When work is wanted after hours: Testing weekly stress of information communication technology demands using boundary theory

Information communication technologies (ICTs; e.g., smartphones) enable employees to work anywhere and anytime, blurring work and family boundaries. Building on this trend, this study draws from work–family border/boundary theory to examine antecedents and consequences of employees' weekly experiences of ICT demands (i.e., being accessible and contacted for work after hours via ICTs). A sample of 546 elementary teachers completed a registration survey and a weekly diary for 5 weeks. Multilevel modeling results suggest that ICT demands as a form of work intrusion in the home can constitute a source of significant weekly strain (i.e., negative rumination, negative affect, and insomnia). As border crossers, teachers' adoption of a technological boundary tactic (i.e., keeping work email alerts turned off on mobile phones) was related to lower weekly ICT demands. As important border keepers at work, school principals' work–family support was related to teachers' lower weekly ICT demands, whereas parents' after-hours boundary expectations were related to teachers' higher weekly ICT demands. Moreover, teachers' boundary control was found as a mediating mechanism by which the two border keepers influenced teachers' ICT demands−negative rumination link. That is, teachers who received fewer boundary expectations and/or more work–family support had greater boundary control, which in turn buffered the ICT demands–negative rumination relationship.     

A meta‐analysis of the antecedents of work–family enrichment

This study meta‐analytically examined theoretically derived antecedents of both directions of work–family enrichment (sometimes labeled facilitation or positive spillover), namely, work–family enrichment and family–work enrichment. Contextual and personal characteristics specific to each domain were examined. Resource‐providing (e.g., social support and work autonomy) and resource‐depleting (e.g., role overload) contextual characteristics were considered. Domain‐specific personal characteristics included the individuals' psychological involvement in each domain, the centrality of each domain, and work engagement. Results based on 767 correlations from 171 independent studies published between 1990 and 2016 indicate that several contextual and personal characteristics have significant relationships with enrichment. Although those associated with work tend to have stronger relationships with work–family enrichment and those associated with family tend to have stronger relationships with family–work enrichment, several antecedent variables have significant relationships with both directions of enrichment. Resource‐providing contextual characteristics tend to have stronger relationships with enrichment than do resource‐depleting characteristics. There was very little evidence of gender being a moderator of relationships between contextual characteristics and enrichment. Lastly, meta‐analytic structural equation modeling provided evidence that a theoretical path model wherein work engagement mediates between several contextual characteristics and enrichment is largely generalizable across populations.     

Long work hours: a social identity perspective on meta‐analysis data

The current study utilizes social identity theory to investigate employees' work hours. Specifically, we use meta‐analysis to examine the relationships between hours worked and indicators of organizational identity (e.g., organizational support and tenure), occupational identity (e.g., human capital investments and work centrality), and family identity (e.g., family responsibilities and family satisfaction). The meta‐analysis also allowed us to explore other important correlates of hours worked (e.g., situational demands, job performance, mental health, and physical health), moderating variables (e.g., age, gender, and job complexity), and curvilinear relationships of work hours to social identity indicators. Overall, we found that occupational factors and situational demands had the strongest relationships with hours worked, hours worked were negatively associated with measures of employee well‐being, gender had several significant moderating effects, and there were curvilinear relationships between hours worked and well‐being and work–family conflict variables. The article concludes with directions for future theoretical and empirical research. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An assessment of attraction toward affirmative action organizations: investigating the role of individual differences

Our study investigated applicant characteristics in response to organizations incorporating an affirmative action policy (AAP) statement in recruitment material. Study participants (N = 217; White upper‐level management students) randomly received recruitment material containing one of three statements (e.g., affirmative action, equal employment opportunity (EEO), or no statement regarding affirmative action or EEO) and were asked to evaluate the attractiveness of the organization publicizing the designated policy. Results indicated that individuals responded negatively to AAPs in recruitment material because of prejudice attitudes, the perceived unfairness of such programs (which we relate to equity sensitivity), or in an attempt to protect their own self‐interest (which we relate to general self‐efficacy). Additionally, individuals' equity sensitivity and general self‐efficacy both moderated the relationship between racial prejudice and organizational attractiveness. Specifically, the negative relationships between participants' prejudice attitudes and the attractiveness of organizations publicizing an affirmative action policy were stronger for benevolents (persons tolerant of situations where they are under‐rewarded) and for persons low in self‐efficacy. Implications of our findings for organizational recruitment practices are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High‐performer turnover and firm performance: The moderating role of human capital investment and firm reputation

Research has shown a complex relationship between turnover and firm performance. Not only does it matter who leaves (e.g., high‐performing versus low‐performing employees), but the context also stands to influence this effect in complex ways. We apply human capital theory, social capital theory, and the cost–benefit perspective to propose two boundary conditions to the high‐performer turnover and firm performance relationship. Specifically, we predict that the negative impact of high‐performer turnover on firm performance will be the strongest for reputable firms and for firms who invest less in human capital (e.g., selection, training, and incentive‐based pay). We present data from 155 South Korean firms that support the hypothesized model. We discuss findings in terms of current and future theory, practical implications, and subsequent research needs. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Externalization of employment in a service environment: the role of organizational and customer identification

This study investigates the impact of employment externalization (in the form of limited‐term vs. permanent employment status) on customer‐oriented service behavior, and how identification processes may help to resolve the ‘paradox of externalization’ (i.e., organizations relying more on potentially disenfranchised employees to maintain strong connections with their customers). Survey data were obtained from 369 sales, service, and technical support personnel from the Canadian subsidiary of a large international service organization in the high technology sector. Organizational and customer identification fully mediate the relationship between employment status and customer‐oriented service behavior. Additionally, the perceived external image of the organization and the visibility of one's affiliation with the organization moderate the relationships between employment status and organizational and customer identification. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Jailed resources: conservation of resources theory as applied to burnout among prison guards

This study evaluates a salutogenic perspective of the burnout process. Building upon Hobfoll's ( 1989 ) Conservation of Resources theory, it proposes a simultaneous test of three hypothesized resources‐based models. These competing models test the structure of burnout in relation to depleted resources (e.g., lack of skill utilization, of participation, of co‐worker support, and of professional worth) and negative correlates (e.g., absenteeism and depression). SEM results provide equally good support for two resource‐based models, although each of them proceeds from two different approaches (Leiter vs. Golembiewski). Of all burnout components, personal accomplishment is found to be least related to resources depletion, while emotional exhaustion is the most related to absenteeism and depression. Results are analyzed in light of existing literature and of the specific nature of the sample, a large population of French correctional officers (n = 707). Implications for burnout theory and human resource management are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bracketing team boundary spanning: An examination of task‐based,team‐level,and contextual antecedents

There is growing recognition that teams do not function in a vacuum and that external boundary activities are important predictors of team performance, effectiveness, and knowledge sharing. In the past, researchers have focused on the effects of team composition or task characteristics as antecedents of critical boundary spanning activities. However, less effort has been directed at understanding how antecedents at multiple levels can simultaneously influence boundary spanning behavior in teams. This paper takes stock of over 20 years of research on the topic of team boundary spanning. Adopting a “bracketing” approach etc., we develop a multi‐level theoretical model to guide future research on the determinants of team boundary spanning. This model specifies task‐based, team‐level, and contextual antecedents of team boundary spanning and outlines the contingencies shaping the emergence of effective boundary‐management behavior in teams. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How does the social context fuel the proactive fire? A multilevel review and theoretical synthesis

The role of social context (e.g., leadership, team climate, and organizational support) in shaping employee proactive behavior has received considerable attention and has been investigated across multiple forms of proactive behavior. However, the research has not been well integrated. In this review, we adopt a multilevel approach to synthesize what is known about how social context factors influence employees' proactive behavior, as well as what mechanisms underpin these effects. Our analyses show that leader‐, team‐, and organization‐related social context factors mainly influence employee proactivity through shaping “reason to,” “can do,” and “energized to” states (i.e., proactive motivational states) via individual‐, team‐, and cross‐level processes. That has been most frequently investigated is the effect of the discretionary social context, particularly leadership, on proactive behavior. We also review the interaction effects between social context factors and other factors on employee proactive behavior and found inconsistent support for the motivational‐fit perspective that stimuli with the same directions enhance each other's effect. We offer a research agenda to advance theoretical insights on this important topic.     

Interpreting workplace identities: the role of office décor

Using qualitative methods, I examine how employees in corporate office environments interpreted a variety of relatively permanent office décor (e.g., furniture, photos, personal mementos) as indicators of their colleagues' workplace identities (i.e., central and enduring categorizations regarding employees' status and distinctiveness in the workplace). Similar to the encoding of behavioral cues of identity, findings suggest that interpretation of physical identity markers begins with either (1) a top‐down process of social categorization, in which specific rules are applied to encoding a few, focal, and visually salient pieces of office decor as evidence of management prototypes, or (2) a bottom‐up process of social categorization, in which a variety of physical artifacts are examined and compared to specific managerial exemplars to develop a complex representation of workplace identity. Findings also suggest that some of the unique attributes of physical identity markers (i.e., their potential to be viewed independently from their displayer, and their relative permanence) may be associated with the focus of each profiling process (i.e., on interpreting status vs. distinctiveness, and consistency vs. change). Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“If you treat me right,I reciprocate”: examining the role of exchange in organizational survey response

Survey nonresponse can pose a major threat to the generalizability of organizational survey findings. This paper examines whether organizational members' evaluations of their organizational experiences affect survey response to organizationally sponsored surveys. In particular, we hypothesized that perceived organizational support, social exchange, procedural justice and an individual's inclination to feel exploited in social relationships predicted organizational members' compliance with organizations' requests for survey completion. A longitudinal field experiment conducted in collaboration with the Office of Institutional Research at a large university (sample: n = 622 university students) supported the hypotheses. Organizational members who consciously decided to not participate in organizational surveys perceived their organization as less procedurally just and less supportive. They also reported negative perceptions of their social exchange relationship with their organization, and were more inclined to feel exploited in relationships. Hence, an exchange‐oriented theoretical framework grounded in organizational citizenship behavior theory seems appropriate for the study of survey nonresponse. Implications for survey practice include that survey‐based findings are unlikely to generalize to specific groups of nonrespondents, and that techniques commonly used to increase response rates may not be effective in reaching these groups of nonrespondents. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Task type as a moderator of positive/negative feedback effects on motivation and performance: A regulatory focus perspective

Applying Higgins' regulatory focus theory, we hypothesized that the effect of positive/negative feedback on motivation and performance is moderated by task type, which is argued to be an antecedent to situational regulatory focus (promotion or prevention). Thus, first we demonstrated that some tasks (e.g., tasks requiring creativity) are perceived as promotion tasks, whereas others (e.g., those requiring vigilance and attention to detail) are perceived as prevention tasks. Second, as expected, our tests in two studies of the moderation hypothesis showed that positive feedback increased self‐reported motivation (meta‐analysis across samples: N = 315, d = 0.43) and actual performance (N = 55, d = 0.67) among people working on promotion tasks, relative to negative feedback. Positive feedback, however, decreased motivation (N = 318, d = ?0.33) and performance (N = 55, d = ?0.37) among individuals working on prevention tasks, relative to negative feedback. These findings suggest that (a) performance of different tasks can affect regulatory focus and (b) variability in positive/negative feedback effects can be partially explained by regulatory focus and task type. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Employee voice behavior: A meta‐analytic test of the conservation of resources framework

Although voice (i.e. expressing change‐oriented ideas and suggestions) has frequently been investigated as a way for workers to reciprocate to their employers for the positive treatment they receive, much less is known about how workers use voice to deal with stress. This study takes a conservation of resources perspective to examine the relationships among workplace stress, voice behavior, and job performance. We first examined the strength of relationships of three major groups of workplace stressors and strains (job based, social based, and organization based) with voice behavior. We then examined the relationships of voice behavior with performance variables (e.g. in‐role performance and creativity) to investigate how voice may help workers preserve or accumulate resources to enhance their performance. The meta‐analytic findings presented here provide support for a negative relationship between workplace stress and voice and a positive relationship between voice behavior and performance outcomes. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A pleasure working together? The effects of dissimilarity in team member conscientiousness on team temporal processes and individual satisfaction

In this study of 43 student project teams, we tested a multi‐level mediation model of the relationship between dissimilarity in conscientiousness, team temporal processes, and team member satisfaction. We distinguished between individual‐level dissimilarity in conscientiousness (i.e., the distance between an individual member and his or her team mates), and team‐level dissimilarity in conscientiousness (i.e., the overall dissimilarity within the team). Individual‐level dissimilarity in conscientiousness had a direct negative effect on team members' satisfaction with the team, but did not affect their satisfaction with the team's performance. Team‐level dissimilarity in conscientiousness indirectly affected both types of satisfaction negatively as it impeded early agreement about the temporal aspects of task execution, which, in turn, hindered coordinated action in later stages of team task execution. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Being trusted: How team generational age diversity promotes and undermines trust in cross‐boundary relationships

We examine how demographic context influences the trust that boundary spanners experience in their dyadic relationships with clients. Because of the salience of age as a demographic characteristic as well as the increasing prevalence of age diversity and intergenerational conflict in the workplace, we focus on team age diversity as a demographic social context that affects trust between boundary spanners and their clients. Using social categorization theory and theories of social capital, we develop and test our contextual argument that a boundary spanner's experience of being trusted is influenced by the social categorization processes that occur in dyadic interactions with a specific client and, simultaneously, by similar social categorization processes that influence the degree to which the client team as a whole serves as a cooperative resource for demographically similar versus dissimilar boundary spanner–client dyads. Using a sample of 168 senior boundary spanners from the consulting industry, we find that generational diversity among client team members from a client organization undermines the perception of being trusted within homogeneous boundary spanner–client dyads while it enhances the perception of being trusted within heterogeneous dyads. The perception of being trusted is an important aspect of cross‐boundary relationships because it influences coordination and the costs associated with coordination. © 2015 The Author Journal of Organizational Behavior Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd     

Organization‐specific prosocial helping identity: Doing and belonging as the basis of “being fully there”

Identity theory and social identity theory focus on doing and belonging, respectively, but neither provides a complete picture of being “fully there” at work (Kahn, 1992 ). This three‐wave lagged field study links these two perspectives by proposing that beneficiary‐specific prosocial helping identity, met expectations for prosocial helping, and their interaction predict the strength of a contextualized, organization‐specific prosocial helping identity (OSPHI) targeted at those same beneficiaries and that OSPHI leads to positive employee work outcomes. Results provide strong support for the model and demonstrate that beneficiary‐specific prosocial helping identity had indirect relationships with intent to stay with the organization, experienced work meaning, and emotional exhaustion (negative), via OSPHI, only when met expectations for prosocial helping were weak. We discuss the value of OSPHI as an important construct that reflects the psychological state of “being fully there” at work and predicts subsequent employee work outcomes. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Overqualification and counterproductive work behaviors: Examining a moderated mediation model

The current study examined the effect of employees' perceived overqualification on counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). Building on person–job fit theory and prior research on such organizational phenomena, we conceptualized overqualification as a type of poor person–job fit. Drawing on the dual‐process model, we further suggested that in processing their person–job misfit, overqualified employees might cognitively appraise themselves as less worthy organizational members and experientially feel angry toward the employment situation. We also suggested that to the extent that overqualified people are sensitive to justice, they may react more or less strongly to being overqualified. We tested our predictions using time‐lagged data from a sample of 224 workers and their supervisors employed in a large manufacturing company in China. Consistent with our theoretical framework, we found that organization‐based self‐esteem (OBSE) and anger toward employment situation mediated the positive relationships between perceived overqualification and both self‐rated and supervisor‐rated CWBs. In addition, justice sensitivity moderated the relationship between perceived overqualification and the mediators (i.e., OBSE and anger) and the indirect relationship between perceived overqualification and CWB. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings as well as future research directions are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Congruence work in stigmatized occupations: A managerial lens on employee fit with dirty work

Although research has established that it is often difficult for individuals engaged in dirty work to adjust to stigma and the attributes giving rise to stigma, little theory or empirical work addresses how managers may help workers adjust to dirty work. Interviews with managers across 18 dirty work occupations—physically tainted (e.g., animal control), socially tainted (e.g., corrections), and morally tainted (e.g., exotic entertainment)—indicate that managers engage in “congruence work”: behaviors, sensemaking, and sensegiving that they perceive as helping individuals adjust and develop a stronger sense of person–environment fit. Specifically, congruence work focuses on 3 phases of managerial practices that correspond to individuals' growing experience in the occupation. First, recruitment/selection involves overcoming individuals' aversion to dirty work by selecting individuals with an affinity for the work and providing a realistic stigma preview. Second, socialization involves helping newcomers adjust to distasteful tasks and to stigma by using targeted divestiture, developing perspective taking, helping newcomers manage external relationships, and utilizing desensitization or immersion. Third, ongoing management roles involve cementing individuals' fit by fostering social validation, protecting workers from dirty work hazards, and negotiating the frontstage/backstage boundary. The practices identified as congruence work highlight the important role that managers can play in facilitating adjustment for both “dirty workers” and presumably their less stigmatized counterparts.     

Best‐practice recommendations for estimating interaction effects using moderated multiple regression

An interaction effect indicates that a relationship is contingent upon the values of another (moderator) variable. Thus, interaction effects describe conditions under which relationships change in strength and/or direction. Understanding interaction effects is essential for the advancement of the organizational sciences because they highlight a theory's boundary conditions. We describe procedures for estimating and interpreting interaction effects using moderated multiple regression (MMR). We distill the technical literature for a general readership of organizational science researchers and include specific best‐practice recommendations regarding actions researchers can take before and after data collection to improve the accuracy of MMR‐based conclusions regarding interaction effects. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Societal individualism–collectivism and uncertainty avoidance as cultural moderators of relationships between job resources and strain

The job demands–resources model is a dominant theoretical framework that describes the influence of job demands and job resources on employee strain. Recent research has highlighted that the effects of job demands on strain vary across cultures, but similar work has not explored whether this is true for job resources. Given that societal characteristics can influence individuals' cognitive structures and, to a lesser extent, values in a culture, we address this gap in the literature and argue that individuals' strain in reaction to job resources may differ across cultures. Specifically, we theorize that the societal cultural dimensions of individualism–collectivism and uncertainty avoidance shape individual‐level job resource–strain relationships, as they dictate which types of resources (i.e., individual vs. group preference‐oriented and uncertainty‐reducing vs. not) are more likely to be valued, used, or effective in combating strain within a culture. Results revealed that societal individualism–collectivism and uncertainty avoidance independently moderated the relationships between certain job resources (i.e., job control, participation in decision making, and clear goals and performance feedback) and strain (i.e., job satisfaction and turnover intentions). This study expands our understanding of the cross‐cultural specificity versus generalizability of the job demands–resources model.