Purpose This study investigates how and when humble leadership influences employee helping behavior by drawing on cognitive–affective personality system (CAPS) theory. It explores both cognitive and affective pathways and examines the moderating role of self-serving attribution. Design/methodology/approach The research hypotheses were empirically tested using two-wave survey data collected from 480 employees in technology-based enterprises in China. Findings Results indicate that humble leadership influences helping behavior through two distinct pathways. It reduces helping behavior by enhancing employees’ sense of power, while promoting helping behavior by increasing relational energy. Self-serving attribution strengthens the effect of humble leadership on sense of power but weakens its effect on relational energy, although the moderated mediation effect through sense of power was not significant. Practical implications The findings provide actionable insights for leadership development. Organizations should recognize that humility may generate both constructive and constraining effects and adapt leadership practices to align with employees’ individual characteristics in order to foster helping behavior. Originality/value This study advances humble leadership research by applying CAPS theory to simultaneously capture cognitive and affective mechanisms, offering a more nuanced understanding of its effects. It also identifies self-serving attribution as a boundary condition, highlighting the importance of employee traits in leadership outcomes.
Purpose The integration of digitally induced work modes and emerging technological tools has the potential to transform how expatriates adjust. In this article, we shed light on the implications of workplace digitalization for intercultural job adjustment. Design/methodology/approach We develop a conceptual model of expatriate adjustment and focus on two pertinent theoretical perspectives, i.e. person-environment fit theory and social learning theory, to examine how digitalization changes the context and processes of adjustment. Findings Our propositions delineate the opportunities and limitations of workplace digitalization for expatriate adjustment. Modal, temporal, and spatial flexibility, as well as digital support tools, enable faster, yet more perfunctory intercultural job adjustment. Deeper behavioral transformations are less likely to result from digitalized modes of working and learning. Originality/value Against the background of pervasive workplace digitalization, we revisit foundational theories used to explain expatriate adjustment and connect them with contemporary technological advancements. This leads us to introduce the concepts of dynamic fit to capture how expatriates increasingly regulate their exposure to digitally enabled work environments and human-independent social learning to explain technology-supported learning processes that occur with reduced reliance on direct interpersonal interaction.
Purpose Drawing on the Input–Mediator–Outcome (IMO) model and the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) perspective, this study examines how empowering leadership and perceived organizational support (POS) may foster collaborative job crafting through team boosting behaviors and how psychological safety conditions these relationships across individual and team levels. Design/methodology/approach A multilevel moderated mediation model was tested using survey data collected from 320 employees nested within 60 project teams in a large consulting firm. Multilevel structural equation modeling was employed to simultaneously examine relationships at the individual and team levels. Findings Empowering leadership and POS were positively associated with team boosting behavior, which was positively associated with collaborative job crafting. Significant indirect associations emerged at both levels. Psychological safety strengthened this association, especially at the team level. Simultaneous measurement limits these findings to conditional associations. Practical implications Organizations may benefit from empowering leadership, visible organizational support, psychologically safe team climates, and routines that encourage energizing interaction and collaborative reflection. Their effects should be evaluated through longitudinal or intervention designs. Originality/value The study integrates IMO and JD-R perspectives to explain how contextual resources are associated with collaborative job crafting through team boosting behavior. It develops a multilevel account of psychological safety as a boundary condition that empowering leadership may also shape.
Purpose Feedback is essential for enhancing employee performance and guiding them toward achieving organizational goals. This study investigates the double-edged sword effects of negative feedback on employee's idea generation and taking charge behavior utilizing feedback intervention theory. Design/methodology/approach To examine our hypotheses, we conducted a daily diary investigation of employees over a 15-day period (Monday through Friday) at a consulting firm. Findings The research found that negative feedback can positively influence idea generation through reflection on negative feedback and inspiration. Conversely, it can also negatively impact taking charge through reflection on negative feedback and negative affect. Additionally, we examine the moderating role of learning goal orientation (LGO), finding that high LGO strengthens the positive effect of negative feedback on idea generation and weakens its negative effect on taking charge. Originality/value This research contributes to the literature on negative feedback by uncovering when and how such feedback can either increase idea generation or decrease taking charge. The findings offer valuable insights for researchers and managers on optimizing feedback practices.
Purpose This study examines how executive incentive structures align with the temporal and motivational demands of corporate digital transformation (DT), focusing on cash compensation, equity-based incentive exposure, and internal pay dispersion. Design/methodology/approach Using panel data from 3,583 Chinese A-share listed firms from 2011 to 2023 (37,274 firm-year observations), we measure DT with a text-based annual-report index and estimate fixed-effects models supplemented by robustness, temporal, and endogeneity analyses. Findings Equity-based incentive exposure and internal pay dispersion are positively associated with DT, whereas the association between cash compensation and broad DT is weaker and more specification-sensitive. Internal pay dispersion exhibits an inverted U-shaped relationship with DT, suggesting that moderate tournament incentives may mobilize managerial effort, while excessive dispersion may weaken coordination. Complementary analyses show that cash compensation is positively associated with more immediate technology-oriented resource commitments. Practical implications Boards should match incentive structures to strategic time horizons. Cash rewards may support near-term resource mobilization, equity-based exposure is better aligned with delayed value creation, and pay dispersion should be calibrated to preserve motivation without undermining collaboration. Originality/value This study advances an incentive–strategy fit perspective by showing that executive incentives differ in temporal horizon and motivational mechanism. Equity-based exposure addresses temporal misalignment, while internal pay dispersion mobilizes effort and change subject to coordination costs.
