, and knowledge sharing behavior from the theory of planned behavior. In this study, a total of 627 Mainland China and 434 Malaysian participants were collected to compare both groups in the development of employees' knowledge sharing behavior. In this study, a variance-based partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was performed to test the proposed hypothesis and conduct comparative analysis. The results in both the samples show that self-efficacy, job security, and market orientation have positive and significant effects on knowledge sharing intention; self-efficacy has positive and significant effects on job security; knowledge sharing intention has positive and significant effects on knowledge sharing behavior. Moreover, there are several significant differences between Mainland China and Malaysia in the examinations of path comparisons.

Understanding the Impact of the Psychological Cognitive Process on Student Learning Satisfaction: Combination of the Social Cognitive Career Theory and SOR Model

In higher education, student learning satisfaction is a significant predictor of learning that indicates the commitment students have to their learning and future academic achievement. The study combines the social cognitive career theory (SCCT) and the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model to explore the psychological cognition and attitudes derived from students during their learning, discusses the pattern of student learning satisfaction enhancement from the aspect of process, and further understands the relationships among social support systems, interaction relationships, self-efficacy, generic skills, and learning satisfaction. In this study, 800 valid copies of questionnaires were collected from 12 universities through purposive sampling, and the structural model was analyzed by partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results showed that the relationships among all the constructs were positive and showed a significant effect; furthermore, the research results showed that self-efficacy and student generic skills had a significantly indirect effect in the model-specifically, a mediating effect. Finally, corresponding theoretical and practical implications were put forward based on the research results.

Impact of Perceived Organizational Support on OCB in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic in Hungary: Employee Engagement and Affective Commitment as Mediators

The performance of the employees and productivity of each individual, in general, have been badly affected because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizational citizenship behavior is regarded as an interpretation of the performance of the employee which is essential to contribute more to the organization’s processes and success. Therefore, to increase the organizational effectiveness and achieve its goals, it is crucial to understand the factors affecting the organizational citizenship behavior of the employees. This study aims to examine the impact of perceived organizational support on organizational citizenship behavior with the mediating role of employee engagement and affective commitment. To collect the data for this study, a linear snowball sampling method was used, and 380 foreign employees working in different service companies in Hungary participated in the survey. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the proposed hypothesis. The results of the study revealed that perceived organizational support positively associated with organizational citizenship behavior and this relationship is also strongly mediated by employee engagement. On the other hand, employee engagement and affective commitment pose a direct positive influence on organizational citizenship behavior. This study has theoretical and practical implications as it will provide a comprehensive framework to better understand the factors influencing the organizational citizenship behavior of the employees.