Formalization and employee thriving at work: a moderated mediation model including work engagement and centralization

PurposeUntil recently, scholars have begun to examine the contextual antecedents of employees thriving at work. A recent study has shown that one aspect of organizational structure/context (i.e. formalization) can be an important antecedent of employee thriving at work. However, scholars have urged doing research examining how different aspects of organizational structure can combinedly influence employee work outcomes such as thriving at work. Given that, the present paper proposes a theoretical model to unravel the mechanisms of how two aspects of organizational structure (i.e. formalization and centralization) may operate as the antecedents of employees thriving at work. In particular, the author draws on the Conservation of Resources Theory (COR) to hypothesize that employees' work engagement mediates the relationship between their perception of formalization and thriving at work. The author further hypothesizes that the indirect relationship between formalization and employee thriving at work is moderated by employees' perception of centralization, such that the relationship is stronger in the presence of a lower level of centralization than higher.Design/methodology/approach The author gathered data by employing a time-lagged survey design involving 136 full-time employees from different organizations.FindingsResults show that employee work engagement mediates the relationship between formalization and employee thriving at work. Further, the indirect relationship between formalization and employee thriving at work is stronger when the level of centralization is relatively low.Research limitations/implicationsFormalization is able to enact employees' thriving at work, particularly when organization implements relatively less centralized structure.Originality/valueThis study first introduces work engagement as a mediator in the formalization–employee thriving at work relationship and centralization as a moderator along this mediating process.

Flourishing in the Workplace: A One-Year Prospective Study on the Effects of Perceived Organizational Support and Psychological Capital

People working in urban areas often experience various work-related stressors, such as long working hours, high work pressure, and work-life interference, which can lead to severe mental and physical consequences. Identification of the protective factors that enable employees to flourish and thrive is especially important. The present study aims to identify the organizational and personal resources that contribute to employee flourishing. Adopting the conservation of resources theory and organizational support theory, it was hypothesized that perceived organizational support (POS) would promote employee flourishing through increasing psychological capital (PsyCap). A prospective study was conducted on a sample of 400 working adults from the social and personal services industry in Hong Kong. Data were collected at baseline, three months, and one year. Both Diener’s composite model of flourishing and Seligman’s PERMA model of flourishing were tested. Structural equation modeling showed that PsyCap at three months significantly mediated the effects of POS at baseline on flourishing and all dimensions of PERMA (positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, accomplishments) at one year. Findings suggest that PsyCap underlies the process through which POS influences flourishing, whereby the promotion of positive psychological resources in a nurturing and supportive organization contributes to psychosocial functioning in the long run.

The Influence of COVID-19 on Entrepreneur's Psychological Well-Being

This research focuses on the influence of COVID-19 on entrepreneurs' psychological well-being (PWB) in China. A start-up's performance is believed to play an important moderating role. This study uses 2 years of tracking data of 303 entrepreneurs from Shandong Providence, China. Based on conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study found that COVID-19 will significantly decrease entrepreneurs' PWB. A start-up's past performance will enhance the negative influence of COVID-19 on entrepreneurs' PWB. This study contributes to the literature on entrepreneurship, COR, and PWB. The findings can also guide entrepreneurs to maintain well-being during the pandemic and post-pandemic era.

Loyalties divided or identities as resources? The role of external relational identification in facilitating socialization

PurposeAlthough research regarding socialization processes recognizes the importance of organizational identification for newcomer adjustment outcomes, it has less frequently considered the impact of newcomer identification with targets external to the organization. This study aims to investigate whether relational identification with identities external to the organization can be beneficial for socialization outcomes, a relationship the authors describe through the conservation of resources theory. At a time when newcomers are expending resources and may not have a support system inside the organization, important identities may foster success through building a resource base of support available to the newcomer.Design/methodology/approachTwo studies were conducted with newcomers, both groups responded to multi-wave surveys. The authors conducted an initial study with undergraduate students (n = 45) in their first semester of college and a second study with working individuals employed full time in their first year in a new organization (n = 148).FindingsRelational identification with identities external to the organization is positively related to job engagement through the dual mediation of social support and psychological well-being. The results indicate that these external resources encourage well-being and free newcomers to invest in becoming physically, emotionally and cognitively engaged with their new jobs.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that organizations may wish to take care in helping newcomers maintain strong relational identities outside the organization while becoming connected with their new organization.Originality/valueThe findings suggest that external relational identities are a neglected and important element influencing the socialization process.

The impact of AI-enabled service attributes on service hospitableness: the role of employee physical and psychological workload

Purpose Hospitableness lies in the center of hospitality services. With the infusion of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the hospitality industry, managers are concerned about how AI influences service hospitableness. Previous research has examined the consequences of AI technology based on customers’ assessment while ignoring the key players in service hospitableness – frontline employees (FLEs). This study aims to reveal how AI technology empowers FLEs physically, mentally and emotionally, facilitating hospitableness provision. Design/methodology/approach As the starting point, the instrument for AI-enabled service attributes was designed based on previous literature, hotel FLE interviews, expert panel and a pilot survey, and then validated using survey data. After that, a paired supervisor-employee sample was recruited in 15 hotels, and 342 valid questionnaires covering the constructs were obtained. Findings Factor analyses and measurement model evaluation suggest that the four factors, including anthropomorphic, entertainment, functional and information attributes, explain the construct of AI-enabled service attributes well, with high reliability and validity. Additionally, anthropomorphic, functional and information attributes of AI technology have been found to enable FLEs physically, mentally and emotionally, which further lead to increased service hospitableness. The entertainment attributes do not significantly reduce physical and mental fatigue but lead to positive emotions of FLEs significantly. Additionally, psychological job demand moderates the effects of AI-enabled service attributes on physical fatigue. Practical implications Practical implications can be made for AI technology application and hospitableness provision, in terms of AI technology analysis, job design and employee workload management. Originality/value This research contributes to understanding AI-enabled service attributes and their consequences, extends the conservation of resources theory to AI application context and promotes the research on service hospitableness.

Management research contributions to the COVID-19: a bibliometric literature review and analysis of the contributions from the Journal of Management & Organization

The COVID-19 health crisis triggered changes in the workplace. This paper explores the insights from scholarly work published in the Journal of Management and Organization (JMO) and systematizes this body of knowledge to build a scientific overview that looks at how the COVID-19 health crisis and its repercussions may be managed by organizations. We conducted a bibliometric investigation of JMO's most influential papers published from 1995 to June 2020 that offers insights into the management of the COVID-19 crisis. Our bibliometric investigation reveals six clusters: (1) conservation of resources theory, entrepreneurs, gender and work–family conflict; (2) corporate governance, corporate social responsibility and stakeholder salience; (3) family firms, innovation and research methods; (4) creativity, leadership and organizational change; (5) job satisfaction and psychological empowerment; and (6) team performance. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.

Can HRM predict mental health crises? Using HR analytics to unpack the link between employment and suicidal thoughts and behaviors

PurposeThe aim of this research is to determine the extent to which the human resource (HR) function can screen and potentially predict suicidal employees and offer preventative mental health assistance.Design/methodology/approachDrawing from the 2019 National Survey of Drug Use and Health (N = 56,136), this paper employs multivariate binary logistic regression to model the work-related predictors of suicidal ideation, planning and attempts.FindingsThe results indicate that known periods of joblessness, the total number of sick days and absenteeism over the last 12 months are significantly associated with various suicidal outcomes while controlling for key psychosocial correlates. The results also indicate that employee assistance programs are associated with a significantly reduced likelihood of suicidal ideation. These findings are consistent with conservation of resources theory.Research limitations/implicationsThis research demonstrates preliminarily that the HR function can unobtrusively detect employee mental health crises by collecting data on key predictors.Originality/valueIn the era of COVID-19, employers have a duty of care to safeguard employee mental health. To this end, the authors offer an innovative way through which the HR function can employ predictive analytics to address mental health crises before they result in tragedy.

Does Sincere Social Interaction Stimulate Tourist Immersion? A Conservation of Resources Perspective

Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study examines how and when sincere social interaction affects tourist immersion at the destination. We develop a moderated mediation model in which emotional solidarity mediates the relationship between sincere social interaction and tourist immersion, while extraversion moderates the link between sincere social interaction and emotional solidarity. Data were collected from 391 tourists via an online survey and were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicate that sincere social interaction directly influences tourist immersion, and this relationship is mediated by emotional solidarity. Furthermore, extraversion significantly moderates the effects of sincere social interaction on emotional solidarity, and this effect is stronger for tourists with high extraversion scores. Additionally, extraversion strengthens the indirect link between sincere social interaction and tourist immersion, and again, the link is stronger for highly extraverted tourists.

Job Insecurity and Employees’ Taking Charge Behaviors: Testing a Moderated Mediation Model

Given the rapid changes in current technologies, business models, and work environments, organizations and managers increasingly rely on their employees’ proactive behaviors, such as taking charge, to gain competitive advantages. Taking charge involves a range of risky and future-oriented behaviors, and it requires employees to work hard to achieve them in the future. For employees with high job-insecurity, their job continuity in the future is threatened. Thus, they may not be willing to take risks to do additional work that is “future-oriented”. To our knowledge, the effect of job insecurity on employees’ taking charge has rarely been studied. As a result, the purpose of our study is to investigate whether, how, and when job insecurity will influence taking charge. Drawing on the conservation of resources theory and proactive motivation model, we develop a theoretical model. Moreover, we employed a multi-wave and multi-source survey to test our predictions. Based on the data from 194 full-time employees paired with their direct supervisors, the results provided consistent support for the proposed hypotheses. Specifically, the results indicate that job insecurity prohibits employees’ taking charge behaviors through deteriorating their work engagement. Furthermore, employees’ perception of interactional justice moderates the negative influence of job insecurity on their work engagement and, consequently, their taking charge behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Supervisor Bottom-Line Mentality and Knowledge Hiding: A Moderated Mediation Model

Organizations need to respond to multiple demands, not only of shareholders but of stakeholders. Supervisor mentality that focuses on bottom-line goals, such as financial performance, can result in negative consequences. We used conservation of resources theory to examine how and when employees engage in knowledge hiding toward coworkers was influenced by supervisor bottom-line mentality. A two-wave survey (N = 274) revealed a positive impact of supervisor bottom-line mentality on knowledge hiding toward coworkers via prevention-based psychological ownership. Further, the higher the competitive psychological climate, the stronger the positive relationship between supervisor bottom-line mentality and knowledge hiding via prevention-based psychological ownership. Our study highlights the negative effect of supervisor bottom-line mentality on knowledge transfer among employees.