Omer Farooq Malik

The effects of terrorism on work attitudes and behaviors: a literature review and a proposed model

Purpose – The paper examines terrorism in its relationship to the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to review research findings and propose a model of the effects of terrorism on work-related outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review was undertaken mainly using academic sources. Findings – Potential or actual terrorist attacks create a significant fear level for the individual, causing negative work attitudes. In turn, negative attitudes lead to undesirable work behaviors. Research limitations/implications – Relatively little research has been conducted to determine how organizations may be affected by terrorism via the reciprocal relationship between employee and organizational well-being. Originality/value – This paper explores important yet still under-researched areas of management and organizational interventions to mitigate the deleterious effects of workplace terrorism.

Personal Bullying and Nurses’ Turnover Intentions in Pakistan: A Mixed Methods Study

In this study, quantitative and qualitative data are presented to examine the direct and mediated effect of personal bullying on nurses’ turnover intentions via job stress. The study also investigates the moderating role of political skill on the association between personal bullying and job stress. The study employed an explanatory sequential mixed methods design. In the first, quantitative phase of the study, data were collected from a sample of 324 registered nurses working in public sector hospitals of Pakistan using a self-administered questionnaire. Results from variance-based structural equation modeling showed that personal bullying has a direct as well as an indirect effect on nurses’ turnover intentions through job stress. Furthermore, results showed that political skill attenuates the effect of personal bullying on job stress. The second, qualitative phase was conducted as a follow-up to the quantitative results involving individual interviews from 11 nurses. Overall, the qualitative data validated the key quantitative results. The study is among the first to employ a mixed methods design to investigate the direct and mediated effects of personal bullying on nurses’ turnover intentions and the stress-buffering role of political skill.

Workplace Psychological Aggression, Job Stress, and Vigor: A Test of Longitudinal Effects:

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationships between supervisor- and customer-initiated psychological aggression and vigor across time, and to determine the mediating role of job stress in these relationships. We also investigated the potential for differential impacts of supervisor and customer aggression on our outcome variables. A two-wave longitudinal study was conducted with a time lag of 6 months. The study sample consisted of 215 branch office employees of five large commercial banks situated in Islamabad, Pakistan. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM). It was found that Time 1 supervisor and customer aggression were negatively related to Time 2 vigor, and these relationships were partially mediated by job stress. Contrary to our expectations, however, we found no significant differences between Time 1 supervisor and customer aggression in relation to Time 2 job stress and Time 2 vigor. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. We extended research on multifoci approach to workplace aggression and empirically examined the direct and mediated effects of supervisor- and customer-initiated psychological aggression on vigor.

Effects of Terrorism Fears on Job Attitudes and Turnover Intentions: The Moderating Role of Job Involvement

Based on affective events theory and previous research, a model was developed and tested to analyze the effects of terrorism fears on job attitudes (i.e. job satisfaction and affective commitment) and turnover intentions. The study is based on questionnaire data collected from 201 permanent faculty members of public sector universities in Pakistan. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to validate the model and found substantial support for study‟s hypotheses. The results show that fearing future terrorism negatively influences faculty members‟ job attitudes, and subsequently leads to their intent to leave. Further, job involvement and job attitudes interact to predict turnover intentions. The paper explores an important but still under-researched area of management and organizational interventions to mitigate the detrimental effects of terrorism fears.

Leadership styles, goal clarity, and project success: Evidence from project-based organizations in Pakistan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of goal clarity in the relationship between leadership styles and project success. The paper draws on full-range leadership theory, and contextualizes leadership styles such as transformational leadership style, and transactional leadership style (active management by exception, and contingent reward) to temporary project environment. Design/methodology/approach Data are collected (in year 2017) from 248 individuals working in ten large project-based organizations from different sectors, each having multiple units in Pakistan. Respondents comprise functional managers and individuals (who have lead or worked on projects), as well as dedicated project managers. Findings Goal clarity partially mediates the relationship between transformational leadership style and project success. However, in case of the transactional leadership style, there is no mediation as transactional leadership style is not associated with goal clarity. Furthermore, contingent reward is positively associated to project success, while active management by exception is negatively associated to project success. Originality/value Research suggests that the underlying mechanisms of the relationship between leadership styles (transactional and transformational) and project success are less clear and need to be further explored. This study contributes to literature by answering such calls, and examines possible underlying mechanisms (i.e. goal clarity) in the relationship between leadership styles and project success.