The Relationship Between Exploitative Leadership on Contextual Performance and Silence Behavior: The Mediating Role of Organizational Frustration and Moderating Role of Stressor Appraisals

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between exploitative leadership and employee innovative behavior and explore the mediating role of relational attachment and the moderating role of high-performance work systems (HPWSs).Design/methodology/approachThis research collected data from 374 employees and their direct supervisors in 75 teams and tested a cross-level moderated mediation model using multilevel path analysis.FindingsThe results suggest that (1) exploitative leadership has a negative impact on employee innovative behavior; (2) relational attachment mediates the relationship between exploitative leadership and employee innovative behavior; (3) HPWS positively moderates the relationship between exploitative leadership and relational attachment and (4) HPWS moderates the mediating mechanism from exploitative leadership to employee innovative behavior.Practical implicationsThe empirical findings suggest that organizations should make efforts to prevent exploitative leadership. Moreover, managers should pay attention to the important role of relational attachment in promoting employee innovative behavior and realize the role of HPWSs in facilitating the negative effects of exploitative leadership.Originality/valueThis research identifies relational attachment as a key mediator that links exploitative leadership to innovative behavior and reveals the role of HPWSs in strengthening the negative effects of exploitative leadership on employee innovative behavior.

PurposeIntegrating appraisal theories of discrete emotions with the emotion regulation literature, this study aims to explore the relationships between exploitative leadership and certain types of counterproductive workplace behavior (CWB). Besides, this study seeks to examine the mediating roles of discrete emotions (i.e. anger and fear) and the moderating role of cognitive reappraisal within the proposed relationships.Design/methodology/approachBased on time-lagged survey data from 440 Chinese employees, this study conducted hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping approach to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results revealed that exploitative leadership was positively related to approach-oriented CWB and avoidance-oriented CWB. In addition, this study found that anger mediated the relationship between exploitative leadership and approach-oriented CWB, whereas fear mediated the relationship between exploitative leadership and avoidance-oriented CWB. Further, cognitive reappraisal buffered the positive effects of exploitative leadership on anger and fear and the indirect effects of exploitative leadership on approach-oriented CWB (via anger) and avoidance-oriented CWB (via fear).Practical implicationsManagers should reduce leaders' exploitation and enhance employees' skills on emotional management and cognitive reappraisal.Originality/valueFirst, by verifying the effects of exploitative leadership on both approach-oriented and avoidance-oriented CWB, this study adds to the literature on exploitive leadership and provides a more complete understating of the relationship between exploitative leadership and workplace deviance. Second, this study enriches the understanding of the process through which exploitative leadership affects employees by demonstrating the novel mediating roles of discrete emotions (i.e. anger and fear) through the lens of appraisal theories of discrete emotions. Third, by verifying the moderating role of cognitive reappraisal, this study provides insights into the boundary conditions of the influences of exploitive leadership.

This study tested the (a) impact of exploitative leadership on psychological distress of nurses via negative affectivity and (b) moderating role of psychological detachment from work between exploitative leadership and negative affectivity. Destructive leadership, particularly exploitative leadership, has been less studied earlier in nursing research. Additionally, underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions that exist between exploitative leadership and negative employee outcomes were also missing in the nursing literature. This is a quantitative study in which temporally segregated data were collected from nurses (N=231) working in Pakistani hospitals through questionnaires. Negative affectivity mediates the relationship between exploitative leadership and psychological distress among nurses, and psychological detachment from work weakens exploitative leadership and negative affectivity relationship. Exploitative leadership yields negative employee outcomes in the form of negative affectivity and psychological distress; however, these negative outcomes can be reduced through psychological detachment from work. It is among the pioneer studies to unveil the exploitative side of leadership and its negative consequences for nurses. Psychological distress among nurses can be reduced by discouraging leader exploitative behaviour. Nurses could utilize psychological detachment from work as a tool to reduce negative outcomes of leader exploitative behaviour.

Purpose Based on uncertainty management theory, this study proposes that leaders’ job insecurity can trigger bottom-line thinking, which in turn breeds exploitative leadership, especially when leaders have weak power dependence on their followers. Design/methodology/approach To test these hypotheses, the authors conducted two scenario-based experiments to collect data. The data were analyzed using SPSS to verify the causal relationships between the variables. Findings Leader job insecurity has a significant positive effect on exploitative leadership. The bottom-line mentality mediates the relationship between leader job insecurity and exploitative leadership. Moreover, the leader’ s power-dependence on the follower negatively moderates the relationship between leader job insecurity and bottom-line mentality and moderates the mediating role of the bottom-line mentality between leader job insecurity and exploitative leadership. Research limitations/implications Organizations should pay attention to the negative impact of uncertainty faced by leaders and take relevant measures to help alleviate their insecurity and enhance their sense of morality. In addition, organizations should cultivate cooperative relationships between leaders and their teams, motivate leaders to maintain harmony and avoid damaging relationships with subordinates. Originality/value This study extends the research on antecedents of exploitative leadership from the perspective of uncertainty. Additionally, it explores the mechanisms and boundary conditions between job insecurity and exploitative leadership, offering a new perspective for future research on leadership styles.

Purpose Exploring the dark side of leadership through destructive forms is becoming more popular. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, this study aims to investigate how exploitative leadership impacts knowledge-sharing behavior through the mediating role of psychological distress. In addition, this work deeps into the potential moderating effect of psychological resilience that links exploitative leadership, knowledge sharing and psychological distress.. Design/methodology/approach Survey data were gathered from 326 service employees in Vietnam. The partial least squares-structural equation modeling method was used to test the research hypotheses. Findings Empirical findings show a negative relationship between exploitative leadership and knowledge sharing. Furthermore, psychological distress plays a mediating role in the link between exploitative leadership and knowledge sharing. The results also show how psychological resilience moderates the relations between exploitative leadership, psychological distress and knowledge sharing. Practical implications The findings of this study offer guidance for managers to better undermine the damaging effects of exploitative leadership. Originality/value This study enriches the understanding of the “black box” underlying the link between exploitative leadership and knowledge sharing by demonstrating the mediating role of psychological distress. Moreover, by verifying the moderating role of psychological resilience, this study provides insights into the boundary conditions of the impact of exploitative leadership.

BackgroundThe study of the dark side of leadership is gaining growing interest, with negative leadership exerting a stronger influence on employees than positive leadership. Considering the importance of employees’ proactive behaviors for organizational innovation and long-term growth, investigating whether exploitative leadership—a representative form of negative leadership—impacts such behaviors is a meaningful research question.PurposeThis study aims to explore the impact of exploitative leadership on subordinates’ taking charge behavior, as well as the mediating role of subordinates’ organizational identification and the moderating role of traditionality.MethodsWe conducted a two-phase survey using convenience sampling across various industries in China, collecting cross-sectional data from 348 employees. A structural equation model with latent variables was used to test all hypotheses.ResultsThis study found that exploitative leadership negatively affects taking charge behavior, and organizational identification mediates the relationship between exploitative leadership and taking charge behavior. Furthermore, traditionality weakens the negative impact of exploitative leadership on organizational identification, as well as the indirect relationship between exploitative leadership and taking charge behavior through organizational identification. In other words, subordinates with high traditionality are more likely to adhere to authority, mitigating the adverse effects of exploitative leadership.Conclusions and valueThis study applies social identity theory to explore the negative impact of exploitative leadership on taking charge behavior, revealing the internal mechanisms and boundary conditions of this relationship, thus filling a gap in the literature on exploitative leadership. We also provide practical recommendations for organizations to mitigate the harmful effects of exploitative leadership and enhance the governance of leaders’ exploitative behaviors.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the influence of exploitative leadership on employees’ innovative performance. Based on self-determination theory (SDT), this study built a moderated mediation model to reveal the underlying mechanism through which exploitative leadership impacts employees’ innovative performance and its boundary conditions. Design/methodology/approach In total 223 paired leader-follower responses were collected from a high-tech enterprise in China, using a multi-wave and multi-source method. Then, hierarchical multiple regression and bootstrap sampling were used to test the proposed theoretical model and hypotheses. Findings The findings verified the detrimental effect of exploitative leadership on employees’ innovative performance. Specifically, exploitative leadership was found to damage employees’ harmonious innovation passion, which, in turn, led to a lower level of innovative performance. And employees’ harmonious innovation passion acted as a mediator in this relationship. Furthermore, employees’ trait mindfulness not only diminished the negative effect of exploitative leadership on harmonious innovation passion but also buffered the indirect effect of exploitative leadership on employees’ innovative performance via harmonious innovation passion. Originality/value First, this study enriches exploitative leadership literature by exploring its impact on employees’ innovative performance. Second, drawing upon SDT, this study reveals the potential mechanism through which exploitative leadership may negatively affect employees’ innovative performance via harmonious innovation passion. Third, this study underscores the crucial role of employees’ trait mindfulness in the process of exploitative leadership influencing employees’ innovative performance. Overall, this study provides some valuable implications for the organizations to promote employees’ innovative performance.

Aim: The present study investigated the effect of exploitative leadership on workplace incivility banking Sector employee with the role of psychological stress as a moderator Background: Destructive leadership, the mostly exploitative leadership, had been less thoughtful earlier in banking research. Additionally, fundamental mechanisms and boundary conditions that occur between exploitative leadership and employee outcomes such as workplace incivility were also missing in the banking literature with the context of psychological distress. Methods: This present research quantitative nature in which data had collected from the banking Sector (N = 310) working in the Pakistani banking sector through self-administrative questionnaires. Results: psychological distress moderate the relationship between exploitative leadership and workplace incivility among banking sector employees when psychological distress was high. Conclusions: Exploitative leadership had a significant impact on outcomes in the form of workplace incivility and psychological distress significantly moderating between exploitative leadership and workplace incivility when psychological distress was high at the banking sector in Pakistan Implications for Banking Sector Management: It is among the pioneer studies to unveil the exploitative side of leadership and its negative consequences for banking sector employees. Psychological distress in the banking sector can be reduced by discouraging leader exploitative behavior. Banking can utilize workplace incivility from work as a tool to reduce destructive outcomes of leader exploitative behavior.

Counterproductive work behavior significantly increase a firm’s operating costs and resource wastage, thus seriously impairing organizational performance. Therefore, it is crucial to identify the reasons why employees engage in counterproductive work behavior. This study uses Affective Event Theory (AET) as a theoretical framework to reveal how exploitative leadership further influences employees’ behavioral choices by affecting their emotions. Specifically, exploitative leadership influences employees’ behavioral decisions by triggering their anger; employee anger plays a key mediating role between exploitative leadership and counterproductive work behavior, a finding that provides deeper theoretical support for the central role of emotions in organizational behavior. In addition, this study examines the moderating role of power distance. While traditional studies have focused on the direct effects of leadership behavior on employee outcomes, this study further reveals how power distance affects employees’ emotional intensity and behavioral response patterns, thereby providing a more comprehensive understanding of employees’ emotional and behavioral performance in the face of exploitative leadership. Data analysis of 294 Chinese SME employees revealed that exploitative leadership has a significant positive effect on employee anger and counterproductive work behavior; employee anger mediates the relationship between exploitative leadership and counterproductive work behavior, while power distance has a significant negative moderating effect in this relationship. Based on these findings, this study not only expands the scope of exploitative leadership research, but also provides new perspectives and ideas for understanding the role of power distance in leadership research. In addition, this study provides targeted practical recommendations for optimizing leadership styles, enhancing employee mental health support, and reducing counterproductive work behavior.

The association of leadership with nurses' turnover intention: A two-wave cross-sectional study

Integrating appraisal theories of discrete emotions and theory of emotion regulation, we seek to examine the effects of exploitative leadership on certain types of counterproductive workplace behavior (CWB) through discrete emotions and the moderating effect of cognitive reappraisal. Using time-lagged data from 440 full-time employees of a high-technology company in North China, our results revealed that exploitative leadership was positively related to approach-oriented CWB and avoidance-oriented CWB. Moreover, we found that anger mediated the relationship between exploitative leadership and approach-oriented CWB, whereas fear mediated the relationship between exploitative leadership and avoidance-oriented CWB. Further, cognitive reappraisal attenuated the positive effects of exploitative leadership on anger and fear and the indirect effects of exploitative leadership on approach-oriented CWB (via anger) and avoidance-oriented CWB (via fear). Implications for theory, practice, and future research are also discussed.

This study uses ego depletion theory to explore the cross-level effect of exploitative leadership on employee innovative behaviour. It examines the mediating role of thriving at work and the moderating role of team task conflict. Using data collected from 371 employees and their direct supervisors from 79 work units in China, a multi-level path analysis is used to test a cross-level moderated mediation model. The results show that exploitative leadership negatively affects employee innovative behaviour via the mediation of thriving at work, which is moderated by team task conflict. Implications for research and practice are fully discussed in the paper.

Due to its devastating consequences, research needs to theoretically and empirically disentangle different sub-types of destructive leadership. Based on concepts derived from aggression research distinguishing re- and proactive aggression, we provide a process model differentiating abusive supervision and exploitative leadership. High versus low arousal negative affect is installed as the central mediating factor determining (1) whether perceived goal-blockage (leadership antecedents) leads to abusive supervision versus exploitative leadership and (2) whether a specific leadership behavior leads to active versus passive follower behavior (leadership consequence). Further, theoretical anchoring of individual and contextual moderators onto the model's process paths is provided and exemplary hypotheses for concrete moderation effects are deduced. Based on the provided process model, we highlight four recommendations to facilitate process-based construct differentiation in future research on destructive leadership. To precisely understand the differences and commonalities in different forms of destructive leadership will ultimately enable custom-tailored inter- and prevention.

IntroductionExploitative leadership, regarded as a manifestation of dark leadership, has recently attracted heightened academic interest because of its harmful consequences for employees. However, existing research has paid relatively little attention to the ways in which such leadership shapes critical employee outcomes, including intentions to leave and procrastination at work. Framed within conservation of resources theory, this study probes the latent pathways through which exploitative leadership erodes employee resources, precipitating both turnover intentions and procrastinatory conduct, while highlighting contextual levers that might temper these deleterious effects.MethodsTo test the proposed hypotheses, we collected two-wave matched data from 296 full-time employees across various industries. Hierarchical regression and bootstrapping analyses were employed to assess the mediation and moderation effects.ResultsThe results unveiled that exploitative leadership precipitates heightened turnover intentions and procrastinatory behavior among employees, with self-control depletion operating as a pivotal mediator. Crucially, perceived organizational support functioned as a buffering mechanism, dampening both the impact of exploitative leadership on self-control depletion and its downstream indirect effects on turnover intention and workplace procrastination.DiscussionThis study contributes to the growing literature on exploitative leadership and its consequences for employee attitudes and behaviors. It extends our understanding of the interactive effects between exploitative leadership and organizational support, and uncovers the critical role of self-control resources in shaping employees’ withdrawal responses. Practical implications for organizational leaders are also discussed.

PurposeExploitative leadership as a form of destructive leadership may hinder employees' knowledge sharing. However, how and when exploitative leadership impacts employees' knowledge sharing is under explored. Drawing on fairness heuristic theory, this study aims to construct a moderated mediation model to investigate the impacting mechanisms of exploitative leadership on employees' knowledge sharing by introducing organization-based self-esteem as a mediator and perceived organizational procedural justice as a moderator.Design/methodology/approachTo test the research model, data were collected from 148 full-time employees at two-time points and analyzed using partial least square-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).FindingsExploitative leadership has a direct negative impact on knowledge sharing. Through the mediation of organization-based self-esteem, exploitative leadership has an indirect impact on knowledge sharing. Organizational procedural justice can weaken the indirect negative relationship between exploitative leadership and knowledge sharing via organization-based self-esteem.Originality/valueThis study is the first to introduce fairness heuristic theory to explain the relationship between exploitative leadership and knowledge sharing. Findings about the mediating role of organizational self-esteem and the moderating role of organizational procedural justice in the relationship between exploitative leadership and knowledge sharing can uncover the black box of how exploitative leadership affects knowledge sharing.