The entrepreneur's role stressors and proclivity for a venture withdrawal

We test a causal model of entrepreneurs’ role stressors—role conflict, role ambiguity, and role overload—and their relationships with exhaustion and reduced perceptions of compensation for one's efforts which over time lead to the development of a proclivity for venture withdrawal. Using structural equation modelling and a 2-year longitudinal data set, we find empirical support for the proposed causal model. Overall, the empirical results support the indirect influence of role stressors and highlight the direct effects of enhanced exhaustion and reduced perceptions of compensation for one's efforts on a proclivity for a new venture withdrawal. The paper concludes by proposing implications for theory and further research.     

Linking organizational support to employee commitment: evidence from hotel industry of China

Employee commitment is an important issue for both practitioners and academicians. Although antecedents of employee commitment have been examined in previous literature, organizational support, which is an important organizational characteristic to be developed by managers, and its relationship with employee commitment have not attracted enough academic attention nowadays. Meanwhile, enough empirical evidence of relationship between various dimensions of employee commitment, such as affective and normative commitments is not there. This article focuses on exploring the relationships among organizational support, affective commitment, and normative commitment, based on the data from the hotel industry of China. The results indicate that affective commitment has significant positive effect on normative commitment. Among the three dimensions of organizational support, i.e. managerial support, coworker relationship, and role ambiguity, managerial support has the greatest influence on employee commitment. Theoretical discussions and practical implications have also been provided.     

Value congruence and job-related attitudes in a nonprofit organization: a competing values approach

Researchers have highlighted the importance of the nonprofit sector, its continued growth, and a relative lack of literature particularly related to nonprofit organizational values. Therefore, this study investigates organizational culture in a human services nonprofit organization. The relationship between person-organization value congruence and employee and volunteer job-related attitudes is examined (N = 227). Following initial qualitative enquiry, confirmatory factor analyses of the Competing Values Framework and additional values revealed five dimensions of organizational values. The relationship between value congruence, and employee and volunteers' job-related attitudes was examined using polynomial regression techniques. Analyses revealed that for employees, job-related attitudes were influenced strongly by organization values ratings, particularly when exceeding person ratings of the same values. For volunteers, person value ratings exceeding organization value ratings were especially detrimental to their job-related attitudes. Findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications.     

Coworker support as a double-edged sword: a moderated mediation model of job crafting,work engagement,and job performance

Abstract

This research aims to test the mediating effect of work engagement on the relationship between job crafting and job performance, as well as the moderating effects of two forms of coworker support on the job crafting–work engagement relationship. We collected survey-based data from two South Korean samples. Study 1 was conducted on 175 flight attendants. The results of Study 1 were then replicated in Study 2 wherein 181 hotel employees reported their own job crafting and work engagement, and their supervisors rated their job performance one month later. In both studies, work engagement fully mediated the relationship between job crafting and job performance. The positive association between job crafting and work engagement was more pronounced when coworker emotional support was high than when it was low. In contrast, the positive link between job crafting and work engagement was stronger when coworker instrumental support was low than when it was high. Coworker emotional and instrumental support further moderated the indirect effect of job crafting on job performance through work engagement.     

The relationship between career plateauing,employee commitment and psychological distress: the role of organizational and supervisor support

This research examines the role played by an employee's supervisor and organization in the relationship between structural and content plateauing, affective commitment to the organization, and psychological distress. Our analyses, based on data taken from a sample of 575 hospital employees, reveal that there is a significant relationship between the two forms of plateauing and perceived supervisor support, whereas only hierarchical plateauing is related to perceived organizational support. Our results also highlight the mediating effect of perceived organizational support in the relationship between hierarchical plateauing, perceived supervisor support, and the consequences examined.     

The effects of family-friendly practices and gender discrimination on job attitudes: the moderating role of supervisor support

This study examined the effects of family-friendly practices and gender discrimination on female employees' job attitudes and the moderating role of supervisor support. The results of our analysis, based on a sample of 1556 female employees in Korea, indicate that family-friendly practices and workplace environments reflecting gender discrimination are significantly related to their job satisfaction and workplace benefits stress. In addition, supervisor support moderated the effects of family-friendly practices and workplace environments reflecting gender discrimination on Korean female employees' job satisfaction and work stress. These results suggest that perceived organizational support has considerable influence on the job attitudes of Korean female employees through its interactions with supervisor support. Therefore, firms should consider the ‘fit’ between organizational support and supervisory roles to enhance Korean female employees' job satisfaction and to reduce their work stress.     

A weekly diary study on the buffering role of social support in the relationship between job insecurity and employee performance

In this article, the authors used a within‐person design to examine the relationship between job insecurity and employee in‐role and extra‐role performance, and the buffering role of time‐varying work‐based support (i.e., supervisor and colleague support) in this relationship. Weekly diary data gathered over the course of three weeks from 56 employees confronted with organizational restructuring and analyzed with a hierarchical linear modeling approach showed that weekly fluctuations in job insecurity negatively predicted week‐level in‐role performance. As predicted, supervisor support moderated the intra‐individual relationship between job insecurity and in‐role performance, so that employees' in‐role performance suffered less from feeling job insecurity during weeks in which they received more support from their supervisor. No relationship between job insecurity and extra‐role performance was observed. This within‐person study contributes to research on job insecurity that has primarily focused on inter‐individual differences in job insecurity and their associations with job performance. Theoretical and practical implications for human resource management are discussed. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Containing conflict: a relational approach to the study of high-involvement work practices in the health-care setting

This study extends strategic human resource management research by focusing on the effects of high-involvement work practices (HIWPs) on relational outcomes with customers (patients). The authors provide evidence that relational dynamics among employees act as a mediating mechanism for the relationship between workplace practices and these outcomes. In particular, we propose that human resource management practices designed to increase employees' involvement at work reduce the level of organizational conflict among employees, which, in turn, affect employees' conflict with patients and their families. Using a two-wave longitudinal survey of 378 patient care providers at 20 nursing homes, the authors argue that the effect of HIWPs on conflict between nursing home staff and patients and their family members is mediated by task and relationship conflict among employees. The results provide strong support for the mediating role of organizational conflict among employees by documenting that the negative effect of HIWPs on employees' conflict with patients and their families is mediated by the reduced levels of task conflict and relationship conflict among employees. The study's findings shed new light on the relational mechanism through which HR practices affect employees and customers. Scholarly and practical implications are discussed.     

A multilevel examination of the relationship between role overload and employee subjective health: The buffering effect of support climates

Although the belief that support alleviates the detrimental effect of job demands on employee health is intuitive, past research has produced an equivocal picture, requiring a renewed evaluation of this relationship. In the present study, we examine three sources of support (from the organization, leader, and team) that employees may draw from to reduce the negative effect of a specific job demand, that is, role overload. Unlike most prior research, we focus on these sources of support at the group level of analysis to determine the relative effectiveness of organizational support climate, leadership climate, and team climate as moderators of the role overload–subjective health relationship. Hierarchical linear modeling of data from 2,288 employees nested in 132 workgroups in a state administration of Switzerland revealed that, after controlling for individual perceptions of support, team climate weakened the negative relationship between role overload and health. We did not find support for the buffering effect of organizational support or leadership climates. The article provides a nuanced test of the support‐buffering hypothesis by simultaneously exploring individual and group‐level sources of support and by demonstrating that some sources of support matter more than others in ameliorating the negative outcomes of role overload.     

Work role stressors and turnover intentions: a study of professional clergy in Hong Kong

Work and occupational stress have long been concerns for employees and human resource managers as they cause many negative outcomes. Most of the previous studies on work stress were conducted in Western countries, while limited research has addressed this important topic in the Asian context. In this study, we examine the effects of several work role stressors (i.e. role ambiguity, role conflict, role overload and work–family conflict) on emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction and intentions to leave. Additionally, we test the mediating effects of emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction between the relationship of role stressors and intentions to leave. Data were collected from a sample of 887 professional clergy in Hong Kong. The results of regression analysis show that role stressors have a significant impact on both emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction, which in turn affect respondents' intentions to leave their organization.     

Analyzing the effects of diversity perceptions and shared leadership on emotional conflict: a dynamic approach

Recent attempts to incorporate time to the study of groups reveal temporal factors can impact group functioning. However, studies of group diversity to date are largely cross-sectional and capture the relationship between diversity and its outcomes at one point in time. The present research attempts to overcome this shortcoming by analyzing the interplay between diversity and emotional conflict across time. At the same time, the current study aims to establish an empirical basis for the commonly stated assertion in intergroup relations research that the basis of categorization shifts from surface-level attributes to deep-level attributes as groups mature. Finally, by incorporating shared leadership, this study aims to suggest a contextual lever that can help groups avoid potential disadvantages of diversity. In a longitudinal study of 301 individuals from 81 groups, the present study found that surface-level diversity was negatively linked to emotional conflict in the beginning and the end of groups' interaction whereas deep-level diversity was positively linked to emotional conflict in the middle of groups' interaction. Shared leadership was found to moderate the relationship between diversity and emotional conflict. Implications for human resource management are discussed.     

Foreign workers in Saudi Arabia: a field study of role ambiguity,identification, information-seeking,organizational support and performance

A total of 154 foreign workers in Saudi Arabia responded to a web survey that inquired about role characteristics, work attitudes and behaviors. Surveys were matched with 138 supervisor surveys asking about the focal worker's job performance. Results indicated a significant relationship between role ambiguity and job performance, a relationship mediated by organizational identification, which was moderated by both information-seeking and perceived organizational support. This research is one of only a few studies of professional workers in Saudi Arabia (both male and female). Furthermore, this study is one of a handful of studies to explore the attitudes and performance of foreign workers, a worker population often confounded in studies that focus on domestic, expatriate or inpatriate workers.     

Climate for conflict management,exposure to workplace bullying and work engagement: a moderated mediation analysis

The present study investigates a potential preventive factor in relation to workplace bullying. Specifically, we examine how climate for conflict management (CCM) may be related to less bullying, increased work engagement, as well as whether CCM is a moderator in the bullying engagement relationship. The study was based on a cross-sectional survey among employees in a transport company (N = 312). Hypotheses were tested simultaneously in a moderated mediation analysis which showed that bullying and job engagement were related (H1), CCM was related to less reports of bullying (H2), CCM was related to work engagement (H3) and that CCM was indirectly related to job engagement through bullying (H4), but only when CCM was weak (H5). That is, CCM moderated the relationship between bullying and work engagement in that this relationship only existed when CCM was low. The present study contributes to theory within this research field by showing that organizational measures may not only prevent bullying, but may also affect how employees react when subjected to bullying. Furthermore, the effect of climate in relation to bullying may be down to the narrow bandwidth facet of CCM. The study informs employers how they may act to prevent bullying while also reducing the potential negative outcomes of those cases of bullying that inevitably will show up from time to time.     

Cross‐cultural differences on work‐to‐family conflict and role satisfaction: A Taiwanese‐British comparison

The aim of this research was to explore relations between work and family demands and resources, work‐to‐family conflict (WFC), and work and family outcomes in a cross‐cultural comparative context involving Taiwanese and British employees. Two‐hundred and sixty‐four Taiwanese employees and 137 British employees were surveyed using structured questionnaires. For both Taiwanese and British employees, work and family demands were positively related to WFC, whereas work resources were negatively related to WFC. Furthermore, WFC was negatively related to family satisfaction. More importantly, we found that nation moderated relationships between work resources and WFC, WFC and work, and family satisfaction. Specifically, work resources had a stronger protective effect for Taiwanese than British in reducing WFC, whereas WFC had a stronger detrimental effect on role satisfaction for British than Taiwanese. It is recommended that both culture‐general and culture‐specific effects should be taken into consideration in designing future WFC research and familyfriendly managerial practices. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Convergence and divergence of role stress experience of locally hired Japanese and non-Japanese host country staff: a qualitative study

This qualitative study examines the role stress (comprising of role ambiguity and role conflict) experienced by locally hired Japanese (LJ) and non-Japanese (NJ) staff in a sample of Japanese companies in Australia. Expatriates were also interviewed to gather information regarding the impact of cross-cultural understanding on role ambiguity and role conflict in their work relationships with LJ and NJ staff. Both LJ staff and NJ local staff experienced two types of role ambiguity, resulting from insufficient English competence and information shortage. NJ staff experienced two additional types of role ambiguity due to their lack of cultural understanding about Japan. LJ staff experienced two types of role conflict which were not experienced by NJ local staff. These were caused by their cultural understanding about Australia, and their Japanese cultural heritage and understanding of the society and organisational processes. This study shows that cultural understanding of one's host country and parent country could reduce role ambiguity. In addition, it was found that cultural understanding of one's host country and parent country results in role conflict. These findings suggest that cultural understanding could have positive and negative consequences on role stress. Theoretical and practical implications in the management of white-collar staff in overseas Japanese companies are discussed.     

How supervisory support for career development relates to subordinate work engagement and career outcomes: The moderating role of task proficiency

Drawing on conservation of resources theory, this research investigates how and when supervisory support for career development relates to subordinate career outcomes. Using data collected from 228 supervisor–subordinate dyads across 3 phases, we proposed and examined a mediated moderation model in which the interaction between supervisory support for career development and task proficiency was mediated by work engagement in predicting career outcomes in terms of career satisfaction and promotability. Results showed that supervisory support for career development was positively related to career satisfaction and promotability. Results also supported the mediated moderation model. We outlined the theoretical contributions for future research and discussed the practical implications.