Perceptions of leader emotion regulation and LMX as predictors of followers' job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behaviors

To align personal feelings with socially defined display rules, individuals often turn to one of two self-presentation strategies: surface or deep acting. Leaders could be expected to rely on these regulatory techniques, as their work roles demand an ability to convey meaning through emotions that may or may not be authentically felt. In this study, we examined how different forms of emotion regulation, as engaged in by those in leadership roles, influence follower job attitudes and behaviors. We predicted that follower perceptions of the leader–member exchange relationship would moderate main effect relationships. Survey results collected from 126 employed individuals indicated that LMX quality influenced follower reactions to the form of emotion regulation engaged in by supervisors. Specifically, deep acting was positively associated with job satisfaction for members in low-quality exchanges, while surface acting negatively affected participation in prosocial acts for individuals in high-quality exchanges. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

How organizational logics shape trade-off decision-making in sustainability

Tensions between economic, environmental, and social performance are inherent to the practice of corporate sustainability. These sustainability tensions present the company with strategic choices. Using an organizational cognition perspective, we posit that companies interpret and respond to these tensions in ways that reflect an underlying collective sustainability logic. The purpose of this research is to explore this link, and to describe the logics that companies use when approaching sustainability tensions—and in doing so, explore what this reveals about the nature of the logics themselves. To achieve this, we perform a qualitative content analysis of interviews with sustainability managers, as well as archival documents. We find that all companies, regardless of their sustainability logic, encounter tensions in the practice of sustainability. In navigating these tensions, companies following a market-led logic tended to consider a narrow scope of stakeholder interests in their sustainability decision-making. These companies also followed a mutually-exclusive (and unintegrated) ‘if/then’ approach to sustainability tensions. On the other hand, companies that followed a holistic logic tended to consider a much wider scope of stakeholders and displayed a higher degree of integration in their logic (i.e., synergetic approach to decision-making around tensions).     

变革型领导、组织公民行为与心理授权关系研究

探讨变革型领导行为对下属的组织公民行为产生影响的作用机制,即变革型领导是否会通过心理授权的中介作用对下属的组织公民行为产生影响.采用结构方程模型的方法分析了变革型领导行为、组织公民行为以及心理授权的不同维度之间的关系,研究的样本包括高科技组织中282名员工以及他们所对应的领导者.研究结果表明,变革型领导行为通过心理授权作为中介变量对下属员工的组织公民行为具有显著的影响作用;心理授权中的意义性和自我效能两个维度在变革型领导与组织公民行为之间起到中介作用;关系导向和任务导向的变革型领导对心理授权和组织公民行为的不同维度产生影响作用的路径是不同的.     

Developmental leadership and organizational citizenship behavior: Mediating effects of self-determination,supervisor identification,and organizational identification

The authors investigate three levels of self-identity in the workplace—self-determination, supervisor identification, and organizational identification—for their mediating effects on developmental leadership and organizational citizenship behaviors. Data from 469 supervisor–subordinate dyads in two Chinese firms show that supervisor identification is the strongest mediator, self-determination is the second, and organizational leadership is the third. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Prophets vs. profits: How market competition influences leaders' disciplining behavior towards ethical transgressions

We investigate how market competition influences the way leaders discipline employees' ethical transgressions. A cross-sectional study among organizational leaders (Study 1) revealed that strong market competition is related to an instrumental decision frame (business practices are more focused on serving the organization's interest). This decision frame explains why strong market competition is related to leaders' perceptions of the evaluation of wrongdoing in terms of instrumental rather than moral concerns. Two experiments (Studies 2 and 3) show that increased market competition makes leaders' disciplining of ethical transgressions more contingent upon the transgression's instrumentality to the organization: the same ethical transgression is punished less when it resulted in profit than when it resulted in loss. This research is among the first to identify conditions that determine disciplinary responses of organization leaders to ethical transgressions, and it feeds the debate on whether market competition promotes the display of unethical behavior within organizations.     

Exploring the role of supervisor trust in the associations between multiple sources of relationship conflict and organizational citizenship behavior

We develop and test a model that builds directly on social exchange theory to predict different roles for supervisor trust in the relationships between organizational citizenship behavior and relationship conflict occurring between supervisors and subordinates and between peers. Specifically, we posit that the association between citizenship behavior and relationship conflict between employees and supervisors is mediated by supervisor trust, while the association between citizenship behaviors and relationship conflict occurring between peers is moderated by supervisor trust. We test our dual role for supervisor trust in a field study of 160 supervisor–employee dyads. Results support the different roles played by supervisor trust. We close by discussing the implications of our results for theory and practice in the relationship conflict and citizenship domains.     

Organizational disidentification and change-oriented citizenship behavior

This study proposes that the extent to which employees have disidentified with their organization might reduce the likelihood that they undertake change-oriented citizenship behavior, though this negative link might be buffered by employees’ access to two personal resources (self-enhancement motive and benevolence) and two contextual resources (citizenship climate and job involvement). To test these theoretical predictions, the study gathers survey data from employees in the telecommunications sector in Canada. The results show that prior organizational disidentification curtails voluntary efforts to improve current organizational practices, but this effect is weaker when employees (1) find it important to make a good impression on others, (2) are benevolent toward others, (3) perceive that their organization encourages voluntary efforts, and (4) are highly involved with their jobs. These four factors accordingly diminish the risk that the extent to which employees have cognitively separated from their employer escalates into a reluctance to add to organizational effectiveness on a voluntary basis.     

What does the new boss think?: How new leaders' cognitive communities and recent “top-job” success affect organizational change and performance

Leader succession often occurs because a performance decline highlights the need for change within an organization. When this need is especially high, successors are likely to be drawn from different cognitive communities than those of the replaced incumbents. Successors representing different cognitive communities carry out more change immediately after succession. This increased, rapid change will be most effective when the new leaders have had successful recent “top-job” experience. When successors lack recent top-job success, too much change too soon will actually hurt performance. We find moderate support for these relationships using panel data from the USA's National Football League.     

Emotional strain and organizational citizenship behaviours: A meta-analysis and review

This paper provides a qualitative review and quantitative summary of the relationship between emotional strain and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), and discusses five potential moderators of the strain-OCB relationship. OCB refers to discretionary behaviours that benefit organizations and their members. Emotional strain is important to consider because it has a broad impact on employee behaviours and is possibly more fundamental than other forms of strain. However, it has received less attention than aspects of job-related strain, such as job dissatisfaction. Based on the results of 29 empirical studies with 52 unique effect sizes, meta-analytic results revealed a negative relationship between strain and OCB (corrected estimate of the population correlation coefficient, ρ=-.16). Furthermore, this relationship is moderated by the type of OCB (OCB directed at the organization vs. that directed at individuals), type of organization (private vs. public), publication status (published vs. unpublished), OCB rating source (self vs. other), and type of sample (full-time employees vs. employed students). We present theoretical and practical implications of these findings, including steps that could be taken by organizations to increase OCB and to reduce emotional strain, and suggest directions for future research.     

Associations among altruism, burnout dimensions, and organizational citizenship behaviour

Most studies of burnout have focused on lack of resources, prevalence of burnout, and negative outcomes. In contrast, this study examined the relationships among altruism, burnout and a positive outcome, namely, the engagement in organizational citizenship behaviour. Web questionnaires were distributed to employees in three professional organizations. The results from the 178 respondents indicated that altruism is related to organizational citizenship behaviour. Of the three dimensions of burnout, only reduced personal accomplishment was (negatively) associated with engagement in organizational citizenship behaviours. Implications of the results are discussed and directions for future research are offered.     

To whom does transformational leadership matter more? An examination of neurotic and introverted followers and their organizational citizenship behavior

Despite the massive amount of transformational leadership research, the role of followers has not been well-examined in the transformational leadership literature. To understand how leader–follower interactions influence follower organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), we examined the cross-level interactions between transformational leadership and two follower personality traits (neuroticism and extraversion). Using a sample of 215 leaders and 1284 followers, results showed that follower neuroticism moderated the relationships between transformational leadership and organizational citizenship behavior directed toward other individuals (OCB-I) and toward the organization (OCB-O), such that relationships were stronger for those high in neuroticism. Further, follower extraversion moderated the relationships between transformational leadership and OCB-I and OCB-O, such that relationships were stronger for those low in extraversion. Therefore, the inspirational and developmental nature of transformational leaders can offset follower neuroticism and introversion and guide these employees to perform more OCB despite their tendencies to worry, lack confidence, and be shy and withdrawn.     

How leaders influence organizational effectiveness

The flexible leadership theory explains how top executives and other leaders can influence the financial performance of a business organization. Three key determinants of financial performance are efficiency, adaptation, and human capital. A wide range of leadership behaviors, management programs, structural forms, and external initiatives can be used to influence these performance determinants. Management programs and systems are usually more effective when they are mutually compatible and appropriate for the situation. Effective performance requires a cooperative effort by the multiple leaders in an organization, and they must be flexible and adaptive as the situation changes. The theory provides a way to integrate findings from several different and largely separate literatures.     

What goes around comes around: How meso-level negative emotional contagion can ultimately determine organizational attitudes toward leaders

We present a follower-centric model of leadership that integrates multiple levels of analysis, and includes emotional contagion as a key meso-level process. In our model, leadership at the individual level is manifested in terms of the leader's favoritism toward members and affective displays. Drawing upon affective events theory, we argue that member perceptions of a leader's behaviors and member attributions of insincerity result in negative emotions. Through a process of emotional contagion, the negative emotions then spread to other individuals in the group. These are in turn reflected in the group's affective climate and trust climate, and also in the quality of leader-member and team-member relationships. In the end, this results in organizational-level disapproval of the leader and cynicism towards the leader. Included as moderators in the model are task interdependence, the temporal context, reward systems, emotional labor requirements, organizational culture, and power distance. We conclude with a discussion of boundary conditions, and implications of our model for research, theory, and practice.     

Knowledge work as organizational behavior

Knowledge work has been defined as a profession, a characteristic of individuals, and as an individual activity. We review and critique these definitions of knowledge work and propose that knowledge work is best understood as discretionary behavior in organizations. As such, knowledge work is understood to comprise the creation of knowledge, the application of knowledge, the transmission of knowledge, and the acquisition of knowledge. Each of these activities is seen as a discretionary behavior. Employees are likely to engage in knowledge work to the extent that they have the (a) ability, (b) motivation, and (c) opportunity to do so. The task of managing knowledge work is focused on establishing these conditions. Organizational characteristics such as transformational leadership, job design, social interaction and organizational culture are identified as potential predictors of ability, motivation and opportunity. Implications for further research and practice are identified.     

How leadership matters: The effects of leaders' alignment on strategy implementation

Research has confirmed that leader behavior influences group and organizational behavior, but we know less about how senior leaders ensure that group and organizational members implement their decisions. Most organizations have multiple layers of leaders, implying that any single leader does not lead in isolation. We focused on how the consistency of leadership effectiveness across hierarchical levels influenced the implementation of a strategic initiative in a large health care system. We found that it was only when leaders' effectiveness at different levels was considered in the aggregate that significant performance improvement occurred. We discuss the implications of these findings for leadership research, specifically, that leaders at various levels should be considered collectively to understand how leadership influences employee performance.     

Freeing organizational behavior from inhibitory constraints

Many organizational policies and practices are based on the view that people's behavior needs to be inhibited to protect against their selfish basic nature. Indeed, a fundamental assumption of theories ranging from social exchange to economic models of organizational behavior is that individuals are primarily oriented to gain good outcomes for themselves. This chapter describes a program of research that raises serious questions about these ideas by showing that disinhibition—prompted by reminding people of times when they behaved without worrying about what others thought—can often lead to more helping behavior, decisions for the greater good in response to dilemma problems, and greater rejection of self-advantageous unfairness. These findings suggest that most people are fundamentally pro-social, interested in securing good outcomes for both themselves and others. This pro-social attitude manifests itself more readily in actual behavior and attitudes when the person in question is freed from some of his or her inhibition. These findings have implications for how one might enhance the full potential of employees in organizations, stimulate helping and creative behavior in teams, improve decision making in organizations, and how we should understand reactions to organizational change.     

Pride in task completion and organizational citizenship behaviour: Evidence from the ethnographic literature

Abstract

Pride in task completion has been observed to be consistently important to workers, although these self-conscious emotions have received little attention as a construct worthy of investigation in the workplace. Organizational ethnographies provide a unique opportunity for an in-depth look at pride and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB), An analysis of the existing set of published book-length workplace ethnographies (n = 108) reveals that both job satisfaction and pride in task completion are significantly associated with OCB. Associations between pride and OCB appear to be stronger than associations between job satisfaction and OCB. Workers' characteristic mood states, such as the pleasurable emotions created by pride in work and unpleasant feelings of shame from perceptions of chronic failure, appear to be highly relevant to the promotion of desirable outcomes for organizations. The results of this study illustrate the value of ethnographic data in the study of workplace emotions, cognitions, and their potential behavioural sequelae     

When feelings obscure reason: The impact of leaders' explicit and emotional knowledge transfer on shareholder reactions

Emotions are an area of research commanding increasing scholarly attention in the field of leadership; yet, a focus on the cognitive processing of leaders has potentially obscured the impact that their emotions can have on shareholder reactions. Accordingly, this study contributes to extant theory by introducing the concept of emotional knowledge transfer, i.e., the emotional signals used for transmission and receipt of knowledge. Testable hypotheses are derived that explore the relationship between leader emotional and explicit knowledge transfer and shareholder reactions. A short-term event study is conducted across a sample of recorded CEO interviews and analyzed using random-effects regressions. Findings indicate that leaders' explicit and emotional knowledge transfer impact shareholder reactions negatively, and that leaders try to align emotional knowledge transfer with the explicit message they intend to convey.     

Charismatic leadership and organizational citizenship behaviour: examining the role of stressors and strain

This study analyses the impact of followers' stress on the relationship between charismatic leadership and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB). Stressors are distinguished as the objective component of work-stress, and strain as the subjective component of work-stress. It is assumed that stressors will moderate the relationship between charismatic leadership and OCB (Hypothesis 1). In addition, it is hypothesized that followers' strain will mediate the relationship between charismatic leadership and OCB (Hypothesis 2). Results from a study interviewing 142 nurses from three German hospitals confirmed the second hypothesis: followers' strain fully mediated the relationship between charismatic leadership and followers' OCB.