Journal of Management and Research

Linking Employee Performance Expectations and Employee Work Creativity: Examining the Role of Workplace Fun, and Mental Well-Being

Warda Ejaz — 2025-12-01

Current study aims to examine the intricate relationships among performance expectations (PE), mental well-being, workplace fun and employees’ work creativity (EWC) within the domain of Pakistan’s higher education institutions. Using a quantitative research methodology, data was gathered from 38- employees with the help of structured questionnaires administered in 2024. By using SPSS 26.0, we utilized Preacher & Hayes process to analyze the data for the hypothesized relationships among the variables. Result findings indicate that PE has a positive significant relationship with EWC. Moreover, mental well-being mediated the relationship between PE and EWC. Workplace fun also moderated the relationship of PE and EWC when mental well-being mediated these relationships. In addition to the theoretical implications, the current study offers practical implications, particularly for the managers/practitioners who are concerned with the employees’ mental well-being and for EWC. This research investigates the relationships between expectation of performance, satisfaction, and enjoyment of the workplace using COR principles. The goal of this study is to provide companies that have efforts aimed at stimulation of creativity with useful information by analyzing the way personal needs and resources and satisfaction interact. After all, it is very important to be able to create and maintain an environment that is supportive and rich with resources that allows employees to cope with difficulties and translate stress into something positive in terms of creativity. Doing so not only helps the individual with his or her well-being and productivity, but also helps the organization cope with a challenging and ever-changing business environment.

The Role of Authentic Leadership in Promoting Environmental Behaviors: Hotel Industry Context

Maryam gull — 2025-12-01

Employee behaviour and work settings have a substantial effect in the context of hotel business because of its heavy reliance on human activities. This study seeks to examine the relationship between authentic leadership (AL), workplace environmental behaviors (WPEB), and green organizational support (GOS) based on social identity theory (SIT). The study also investigates how GOS mediates the relationships between WPEB and AL. 194 hotels’ employees in Pakistan participated in the investigation using snowball sampling through self-administered surveys. Structural Equation Modeling was used to test the proposed hypotheses under study. The results demonstrate a significant positive influence of AL, GOS, and environmental focused behaviors in hotel workplaces. Furthermore, GOS acts as a mediator between AL and WPEB. Thus, this study suggests important insights by highlighting environmental behaviours in the workplace and the importance of supporting sustainable organizations in the hospitality sector. This study also highlights the need for the hospitality sector to enrich environmental behaviors in the workplace and promote policies that support the transition to a sustainable hospitality industry.

In addition, support for green organizations mediates between AL and WPEB. The results of the present study provide significant implications by highlighting environmental behaviours in the workplace and support for green organizations in the hospitality sector. This study required the hospitality sector to pay attention to and improve WPEB and strategies and policies that support green organizations to have a green hospitality sector.

Interplay of Change Climate and Participation in the Change Process and its Effect on Explicit Reactions and Consequences: Revolution in Pakistani Banks

Madiha Shafiq — 2025-12-01

In today’s competitive environment, organizational change is crucial for survival. Despite its necessity, the majority of change initiatives fail. This negatively affects employee morale and commitment. This research investigates key factors that facilitate successful change implementation, focusing specifically on the impact of change climate and participation in the change process. It examines how these variables influence affective commitment to change, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment while implementing a high-paced and high-pressured strategic change, namely revolution. Grounded in Theory E, variance theory, and change management theory, the study develops a conceptual model and adopts a deductive, exploratory design within a positivist framework. The Pakistani banking sector serves as the research context, using multi-stage sampling and a structured questionnaire for data collection. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) via SmartPLS is employed for analysis. The findings reveal that a supportive change climate and active participation in the change process significantly enhance affective commitment to change, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment, contributing to the effective implementation of revolution. This research adds to the mainly western-centered literature by offering insights from Pakistan, a developing economy. The study’s exclusive focus on ‘revolution’ as a strategic change highlights its novelty, though suggesting that other types of strategic change warrant further exploration.

Ambidextrous Leadership Initiative Propelling the Circular Economy: The Moderating Role of SME Entrepreneur Orientation

Taofeek Adejare Owoseni — 2025-06-30

The current study aimed to investigate how the strategic approach of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) entrepreneurship innovation moderates the relationship between ambidextrous opening and closing behaviour and the adoption of three different circular practices. This study used a sample of 267 manufacturing SMEs in Nigeria. Through PLS-SEM structural equation modelling, it was discovered that only two of the three categories of circular economy (CE) practices are moderated by SME entrepreneurship innovation, despite opening leadership and closing leadership behaviour being positively connected to all three. This unique perspective adds to the body of CE literature, arguing that SME entrepreneurship innovation promotes the adoption of CE practices. In the context of Nigerian manufacturing SMEs, a differentiated perspective of adopting CE practices is also provided.

Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Human Resource Management Practices: A Qualitative Study in Hyderabad, Pakistan’s Banking Sector

Sahar Akhtar Mughal — 2025-06-30

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the way Human Resource Management (HRM) functions within organizations. The core areas, such as performance evaluation, employee motivation, retention strategies, and ethical practices are highly influenced by AI. Simultaneously, its use raises new concerns, for instance, data privacy. The current study adopted a qualitative approach to explore how AI is impacting HRM practices and how it can be applied effectively in real-world settings. A total of 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted with Human Resource (HR) professionals in the banking sector of Hyderabad, Pakistan. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis in NVivo 12. The findings revealed three traditional recruitment challenges and processes, ethical considerations, risks, challenges as well as future trends and perspectives. The results revealed that AI has the potential to make recruitment more efficient through automated candidate filtering, selection matching, and initial screening. This helps reduce delays and minimize bias. However, concerns were raised about employee data privacy and job insecurity associated with automation. The study emphasized the need for industry-specific metrics to guide effective AI implementation. It also highlighted how AI can support performance management by allowing HR teams to detect early signs of employee dissatisfaction. While AI may enhance career development and workplace motivation, its role in automating administrative tasks could also lead towards ethical dilemmas, especially related to job displacement. To address these challenges, the study recommended updating HRM practices to include employee protection strategies, ensuring a balance between technological advancement and workforce well-being.

Impact of Paradoxical Leader Behavior (PLB) on Employees’ In-Role and Extra-Role Performance in the Hospitality Industry: Moderating Role of Psychological Capital

Mehreen Fatima — 2025-06-30

This study aims to examine the direct association between paradoxical leader behavior and the followers’ in-role and extra-role performance in the hospitality industry. Furthermore, this study also analyzes the moderating role of psychological capital. Data was collected through a questionnaire from supervisors and their immediate frontline employees working in the hospitality industry (specifically operating in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan). The results of multilevel path analysis demonstrated that paradoxical leader behavior (PLB) is positively associated with in-role and extra-role performance of frontline employees. Moreover, the followers’ psychological capital moderates the relationship between PLB and the followers’ in-role and extra-role performance, such that the relationship was determined to be stronger when the followers’ psychological capital was higher. The findings of this study extend our understanding of the construct of PLB and how it is related with the followers’ performance outcomes.

Examining the Relationship Between Leadership and Teachers' Moral Competence: The Mediating Role of Spiritual Climate

Nouman Maqbool Rao — 2025-05-15

This research examines how workplace buoyancy, somatic burden, autonomy-supportive and autonomy-thwarting leadership styles, and spiritual climate influence the moral competency of teachers. It may ultimately contribute to the development of a positive education culture. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire completed by teachers. This study also involved machine learning techniques including Random Forest Regressor (RFR) and Gradient Boosting Regressor (GBR). These techniques aim to identify correlations between the variables. In addition, Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was adopted to analyse direct and indirect effects. The results indicated that autonomy-supportive leadership has a positive impact on moral competence, while spiritual climate mitigates the negative impact of somatic burden on moral competence. GBR and RFR were used to evaluate features, consistently showing similar relationships, with RFR demonstrating better predictive power. This shows that the use of machine learning in analysing educational data retrieves deep patterns within the data sets. Collectively, the results of the current study imply the importance of organizational change to promote autonomy-supportive leadership and to improve the spiritual climate to increase teachers’ moral competence. There is still room for further improvement concerning the generalization of results; therefore, further studies should use a larger sample of convenience. There is a need to examine other moderators, for instance, personality traits and to incorporate longitudinal designs to evaluate effects over time.

Effect of Toxic Leadership on Workplace Bullying: A Mediation and Moderation Analysis

Zain Ashfaq — 2025-05-15

This study investigates the impact of toxic leadership on workplace bullying across multiple sectors in Gujranwala, Pakistan, emphasizing the mediating effects of employee silence and psychological well-being, as well as the moderating effect of employee voice. A systematic survey was conducted with 384 employees from various industries and the data was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Statistical results were drawn through SPSS and AMOS. The findings show that toxic leadership has a significant impact on workplace bullying, with employee silence and psychological well-being acting as essential mediators. Contrary to predictions, employee voice did not moderate the association between toxic leadership and bullying, implying that the impact of toxic leadership is widespread, regardless of employees' willingness to speak up. The results demonstrate how organizations can reduce workplace bullying and enhance employee well-being by addressing toxic leadership and fostering a positive work environment.

Role of Narcissism in Entrepreneurial Traits Mediated by Entrepreneurial Intention and Entrepreneurial Motivation among University Students

Umer Ejaz — 2024-12-26

This study investigates the influence of narcissism and entrepreneurial ambition on entrepreneurial intention and self-efficacy in students studying entrepreneurship. This study employed an intricate relationship between narcissistic tendencies, entrepreneurial drive, entrepreneurial intention, and self-efficacy among students. The study also applied a positivist ideology and a deductive approach in quantitative research. A total of (N-766) responses were collected for inquiry from entrepreneurship students in Pakistan, a South Asian country. Data was analyzed through SPSS 24.0 and AMOS 26, while utilizing multiple linear regression models and commonly employed mediation procedures. The findings suggested that the relationship between entrepreneurial motivation and entrepreneurial intention is such that entrepreneurial motivation positively influences entrepreneurial intention. The study made a valuable contribution to the existing body of knowledge on the extended model of the Theory of Planned Behavior. It has important implications for university administration and teachers who are responsible for students displaying high levels of narcissism or psychopathy. These individuals should be given proper care, education, and targeted interventions aimed at reducing their narcissistic and psychopathic tendencies to enhance their entrepreneurial intentions. According to the knowledge, this is the first study of this context which contributed to the literature on of narcissism, entrepreneurial intention and self-efficacy. Second, the study used (Entrepreneurial Motivation) as Moderator (Exogenous force) in this study as the study was conducted in Pakistan. So, the study has a great contribution to this perspective as well.

Pride as a Catalyst for Student Engagement and Performance: The Roles of Psychological Capital and Teacher-Student Relationships

Muhammad Qasim — 2024-12-23

This study explores positive emotions in the context of students, focusing on the constructive impact of pride. The research aims to enhance the practical understanding of positive emotions centered around the broaden and build theory. Additionally, based on social learning theory, the article examines the moderating role of teacher-student relationship (TSR) to identify the association between psychological capital (PsyCap) and students' outcomes. To analyze the effects of pride on students' outcomes, PsyCap is introduced as a mediating mechanism, elucidating its influence on the relationship between pride and academic performance and engagement. Data from 328 students in diverse universities in Pakistan support our model, and the findings reveal a positive correlation between pride and academic performance and engagement. Moreover, TSR moderates the link between PsyCap and academic performance and student engagement. The positive association between PsyCap and academic performance and engagement strengthens when TSR is strong. This study contributes to the existing literature by highlighting the significance of positive emotions, particularly pride, in the academic context. The implications extend to theoretical and practical realms, providing insights into cultivating positive emotions and fostering a strong TSR. However, acknowledging study limitations, future research directions are required to address them.