Usman Raja

Combined Effects of Perceived Politics and Psychological Capital on Job Satisfaction, Turnover Intentions, and Performance:

With a diverse sample (N = 231 paired responses) of employees from various organizations in Pakistan, the authors tested for the main effects of perceived organizational politics and psychological capital on turnover intentions, job satisfaction, and supervisor-rated job performance. They also examined the moderating influence of psychological capital in the politics–outcomes relationships. Results provided good support for the proposed hypotheses. While perceived organizational politics was associated with all outcomes, psychological capital had a significant relationship with job satisfaction and supervisor-rated performance only. As hypothesized, the negative relationship of perceived organizational politics with job satisfaction and supervisor-rated performance was weaker when psychological capital was high. However, the result for turnover intentions was counter to expectations where the politics–turnover intention relationship was stronger when psychological capital was high.

The joint effects of personality and job scope on in-role performance, citizenship behaviors, and creativity

This study examined the relation between personality and three dimensions of job performance (in-role performance, creativity, and citizenship behavior) under differing levels of job scope. The basic premise was that higher job scope would facilitate performance for those who were dispositionally inclined toward a particular dimension of performance and damage the performance of those who were dispositionally disinclined. Among 383 work-unit dyads in 11 organizations, some support was found for the predicted interactions between Big Five personality traits and job scope in predicting various aspects of performance.

Combined Effects of Positive and Negative Affectivity and Job Satisfaction on Job Performance and Turnover Intentions

ABSTRACT Capturing data from employee–supervisor dyads (N = 321) from eight organizations in Pakistan, including human service organizations, an electronics assembly plant, a packaging material manufacturing company, and a small food processing plant, we used moderated regression analysis to examine whether the relationships between trait affect (positive affectivity [PA] and negative affectivity [NA]) and two key work outcome variables (job performance and turnover) are contingent upon the level of job satisfaction. We applied the Trait Activation Theory to explain the moderating effect of job satisfaction on the relationship between affect and performance and between affect and turnover. Overall, the data supported our hypotheses. Positive and negative affectivity influenced performance and the intention to quit, and job satisfaction moderated these relationships. We discuss in detail the results of these findings and their implications for research and practice.

Psychological Contract Types as Moderator in the Breach-Violation and Violation-Burnout Relationships

ABSTRACT This research examined the relationships between perceived psychological contract breach, felt violation, and burnout in a sample (n = 361) of employees from various organizations in Pakistan. The moderating role of contract types in these relationships was also tested. Findings supported a positive association between perceived psychological contract breach and felt violation and both were positively related to burnout. Transactional and relational contracts moderated the felt violation-burnout relationship. Scores on relational contract type tended to be higher than for transactional contract type showing some contextual influence.

Servant leadership and employee outcomes: the moderating role of subordinates’ motives

Drawing from implicit leadership theories we advance servant leadership theory by examining moderating mechanisms that explain under what conditions servant leader behaviours impact followers in organizations. Specifically, we focused on the moderating role of subordinates’ motivational orientations—prosocial values or impression management motives—in relationships between servant leadership behaviours and job satisfaction, as well as subordinate organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs). Using time-lagged data collected from 192 supervisor-subordinate dyads, we found that servant leadership was positively associated with employees’ job satisfaction, but not significantly related to their performance of OCBs. We also found evidence that subordinates’ motives moderate the relationships between servant leadership and outcomes. Specifically, employees high on impression management experienced lower levels of job satisfaction than their lower scoring counterparts. Our findings suggest that servant leadership may not be equally beneficial for all followers. We discuss implications for theory and practice.

Effect of Perceived Politics and Perceived Support on Bullying and Emotional Exhaustion: The Moderating Role of Type A Personality.

ABSTRACT Recognizing that bullying can occur in varying degrees of severity, the current study suggest the importance of individual traits in individual perceptions of being targets of bullying and ensuing emotional exhaustion. The present study extends the work environment hypothesis and trait activation theory by a joint investigation of the mediating role of (a) workplace bullying in linking perceived organization politics and perceived organization support with emotional exhaustion and (b) the moderating role of Type A behavioral pattern in influencing the mediation. Using a field sample of 262 employees working in different organizations of Pakistan, this study tested a moderated mediation model. Results were consistent with the hypothesized model, in that workplace bullying mediated the relationship of perceived organization politics and perceived organization support with emotional exhaustion. Type A behavior moderated the perceived politics—bullying, perceived support–bullying, and bullying—emotional exhaustion relationships. The mediation of bullying varied with levels of Type A behavior in these relationships.

Getting credit for OCBs: potential costs of being a good actor vs. a good soldier

ABSTRACT Employing a sample of 197 employee-supervisor dyads, we explore whether employees’ attitudes and underlying motivation for engaging in organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs) differentially relate to supervisors’ assessments of their individual performance and reward recommendations. We theorized that employees who perform OCBs with self-serving motives would be low on affective commitment and high on equity sensitivity, and that such individuals would receive lower performance ratings and fewer reward recommendations than those who are high on affective commitment, low on equity sensitivity, and more selflessly motivated. Our results suggest that employees with high affective commitment, low equity sensitivity, and high selfless motives were more likely to receive positive supervisor performance ratings and high reward recommendations. We also found that affective commitment moderated the mediating path of prosocial values (a selfless motive) on the relationship between OCBs and reward recommendations. Practical implications and future research directions are discussed.

Interplay between P-O fit, transformational leadership and organizational social capital

Using social identity theory, the authors hypothesize that transformational leadership (TL) leads to better person-organization fit (P-O fit), which in turn contributes to the emergence of organizational social capital (i.e. OSC). Furthermore, the authors suggest that the relationship between P-O fit and OSC is contingent upon the level of TL. The paper aims to discuss these issues.,Field study data were used to test the hypotheses. In total, 336 employees from eight different service sector organizations in Pakistan participated in this study. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze the data.,In support of the hypotheses, the authors found that TL was positively related to both P-O fit and OSC. Also, P-O fit mediated the TL-OSC relationship. Finally, TL moderated the relationship between P-O fit and OSC.,Cross-sectional data were collected through self-reports, which raises concerns of reporting bias.,Managers can benefit from the study by focusing on TL as a vehicle for not only achieving change, but also for creating an environment that facilitates better P-O fit and enhanced OSC.,This study provided a rare opportunity to examine the proposed relationships in a developing country. This enhances our insight into the efficacy of theories that have been mainly developed and tested in developed countries.,Previous research hypothesized P-O fit as a mediator between leadership and performance, yet failed to receive support. The current study is unique by demonstrating that TL, as a relational leadership style, contributes to building an important resource (OSC) through the mediating effect of P-O fit.

When is an Islamic work ethic more likely to spur helping behavior? The roles of despotic leadership and gender

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how employees’ Islamic work ethic might enhance their propensity to help their coworkers on a voluntary basis, as well as how this relationship might be invigorated by despotic leadership. It also considers how the invigorating role of despotic leadership might depend on employees’ gender. Design/methodology/approach Survey data were collected from employees and their supervisors in Pakistani organizations. Findings Islamic work values relate positively to helping behaviors, and this relationship is stronger when employees experience despotic leadership, because their values motivate them to protect their colleagues against the hardships created by such leadership. This triggering role of despotic leadership is particularly strong among female employees. Practical implications For organizations, the results demonstrate that Islamic work values may be important for creating a culture that promotes collegiality, to a greater extent when employees believe that their leaders act as despots who exploit their followers for personal gain. Originality/value This study elaborates how employees’ Islamic work ethic influences the likelihood that they help their coworkers, particularly in work contexts marked by stress-inducing leadership.

Perceived competence and impression management: Testing the mediating and moderating mechanisms: COMPETENCE AND IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT

Using a diverse and unique sample of triads (N = 191 self, peer, and supervisor reports) from a field survey of two service sector organisations, this study examined the effects of perceived competence (self-reported) and supervisor-rated performance ratings on peer-rated impression management. The study also tested the mediating role of performance in competence-impression management relationships and the moderating role of job satisfaction (self-reported) in performance-impression management relationships using bootstrapping techniques. The study further examined the conditional indirect effects (i.e., moderated mediation) of perceived competence on impression management. The sample consisted of white collar employees from a government organisation and a leading cellular company in a developing country (i.e., Pakistan). Employees with low perceived competence were more likely to use impression management tactics than were those with high perceived competence. Similarly, poor performance ratings produced high impression management. Moreover, performance mediated the relationship between competence and impression management. The findings also suggest that perceived competence has a negative indirect effect on impression management for those with high levels of job satisfaction. Finally, impression management was highest when performance and satisfaction were low.