Search procedure

The aim of this article is to map the knowledge generated by management and organizational researchers to provide insights into the effective management of COVID-19 pandemic and related changes in organizational settings. To achieve this aim, we employed comparative bibliometric analysis to identify the most influential articles that informed the literature review (Caputo et al., Reference Caputo, Pizzi, Pellegrini and Dabić2021). Bibliographic databases, such as the Web of Science and Scopus, are usually used to retrieve bibliographic data to analyze via bibliometrics. We began an examination of the coverage of Journal of Management and Organization (JMO) with a search performed on 9th June 2020. We searched both Web of Science and Scopus. We found that while the Web of Science covered the journal since 2007, Scopus traced back to 1995 when JMO's first issue appeared. This search resulted in broader coverage of the journal by Scopus. From 1995 to the 9th of June 2020, JMO had published a total of 926 papers.

Following recent editorial calls for the impact of COVID-19 from journals involved in management and organization research (e.g., Rigotti, De Cuyper, & Sekiguchi, Reference Rigotti, De Cuyper and Sekiguchi2020), we developed a set of keywords to include in our search for insights into relevant articles created and published in JMO that would provide insights on the management of COVID-19 in virtual work, technology, WFH, and work–life balance. Our search in Scopus was done according to the following strings and keywords: ‘work* OR virtual* OR physical OR team* OR home* OR office* OR technology* OR digital* OR crisis OR health OR work-life OR balance OR conflict OR work–family OR mental OR wellbeing’ to be present in the title, abstract, or keywords of the articles. The search retrieved an initial sample of 462 papers. We performed some filtering to remove eight errata and one note, which did not constitute peer-reviewed papers, reducing the final sample of articles published, in press, reviews, and editorials to a total of 453 papers.

Bibliometric indicators and analysis

Bibliometrics combines two main procedures: performance analysis and science mapping (Aria & Cuccurullo, Reference Aria and Cuccurullo2017). Performance analysis is based on indicators of activity in terms of volume and impact of research (Mingers & Leydesdorff, Reference Mingers and Leydesdorff2015). They include word frequency analysis, citation analysis, and counting publications by unit of analysis (e.g., authorship, country, affiliation, and so on). Science mapping shows the structural and dynamic organization of knowledge for the field of research (Iwami, Ojala, Watanabe, & Neittaanmäki, Reference Iwami, Ojala, Watanabe and Neittaanmäki2020), and it is based on first- and second-generation relation indicators that provide a spatial representation about how different scientific elements are related to one another (Caputo et al., Reference Caputo, Marzi, Maley and Silic2019; McCain, Reference McCain1990). First- and second-generation indicators may include co-citation, bibliographic coupling, and co-occurrence of keywords analysis. Due to the inherent limitations and bias of each indicator, scholars (e.g., Caputo et al., Reference Caputo, Pizzi, Pellegrini and Dabić2021) have argued for the use of more than one indicator in a comparative approach to ensure the individuation of most influential articles.

We performed co-citation, bibliographic coupling, and co-occurrence of keywords analysis. Co-citation analysis measures similarity between articles, authors, or journals, by using the frequency with which two items are both independently cited by one or more items (Dabic, González-Loureiro, & Harvey, Reference Dabic, González-Loureiro and Harvey2015; McCain, Reference McCain1990). This analysis assumes that when items are cited together, they are more likely to be related. Given the time needed for the published articles to be produced and for citations to accumulate, co-citation analysis offers a dynamic representation of a topic from the past, rather than the present or the future (Caputo et al., Reference Caputo, Marzi, Maley and Silic2019). Bibliographic coupling analysis is indicated when two articles cite a common third article, suggesting that the probability exists that the two articles discuss a common topic (Kessler, Reference Kessler1963). This analysis assumes that the more the references of two articles overlap, the stronger their connection. Given that the number of cited documents in a source does not change over time, bibliographic coupling is considered to be a static analysis, which does not suffer from a time bias (Caputo et al., Reference Caputo, Marzi, Maley and Silic2019). Co-occurrence of keywords is a form of content analysis, which uses the author's provided keywords to investigate the conceptual structure of the field (Callon, Courtial, Turner, & Bauin, Reference Callon, Courtial, Turner and Bauin1983). This analysis postulates that when words co-occur in a document, the concepts related to those words should be closely related. By using the content of a document, this analysis is particularly powerful and appropriate to develop a semantic map that helps in understanding the conceptual structure of a field or topic (Caputo et al., Reference Caputo, Marzi, Maley and Silic2019).

We performed the bibliometric analysis using Microsoft Excel and VOSViewer, which is a free open-source software (Van Eck & Waltman, Reference Van Eck and Waltman2010). The clustering algorithm is freely available, and studies published in a series of academic journals describing exactly how VOS and its algorithms work (e.g., Van Eck & Waltman, Reference Van Eck and Waltman2014). VOSviewer is recognized as a widely accepted standard in bibliometric literature, and its results are widely accepted in the field of management and organization studies (Caputo, Marzi, Pellegrini, & Rialti, Reference Caputo, Marzi, Pellegrini and Rialti2018; Griffin & Grote, Reference Griffin and Grote2020; Raghuram, Hill, Gibbs, & Maruping, Reference Raghuram, Hill, Gibbs and Maruping2019). The visualization of similarities (VOS) technique shows the results arising from a selected co-occurrence matrix of items, resulting from the presence, frequency, and proximity of similar pairs of terms (Boyack & Klavans, Reference Boyack and Klavans2010). The versatility of the VOS technique and VOSViewer software allows consistency in the algorithm, and therefore comparison of results, used for the calculation of different bibliometric analyses.

According to the type of items (e.g., journals, authors, articles) under investigation, the results are a set of statistical indicators and a cluster analysis, which is based on the construction of a similarity matrix, obtained by normalizing a co-occurrence matrix of selected items (Boyack & Klavans, Reference Boyack and Klavans2010). A two-dimensional map is then built, in which items 1 to n are positioned so that the proximity between any pair of items x and y reflects their similarities in terms of cited references (Van Eck & Waltman, Reference Van Eck and Waltman2007). In the network visualization, items are represented by a tag and a circle, whose size varies according to the importance of the element. The higher the weight of an item, the larger the circle. The distance between the two items in the visualization approximately indicates the relatedness of the items in terms of adopted metric links. The closer two items are located to each other, the stronger their relatedness. The spatial position of the circles and the different colors are used to cluster the items. For a detailed explanation of the scripts and mathematical algorithms adopted in VOSViewer, please see Van Eck and Waltman (Reference Van Eck and Waltman2007, Reference Van Eck and Waltman2010).

Cluster 1: conservation of resources theory, emotions, entrepreneurs, gender, work–family conflict

Bouckenooghe, Raja, and Abbas (Reference Bouckenooghe, Raja and Abbas2014) examined how Ukrainian male IT professionals' engagement in positive behaviors could mitigate against the negative impacts created by workplace stress and burnout, thereby enhancing organizational performance. COR theory facilitated the analysis of personal emotions of 296 staff to generate and regulate supervisor trust as a wider social and economic resource. The literature suggests that trust is a critical resource to develop, harness, and support staff in emotional self-regulation and workplace engagement. In this regard, supervisors' generation of trust may be critical to the management of the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Similarly, De Clercq and Belausteguigoitia (Reference De Clercq and Belausteguigoitia2020) used COR theory to determine the extent to which employees' workplace stress in a Mexican company could negatively impact organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) which may be important in harnessing staff and activities during a crisis such as COVID-19. Their paper emphasized the impact of personal resources (e.g., work passion, humor), and contextual resources (e.g., peer communication and a condescending environment) is negatively related to workplace stress and OCB. While the authors noted that timely access to resources was crucial in dealing with the negativity of workplace stress, they missed the opportunity to highlight the potential adverse effects of a crisis and how it could be managed.

Zhai, Wang, and Weadon (Reference Zhai, Wang and Weadon2020) also used COR theory to see the effect on Chinese white-collar employees' support and satisfaction. They found that co-worker support was only partially related to workplace thriving and supervisor support but was an essential resource for staff's workplace thriving and satisfaction in life. These findings may be important in addressing the challenges arising from a crisis like COVID-19. Also, the role played by personal resources (e.g., political skill, organizational belonging/identification) is highlighted, and these personal resources should be fostered in companies wishing to enhance employees' voluntary contributions – especially where role clarification is a problematic crisis environment.

Earlier studies by Branch, Ramsay, and Barker (Reference Branch, Ramsay and Barker2007) highlight how targeted managers in ‘upwards bullying’ could deepen our understanding of bullying at work. Qualitative data from 24 managers in the public and private sectors identify factors triggering upwards bullying within organizational change. They also report that power relations were a mechanism for upward bullying behaviors. The extent to which employees are prone to uncivil workplace behaviors and the depersonalization of colleagues is exposed in work-related anxiety in Pakistan (De Clercq & Belausteguigoitia, Reference De Clercq and Belausteguigoitia2020). These authors found that such behavior was prevalent among highly educated male employees. This may be explained partly because of the potential for resource loss emanating from disrespectful treatment from and by colleagues. While such behaviors may be predominant in a crisis setting and need managerial attention, the management intervention in these issues is downplayed.

Haar (Reference Haar2006) collected data from 203 New Zealand government staff to investigate the link between work–family conflict and burnout and found that work–family and family–work triggered such burnout. Paradoxically, working harder and resignation exacerbate staff burnout, resulting in resource loss. To advance the notion of work–family/life balance and determine how HR can meaningfully intervene, Kalliath and Brough (Reference Kalliath and Brough2008) reviewed six theoretical types, which helped redefine the notion of work–life balance as a useful resource. From a survey of 58 New Zealand entrepreneurs comprising 32 women and 26 men, Kirkwood and Tootell (Reference Kirkwood and Tootell2008) also examined their work–family conflict and their strategies to enhance balance. They found that women entrepreneurs used a mix of flexibility practices, including when, where, and whom they work with as a resource-enhancing strategy. Similarly, Mishra, Bhatnagar, Gupta, and Wadsworth (Reference Mishra, Bhatnagar, Gupta and Wadsworth2019) hypothesized that work-to-family and family-to-work enrichment positively influenced psychological capital and staff's workplace innovation. Surveying 398 service-sector employees and through structural equation modelling, they established the importance of work-to-family and family-to-work enrichment, as well as supervisor support for positive psychological capital to develop broaden-and-build theory. We believe that these findings – especially about the potential tension between work and family conflict – may inform the effective management of COVID-19 and in future health crises.

Kirkwood (Reference Kirkwood2007) highlights the relationship between Tall Poppy Syndrome (TPS) and the entrepreneurial culture of New Zealand through 40 interviews with entrepreneurs. He notes how strategies such as ‘staying under the radar,’ not exposing their ownership of companies and not ‘flaunting’ wealth had helped in the potential management of a possible ‘fall’ and resource loss. The above strategies may have a significant role in capturing the complex range of resource-related challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cluster 2: corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, stakeholder salience

Galbreath (Reference Galbreath2011) investigated if there was a relationship between women on Australian boards of directors and corporate sustainability (e.g., economic, environmental, and social). Based on public companies, he identifies women directors and corporate sustainability linkage. Gender diversity helps in ‘good’ governance, which, in turn, minimizes shareholder money theft and fosters economic growth. However, the paper does not explain how to improve governance processes to enhance such diversity. Despite the positive benefits, bias against women directors and stereotyping persists, leading to loss of environmental integrity. Also, Huang's (Reference Huang2010) empirical exploration of CSR, financial performance (FP), corporate governance (CG), and corporate social performance (CSP) using 297 electronics companies in Taiwan highlight the importance of how a CG model positively impacts both FP and CSP when it has externally independent directors, while government shareholders positively influence organizational, social, and environmental performance.

Huang, Ding, and Kao (Reference Huang, Ding and Kao2009) surveyed 235 manufacturing companies in Taiwan to investigate the extent of pollution against the capacity to adopt green innovation practices. They found that family firms succumb to internal stakeholders' pressures thereby contributing to stakeholder salience theory. However, these family firm initiatives have not addressed wider fossil fuel usage and its effects on the adoption of greener human resource management (HRM) practices in organizations and society.

Surveying New Zealand's top 200 organizations, Pajo and McGhee (Reference Pajo and McGhee2003) observed that institutionalizing business ethics was being included in their respective firms' operations through an ethics code. Although ethics training was not commonplace, there was a lack of reward for employees' ethical behavior. Although the punishment of unethical practices was instituted through disciplinaries and regulations, managers revealed their likelihood of adopting informal methods. Meanwhile, the development of a framework by Syed and Kramar (Reference Syed and Kramar2009) showed how targeting different levels of ‘socially responsible diversity management’ could help achieve social justice and affirmative action, where traditional methods have failed to contribute in the past. While the rewarding of employees' ethical conduct was missed in this study, their framework should be useful in managing future crises.

Walters and Tacon (Reference Walters and Tacon2010) examined how CSR in UK football organizations can help us better understand management practices by focusing on the intersection between CSR and stakeholder theory and with specific foci on organizational actions, stakeholder definition, salience, and actions. Fifteen semi-structured interviews with different firm representatives show how CSR can be practically implemented using stakeholder management strategies. Although the extent of the replicability of ethical management practices across organizations in other parts of the world was not attempted, there is a recognition that the stakeholders' strategies may be critical in managing crisis in the future.

Cluster 3: family firms, innovation, research methods

Han, Jo, and Kang (Reference Han, Jo and Kang2018) investigated the effects that knowledge (both quantitative and qualitative) could have on the performance of mergers and acquisitions (M & As) between acquired and targeted firms. A framework is proposed showing overlapped and nonoverlapped knowledge areas to highlight performance. The analysis of data from 192 technological M & As from 2001 to 2009 identifies that when overlapped knowledge is of high quality, positive impacts on performance and innovation could be obtained from the target company. However, the aspects of un-overlapped knowledge and their potential impacts on the management of such firms are overlooked.

Similarly, Huang, Lai, Kao, and Sung (Reference Huang, Lai, Kao and Sung2014) investigated the importance of cross-functional teams on business performance and innovation through various forms of learning in teams. The results from 330 cross-functional teams in a range of 165 electronics companies in the electronics sector in China show that within and cross-team learning does indeed improve a company's performance and innovation capacity. While the critical contribution of team learning and knowledge building capability is considered critically important in boosting business and management performance, the contributions of management capacity toward this are omitted. Nevertheless, cross-team learning may provide an insight for managers on how to handle crisis in the future.

Nordqvist, Hall, and Melin (Reference Nordqvist, Hall and Melin2009) investigated the complexity and dynamic family businesses by using interpretative methodology to complement the predominantly quantitative methods and provided ideas for scholars and others. Combining the social, international, and technological aspects, Ratten (Reference Ratten2010) developed sports-based entrepreneurship theory, which they claim can be used by future researchers, and it provides insights for practitioners and policy planners in terms of how businesses become entrepreneurial in managing sport-focused firms. However, the development of such a proposition is yet to gain scholarly traction and attention.

Similarly, Sanchez-Famoso, Maseda, and Iturralde (Reference Sanchez-Famoso, Maseda and Iturralde2017) explored whether the involvement of family members in family firms' top management teams can enhance or reduce their innovation capacity by investigating internal social capital, which is based on a family firm's social capital (family member relationships) and nonfamily social capital (nonfamily member relationships). Using the Iberian balance sheet analysis system (or SABI) database to identify the family firms research population, they analyzed 344 managers' questionnaire responses from 172 Spanish family businesses followed by family and nonfamily member interviews in managerial and nonmanagerial capacities. Although they found that family member involvement in top management weakens nonfamily members' social capital and their ability to innovate, the management of such complex employment and family relations is minimized.

Cluster 4: creativity, leadership, organizational change

To find out how types of diversity in cross-national and international postgraduate and graduate teams influence knowledge sharing and creativity, Bodla, Tang, Jiang, and Tian (Reference Bodla, Tang, Jiang and Tian2018) examined the positive and negative impacts of inclusive environment and knowledge sharing on such teams. Testing involved 60 cross-national research teams in different Chinese universities, including 223 responses from team leaders. Although they found that surface-level diversity had a negative impact on a team's knowledge sharing capacity and creativity, investigating whether deeper levels of diversity engagement could affect the identified team creativity was omitted.

By examining how 120 employees perceive technological advancements in jobs, Brougham and Haar (Reference Brougham and Haar2018) also developed a new method called STARA, which can be used in future management research to create awareness of staff's perceptions of organizational changes. Given the career progression and technology knowledge associated with age, they tested age as a moderator of STARA. Using a mixed-method approach, they found that the greater the STARA awareness, the lesser employees' commitment and career satisfaction were. Additionally, they found a positive association between increased STARA awareness and turnover intentions, cynicism, and depression. Their study helped in raising challenges related to career-planning and boundaryless careers. A sample of 420 surveys and 120 participants interviews found that the ⩽30 years population registered higher STARA awareness of M = 1.9; whereas the over ≥50 year group registered M = 1.2; while the 31–50 year category scored M = 1.6. Such a technology-orientated methodology is yet to be tested across employees' task accomplishments across the world.

Drawing on the self-determined theory of motivation, Chua and Ayoko (Reference Chua and Ayoko2019) propose a model of transformational leadership, engagement, and employee motivation. Results from 155 participants show that the employees' perception of transformational leadership was positively associated with their engagement through self-determined motivation. However, we note that their paper missed the opportunity to study how collective motivation could be developed.

Fernando and Jackson (Reference Fernando and Jackson2006) used 13 in-depth Sri Lankan business leader interviews with additional documents. The leaders' decision making was linked with workplace spirituality, and dealing with difficult management issues, the leaders' decisions were linked with doing good. Such a connection highlighted that religion was crucial in leaders' decisions and motivation.

Javed et al. (Reference Javed, Naqvi, Khan, Arjoon and Tayyeb2019) chose psychological empowerment to examine the linkage between leadership and innovation in IT and cargo workplaces in the UK and Canada. Nonreligious aspects that could impact on staff's motivation were not included in the study. They found that inclusive leadership positively impacted on employees' innovative work, but there was an indirect link with psychological empowerment. Cognitive evaluation theory provided the findings analytical frame. Using trust and openness as mediators, Javed, Rawwas, Khandai, Shahid, and Tayyeb (Reference Javed, Rawwas, Khandai, Shahid and Tayyeb2018) investigated the linkage between ethical leadership and employees' creative ability in small Pakistani textile companies. The results from the 205 sampled participants highlight the importance of ethical leadership in facilitating creativity and trust enhanced the role of ethical leadership in creativity.

Similarly, Jeong and Choi (Reference Jeong and Choi2016) used data from 632 South Korea manufacturers to investigate the moderating role of HR on high-performance work systems and company performance. They found high-performance work systems to be aligned to the universalistic perspective, while HR was linked to the contingency perspective. Related to the above, and using the mediating role of organizational learning capability, Jerez-Gómez, Céspedes-Lorente, and Pérez-Valls (Reference Jerez-Gómez, Céspedes-Lorente and Pérez-Valls2019) investigated HRM practices and the organizational outcomes of 85 Spanish chemical companies. Their findings point to the fact that applying HRM practices lead to organizational learning capability, which also impacts on the company's nonfinancial and financial performance. Therefore, learning capability is crucial in ascertaining linkages between HRM practices, firm performance, strategic HRM, and the development of HR systems.

Still under the creativity, leadership, organizational change cluster, Kaye (Reference Kaye1995) focused on myth making and storytelling's effect on human systems covert culture by highlighting aspects relating to communicative competence using the adult communication management model. For organizations to survive and become effective, Kaye proposes the understanding and proper management of covert forms of communication. This understanding is linked to managers' awareness of myths, cultures, and stories that exist internally. Kaye also argues that competent storytelling managers help employees become good communicators and learners. However, the extent to which management's facilitation of other forms of learning outside the organizational context and their impact on firm performance was not attempted.

Kantur and Arzu (Reference Kantur and Arzu2012) note the emerging importance, but disjointed nature of resilience in organizations prompting the need for an integrative framework on resilience. They propose organizational evolvability as a model, which includes various aspects such as perceptual stance, integrity, strategic capacity, and acting in their effort to boost the literature on organizational resilience. Using trait activation theory as a framework, Yang, Qian, Tang, and Zhang (Reference Yang, Qian, Tang and Zhang2016) developed and validated a model for individual innovative behavior using 334 employees from 75 teams. Although they found that employees' propensity to learn was positively linked to their innovation provided their team was organic, their impact on resilience building capability at the individual and collective levels of management was less conspicuous.

Nonino (Reference Nonino2013) used organizational social capital and network theories and 10 informal networks as bases for intra-organizational social capital. A model that combines relational, structural, and cognitive domains is proposed and empirically validated for the representation and measurement of intra-organizational social capital within a knowledge-intensive firm. It was found that employee accessibility signaled the likelihood of informal relationships, which in turn formed the crux of intra-organizational social capital, cooperation, and the sharing of resources and culture.

Finally, in cluster 4, Teece (Reference Teece2018) explored the contribution of systems and dynamic capabilities in management studies by adopting a holistic, organizational alignment and adaptive learning. The dynamic capabilities perspective not only acknowledges the adaptive capability of organizations, but management's capacity to effect systemic change in their environment; whereas systems theory emphasizes internal stability within systems. While dynamic capabilities and systems thinking involve the use of strategic resources to shape a firm's competitive advantage, socio-cultural aspects that may contribute to capability development and environmental adaptation have been under-developed in the debates.

Cluster 5: job satisfaction, psychological empowerment

Out fifth cluster involves job satisfaction and psychological empowerment. In two studies, Aydogmus, Camgoz, Ergeneli, and Ekmekci (Reference Aydogmus, Camgoz, Ergeneli and Ekmekci2018) investigated the link between transformational leadership and followers' job satisfaction with personality characteristics such as extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and neuroticism, and psychological empowerment as moderators. The results from 221 research and development (R & D) employees in the information technology sector showed a link between the conscientious employee, transformational leadership, and workplace satisfaction; whereas the second study based on 348 academics showed that the more employees felt psychologically empowered, the more job satisfied they were.

Goo, Choi, and Choi (Reference Goo, Choi and Choi2019) tested whether perceptions of task independence and organizational politics impacted the relationship between co-workers' OCBs and work attitudes. Based on 411 employees, it was shown that co-workers' OCBs were positively linked to their satisfaction while not adversely linked to turnover intention. Co-workers' OCBs and job satisfaction were stronger in low organizational politics environments, whereas OCBs were stronger in high task interdependence contexts. However, the potential impact of highly politicized work environments could have on workers' OCB was a missed opportunity in this paper.

Kwak and Jackson (Reference Kwak and Jackson2015) examined LMX theory into the linkage between empowering leadership and empowerment using 132 administrative staff to ascertain whether an individual's LMX perception and psychological empowerment were positively impacted by empowering leadership. They found that an individual subordinate's perceived LMX mediated the positive effects of empowering leadership on the subordinate's psychological empowerment while LMX differentiation moderated the link between empowering leadership and perceived LMX. Training is indicated but the paper could have provided more on the guidelines for a specific training program in this area.

Langerud and Jordan's (Reference Langerud and Jordan2020) investigation into the linkage between entitlement perceptions and positive outcomes such as citizenship behaviors and affective commitment was argued to help deepen understanding of staff entitlement (i.e., a right or privilege) in Australian, Norwegian, British, American, and other contexts, with 167 respondents of varying ages. While they found that employee entitlement was positively linked to OCB, and reward and self-focus were linked to affective commitment, their study missed the examination of such crucial aspects in non-Western contexts.

Morrison (Reference Morrison2008) examined the negativity of workplace relationships and organizational outcomes in different occupations and sectors using a questionnaire. Staff with negative relationships were not only less satisfied, but also less committed and more prone to leave. Finally, in cluster 5, Parkes and Langford (Reference Parkes and Langford2008) collected data from an Australian sample of over 16,000 employees to examine employees' satisfaction with their work–life balance. They found 28 organizational climate factors that could account for employee engagement, work–life balance, and intention to stay.

Cluster 6: team performance

Jordan and Lawrence (Reference Jordan and Lawrence2009) proposed and tested a model to determine emotional intelligence in teams using 16 items. Based on two samples of 620 and 217 employees, four areas such as awareness, management of others' and one's own emotions were crucial for team membership interaction. Huang, Huang, and Chang (Reference Huang, Huang and Chang2019) examined different leaders' roles and team members' goal orientation in 64 teams using 268 respondents. They found a positive link between team members' learning and their performance, while missing the impact this could have on the management of overall team performance. They also ascertained that the combined leader and member performance orientation was negatively linked to team efficacy, and that a leader's and members' learning goal orientation was also negatively associated with team performance. Jordan, Lawrence, and Troth (Reference Jordan, Lawrence and Troth2006) investigated whether negative mood was harmful to team performance and processes by looking into issues such as workload, social cohesion, and conflict of 241 participants over an 8-week period. Although there were mixed results, a negative mood was detrimental to team performance.

Lin and Dang (Reference Lin and Dang2017) used a combination of strategic planning and change literature to empirically examine the moderating roles of organizational/environmental dynamism to ascertain what the top management team's qualities are for strategic performance and consistency in 439 electronics companies in the Taiwan's stock market. They found that slack and the heterogeneity of the top management team, among others, impacted on strategic performance and consistency. Vazquez-Bustelo and Avella (Reference Vazquez-Bustelo and Avella2019) used various Spanish manufacturers to investigate whether decentralization, information, and knowledge sharing, teamworking, performance-based pay, and job enlargement, as well as other contextual factors enhanced their operational and financial performance. Some effects on firm performance were found from each of the selected categories, thereby pointing to the need for organizations to adopt a combined contingency and universalistic approach to improve overall performance. By investigating the levels of openness in different staff, Härtel and Fujimoto (Reference Härtel and Fujimoto2000) developed a diversity-enhancement model, which they think would be beneficial in increasing firms' outcomes and the ability for management to manage diversity. However, the encouragement of slack and diversity alone could not be used to ascertain the extent to which managers may address fundamental knowledge and performance management issues.

Using 26 nurse interviews, Hutchinson, Vickers, Jackson, and Wilkes (Reference Hutchinson, Vickers, Jackson and Wilkes2006) found that an organization's informal networks were used as a vehicle for group bullying behaviors. Alliances were used not only to co-opt organizational systems legally, but to use them to shield predatory and bullying practices. By adopting a longitudinal approach with multiple informants, Remington and Pellicano (Reference Remington and Pellicano2019) examined (skilled) autistic graduates' internship at Deutsche Bank, UK. The semi-structured interview method helped to highlight the positive benefits of networks while the impact of a similar program on unskilled autistic people could also have been developed. Schreuder et al. (Reference Schreuder, Schalk and Batistič2019) investigated the impacts of goal congruence on team outcomes using psychological contract and person–environment fit theories, respectively. By proposing the mediating role of psychological contract fulfilment (PCF) on how to identify a team and assign tasks, he highlighted the alignment between PCF and team performance as well as team identification and learning goal congruence.