This study examines multilevel barriers to women’s participation and contribution to the process manufacturing industry in an emerging economy. We employed an exploratory multiple-case study approach, and 24 semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior corporate managers. Drawing on the behavioral reasoning theory, intellectual capital-based view, and institutional theory-based view, the findings highlighted several individual, organizational, sociocultural, infrastructure, and institutional barriers at micro, meso, and macro levels that inhibited female participation in the manufacturing sector. This study is one of the early empirical investigations to examine the obstacles hindering women’s contributions to the process manufacturing industry in an emerging country, applying three theoretical lenses – behavioral reasoning theory, intellectual capital-based view, and institutional theory-based view. Furthermore, the insights gained from the study contribute to the literature on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the operations management domain by developing a multilevel integrative model of barriers to women’s participation in the manufacturing sector.

As the number of working parents rises, employers are increasingly called upon to support employees’ work–family (WF) obligations. Grounded in conservation of resources theory, we examined how providing varying degrees of parental support (paid vs. unpaid leave and family-supportive vs. -unsupportive leadership) is mutually beneficial to employee and organizational well-being – the ultimate criterion for organizational science. Participants (N = 538) were randomly assigned to read vignettes that varied the amount of parental support provided for expectant working parents. We tested whether WF benefits fairness perceptions moderated the indirect effects of parental support on felt obligation through job-related anxiety. Findings supported our proposed moderated-mediation model, with the most positive effects when full parental support was provided to individuals with high fairness perceptions. Our research highlights the value of providing both paid leave and family-supportive leadership, while also considering employees’ fairness perceptions, to reap the most gains of employee and organizational well-being.

The growing body of literature on corporate purpose has underscored its potential as a strategic driver for firms. However, its practical implementation remains challenging due to the concept’s multifaceted and often abstract nature. By reviewing 118 articles, this systematic literature review develops a process framework on how corporate purpose can be translated into concrete organizational strategies across three dimensions: antecedents, management, and consequences. Specifically, we identify the foundational conditions that shape a purpose statement in firms, examine how purpose is embedded and shared within them, and assess the multilevel outcomes of an effective purpose. The review highlights actionable levers to align purpose with strategy and practice, discussing how firms can implement their ‘reason why’. In doing so, the study provides contributions to better understand corporate purpose from both a theoretical and managerial perspective, within the broader field of strategic management.

Increasing senior leadership diversity and decentralizing decision-making have become imperatives for many organizations, supported by a growing normative literature. However, mixed empirical evidence suggests that these may hinder the decision-making processes required to deliver value to firms and their stakeholders. We argue that diversity and decentralization should instead be viewed as means of organizing towards these ends, and theorize the conditions under which they may harm performance – specifically, the nature of the knowledge problems faced by leaders. Analyzing a 19-year panel of 922 U.S. firms, we find that diversity and decentralization are associated with stronger financial and market performance in uncertain environments but become liabilities under ambiguity, where speed and strategic clarity are critical and homogeneous, centralized leadership is more effective. Stakeholder outcomes are similarly affected, particularly employee wellbeing and ethical political activity. These findings challenge normative claims, with implications for theory, proscriptions, and practice.

Electronic monitoring emerged as a common practice in the post pandemic telework. Whereas existing research has mainly focused on the effects of this work model on individual performance and well-being, it has overlooked how specific circumstances, such as new control dynamics, can influence employees’ behaviors. We cover this gap by investigating the relationship between electronic monitoring in telework – including its clarification by the organization and the access to data by employees – and psychological safety, which is associated with key performance behaviors such as learning, voice and knowledge-sharing. Quantitative data collected through an online survey with 382 hybrid and remote workers were analyzed. Results indicate no statistically significant differences in psychological safety levels between monitored and unmonitored groups. However, additional analyses suggest that how monitoring is implemented can be key to keeping psychological safety levels, resulting in actionable recommendations for managers and organizations to enhance telework implementation.

Strategists seek a competitive advantage by balancing legitimacy and novelty; however, each approach has distinct risks and trade-offs. Some firms take on too much risk and eventually fail, while other firms only seek risk-averse alternatives that appear to promote safety and optimal long-term performance. We question whether those decisions must be mutually exclusive. We generated and applied two generic strategy rationales to the results of a professional sports gambling pool. One rationale mirrored best practices, and the other included one minor adaptation, balancing risk and novelty. Our findings suggest profit potential for both approaches but deviating from the norm – occasionally and systematically – produced better outcomes. We demonstrate how industry-based best practices can serve as a foundation for rational decision-making and strategy development, thereby limiting potential adverse outcomes. However, savvy strategists should learn when and how to deviate from conventional wisdom to create more value for their firms.

This study identifies P–O (person–organization) fit as a key construct affecting employee citizenship fatigue, affective commitment, and turnover intention. We use the conservation of resources theory to explain how citizenship fatigue, the unintended by-product of organizational citizenship behavior, mediates the relationship between P–O fit and key employee outcomes. The conceptual model was tested on a sample of 206 employees from the United States, obtained through a two-phase survey. The empirical results strongly suggest that citizenship fatigue mediates the relationship between P–O fit, turnover intention, and affective commitment. While P–O fit’s positive effects are well documented in organizational behavior research, this study highlights the dark side of citizenship behaviors in predicting costly individual-level and organizational consequences. We conclude by discussing some practical and theoretical implications of our research findings, while considering the relevance of stress and fatigue given the increasingly fast-paced and pluralistic work environment.

Employee perceptions of organizational politics are mostly negative and lead to negative consequences. Social capital is an intangible asset based on social relationships; in organizations it can be either personal or intra-organizational. This study aims to determine whether employees who perceive their workplace as political can benefit from social capital and how doing so affects their performance. A qualitative pilot study refined variables and hypotheses, and two rounds of quantitative surveys were subsequently conducted 4 months apart, with 907 and 762 participants. The analysis demonstrated that intra-organizational social capital mediated the connection between personal social capital and employee performance and moderated the relationship between perceived organizational politics and employee performance, hence mitigating the negative effect of perceived organizational politics. Consequently, according to the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) theory, intra-organizational social capital serves as a job resource that can reduce the aversion effect of perceived organizational politics as a job demand.

This study examines the interplay between psychological contract fulfillment, distributive justice, and leader–member exchange (LMX) in shaping affective organizational commitment among university academics. Drawing on social exchange theory, and using simple random sampling, we propose a moderated mediation model to explore how these variables interact. To test the hypotheses, we used the linear moderated mediation test, applying PROCESS for SPSS. Specifically, on a sample of 465 academics, the study tests the hypothesis that distributive justice mediates the relationship between psychological contract fulfillment and affective commitment, with LMX acting as a moderator. Findings reveal that distributive justice is not always necessary for fostering affective commitment when psychological contracts are fulfilled, unless the quality of LMX is low. In low-quality leader–member relationships, perceptions of distributive justice become crucial when it comes to translating contract fulfillment into affective commitment. These results highlight the importance of relational dynamics in academic settings, especially when resources are limited. The study concludes with a discussion of its theoretical and practical implications, as well as limitations and avenues for future research.

This study aims to analyze the effect of internal pay attributions on employees’ perceived organizational support (POS). Furthermore, it examines the pathway through which these pay attributions influence POS by analyzing the mediating effect of pay level satisfaction. Based on survey data from 695 employees, the results show that commitment-focused pay attributions are positively and directly related to POS, and also indirectly related to it through the mediated effect of pay level satisfaction. Regarding control-focused pay attributions, while getting the most out of employees’ pay attribution is only directly and negatively related to POS, the cost-reduction HR strategy pay attribution is only indirectly and negatively related to POS through pay level satisfaction. This study is relevant because it provides a more in-depth understanding of how employees’ perceptions of the intentions behind pay decisions can influence how they assess both the organization and the outcomes they receive.

With a growing body of research exploring how employees perceive and respond to human resource management (HRM) practices, the strategic HRM field faces the challenge of assessing how insights have evolved and which theoretical perspectives have shaped them. This study presents a bibliometric review of 292 empirical research on employee perceptions of HRM practices, focusing on (1) the major research interests explored, (2) the theoretical perspectives applied, and (3) their evolution over the last 25 years. The analysis reveals a reoccurring emphasis on performance-oriented variables, such as engagement, suggesting a tendency to rely on quantifiable outcomes while sidelining alternative constructs like employee well-being. It also highlights the dominance of a limited set of theoretical perspectives commonly applied, with alternative perspectives remaining underutilised. By mapping how topical areas and theories intersect, this study refines the classification of theoretical perspectives and contributes to a more critical understanding of the strategic HRM field. Potential implications are discussed to outline actionable recommendations for future research.

The shift to telework and hybrid arrangements has prompted organizations to reevaluate leadership competencies specific to remote environments. Therefore, we developed the Leadership Competencies for Telework (LCT) scale, designed for telework settings and addressing new challenges such as telework-life balance and virtual distance. The validation process included two studies: (1) Two content validity panels with 27 experts, and (2) validation of the 67-item scale through a survey of 543 Spanish teleworkers. Confirmatory factor analysis supported a five-factor structure: Digital Communication, Digital Trust-Building, Remote Goal Management, Remote Relationships Development, and Telework-Life Balance Support. The scale demonstrated high reliability (α < 0.90 for all factors) and validity, correlating with key outcomes such as job satisfaction, professional isolation, telework-life conflict, and organizational citizenship behaviors. The LCT scale provides organizations with a validated tool for assessing and developing effective telework leadership. Future research could validate the scale through longitudinal studies, exploring its predictive power over time.

While conventional technologies like Zoom have limitations in interpersonal communication and a risk-free training environment in delivering comprehensive corporate training, the Metaverse provides immersive, face-to-face, interactive, and simulated learning opportunities. However, the literature highlights significant Metaverse adoption barriers and emphasises the need for interdisciplinary research-driven competency integration solutions. Furthermore, the present study investigates essential competencies human resource development professionals need to develop to implement Metaverse-based training, as a literature research gap. Anchored in the Critical Success Factor theory, the study has utilised the Spherical Fuzzy-Bayesian Best Worst Method and Grey Influence Analysis to prioritise and analyse the influential relations of the identified competencies. The findings highlight the significance of technical and gamification competency categories and competencies related to privacy and security, content loss, scripting, playability, and ethical and social responsibility. These findings signify the competencies for implementing the Metaverse for training by the human resource development professionals.

Recent digital developments provide new opportunities for entrepreneurs to market and present themselves. For solo entrepreneurs, where the business and entrepreneur coincide, self-presentation strategies on social media may be particularly relevant. Using regression analysis, we investigate the personal and business-related characteristics of solo entrepreneurs who typically rely heavily on social media for self-presentation. Data are used from a unique survey conducted among solo entrepreneurs in Austria. At the conceptual level, the impression management theory of Goffman from the 1950s creates the theoretical background, and our paper links three fields of research: social media use, impression management, and aspects relating to solo self-employment. The empirical analysis reveals that the typical solo entrepreneur who attaches great importance to social media use for self-presentation purposes is a female entrepreneur running a young business (younger than 5 years) in the retail industry, with good mental health but relatively poor financial health.

Drawing on the two-factor model of organizational justice and social exchange theory, this study investigates the mediating roles of procedural and distributive justice in the relationship between work locus of control (WLOC) and leader–member exchange (LMX). Using data collected from two cultural contexts – the United States and South Korea – this research further examines whether culture moderates the indirect relationship between WLOC and LMX through perceived justice. The findings indicate that subordinates with an internal WLOC tend to report higher-quality LMX relationships, and that both procedural and distributive justice partially mediate this relationship. Moderated mediation analyses reveal that the indirect effects of WLOC on LMX via justice perceptions are significantly stronger in the U.S. sample than in the Korean sample. These results contribute to the literature by identifying perceived justice as a key psychological mechanism linking individual traits to relational outcomes at work, and by highlighting how cultural values shape this process.

This article contributes to the understanding of why some management experiences of non-family CEOs (NF-CEOs) in privately owned family firms (POFFs) are successful, while others are not. It uses the flexible pattern-matching technique to examine seven case studies of POFFs with different experiences in recruiting NF-CEOs. Drawing on human capital specificity and heterogeneity, as well as socio-emotional wealth perspectives, our analysis suggests that NF-CEOs and owning families must invest time to gain knowledge of each other. Consequently, longer minimum tenures are required compared to non-FFs, making the alignment of NF-CEO and successor life cycles crucial for success. A cooperative and long-term-oriented personality of NF-CEOs is also relevant to fit the context of family businesses. This article is the first to adapt the specificity of human capital theory to the study of NF-CEOs.

This study explores the relationships between board internationalization, board size, and strategic change of firms from emerging markets. Building upon resource dependency theory (RDT), this study proposes that board internationalization has a positive impact on strategic change. A higher level of nationality heterogeneity on the board of directors, an organization receives more diverse perspectives and experiences from foreign directors. This, in turn, influences firms to identify areas of improvement and engage in strategic change. In addition, conventional wisdom suggests that board size per se has a negative relationship with strategic change. However, this study proposes that large board sizes together with board internationalization can foster strategic change. In other words, board size and board internationalization can jointly counteract the inertial nature of a large board, resulting in strategic change. The analyses of 255 publicly listed firms from nine emerging countries for the 2013–2018 financial years confirm these predictions.

This study examined the motivational factors influencing African immigrants in New Zealand to become entrepreneurs and the factors that ensured their business success. Data were collected from 117 participants through survey questions employing the Qualtrics platform and its link was sent to participants in the Auckland region. Auckland was decided on for data collection, being the most populated city and the business nerve centre of New Zealand. The research was conducted using a descriptive and quantitative approach. From the analysis, the study found that passion for business entrepreneurship, flexibility, financial independence, generic independence, autonomy, and being one’s own boss are the most highly motivational factors for influencing African immigrants in New Zealand to opt for business ownership. The study also found that the six highest-rated reasons for African immigrants’ entrepreneurial business success in New Zealand were readiness to make sacrifices to succeed, always giving the best in everything that had to be done, the importance of action, a belief that everything is possible if the entrepreneur believes he/she can do it, the challenge of taking on new projects, and learning lessons from past failure. These findings are the most important factors helping African immigrant business owners in New Auckland Zealand to attain entrepreneurial and business success. This research maintains that the results shed light on why African migrants adopt business entrepreneurship and gear themselves up for success in New Zealand.

Despite prior research on political capabilities and their relationships with meaningful outcomes at work, it remains unclear why certain employees are incapable of successfully navigating workplace politics. To clarify this, our research develops and validates a measure of political self-efficacy at work (PSEW) across seven independent and varying samples. Evidence from faculty members and subject-matter experts in Study 1 provides initial support for the content validity of the new PSEW scale. Then, in Studies 2 and 3, we employ two separate samples to confirm the scale’s convergent and discriminant validity and factor structure. We repeat this process, in Study 4, on several new nomological neighbors (e.g., the Dark Triad traits, general political behavior, impression management, and political will). In Studies 5 and 6, using multi-wave and multi-source data, we assess the criterion-related and predictive validity of the PSEW scale, and in Study 7, we test our full theoretical model. Altogether, these findings verify the nomological network and validity of the new PSEW measure and provide theoretical and practical developments surrounding organizational politics.

As hybrid work arrangements have become more prevalent in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the alignment between jobs and workers has also evolved, arguably in ways that research has yet to fully capture. We build on the theoretical foundation of person-environment fit – and person-job fit specifically – to investigate how employees’ work arrangements and their perceived fit with their work arrangements influence important personal (e.g., work-life balance, stress) and work-related (e.g., organizational commitment, engagement) outcomes. Quantitative evidence from a survey of 427 hybrid workers supports the idea that the extent to which an individual’s desires, needs, and values align with their work arrangement plays an important role in their personal and work-related well-being. We advocate for expanding the conceptualization of person-job and person-environment fit models to incorporate work arrangements and provide recommendations for research and practice.