Knowledge that Transforms

AbstractHuman resource (HR) practices are potent in shaping workplace social relationships, which play a crucial role in employees' well‐being. While the role of formal relationships (i.e., relationships based on prescribed work roles) has received relatively more research attention, little is known about the nexus between HR practices, informal relationships at work and employee well‐being. Drawing on social interdependence theory, we conducted two studies to investigate how high commitment work systems (HCWS) affect employee well‐being through workplace friendship, beyond the effects of formal interpersonal relationships. In Study 1, using time‐lagged data from a sample of 253 full‐time employees, we found that workplace friendship, a type of informal relationship at work, mediated the relationship between HCWS and employee well‐being. In addition, task interdependence strengthened the relationship between HCWS and workplace friendship as well as the indirect effect of HCWS on employee well‐being. In Study 2, we replicated these findings and extended them to multiple forms of well‐being using multilevel data collected at three time points from 310 employees in 61 organizations. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings as well as future research directions are discussed.

ABSTRACTDrawing upon the resource‐based view and economic cost perspective, we examined the effect of firms' use of high‐performance work systems (HPWS) on two firm performance outcomes—firm financial performance (FFP) and firm innovation and improvement (FII), indirectly through firm capacity for learning and transforming external knowledge and technologies (CLT). Our results confirmed that HPWS positively related to both FFP and FII through firm CLT. HPWS was found to have a linear association with CLT but an inverted U‐shape relationship with FFP. We also revealed a three‐factor structure of firm HPWS: motivation to perform, skills to enhance, and opportunity to engage. The supplementary analysis demonstrated a lack of significant three‐way interaction between these three HPWS factors. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

AbstractThe topic of green human resource management (HRM) has drawn increasing attention of HRM scholars in the past decade. Recent research has called for more studies to identify the antecedents of green HRM used in organizations and explore the mediating mechanisms through which green HRM is related to performance outcomes. This study represents an effort to address these research needs by examining the joint effects of chief executive officer (CEO) environmental belief and external pollution severity on the use of green HRM and testing the mediating role of employee environmental commitment in the relationship between green HRM and firm performance. Drawing upon data collected from multiple sources (i.e., survey data from chief executive officer (CEOs), chief financial officers (CFOs), HR managers and employees, and archival data from government statistics), we found that CEO's environmental belief is significantly related to the use of green HRM, especially for companies operating in locations with severer pollution. Green HRM in turn has a positive relationship with the firm's environmental and financial performances via employee commitment to the environment. The findings highlight the often‐overlooked role of in the strategic HRM literature pertinent to environmental management and clarify the antecedents and influential mechanisms of green HRM at the firm level of analysis. We also discuss theoretical and practical implications in this study.

AbstractIntegrating conservation of resource (COR) theory and the theory of relational organizing, we conceptualize expatriate–host country national (HCN) knowledge transfer as resource gains between the sender and receiver. Based on a sample of 107 expatriate–HCN dyads, we found that when the knowledge receiver, be it an expatriate or HCN, is high on cultural intelligence (CQ), the sender will be more likely to perceive higher levels of trust in the receiver and shared vision with the receiver. These cognitive responses to the receiver's CQ are instrumental in facilitating the receiver's knowledge acquisition. We also identified the sender's perceptions of the collaborative‐based HR configuration as a contextual condition that strengthens the relationship between the knowledge receiver's CQ and the sender's perceived trust in the receiver and shared vision with the receiver.

AbstractDrawing on the social cognitive theory of self‐regulation, we proposed a model considering an inverted U‐shaped relationship between perceived overqualification and constructive voice. We reasoned from the theory that this curvilinear effect would be moderated by leader consultation, which could intensify the upward curvilinear trend and neutralize the downward curvilinear trend, and be mediated by work engagement. We conducted two studies to test our model. In Study 1, based on a three‐wave time‐lagged sample of 293 employees and 120 supervisors, we found an inverted U‐shaped relationship between perceived overqualification and constructive voice, which was moderated by leader consultation. In Study 2, we examined the proposed mediated moderation model using a sample of 231 matched leader–subordinate dyads. We found that, at lower levels, perceived overqualification has a positive association with constructive voice, which is mediated by work engagement, especially at higher leader consultation. At higher levels, perceived overqualification has a negative association with work engagement and thus constructive voice, especially at lower levels of leader consultation. The implications of our research are discussed.

AbstractEnvironmental disruptions can disturb the status quo. This can create the need for employees to navigate rapidly evolving demands in their work environment, often before formalized strategic plans can be developed and/or implemented. As such, understanding how employees experience and respond to these disruptions is critical for effective strategic human resource management. Drawing on appraisal theories of emotion, we argue that employees' appraisals of how the disruption has impacted their work can elicit discrete emotions (e.g., frustration and pride). In turn, these emotions can encourage employees to address challenges and opportunities by engaging in job crafting behaviors. Importantly, job crafting behaviors can have implications for subsequent employee outcomes (e.g., performance and well‐being). We test our predictions using a three‐wave survey (N = 402) in the context of the COVID‐19 pandemic—an unexpected environmental disruption that sparked rapid change. Theoretically, our findings provide insight into why and how employees can self‐initiate changes to their jobs in response to environmental disruptions as well as how job crafting behaviors impact employee outcomes. Practically, our findings provide insight and guidance to SHRM practitioners on how to effectively support and manage employees before, during, and after environmental disruptions.

AbstractGiven the mixed evidence that having both women and men in the top management team (TMT) or in the board of directors (BOD) has a significant influence on organizational innovation, we resolve this issue by conceptualizing TMT–BOD gender diversity as part of a multiteam system, that has joint effects which impact organizational innovation. Evidence from the study of both Chinese firms and UK firms confirm our conceptualization by showing an interaction effect between TMT gender diversity and BOD gender diversity such that innovation is greatest when both are high. The positive TMT–BOD gender diversity interaction effect on innovation improves subsequent firm performance particularly in dynamic environments. The findings refine current thinking by going beyond research that tests intra‐team TMT or BOD diversity independently and instead considers inter‐team diversity across both leadership teams within the strategic leadership upper echelons. In sum, findings show that high levels of TMT and BOD gender diversity result in more organizational innovation, which ultimately improves firm performance. We offer implications for women's inclusion in leadership as well as for research on the upper echelons.

AbstractThis article—which serves as an introduction to the special issue of the role of (strategic) human resource management (HRM) in the era of environmental disruptions—summarizes previous research, introduces articles related to this special issue, and provides suggestions for future research in the area. This special issue intends to advance HRM research by putting it in the context of disruptive environments, aiming to deepen our theoretical and empirical knowledge about the role of HRM in these disruptive environments, and provide insights to managers and policymakers who must deal with current as well as future disruptions in extra‐organizational environments. The different sections of this introductory paper are structured from the perspective of an individual (“How can HRM help individual employees cope with environmental disruptions?”), an organization (“How can HRM help organizations be more resilient against environmental disruptions?”), and a community/societal perspective (“How can HRM help the community being affected by environmental disruptions?”). We conclude by proposing several research ideas and practical implications for human resource professionals that would enable them to deal with individual employees, their organization, and the community in times of environmental disruptions.

AbstractThe global COVID‐19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the way we live and work in the short‐term, but history suggests that the crisis may also exert deeper, longer‐lasting effects. With the aim of providing preliminary insight into this possibility, we theoretically construct and empirically test hypotheses for how exposure to COVID‐19 stimuli (e.g., reading or watching media coverage, observing relief efforts) relates to the deep‐seated values that guide workers' attitudes and behaviors. Specifically, we build from prior work to posit that exposure to COVID‐19 stimuli is positively associated with workers' self‐transcendent prosocial values, which motivate prosocial behaviors directed toward society as a whole (i.e., charitable donations) and coworkers (i.e., helping). Extend the extant literature, we further argue that exposure to COVID‐19 stimuli will be positively associated with conservation values emphasizing self‐restraint, submission, protection of order, and harmony in relations, which in turn influences workers' willingness to tolerate mistreatment by authorities (i.e., abusive supervision, authoritarian leadership, exploitation). Evidence from 2,929 full‐time Chinese employees tracked for nearly 2 months and a diverse sample of 310 workers in the United States generally support our arguments, but also provide insight into potential cultural nuances.

AbstractThe relationship between extrinsic rewards and creativity has been subject to ongoing debate within the human resource management and creativity literatures. More research on the mechanisms and boundary conditions has been called for. In this study, using 187 employee‐supervisor dyads in an electronics manufacturing company, we investigated how and when creativity‐contingent extrinsic rewards (CER) may foster creativity among manufacturing employees. Drawing on self‐determination theory, we hypothesized, and found that employee intrinsic motivation mediated the relationship between CER and employee creativity. This relationship was the strongest when employees rated their leader‐member exchange (LMX) as high. The findings reveal the important role of CER in guiding manufacturing employees' intrinsic motivation and stimulating creativity. The identification of LMX as a moderator uncovers crucial boundary conditions of this relationship. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.