Abstract

1. Introduction

2. Literature review

3. Method

4. Results

5. Discussion

6. Conclusions and managerial implications

Declaration of Competing Interest

References

Abstract

     This study examines how the combined effects of work environmental factors and leadership behaviours lead to the presence (or absence) of industrial employees job performance by applying fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). A sample composed of supervisor-subordinate dyads was used to test the propositions of this study. The results show that the most important variables are transformational leadership and social support. Employee empowerment and task significance seem to play a secondary role in leading to employee job performance. These findings support the need for managers to use positive leadership to manage human resources. This paper contributes to the advancement of the knowledge of employee job performance through the identification of the combinations of conditions that can lead to the presence or absence of this important organizational outcome. Directions for future studies are commented on at the end of the paper.

Introduction

     Job performance is probably the most important and studied variable in industrial management and organizational behaviour (Carpini, Parker, & Griffin, 2017). It can be defined as individual behaviour-something that people do and can be observed-that generates value for the organization (Campbell, McCloy, Oppler, & Sager, 1993) and contributes to the organization’s goals (Campbell & Wiernik, 2015). Job performance can also be understood as an achievement-related behaviour with some evaluative component (Motowildo, Borman, & Schmit, 1997), that is, the extent to which an employee meets general organizational performance expectations (Afzali, Arash-Motahari, & Hatami-Shirkouhi, 2014).

     Over the last decades, the meaning of job performance has varied considerably, from the more traditional view focused on employment and fixed tasks to a broader understanding of work roles in dynamic organizational contexts (Ilgen & Hollenbeck, 1991). The fundamental reason for this focus shift is to the highly competitive and global work environment, where all organizations must be oriented to respond to dynamic and changing situations (Baard, Rench, & Kozlowski, 2014). This new context requires a broader conceptualization of job performance that brings together all the potential behaviours that positively contribute to the achievement of organizational goals (Griffin, Neal, & Parker, 2007). The new conceptualization of individual performance includes in-role performance (e.g., Williams & Anderson, 1991), adaptative performance (e.g., Berg, Wrzesniewski, & Dutton, 2010), proactive performance (e.g., Parker, Williams, & Turner, 2006) and citizenship behaviours (e.g., Podsakoff, Whiting, Podsakoff, & Blume, 2009). Delving into this new conceptualization of job performance, Griffin et al. (2007) developed an integrative performance model that cross-classifies ‘the three levels at which role behaviours can contribute to effectiveness (individual, team, and organization) and the three different forms of behaviour (proficiency, adaptivity, and proactivity) into subdimensions of work role performance’ (p. 330). Although previous research recommends taking advantage of the existing commonalities between the different job performance constructs (Carpini & Parker, 2017), this study is limited to the individual-level behaviours that generate value for organizations.

Results

     The outcome of the model was the presence of employees’ job performance. The five conditions were task significance, coworker social support, supervisor social support, transformational leadership, and empowerment. To conduct a more thorough analysis and provide greater insight into the proposed model, the analysis was conducted considering both the presence and absence of employee job performance. Table 1 shows the results of the analysis of necessary conditions for the presence (and absence) of job performance among industrial workers.

1- Introduction

2- Conceptual background

3- Hypotheses

4- Research method

5- Data analysis

6- Discussion and implications

7- Conclusion

References

Abstract

Examining leadership from a competency perspective allows scholars to understand different dimensions of leader qualities and capacities. From this perspective, our study, based on social capital theory, proposed and tested a model that embraced the concepts of leader competency, knowledge sharing, employee job performance, and employee loyalty in the context of expatriate general managers. The study shows leader competencies are critical for promoting knowledge sharing and enhancing employee job performance. Both knowledge sharing and employee job performance are found to have a direct effect on employee loyalty.

Introduction

Well-performing service employees can be an asset and leaders play a critical role in influencing employees’ performance and the organization’s success. This is no exception to hotel organizations faced with increasing competition in the market place (e.g., Airbnb.com). Given the significant impact of leaders, numerous studies examined leader competencies (e.g., Shum, Gatling, & Shoemaker, 2018). Key research questions such as “what are the required qualities and skills of competent leaders?” and “what are the outcomes of leader competencies?” have surfaced and drawn attention, proliferating research in this field. Examining leadership from a competency perspective allows scholars to understand different dimensions of leader qualities and capacities. Although many studies (e.g., Han, Seo, Yeo, & Yoon, 2016; Masa’deh, Obeidat, & Tarhini, 2016) examined leadership style (e.g., transformational leadership), much less attention has been given to leader competencies in the hotel industry. Our study, by examining leader competencies in the hotel industry, will identify a set of required skills for hotel leaders and guide the hotel industry to develop and assess leaders. Knowledge sharing is recognized as an important social asset for organizations that improve job performance and enhance organizational success (Masa’deh et al., 2016; Razmerita, Kirchner, & Nielsen, 2016). We view that a leader plays a crucial part in creating and nurturing a knowledge sharing culture in the organization.

Abstract

1- Introduction

2- Literature review

3- Methods

4- Results

5- Discussion

6- Theoretical implications

7- Managerial implications

8- Limitations and future research

9- Conclusion

References

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between employee engagement and job performance in the country of Lebanon, and to test whether creativity mediates the relationship between engagement and performance.
Design/methodology/approach – The research sample consisted of 186 respondents working in Lebanese firms. The questionnaire included established measures relating to employee engagement, job performance and creativity – in addition to various demographic questions. Stepwise multiple regression and bootstrapping methods were employed in the analysis of the data.
Findings – The findings showed a significant positive effect of employee engagement on job performance. However, mediation analysis using bootstrapping methods has shown that creativity has fully mediated the relationship between engagement and performance.
Originality/value – The study extends previous research and increases the external validity of the findings by investigating the relationship between engagement and performance in new non-western contexts. Moreover, this is one of the first research studies that explores the role of creativity in the relationship between the two variables; this helps in improving our understanding of the model and aids in enhancing the effect of engagement on performance.

Introduction

The concept of employee engagement was developed by Kahn (1990) through ethnographic data collected in an architectural firm and in a summer camp. He defined employee engagement as: “the harnessing of organization members’ selves to their work roles; in engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performances” (Kahn, 1990, p. 694). Macey and Schneider (2008) presented a comprehensive analysis of all the relevant elements that define engagement: trait engagement (e.g. individual personality traits); work involvement (e.g. satisfaction, involvement, empowerment); and organizational citizenship (e.g. extra-role behavior, proactivity, role expansion). Hence, they have presented all the critical concepts that have been associated with the employee engagement concept. Research on employee engagement has explained the experience of the phenomenon (Macey and Schneider, 2008; Shuck and Reio, 2014) and the expected outcomes of highly engaged employees (Konrad, 2006; Rich et al., 2010; Binsiddiq and Alzahmi, 2013). The Gallop organization, for instance, in a landmark study, found that employee engagement was significantly related to better organizational performance; higher satisfaction, profitability and productivity; and reduction in employee turnover. Similarly, Badal and Harter (2013) found that an engaged workforce culture may result in a cumulative financial performance to organizations as compared to firms that do not have an engaged workforce.

Burnout is an occupational hazard that continues to draw immense attention as it relates to significant costs for employees and organizations (e.g. Bakker, Demerouti & Verbeke, 2014; Schaufeli, Bakker & VanRhenen, 2009). It has become a major problem in most countries, not only in the lowest socioeconomic groups, but at all societal levels (Albertsen et al., 2010). Majority of the burnout studies exist in the context of psychosocial professions of physicians, nurses and teachers. However, burnout may pertain to any occupation where there is an imbalance between demands and possible renewal of resources (Bakker & Demerouti, 2014). Such aspects are evident in many careers within fast-paced firms, where work is varied, complex, deadline driven and competitive, with long workdays, and where it is difficult to separate work from home life (Hetland, Sandal & Johnsen, 2007). This study is based on data from knowledge workers belonging to the IT services, which typically carries all of these characteristics. Knowledge work, often characterized by a „boundaryless‟ work environment stresses the potential endless demands and performance pressures in these kinds of jobs that lead to stress and burnout (Benson & Brown, 2007; Lee, Blackman & Hurst, 2007). The way people cope with burnout is very important to determine its impact (Chen & Cunradi, 2008). Consequently, the relationship between burnout and coping has been the focus of major research over the past few decades (Angelo & Chambel, 2014; Van Rhenen, Schaufeli, Van Dijk, & Blonk, 2008). Traditionally, the burnout literature has considered coping as a reactive mechanism in diminishing distress (Schwarzer & Knoll, 2003). However, the conceptualization of coping has changed in the context of the positive psychology movement (Peiró, 2007) to include proactive coping that involves a confirmatory and positive approach to dealing with burnout (Greenglass, 2002). Hence, several researchers have proposed a change in emphasis, investigating whether coping strategies are associated with decreased distress, as well as higher levels of positive outcomes (Angelo & Chambel, 2014; Crant, 2000). Such emphasis is reflected in the concept of job crafting, which constitutes self-driven work related changes through a proactive balance of job demands and job resources (Tims & Bakker, 2010; Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001). The conservation of resources (COR) theory (Hobfoll, 1988, 2001, 2002) and the job demands-resources (JD-R) model (Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner & Schaufeli, 2001) also suggest that resources play a dual role in enhancing positive and reducing negative outcomes. Hence, given the individual level resourcefulness, job crafting can play an effective role as a proactive coping mechanism in decreasing negative or detrimental outcomes as well as increasing positive outcomes.

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in understanding spirituality in the workplace and its effects on employees’ psychological outcomes and job performance (Duchon and Plowman 2005; Fry 2003; Mitroff and Denton 1999; Pawar 2009). Despite the lack of a widely accepted definition of spirituality – there are more than 70 definitions of spirituality at work (Karakas 2010; Kinjerski and Skrypnek 2004) – there is a consensus that spirituality is a multifaceted construct which is associated with seeking meaningfulness and purpose from work, and living according to one’s deeply held values, which may include a relationship with a higher power, the sacred, God, or the divine (Dehler and Welsh 2003; Milliman et al. 2003; Mitroff and Denton 1999). The current study draws upon the conceptualization developed by Liu and Robertson (2011) who recognize three dimensions: Binterconnection with a higher power^, Binterconnection with human beings^, and Binterconnection with nature and all living things^. We utilize this framework, according to which spirituality in the workplace is defined as the basic feeling amongst employees of being connected with a higher power, feeling interconnected with other human beings, and experiencing an interconnection with nature and all living things (Liu and Robertson 2011). Spirituality in the workplace is manifested at both an individual and the organizational level (Garcia-Zamor 2003). At the individual level, employees express their spiritual selves in terms of the cognitive and affective experience of believing in a spiritual connection to the job and the workplace. At the organizational level, the organization’s spirituality is reflected through spiritual value that is part of the organization’s climate and culture, manifested within employees’ attitudes and behavior, decision-making, and resource allocation (Kolodinsky et al. 2008; Pawar 2008). Although many studies have examined the relationship between spirituality and individual and organizational outcomes (e.g., Duchon and Plowman 2005; Kinjerski and Skrypnek 2004; Markow and Klenke 2005; Mitroff and Denton 1999), several researchers have stressed the need to clarify the links between spirituality and employees’ job performance (Beekun and Westerman 2012; Duchon and Plowman 2005; Giacalone and Jurkiewicz 2003a; Sheep 2006). Thus, the fundamental objective of this research is to explore how an employee’s spirituality affects his or her job performance, and specifically to identify the precise mechanism through which an employee’s spirituality may enhance his or her job performance. Although there has been an increasing interest in spirituality in the workplace, few studies have empirically examined how employees’ spirituality influences job performance via mediating mechanisms. This study contributes to the extant spirituality literature by developing an understanding of the underlying mechanism through which employees’ spirituality may positively affect job performance based on the Job Demands-Resources (JDR) model (Schaufeli and Bakker 2004).

National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) reported that IT sector has become the most important factor for growth in Indian economy and it has contributed towards growing international presence in India. IT sector is also influencing the lives of people as it is contributing towards various socioeconomic parameters like employment and helping people improve their standard of living [1]. The growth and contribution of IT sector makes it an important area of study particularly with respect to enhancing the performance of employees and selecting the right candidates for important jobs [2]. Research suggests that IQ accounts for only 20-25% variance in predicting one’s personal and professional success and factors like Emotional Intelligence are more essential than academics [3]. Emotional intelligence is defined as the ability to perceive emotion, integrate emotion to facilitate thought, understand emotions, and to regulate emotions to promote personal growth [4,5]. Gender Differences in Emotional Intelligence have been given blended reactions from various analysts. It was noticed that when Emotional Intelligence was taken as a competence there were no huge contrasts in the EI of men and women though EI varied with gender at whatever point Emotional Intelligence was dealt with as an ability. Analysts like Goleman [3], Bar-on [6], Petrides and Furnham [7], Alumran and Punamaki [8] proposed that Emotional Intelligence did not vary with gender while researchers like Mayer et al. [9], Schutte et al. [10], Brackette and Mayer [11], Ciarrochi et al. [12], Palmer et al. [13], Mandell and Pherwani [14] recommended that Emotional Intelligence is different among men and women. As the researchers in the current paper have taken Emotional Intelligence as an ability, we expect contrasts among EI scores of male and female respondents, which characterizes the first and second hypothesis of this research. H01 = There are no gender differences in Emotional Intelligence. Confirmation of gender differences at workplace can be found in numerous fields [15,16]. The embodiment of gender differences is that when confronted with a decision between similarly qualified men and women, bosses want to select men. Therefore, gender difference prompts a higher obstacle for ladies, and henceforth ladies who can cross the obstacle would outperform than their male counterparts. A few researchers propose that gender difference is a huge indicator of job performance among workers. Burleson et al. [17] recommended that a specific gender performs better in specific jobs over the other gender and said that gender is a critical indicator of execution at working environment. This suggests that gender difference exists in job performance which makes us define our second hypothesis.

Health care organizations are continuously developing and expanding to provide high‐quality health care as their ultimate objective. As an integral part of the health care system, nursing plays an important role in improving the quality of patient care and public health service. Recently, increasing attention has been paid to nursing education and training as well as the quality and quantity of nurses in China, which have a significant impact on China’s health care reform. A shortage of nurses and heavy workloads among practicing nurses are common in China, which may affect the performance of the entire health care system. For example, in China, 46% of nurses work more than 11 hr/day, and 35% of nurses work more than 6 days a week (Meijuan, Ruiwei, & Ying, 2007). The World Health Organization suggests that the standard ratio of the number of nurses to the number of hospital beds should be 1:0.4 (Organization WH, 2006). However, in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, 1 nurse takes care of 15 patients during the day shift and 40 to 50 patients during the night shift (University TAHoHM, 2011). Such a workload may decrease the quality of nursing care, increase patient costs, and prolong the period of hospital stay. Researchers have found that improving job performance can increase quality of nursing care (Lee & Ko, 2010). Therefore, there is an urgent need to determine the performance of nurses in China as well as the factors that affect their performance. Greenslade and Jimmieson (2007) developed a model of job performance based on Bonnan and Motowidlo (1993) model; it defines job performance as work behaviour that can be classified into 2 domains: task performance and contextual performance. Task performance refers to behaviours that directly contribute to the technical core of the organization, including activities that are commonly considered as part of the job. Contextual performance is defined as behaviours that sustain the social environment in which the technical core functions. It comprises intentional behaviours that help the hospital to operate. Greenslade and Jimmieson’s (2007) initiative was introduced to job performance investigations in the nursing profession (Greenslade, 2008). Task performance includes 3 components: social support, information provision, and technical care; contextual performance also includes 3 components: interpersonal support, job‐task support, and organizational support (Greenslade, 2008).

The presence of adverse work conditions is a significant source of health problems for employees ( Judge et al., 2012; Tang et al., 2001) and a reason they are unable to complete their job tasks (Hobfoll, 1989; McCarthy et al., 2016). Understanding employees’ abilities to meet their performance requirements even in the presence of such unfavorable conditions thus is an important pursuit (Hall and Savery, 1987; Ng and Feldman, 2012). A critical aspect of work adversity is the perception of workplace incivility, such that employees believe that their co-workers are rude or disrespectful (Cortina et al., 2001; Pearson and Porath, 2005). Workplace incivility permeates an increasing number of organizations (Cortina, 2008; Estes and Wang, 2008; Pearson and Porath, 2004), manifested in various ways, such as condescension, using demeaning or derogatory remarks, excluding others from professional camaraderie, or showing little interest in others’ opinions (Cortina et al., 2001; Pearson and Porath, 2005). The experience of uncivil behaviors deprives employees of relevant organizational knowledge and hampers their ability to succeed in their work (Cortina et al., 2001; Pearson et al., 2000; Rahim and Cosby, 2016). Their resulting frustration may deplete employees’ resource reservoirs, generating negative outcomes such as emotional exhaustion (Cho et al., 2016), job burnout (Rahim and Cosby, 2016), dissatisfaction with work (Lim et al., 2008), less knowledge sharing (Sharifirad, 2016), and reduced work efforts (Pearson and Porath, 2005). Previous research notes that employees’ personal resources might be particularly instrumental for their ability to fulfill their job requirements in the presence of significant workplace adversity such as incivility (De Clercq and Belausteguigoitia, 2017; Kroon et al., 2015). Accordingly, we argue that an important catalyst of successful job performance, despite the challenge of workplace incivility, is employees’ self-efficacy (Parker, 1998). As a complement to research that examines direct negative consequences of workplace incivility, we posit specifically that to the extent that some discourteous behaviors are unavoidable – especially in modern organizations that demand fast decision making, rely on impersonal modes of communication, or are complex (Estes and Wang, 2008; Pearson and Porath, 2005) – organizations can benefit greatly from leveraging employees’ personal resource of self-efficacy to compensate for the resource-depleting effects of uncivil behaviors when these behaviors permeate the organization (Sliter et al., 2012).

The reality of our “flat world” today has given workers all over the globe the opportunity to freely cooperate and compete with each other (Friedman, 2007), challenging firms to design and implement innovative approaches to human resource management in order to survive and achieve sustainable growth and development (Aryee et al., 2016; Chatterjee, 2017; Barney and Clark, 2007; Luthans et al., 2008). In such a global competitive environment, workers in both developing economies and the developed world must equip themselves with the proper resources and capabilities to maintain a relevant place in their respective organization. Although scholars mostly agree that human capital resources are key firm resources, not all types of human capital resources result in a competitive advantage (e.g. Campbell et al., 2012; Ferguson and Reio, 2010). Human capital resources that can create a competitive advantage for firms can be classified into two main categories: psychological resources and functional resources. Among psychological resources, psychological capital (hereinafter PsyCap) is perhaps a key resource. PsyCap refers to an individual’s psychological state of Marketing Intelligence & Planning development, comprising efficacy, optimism, hope, and resiliency (Luthans et al., 2008, 2015). Functional resources reflect a pool of knowledge, skills, and abilities that an individual has accumulated during his or her education, work and lives needed to perform functional tasks in an organization. These include human capital, relational capital, organizational capital and informational capital (Hunt, 2000). Empirical research has shown that both psychological and functional resources have positive effects on the job performance of employees (e.g. Stajkovic and Luthans, 1998). Whereas human capital resources include both psychological and functional resources (Luthans et al., 2004), prior research examines the role of these two types of human capital resources in job performance separately. The question of how these two types of resources in combination contribute to the performance of workers is still largely ignored. Furthermore, basing the results on net effects produced by linear regression frameworks, such as structural equation modeling (SEM), one may not be able to discover the complexity of human behavior in general and human capital resources in particular (Ragin, 2008; Woodside, 2013).

مقاله سال 2017

There is accumulating evidence that secure attachment which represents a positive psychological strength, contributes to job performance and enables employees to work well autonomously as well as with peers (e.g., Davidovitz, Mikulincer, Shaver, Izsak, & Popper, 2007; Hazan & Shaver, 1990). Although the matter of whether secure attachment affects job performance has received some scholarly attention, very little remains known about how secure attachment affects performance (Harms, 2011). With the present study, we aim to explore the contribution of two particular social-rank behaviors in transmitting the unique effects of secure attachment on work outcomes. Specifically, we examine the role of dominant-leadership and coalition-building as mediating the effect of secure attachment on job performance and job promotion among engineers. Identifying the process by which employees’ secure attachment affects their job performance has been long recognized as critical for advancing understanding of the topic (Hazan & Shaver, 1990). However, an empirical examination of such process remained scarce. More importantly, many of the studies that attempted to explain how secure attachment affects job functioning focused more on attitudes (e.g., Ronen & Baldwin, 2010; Simmons, Gooty, Nelson, & Little, 2009) and less on interpersonal behaviors in the workplace. Finally, since engineering is considered a nontraditional occupational choice for women, we predict that social rank behaviors will differ by gender. Figure 1 depicts our theoretical model.