This paper aims to examine the impact of humble leadership on project success. The mediating effects of psychological empowerment and innovative work behavior on the relationship between humble leadership and project success are tested.,Data were collected from 337 individuals employed in the civil construction sector of Pakistan.,The results showed that humble leadership is positively related to project success. Furthermore, psychological empowerment and innovative work behavior partially mediate the relationship between humble leadership and project success.,Drawing on conservation of resource theory, this study found that how humble leadership is important for project success and thus extends the utility of the concept of humble leadership to the project literature.

Impact of humble leadership on project success: the mediating role of psychological empowerment and innovative work behavior

This paper aims to examine the impact of humble leadership on project success. The authors propose that such an effect is mediated by team-building, and top management support moderates the direct relationship (humble leadership and project success) as well as an indirect relationship through team-building.,Data were collected from 337 individuals employed in the information technology sector of Pakistan. A two-step approach consisting confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling was used for analysis. To examine conditional direct and indirect effects, the authors utilized model 8 in PROCESS.,The results showed that humble leadership is positively related to project success. Furthermore, team-building partially mediates the relationship between humble leadership and project success. Moreover, top management support was anticipated to have a moderating effect on the direct and indirect link (via team-building) between humble leadership and project success.,Drawing on the conservation of resources theory, this study found that how humble leadership is vital for project success, and thus, extends the utility of the concept of humble leadership to the project literature.

Linking humble leadership and project success: the moderating role of top management support with mediation of team-building

The study adopts the conservation of resources (COR) theory for providing a better theoretical understanding of punitive supervision as an antecedent of employees’ minor deviant behaviors (namely, employee time theft and knowledge hiding) via creating cognitive mechanisms (employees’ perceived incivility). The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of employees’ RESILIENCY on employees’ ability to buffer the impacts of punitive supervision.,Data was gathered from 265 frontline hospitality employees in Pakistan. A survey was administered in person to establish trust and rapport with employees and so, collect reliable data.,The findings confirmed a direct and mediated impact of punitive supervision on employee minor deviant behaviors via creating perceived incivility. The moderating role of employees’ resiliency was also confirmed, as the employees’ resiliency helped them mitigate the impact of punitive supervision on perceived incivility.,Data was collected from employees’ perceptions working in one industry and cultural setting. As employees’ perceptions (influenced by their cultural background) significantly affect their interpretations and reactions to punitive behavior, future research should validate and refine the findings by collecting data from a wider and diversified cultural and industry setting.,The findings provide theoretical explanatory power of the drivers and the contextual factors leading to minor employee deviant behaviors. The findings guide managers on how to develop pro-active and re-active strategies for deterring the occurrence and eliminating the consequences of punitive supervision.,This study contributes to the literature in multiple ways. It identifies and validates punitive supervision as an antecedent of Deviant Work Behavior (DWB). It provides a theoretical underpinning for explaining how punitive supervision spurs cognitive mechanisms, which in turn drive DWB. It also studies the nexus between destructive supervision and its outcomes in its entirety by studying the mediated and the moderating impacts of punitive supervision and perceived incivility, respectively.

Unraveling the complex nexus of punitive supervision and deviant work behaviors: findings and implications from hospitality employees in Pakistan

PurposeOstracism is a subjective and relative concept that renders itself to multiple manifestations and context-specific outcomes. Therefore, this study identified specific behaviours that are perceived as workplace ostracism by teaching faculty of Pakistani Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs). Building on belongingness theory, the ramifications of ostracism on psychological well-being are outlined along with the context-specific factors that shape these outcomes.Design/methodology/approachA phenomenological approach was adopted, and 30 semi-structured interviews from the teaching faculty of HEIs in Lahore, Pakistan, were conducted. The transcribed interviews were coded, and an inductive thematic analysis via NVivo 12 Plus software was used to generate themes and sub-themes.FindingsFive behaviours, i.e. biased treatment, exclusion from formal and informal interactions, interpersonal alienation, delayed sharing or hiding of knowledge, lack of work-related, social and emotional support constituted the acts of ostracism in studied HEIs. The psychological well-being of faculty suffered in terms of negative emotions, reduced job, career and life satisfaction in their work and family life. The contextual factors deciding the intensity of outcomes resulting from workplace encompassed head of department (HOD) support, pay, friendly relations, fear of confrontation, alternative job options and designation of faculty members.Originality/valueThis research is a pioneer in using an in-depth phenomenological approach to define a behavioural typology of ostracism in academia. Moreover, a much needed holistic outcome of psychological well-being is explored in work and non-work domains and further elucidated in light of context-specific factors.

Manifestations of workplace ostracism: an insight into academics' psychological well-being

PurposeBased on the conservation of resources view, the objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between abusive supervision and workplace thriving. Further, this study investigates the underlying mechanisms role of agentic work behaviors (i.e. task focus, heedful relating) and moderating role of employee's core self-evaluations.Design/methodology/approachUsing a time-lag approach, data are collected from 360 full-time employees enrolled in an executive development program in a large university of China. To test the proposed model, data analysis is carried out through Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) and Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS).FindingsThe results show that abusive supervision negatively influences workplace thriving. Further, the findings also confirm the mediating role of agentic work behaviors and the moderating role of core self-evaluations between the relationship of abusive supervision and thriving.Practical implicationsBased on study findings, this study draws the attention of managers toward the new deleterious outcomes of abusive supervision. Hence, to nurture a thriving workforce, organizations should keep abusive behaviors under keen observations to minimize their frequent occurrences. Further, it is proposed that hiring employees with higher core self-evaluations can mitigate the injurious effect of abusive supervision.Originality/valueThis is the first attempt to our knowledge to untapped the abusive supervision-thriving relationship via the underlying mechanisms of two agentic work behavior's and core self-evaluations as a moderator enriches the extant body of knowledge and provide valuable insight into the abusive supervision and workplace thriving literature.

Why do employees struggle to thrive in the workplaces? A look at the impact of abusive supervision

Extant research has shown that experiencing incivility and ostracism can increase the risk of emotional exhaustion, however, lesser is known about the factors that mitigate such risk. Framed through the conservation of resources theory, this study identifies and tests the hitherto unexplored moderating role of self-compassion in the relationships between workplace incivility and emotional exhaustion, and workplace ostracism and emotional exhaustion. A total of 310 employees working in the service-sector organizations (higher education institutions, banks, and telecom companies) in Pakistan participated in this cross-sectional study. While workplace incivility and workplace ostracism were positively correlated with emotional exhaustion, self-compassion was negatively correlated with workplace incivility, workplace ostracism, and emotional exhaustion. Results further revealed that self-compassion moderated the workplace incivility–emotional exhaustion and workplace ostracism–emotional exhaustion relationships such that people high in self-compassion felt less emotionally exhausted. The findings indicate that there is potential value in developing self-compassion, for which a number of interventions are discussed.

Workplace mistreatment and emotional exhaustion: The interaction effects of self-compassion

Drawing on moral disengagement theory, this study examined the interplay of perceived market competition threat, fear of failure, moral relativism, and moral disengagement. Perceived competitive threat was proposed to be positively related to moral disengagement, and fear of failure was proposed to mediate the relationship between perceived competitive threat and moral disengagement. Furthermore, moral relativism was anticipated to have a moderating effect on the direct and indirect relationships (via fear of failure) between perceived competitive threat and moral disengagement. The hypothesized relationships were examined using self-report survey data collected from 393 employees in the financial sector in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Structural equation modeling and bootstrap analysis techniques were used to test the articulated hypotheses. The results were consistent with our proposed hypotheses. The findings offer theoretical and practical implications that are discussed at the end.

Linking perceived market competition threat to moral disengagement: The roles of fear of failure and moral relativism

Burgeoning research on workplace dignity has captured the interest of organizational-behavior scholars. However, research to date has either focused on the conditions that contribute to workplace dignity or how individuals experience and respond both to dignity and dignity threats. Little is known about the psychological and behavioral consequences of dignity in the workplace. Building on the resource caravans principle of conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study attempts to bridge this gap and investigates ‘how’ employees’ perceptions of workplace dignity might affect their discretionary work effort. Two-wave survey data were collected from 180 employees in the development sector organizations in Pakistan and the bootstrap mediation analysis using PROCESS macro was performed to test the hypothesis. Whilst workplace dignity, organization-based self-esteem, and discretionary work effort were found to be positively associated with each other, organization-based self-esteem mediated the workplace dignity–discretionary work effort relationship. More specifically, workplace dignity positively predicted discretionary work effort through increasing organization-based self-esteem. As a pioneering study examining how workplace dignity affects discretionary work effort, this research not only advances the relevant literature, but also lends credence to COR theory’s relatively less scrutinized resource caravans principle. Implications for theory, research, management practice, and strategic human resource management are also discussed.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12144-021-01821-5.pdf

Does dignity matter? The effects of workplace dignity on organization-based self-esteem and discretionary work effort

While the performance consequences of workplace ostracism (WO) have been examined in many studies, relatively little is known about WO's relationship with work effort (WE), which is a vital part of the performance domain. Moreover, the literature is largely silent regarding how WO translates into reduced effort and when such effects are less likely. The purpose of the study is to bridge these gaps. Specifically, the paper examines the relationship between WO and WE, taking into account the mediating role of emotional exhaustion (EE) and the moderating role of work centrality (WC).,Data for the study came from an online survey of 310 full-time employees of service-sector organizations in Pakistan. The PROCESS macro, a robust computational tool for research models involving both mediating and moderating mechanisms, was used for analysis.,WO was found to be a risk factor for organizations in that it not only induces/aggravates strain in employees, but also hampers them in expending effort in given roles. Findings further highlight that the negative relationship between WO and WE is mediated by EE and moderated by WC.,Owing to the cross-sectional data and correlational research design, the study has limited power to make causal inferences about the relationships between the constructs (e.g. WO and WE). Further, the study is conducted in a collectivist culture where people are particularly sensitive to WO; it is, therefore, possible that the strength of relationships between the constructs might differ in individualistic cultures.,Apart from informing management practices in relation to minimizing the occurrence of WO, the study also offers valuable insights into how employees can protect themselves from the negative effects of WO.,The study is among the very few empirical works that simultaneously explicate how and when WO jeopardizes employees' WE.

Dapeng Liang

Papers

Workplace mistreatment and emotional exhaustion: The interaction effects of self-compassion

Linking perceived market competition threat to moral disengagement: The roles of fear of failure and moral relativism

Does dignity matter? The effects of workplace dignity on organization-based self-esteem and discretionary work effort

Understanding how and when workplace ostracism jeopardizes work effort