Caught between the users and the firm: How does identity conflict affect employees' innovative behavior

Absorbing external knowledge is crucial for innovation within the organization. One way of tapping external knowledge sources is to rely on employees who reach out across the firm's boundary to external stakeholders and address knowledge sets located beyond the organizational boundary. However, such employees are likely to identify with the stakeholders they reach out to which exposes them to potentially conflicting demands—with positive or negative effects for their employing organization. We investigate whether and how their dual identification with the organization and with users, and the potential identity conflicts this engenders, affects their job satisfaction and innovativeness. We study a sample of 243 employees in two industries, revealing that perceived conflict between organizational identification and user identification detracts from job satisfaction if and only if employees are strongly identified with both targets. We find also that identity conflict is indirectly and negatively related to innovative work behavior through job satisfaction. Our paper contributes to the literature on the benefits and risks of employee ties to external stakeholders. We contribute also to research on embedded users by elucidating under what conditions they are most valuable to their employing organizations.     

The mediating effect of rewarding on the relationship between employee involvement and job satisfaction

Employee support provides enormous benefits to help sustain a competitive advantage, respond to changes more quickly than competitors, and position the organization ahead of others. Awareness of this fact triggers organizations to prepare new motivational programs and practices. Employee involvement and rewards are among the many ways to achieve employee job satisfaction and motivational needs. Employee involvement entails giving employees an opportunity to influence decisions and actions regarding their jobs. Furthermore, rewards have the potential to prompt employees to act in line with organizational goals. This study aims to examine the relationship between employee involvement and job satisfaction based on the mediation effect of rewarding. Four hundred employees from the financial sector responded to a questionnaire. The relationship between employee involvement and job satisfaction was tested using hierarchical linear regression analysis. Results revealed that rewarding does mediate the relationship between employee involvement and job satisfaction. Organizations that give priority to employee needs and motivational processes should take both employee involvement and rewarding into consideration.     

Mind your E-manners: Impact of cyber incivility on employees’ work attitude and behavior

We examined cyber incivility in the workplace of Singapore and also examined its impact on employee job satisfaction, organizational commitment, quit intention, and workplace deviance. Data were collected from 192 employees. Results of the survey showed that male supervisors engaged in active forms of cyber incivility while female supervisors engaged in passive cyber incivility. Regression analyses also showed that cyber incivility was negatively related to employees’ job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Employees who experienced cyber incivility were also more likely to quit their jobs or engaged in deviant behavior against their organization. Thus, cyber incivility has negative consequences on both individuals and organizations. Consequently, it is important that firms educate employees and have appropriate policies to discourage cyber incivility.     

Employee job attitudes and organizational characteristics as predictors of cyberloafing

Cyberloafing is the personal use of the Internet by employees while at work. The purpose of this study is to examine whether employee job attitudes, organizational characteristics, attitudes towards cyberloafing, and other non-Internet loafing behaviors serve as antecedents to cyberloafing behaviors. We hypothesize that the employee job attitudes of job involvement and intrinsic involvement are related to cyberloafing. In addition, we hypothesize that organizational characteristics including the perceived cyberloafing of one’s coworkers and managerial support for internet usage are related to cyberloafing. We also hypothesize that attitudes towards cyberloafing and the extent to which employees participate in non-Internet loafing behaviors (e.g., talking with coworkers, running personal errands) will both be related to cyberloafing. One hundred and forty-three working professional from a variety of industries were surveyed regarding their Internet usage at work. As hypothesized, the employee job attitudes of job involvement and intrinsic involvement were negatively related to cyberloafing. Also as predicted, the organizational characteristics of the perceived cyberloafing of one’s coworkers and managerial support for internet usage were positively related to cyberloafing. Finally, results showed that attitudes towards cyberloafing and participation in non-Internet loafing behaviors were positively related to cyberloafing. Implications for both organizations and employees are discussed.     

Enhancing Employee Job satisfaction via E-learning: The Mediating Role of an Organizational Learning Culture

Although e-learning systems have been widely employed to develop employee learning at a workplace, discerning what influences the interaction between employee acceptance of an e-learning system within an organizational learning culture (OLC) and the resultant impact on job attitudes remains under-researched and requires further investigation. This study examined the relationship between employee perceptions of an e-learning system, the existing OLC, and job satisfaction. Structural equation modeling was applied to analyze data collected from 297 employees of a telecommunications company. The results suggest that employee acceptance of e-learning is a positive predictor of the OLC and employee job satisfaction. OLC mediates the relationship between the use and acceptance of e-learning by employees and their job satisfaction. Recommendations and implications are subsequently provided in terms of the future for human resource development researches and practices.     

Stress, computer-based work monitoring and measurement systems: a conceptual overview

The design and implementation of computer-based work monitoring systems can result in changes in the organization, job and task. Electronic performance monitoring (EPM) systems are one type of change based on principles of work simplification and work rationalization. In this new work arrangement, control and coordination functions are allocated to the computer. The supervisor becomes a monitor of information and primarily provides negative performance feedback to the employee. The employee is constrained in his/her ability to use either job resources or social resources to meet the greater demands resulting from the system controlling the pace of work. It is proposed that these work arrangements provoke stress responses in employees that can result in short-term illness and potentially long-term changes in health status. Information enriched work environments are proposed as an alternative. These new work arrangements could improve job resources and social resources to manage job demands and reduce the potentially damaging stress responses. To provide a frame of reference we focus on the impact of EPM systems on the organizational and job elements involved in provoking individual stress responses. The impact of EPM systems on individual health is described using a psychosocial stress framework. Ergonomics interventions discussed include: participation in the design process; allocation of control and coordination functions between the computer and the employee; development of feedback systems; and work measurement and the development of performance appraisal systems.     

On‐the‐job Innovation: The Impact of Job Design and Human Resource Management through Production Ownership

A growing number of practitioners and academics endorse that the ability of organizations to foster, develop and use the innovative potential of their employees contributes to organizational success. Yet empirical investigation of individual innovation processes is lacking. In this research we address the question of whether both more flexibility in an employees’ job design and commitment‐oriented HRM activities promote individual innovative work behaviour. Findings suggest that a multifunctional job design and the perceived HRM system promote employee involvement in innovative activities through increased feelings of ownership for work‐related issues and problems.     

Positive affect predicting worker psychological response to cyber-bullying in the high-tech industry in Northern Taiwan

Online cyber-bullying has become a frequent occurrence in organizations. To understand individual dispositions and the organizational factors that effect online cyber-bullying, the present study investigates the relationship among positive affect, the perceived organizational innovation climate, and psychological responses to cyber-bullying. The research samples for this study are staff members from the high-tech manufacturing industry in Northern Taiwan. A total of 396 responses were validated for confirmatory factor analyses, correlation coefficient, and structural equation modeling (SEM). The research results revealed that a positive affect (PA) has a positive influence on perceived organizational innovation climate. Moreover, the perceived organizational innovation climate has a negative influence on psychological responses to cyber-bullying. Finally, the experience of cyber-bullying was positively correlated to the psychological response of being cyber-bullied, i.e., the more an individual had experienced cyber-bullying, the higher psychological response. The results further indicated an interesting finding for the mediating role of perceived organizational innovation climate between positive affect and psychological responses to cyber-bullying. Therefore, organizations can enhance the positive affect for employees and foster an effective organization innovation climate, so those workers are better adaptable to cope with cyber-bullying.     

Privacy and biometrics: An empirical examination of employee concerns

Advances in authentication technology have led to a proliferation of biometric-based systems in the workplace. Although biometric technologies offer organizations a cost-effective method of increasing security, employees are often hesitant to permit use. The collection and storage of employee biometric data raises concerns about proper use of these intensely personal identifiers. This work draws from organizational privacy practices, electronic monitoring, procedural fairness, self-construal, and technology adoption theories. We investigate the effects of independent and interdependent self-construal on three newly developed dimensions of employee privacy concern related to organizational use of biometric technology. These dimensions include perceived accountability, perceived vulnerability, and perceived distrust toward the organization. We test the predictive power of our model using data from an organization deploying a new biometric system designed to track employee work assignments under the auspices of improving personnel safety. Results indicate that self-construal plays a significant role in the formulation of privacy concerns and both perceived accountability concerns and perceived vulnerability concerns are significant predictors of attitude toward using biometric technology in the workplace.     

Activating constructive employee behavioural responses in a crisis: Examining the effects of pre‐crisis reputation and crisis communication strategies on employee voice behaviours

This study explores how organizational management can promote employee voice behaviours, as positive behavioural reactions with constructive ideas, in responding to organizational crisis. Using an experimental study (N = 640) among full‐time employees in the United States, the study found that pre‐crisis internal reputation and crisis communication strategies—accommodative response and stealing thunder—positively and directly affected constructive employee voice behaviours in a crisis situation. Furthermore, the study revealed how post‐crisis internal reputation mediates the influences of pre‐crisis internal reputation and stealing thunder on positive/constructive and negative/destructive employee voice behaviours. The findings of this study contribute to the theoretical development of crisis communication in the internal context of an organization, especially with respect to employee voice behaviours. The study also highlights an important practical implication for crisis managers who can activate and promote positive employee behaviour voices, thereby influencing leadership's strategic decision‐making in an organizational crisis.     

Why to gamify performance management? Consequences of user engagement in gamification

Gamification offers one of the most promising solutions for information technology (IT) managers to innovate performance management systems. Yet, evidence on its benefits is limited, and IT managers are left without a clear guidance on why to implement it. To solve the problem, this article shows the benefits of gamification for overall job performance and the intermediating mechanisms through which it exercises its advantageous effects. It is theorized that employees’ engagement in gamification favorably alters their cognitions, transferring their effect onto employee attitudes and behaviors in the workplace. First, user engagement in gamification alters cognitions about the performance management system, making employees perceive justice, which, in turn, affects their satisfaction with the performance system. Second, user engagement in gamification alters cognitions about the job, influencing the perceptions of job stressors that affect job satisfaction. Third, user engagement in gamification alters cognitions about the organization, making employees perceive organizational support, which translates into higher organizational commitment. The improved cognitions then transfer their beneficial effect onto overall job performance as justice is found to exercise a mediating effect. The findings from 268 employees in a human resource service organization support the hypotheses and provide concrete evidence for the benefits of gamification in performance management.     

The effects and moderators of cyber-loafing controls: an empirical study of Chinese public servants

Cyber-loafing—using the internet for non-work purposes during work time—can lower employee productivity and expose organizations to security risks. Organizations need to control this type of behavior. We studied two control methods: internet use policies and electronic monitoring. We empirically investigated the effectiveness of these two methods and how their effectiveness is influenced by the employees’ individual differences. Based on the data collected from 209 Chinese public servants, we found that both methods can significantly lower employees’ cyber-loafing intentions. Additionally, an internet use policy is more effective for employees with a high level of self-esteem than for those with a low level of self-esteem, whereas electronic monitoring is more effective for employees with a high level of job satisfaction than for those with a low level of job satisfaction. This study advances the theoretical understanding of methods for the control of cyber-loafing and has practical implications for the mitigation of its negative effects.     

Creativity in non‐routine jobs: The role of transformational leadership and organizational identification

An increasing number of individuals work in jobs with little standardization and repetition, that is, with high levels of job non‐routinization. At the same time, demands for creativity are high, which raises the question of how employees can use job non‐routinization to develop creativity. Acknowledging the importance of social processes for creativity, we propose that transformational leaders raise feelings of organizational identification in followers and that this form of identification then helps individuals to develop creativity in jobs with little routinization. This is because organizational members evaluate and promote those ideas as more creative, which are in line with a shared understanding of creativity within the organization. To investigate these relationships, we calculated a mediated moderation model with 173 leader–follower dyads from China. Results confirm our hypotheses that transformational leadership moderates the relationship between job non‐routinization on employee creativity through organizational identification. We conclude that raising feelings of social identity is a key task for leaders today, especially when working in uncertain and fast developing environments with little repetition and the constant need to develop creative ideas.     

Customer orientation among employees in public administration: a transnational, longitudinal study

The relation between ergonomic principles and quality management initiatives, both, in the private and public sector, has received increasing attention in the recent years. Customer orientation among employees is not only an important quality principle, but also an essential prerequisite for customer satisfaction, especially in service organizations. In this context, the objective of introducing new public management (NPM) in public-service organizations is to increase customer orientation among employees who are at the forefront of service providing. In this study, we developed a short scale to measure perceived customer orientation. In two separate longitudinal studies carried out in Austria and the US, we analyzed changes in customer orientation resulting from the introduction of NPM. In both organizations, we observed a significant increase in customer orientation. Perceived customer orientation was related to job characteristics, organizational characteristics and employee quality of working life. Creating positive influences on these characteristics within the framework of an organizational change process has positive effects on employee customer orientation.     

Inadequate Information Systems and Organizational Citizenship Behavior

In this study, we examine how employees engage in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) that contributes toward their work performance related to IS usage in a small-medium sized manufacturing firm in southern China. We uncover instances of OCB that correspond to salient characteristics of the Chinese social culture, in particular when facing inadequacies in systems, organizational training, and personal skills. We inductively analyze our findings, blending them with the literature to propose a new theoretical model that explains the antecedents and consequences of IT-centric OCB in organizations.     

From information systems resources to effective use: Moderating effect of network embeddedness

This research examines how organizations can achieve effective information systems (IS) use by aligning internal IS resources with embeddedness in the IS outsourcing network. Leveraging the empirical opportunity of large-scale organization-wide meaningful use attestation of electronic health records, we conducted a longitudinal analysis of US hospitals from 2013 to 2017. We found that an organization’s network embeddedness amplifies the positive relationship between IS resources and effective IS use. We also identify different impacts depending on network embeddedness types and organization sizes. We found positive moderating effects of structural and positional embeddedness. However, junctional embeddedness has no direct or moderating effect on IS use. In addition, the moderating effects manifest differently for different-sized organizations – i.e., structural embeddedness has a stronger positive moderating effect for large organizations, while positional embeddedness’ positive moderating effect is stronger for small organizations. We also found heterogeneous direct effects of structural and positional embeddedness on organizational IS use. Solely depending on structural embeddedness will result in lower IS use, which is more prominent for small organizations. Positional embeddedness has a negative direct effect on small organizations’ IS use but positively relates to large organizations’ IS use. This research highlights the role of network embeddedness in facilitating IS use and offers a nuanced understanding of its impacts. Our findings also provide practical implications for organizational IS use through strategic IS outsourcing.     

Policies and procedures to manage employee Internet abuse

Industry analysts estimate that billions of dollars in lost revenue were attributed to employee Internet abuse. Trends also suggest that lost job productivity and corporate liability have emerged as new workplace concerns due to growth of new online technologies and mobile computing. Such employee Internet misuse creates new management dilemmas on how to respond to incidences of such misuse as well poses network security risks and drains on network bandwidth. Within an organization, it is imperative to ensure that employees are using computing resources effectively and appropriately. Utilizing the previous literature in the field, this paper proposed a revised framework to manage employee Internet abuse. The former model proposed did not account for new digital media and recommended screening applicants for Internet addiction, using more of a clinical test than a job performance test. This new model describes both prevention and intervention methods to address incidents of online misuse in the workplace and refocuses hiring decisions into post-employment training. It also examines the new hiring concerns with the new iGeneration of college graduates and it examines how organizations should best utilize acceptable Internet use policies with clear methods of Internet monitoring to enforce that workers are complying with company policies. This paper also talks about the potential benefits of rehabilitation approaches to manage employees who abuse instead of terminating them to decrease job turnover and improve job retention. Implications for current management practices are also discussed.     

The effect of social media use on work‐related learning

The increasing use of social media at work offers organizations new opportunities for employee learning on the job. This study investigated the relationship between social media use and learning activities undertaken by employees. It was expected that social media use relates to higher levels of learning and that this relationship is stronger when employees perceive higher levels of an organization culture that stimulates dialogue and inquiry. A total of 590 respondents of three multinationals based in the Netherlands completed a survey. As expected, results showed that the more often employees used social media in their job, the more often they participated in learning activities. Contrary to expectation, this relationship was not influenced by culture of dialogue and inquiry. Instead, the perception of a culture of dialogue and inquiry directly related to learning on the job. The findings suggest that organizations could consider stimulating the use of social media among employees to support work‐related learning.     

The Relationship between Coworker Incivility,Emotional Exhaustion,and Organizational Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Emotional Exhaustion

The aim of this research is to investigate the relationship between coworker incivility, emotional exhaustion, and organizational outcomes measured by job satisfaction, job performance, and turnover intention. Working with a sample of 286 retail bank employees in South Korea, structural equation modeling is employed to test four hypotheses drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory and affective events theory (AET). According to the analyses, while employee incivility positively affects emotional exhaustion, emotional exhaustion has a negative effect on job satisfaction and job performance. In addition, emotional exhaustion has a positive impact on turnover intention among organizational employees. These results imply that to better understand the relationship between coworker incivility and organizational outcomes, it is necessary to consider emotional exhaustion as an important mediating variable. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed, together with its limitations and future research directions.     

Adopting organizational virtualization in B2B firms: An empirical study in Singapore

We empirically tested a parsimonious model that incorporates cost-benefit analysis/transaction cost theory, institutional theory, and organizational capability-based theory to predict organizational adoption of IT-facilitated virtualization in an Asian context. Virtualization implies the use of IT and communication technology by organizations in managing their interactions and key business operations with stakeholders, such as customers, suppliers and employees. Our research extends existing literature by using organizational structure adoption theories. The study should provide insights into the salient adoption issues of Asian firms. A survey was conducted of B2B organizations in Singapore. Results indicated that an increase in the level of net perceived benefits, external influences, and organizational capabilities had a positive effect on organizational decision makers’ intention to use virtualization. In particular, external influences were found to be the most important antecedents of intention to adopt virtualization in B2B organizations in Singapore.