Mahmood A. Bodla

Workplace spirituality: A spiritual audit of banking executives in Pakistan

Workplace spirituality has been receiving increased attention from the behavioral scientists in the recent literature. Especially the relationship between spirituality and leadership effectiveness at workplace has been the major research focus. However, most of such studies have been focusing on the work environment in developed countries like USA. On the other hand, the workplace spirituality in developing countries like Pakistan has not been investigated to the extent that it can be of some practical significance. Therefore, the present study is designed to gather empirical evidence from the banking sector of Pakistan to investigate the impact of spiritual need for leadership among followers in relation with spiritual leadership behaviors on followers’ work outcomes like performance, organizational commitment and job satisfaction. This study reveals certain practical implications for this growing service sector management.

Creativity as Mediator for Intrinsic Motivation and Sales Performance

Substantial theoretical and empirical literature indicates inconsistent performance implications of intrinsic motivation, suggesting the possibility of some explanatory mechanisms. However, little is known about the factors that might explain intrinsic motivation and sales force performance relation, particularly in highly competitive and demanding fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) marketplace requiring new and useful solutions. Creativity, being a critical yet underutilized weapon in sales force arsenal, has the potential to assume the role. Therefore, this study aims at developing and testing a theory-driven framework in linking intrinsic motivation to sales performance while using sales force creative performance as partial mediator. By employing structural equation modeling, the empirical validity of the proposed mediating model is evaluated against plausible moderating model in a sample of 688 frontline field salespersons of FMCG companies in Lahore (Pakistan). Findings indicated that sales force creative performance is nurtured by intrinsic motivation that, in turn, promotes sales performance. Practical implications of findings for sales force management and suggestions for future research are presented, too.