Illegitimate Tasks, Negative Affectivity, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior among Private School Teachers: A Mediated–Moderated Model

Social sustainability has gained popularity over the last decade, with a growing body of research calling for researchers to focus on the personal-level determinants of employee satisfaction and well-being in the pursuit of social sustainability. By using negative affectivity as a mediating mechanism and gender and passive leadership as moderators, this study examines a novel sequential mediation–moderation model that explores the relationship between unreasonable tasks and teachers’ Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB). It employs the Conservation of Resources (COR) and Stress as Offense to Self (SOS) paradigms as a comprehensive theoretical framework for organizational stressors and organizational behavior. A total of 415 matched questionnaire responses were collected from private school teachers in the UAE. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is conducted using AMOS 20, hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) is utilized to verify the causal and moderation hypotheses, and the resulting moderated mediated conceptual model is evaluated by employing Hayes PROCESS analysis. Results demonstrate the effects of illegitimate tasks on OCB are indirect and statistically significant and are mediated through negative affectivity. The cumulative effect of illegitimate tasks and negative affectivity on OCB is magnified by the moderating effects of passive leadership

Paranoid personality and frontline employee’s proactive work behaviours: a moderated mediation model of empathetic leadership and perceived psychological safety

Purpose – This study expands on research related to the dark side of personality traits by examining how individual dark personality affects proactive work behaviours. Specifically, the authors consider paranoia as a dark personality trait and propose that it negatively relates to perceived psychological safety and indirectly affects front line employees’ (FLEs) willingness to report customer complaints as well as their extra-role customer service. The authors also posit that empathetic leadership is a focal, contextual factor that mitigates the impact of paranoia on perceived psychological safety and, consequently, the willingness to report customer complaints and engage in extra-role customer service behaviour. Design/methodology/approach – The model was tested on a sample of 252 FLEs using process macro (Hayes, 2017) and AMOS. Data were collected from FLEs working in different hospitality organisations using a time-lagged design; supervisor-rated employee extra-role customer service was also measured. Findings – The authors found that FLEs with a paranoid personality trait had a lesser sense of psychological safety at work, which reduced their willingness to engage in proactive work behaviours. However, this negative effect was mitigated by the presence of an empathetic leader. Originality/value – The results are important because research has yet to determine which actions managers should take to counter the negative effects of dark personalities in the workplac

Students’ Relative Attitudes and Relative Intentions to Use E-Learning Systems

Aim/Purpose This study, drawing on and extending research on the adoption of information technologies (IT), develops a research model to investigate: (1) the key relative factors that affect the adoption of e-learning versus using IT in traditional classrooms; and (2) students’ relative attitudes and relative intentions to use e-learning systems. Background Since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutions (HEIs) have rapidly adopted e-learning and students are now engaging with e-learning systems. These systems present a new research opportunity for examining the relative efficacy of using e-learning systems versus using IT in traditional classrooms. Although prior research has examined various types of e-learning systems in different contexts and using various methodological approaches, evidence in the literature indicates that the relative efficacy of e-learning remains uncertain as little is known about the factors that affect the adoption and use of e-learning systems during COVID-19, as there is limited academic research. Methodology The model is tested based on the perceptions of a group of 569 students of the adoption of e-learning versus using IT in traditional classrooms in the United Arab Emirates. The data were analyzed with IBM SPSS statistics 26 and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) implemented in SmartPLS 3 software. Contribution This research contributes to the literature by: (1) extending the UTAUT model to understand students’ relative attitudes and relative behavioral intentions towards using e-learning systems; (2) an extension to e-learning studies to examine relative factors affecting the adoption of e-learning systems by comparing the perceptions of the same group of students on e-learning and using IT in a traditional classroom environment in the context of COVID-19; and (3) providing valuable practical implications for HEIs to improve pedagogical approaches and e-learning systems. Findings The findings suggest that relative computer self-efficacy, relative cognitive absorption, relative system interactivity, and relative system functionality each positively influence both relative performance expectancy and relative effort expectancy, which in turn affect relative attitude; and that relative intention to use is positively affected by relative attitude and relative facilitating conditions. Recommendations for Practitioners Firstly, HEIs should feel more confident that e-learning systems indeed provide an appropriate learning approach, demonstrated by a high relative efficacy of e-learning systems perceived by the sample students in this study. Thus, it seems fitting for HEIs to use e-learning systems to enhance the development and delivery of programs and the quality of student experience, especially in the context of COVID-19. Secondly, HEIs wishing to use e-learning systems successfully should at least pay attention to a few key factors to ensure that students will have a positive attitude toward using e-learning systems. Such factors include students’ perceived usefulness of e-learning systems, developing encouraging facilitating conditions such as training, technical and IT support, thereby enabling students to use e-learning systems while enjoying their engagement with e-learning systems. Recommendation for Researchers First, this study shows that relative to using IT in a classroom environment, e-learning is favored by the students involved in this research. Second, this research indicates the value of examining relative antecedents and relative UTAUT related constructs, evaluating the relative perceptions of students, thereby understanding the relative efficacy of e-learning systems versus using IT in a traditional classroom environment in HEIs. Third, in addition to examining students’ perceptions of different learning approaches, or comparing the relative efficacy of different learning approaches based on the perceptions of different groups of students, the relative approach based on comparing the perceptions of the same group of students used in this research could offer a new way to advance our understanding of IT adoption. Finally, this study demonstrates that relative attitude, relative performance expectancy, and relative facilitating conditions are the top three vital factors that affect the adoption and use of e-learning systems during the COVID-19 crisis. Impact on Society The positive result of the students’ relative perceptions of e-learning systems suggests that private and public organizations, as well as education policy-makers in providing the learning process, could certainly use e-learning systems as a valuable means of training and/or education, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic

The impact of employee perceptions of organizational work environment and job satisfaction on innovative climate

This study investigates the relationship between three variables: the organizational work environment; job satisfaction; and innovative climate. The study proposes that the innovative climate is an outcome of a positive relationship between job satisfaction and organizational work environment. A model was developed based on the literature review and on the motivation theories. In this model, organizational work environment contained the learning environment and the support environment. While job satisfaction consisted of job content, career development, salary and work hours. The aim of proposing a model was to come up with a final study model that suggests factors impacts the innovative climate in the telecommunication industry in Jordan/Amman. The obtained data from the conducted interviews modified and expanded the proposed model leading to model two. Additional factors emerged as new findings as shown below: Organizational work environment, which included: Learning environment: consisted of learning, training, and rotation. Support environment: contained physical work environment and psychological work environment, which in turn incorporated communication and encouragement. Organizational working structure: included policy, progression and monitoring plans, process, communication, leadership style, flexible working hours, transparency, and delegation. Job satisfaction, which included: rewards and compensations; culture; routine; teamwork; headcounts; job content; and recruitment. All emerging factors are proposed to create a positive innovative climate. Model two was tested to answer the research questions and to come up with the final study model. The study was applied in the Jordanian context focusing on the telecommunication sector. Two companies were examined. A comparative approach was conducted between managers that are at the same managerial level. The approach was taken to understand what were the most important factors according their views. The methodology in this study adopted a mixed method approach. Data collection was conducted in three stages. Stage one involved the application of semi-structured interviews with 21 participants, including directors, managers, and supervisors. Findings from the interviews and observations aided in the survey development and model refinement. Stage two was the distribution of the survey which resulted in 304 completed filled surveys. In addition, observation took place during the data collection process. Stage three was triangulating the data obtained from the analysis of the interviews, survey analysis (correlation, frequency distribution, and regression) and observation done in stage one and two. The above lead to the final research model designated the innovative climate model. This model expands the current understanding of innovative climate by adding new groups of factors in the areas of job satisfaction, organizational work environment personal behaviour. The model has been validated through empirical research in Jordanian telecommunication organizations

Do employee resilience, focus on opportunity, and work-related curiosity predict innovative work behaviour? the mediating role of career adaptability

Scholars suggest that only certain personality traits can easily adapt and react positively to organisational changes and consequently to innovative behaviour. Hence, in this study, we drew upon career construction theory to develop a hypothetical model examining how certain personality traits (i.e., curiosity, focus on opportunity, and resilience) are likely to influence career adaptability and consequently innovative behaviour. To test the model, we used two-wave longitudinal data focusing on 313 frontline employees operating in a random sample of five-star hotels in Dubai. Using Smart-PLS.3, we revealed that employees with a high level of curiosity, focus on opportunity, and resilience tend to increase the likelihood of their career adaptability significantly. In other words, employees with such work-related personality are more likely to adapt to organisational changes and fit different organisational environments. Furthermore, the result of the study found that career adaptability significantly mediated the relationship between these personality traits and innovative behaviour. The findings have significant implications for both theory and practice. They may also be contextual. These implications are discussed

Empowerment as a Pivotal Deterrent to Employee Silence: Evidence from the UAE Hotel Sector

Based on time-lagged data focusing on frontline employees (N=285) operating in five-star hotels in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), we examined the individual and combined effects of empowerment, job satisfaction, and perceived organizational support on employee silence. Using structural equation modeling for data analysis, we explored a hypothetical model. The results indicated that empowerment had a significant negative impact on employee silence while job satisfaction and perceived organizational support had no significant direct impact. However, these latter two variables had an impact when feelings of empowerment were also present. The result suggests indicates that empowerment plays a central (pivotal) role in silence behavior. The implications of these findings for both management practice and future research are discussed

Management's internal governance policies on flexible work practices and the mediating lens of work life enrichment – Outcome for employee work engagement and organizational attractiveness

Purpose – Using Pakistan’s public sector higher education institutions as the study site, this study aims to empirically substantiate, under the theoretical underpinnings of job enrichment theory (Hackman and Oldham, 1976) and Maslow’s (1943) theory of the hierarchy of needs, the impact of flexible work practices (FWPs), on employee work engagement and organizational attractiveness, with the mediating lens of work life enrichment. Design/methodology/approach – Field data were collected at five higher education institutions located in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) of Pakistan, using the convenience sampling technique and analyzed under the quantitative research paradigm. Findings – This study substantiates with an empirical evidence that flexible work practices (FWPs) have a significant positive impact on both employee work engagement and organizational attractiveness. Markedly, the study findings reveal that the said impact is significantly stronger than that of sabbaticals. Furthermore, the study reveals that the positive relationship is mediated by work life enrichment, signaling its significance in understanding FWP’s such impact on employee work engagement and organizational attractiveness. Practical implications – The study findings provide significant implications for academia, practitioners, and policymakers, in evidence-based recommendations for higher education institutions to design and implement FWPs that are effective in enhancing employee work engagement and organizational attractiveness, and, in turn, leading to improved organizational performance. Originality/value – This research study provides a novel contribution to the existing literature by exploring the combined impact of flexible work practices on employee work engagement and organizational attractiveness in the peculiar context of Pakistan’s public sector higher education institutions. Additionally, the study’s focus on the mediating role of work life enrichment further adds to its novelty