Indian Organizational Context Research Articles

Diversity in disability: leaders' accounts on inclusive employment in the Indian context

PurposeDespite several concerted efforts and directives, Indian organizations have a long road to travel with respect to the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the workforce. Disability taking different forms often impacts organizational decisions on employment and inclusion of persons with disabilities. Acknowledging the role of employers in improving their employment prospects, the purpose of this paper is to examine key factors that direct the decisions regarding targeted recruitment of persons with various types of disabilities.Design/methodology/approachThe exploratory study is based on thematic analysis of senior executives' accounts to examine the factors that direct their decisions pertaining to employment of persons with varied types of disabilities.FindingsFindings highlight organizational determinants that enable/disable employment of persons with varied types of disabilities. The organizational determinants reported are: knowledge about type of disability; work characteristics; accommodations based on type of disability; accessibility of physical infrastructure and external pressures; whereas, persons with orthopedic, vision, hearing and intellectual disabilities are represented in the employee base.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study contributes to employer perspectives on workplace disability inclusion toward understanding the nuances of organizational dynamics and human perceptions. Future studies could explore perspectives of other key stakeholders and the conditions under which organizational determinants are perceived as enabling or disabling.Originality/valueThe present study highlights how disability type influences leaders' views on recruitment of persons with disabilities, in an under-researched study context of Indian organizations.

Interpersonal forgiveness and employee life satisfaction: the role of affect at work

PurposeAmidst the new realities of the modern world, a happy and satisfied workforce has become a necessary requirement for organizations to maintain their competitive edge. While most of the available literature revolves around positive organizational behaviour, there is dearth of research on the influence of interpersonal forgiveness on affect and life satisfaction in employees. Keeping this precept in mind, this study aims at bridging this gap in research by developing and testing a mediation model to examine the link between interpersonal forgiveness to affect and life satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachThe sample consists of 378 employees working in different Indian manufacturing organizations. To test the hypotheses, structural equation modelling was applied.FindingsThe results reveal that interpersonal forgiveness significantly influences life satisfaction and affect partially mediates this relationship in employees.Practical implicationsThe study recommends that organizational development practitioners and human resource professionals focus on forgiveness among co-workers to foster a balanced affect and enhanced life satisfaction by developing and implementing positive psychological interventions and practices. This can help organizations in regulating interpersonal transgressions and conflicts at an early stage and also make the employees happy and satisfied.Originality/valueThis study offers concrete insights into the complicated interplay of affect in the link between interpersonal forgiveness and life satisfaction in the yet underexplored context of Indian organizations.

Unique nature of appraisal politics as a work stress: test of stress–strain model from appraisee's perspective

PurposeThis paper delineates the distinctive nature of appraisal politics perceptions (referenced to organizational politics) experienced by appraisees (APAP) as a form of hindrance work stressor that is more episodic than chronic, salient during the PA rating and reward decisions. The study argues and attempts to establish empirically that due to its distinct nature, it causes both short-term episodic strain and long-term chronic strain. Further, the study investigates the distinctive role played by appraisee's hard and soft influence behaviour as a coping mechanism moderating the influence of APAP as a stressor on strain variables in Indian organizational context that ferments politics.Design/methodology/approachThe data was collected using self-reports from 407 employees in Indian organizations using survey method. Multivariate analyses including moderating tests were used for testing the hypotheses.FindingsOnly the episodic components of the APAP-appraiser's rating politics and pay and promotion politics were significantly related to anxiety felt by appraisees during PA – an episodic measure of strain. All three APAP components were significantly related to the chronic strain measure of dissatisfaction. There was modest support for the role of influence tactics (IT) as a coping mechanism attenuating the negative relation of APAP with the dissatisfaction variables as chronic strain measures. Contrary to the hypothesis, softer tactics exacerbated the APAP–PA anxiety relation, indicating the episodic nature of stressor and strain.Originality/valueThe study contributes significantly to enhance the understanding about the nature of Appraisal politics.

Employee voice implications for innovation in a deliberative environment context of Indian organizations

PurposeExtant literature shows that employee voice has ambiguous effects on organizational outcome. Especially because employee voice challenges the status quo, it can attract retaliation and lead to silencing of the employee. Thus, rather than producing change, employee voice can lead to increase in workplace tensions. On the other hand, employee voice also has positive consequences such as building a partnership-based culture between supervisors and employees. The purpose of this article is to reconcile these contradictory findings by reinforcing voice as having a deliberative dimension which fosters a harmonious dialogue around workplace issues.Design/methodology/approachWe surveyed 628 managers working in organizations across different industrial relations contexts in India. Managers working in different sectors were chosen so that we could examine the consequences of employee voice across contexts with differing trade union strengths. We adopted a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach to test the effect of employee voice on environment for innovation.FindingsWe find that trust in senior management and relationship between employees and their supervising managers mediate the relationship between employee voice and environment for innovation. The findings in the article do reconcile an important dilemma about employee voice. Earlier studies have argued that employee voice is a mechanism for engaging with the dissatisfaction that employees may have in their workplaces. Our study indicates that when deliberative elements are incorporated into employee voice it is no longer merely a means for addressing dissatisfaction but constructively contributes to positive organizational outcomes such as environment for innovation.Research limitations/implicationsThe effects of employee voice on environment for innovation can be understood more clearly by adopting a longitudinal research design. The findings of this article are limited by the cross-sectional frame of research design adopted. The scale that is developed for employee voice needs more validation in other international contexts.Practical implicationsThis study provides a framework through which employee voice can be shifted from adversarial frames of reference to harmonious and partnership-based forms of engagement. This also has the potential to transform the role of trade unions inside organizations and build a more collaborative edifice between multiple stakeholders. Another implication is that when voice is seen in a deliberative fashion it can lead to improved environment for innovation.Originality/valueThe purpose of this study is to contribute to reconceptualization of employee voice by contending that deliberative issues are an important part of transforming the status quo. Consequently, the patterns of deliberation structure constructive partnerships between different organizational stakeholders who may be perceived as having hostile relationships with each other. This study reconciles previous findings which suggested that employee voice can have negative consequences such as retaliation by suggesting that positive consequences of employee voice are contingent on its deliberative component.

Psychometric Testing of the Resilience at Work Scale Using Indian Sample

Executive Summary With incessant global competition, technological innovations, organizational restructuring, and turbulent business environment, contemporary organizations need resilient employees, who in turn are capable to face unprecedented changes and adapt successfully to challenging roles, tasks, and situations ( Shin, Taylor, & Seo, 2012 ). Consequently, this necessitates a validated employee-centric measure of resilience for assisting the organizations in fostering and measuring employee resilience development, which would enable employees to meet the challenges and growing work demands ( Hodliffe, 2014 , The development and validation of the employee resilience scale (EmpRes): The conceptualisation of a new model (Doctoral dissertation), New Zealand: University of Canterbury; Masten, 2001 , American Psychologist, 56(3), 227; Winwood, Colon, & McEwen, 2013 , Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 55(10), 1205–1212). To address this gap, the study assessed the psychometric properties of the ‘resilience at work’ (RAW) scale. The study sample comprised employees working in IT organizations operating in the Indian National Capital Region (NCR). The study is based on cross-sectional questionnaire responses from 546 Indian employees working in the IT industry. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to test the factorial validity followed by an analysis of convergent and discriminant validity of the scale items. To evaluate the convergent validity, this study utilized three standard criteria which are standard factor loadings, composite reliability, and average variance extracted (AVE) ( Anderson & Gerbing, 1988 , Psychological Bulletin, 103(3), 411–423). In addition, the study tested the nomological validity of the RAW scale. The study results reveal that the RAW scale exhibits high reliability and the results of CFA validated the seven-factor model of the RAW scale. The results of CFA and reliability of the scale demonstrate that the scale can be utilized to develop and measure resilience among Indian employees. Furthermore, the results of the nomological validity exhibit a significant relationship between resilience and work engagement. This study offers significant implications for both researchers and HRD practitioners. The study provides preliminary evidence for the psychometric properties of the scale in t he Indian organizational context and signifies its potential for the cross-cultural implementations. The RAW scale, thence, can be utilized by organizations as a validated tool for measuring and developing resilience among employees.

Index of Psychological Well-being at Work—Validation of Tool in the Indian Organizational Context

Well-being has been a much valued emotion culling the interest of philosophers and researchers alike. Well-being at work is an even more significant construct in the current scenario where each individual invests more than half of their waking hours in work or work-related activities. While some researchers have worked on indigenous tools to measure generic well-being in the Indian cultural arena, there are no indigenous context-specific tools to measure well-being at work. Internationally, only three models for well-being at work were found. This article attempts to fill the gap in current literature by validating the Index of Psychological Well-being at Work (IPWBW) designed by Dagenais-Desmarais and Savoie (2011, What is psychological well-being, really? A grassroots approach from the organizational sciences. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13(4), 659–684) for the employees working in India. The sample in this study consists of employees from automobile and automotive parts manufacturers. Construct validity of IPWBW was established using confirmatory factor analysis, establishing convergent and divergent validity as well as getting Cronbach’s alpha for the scale. The final scale has 17 items across five dimensions. Psychological well-being at work was also established as a higher order construct.

Effect of abusive supervision on employee’s intention to quit and the neutralizing role of meaningful work in Indian IT organizations

PurposeSeveral studies have investigated the harmful effects of abusive supervision on subordinates’ behaviour and performance, including their intention to quit. However, there is a conspicuous dearth of empirical studies testing the deleterious interpersonal relationship, especially in Indian organizations. The purpose of this study is to explore the moderating role of meaningful work as a neutralizer in mitigating the pernicious effect of abusive supervision on subordinates’ turnover intention.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from software professionals working in several Indian IT companies through self-report questionnaires (n = 227), using a time-lagged design on two occasions (span between T1 and T2 was three to four weeks).FindingsThe result confirms that abusive supervision is strongly related to subordinates’ intention to quit. Also, the study finds meaningful work to have a significant moderating effect on the relationship between abusive supervision and intention to quit.Originality/valueThe number of empirical studies exploring the pernicious effect of abusive supervision in Indian organizational context is almost negligible. In addition, the current study is among the few studies that have investigated the moderating effect of meaningful work on the relationship between abusive supervision and intention to quit.

Developing a conceptual framework of waste management in the organizational context

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework of waste management by using total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) technique in the Indian organizational context.Design/methodology/approachTISM technique has been used to develop a conceptual framework of waste management in the organizational context, where the waste management factors have been identified and verified through content analysis.FindingsThe conceptual framework of waste management in the organization has been developed using TISM that contributes to the development of important links and the hierarchical relationships among the factors. In addition to it, the model also figures out the driving and dependent factors of waste management.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has its implication for both organizations and policy makers. It provides the important factors for managing waste in the organization which must be considered before planning the waste management practice in an organization. For policy makers, it highlights the waste management paths and important linkages required for the development of waste management policies in the organizations.Originality/valueThis study has made its contribution by providing the conceptual framework for waste management in the Indian organizational context which has been developed through qualitative modeling technique. The conceptual framework also provides important paths of managing waste in the organization which is a new effort in the Indian organizational context.

Learning organization and work engagement: exploring the nexus in Indian IT sector

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of learning organization on work engagement in Indian IT firms. Also, this study provides a holistic understanding of antecedents of work engagement at the individual, team, and organizational levels of learning organization.Design/methodology/approachThe sample comprised of responses from 250 managerial employees’ working in IT companies based in India. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to analyze the proposed measurement model. The study utilized hierarchical multiple regression for testing the research hypotheses. Furthermore, incremental validity was examined to depict the variance contribution of the predictor variables (learning organization).FindingsThe results of hierarchical regression analysis revealed that learning organization dimensions have varied predicting effects on work engagement. The findings of the study showed that vigor and dedication were most significantly predicted by embedded system and continuous learning opportunities of learning organization where as inquiry and dialogue has the most significant influence on absorption.Practical implicationsThis study offers concrete insights to human resource managers for developing prioritized composite-level interventions at individual, team, and organizational levels of learning organization for building highly engaged workforce.Originality/valueDespite number of research works on work engagement, research is deficient in examining the role of learning organization dimensions (individual, team and organization level) in influencing work engagement. By investigating the relationship between learning organization and work engagement, the present study embarks to fill the paucity in academic and practitioner literature in the Indian organizational context.

Assessing Impact of Adoption of Competency Framework on Firm Performance - The Holy Grail of HR

Competency approach to human resource management is increasingly being used as a management tool in organisations for different HR practices. In the Indian context there is paucity of data concerning this area. There is lack of clarity amongst various users on the definition of competency itself. It is observed that words such as skills, knowledge, competence and competency are used interchangeably. Despite competency framework being used by companies, its impact on firm performance especially financial impact has not been fully established. This paper reviews the available literature on competency based human resources management and its application. The paper also provides future prospect of research in this area specifically in the Indian organizational context.

Impact of Self-Efficacy on Employee Attrition: A Study Through Structural Equation Modeling

A number of empirical studies have been conducted taking self-efficacy as one of the variable. But this study concentrates on relationship between self-efficacy and attrition intent in Indian organizational context. Self-efficacy is belief in own abilities to perform the given task. The level of self-efficacy varies from person to person. Self-efficacy beliefs can lead to many outcomes related to human resources in the organization. Attrition intent is the intension of the employees to leave their present organization. This paper is aimed to find out the relationship between self-efficacy and attrition intent. A sample of 782 employees from Indian pharmaceutical industry has been taken to collect the responses. Result indicated that self-efficacy is a significant predictor of employee attrition.

Why Do They Bully? Bullying Behavior and Its Implication on the Bullied

This study examined the causes that lead to the development of workplace bullying behavior and its subsequent implication on the bullied employee in the Indian organizational context. It also attempted to shed some light into the prevailing culture in the Indian organizations that influence workplace bullying in a sample of 24 employees associated with three different companies. Qualitative methods were used to collect the data via in-depth interviews. During the discussion, four main causes leading to workplace bullying were uncovered. These were relative of the employer, the caste syndrome, affiliation with a political party, and misuse of positional power. As a consequence of this, four themes were uncovered that highlighted the impact of workplace bullying on the bullied employees. They were (a) prevalence of high stress, (b) impact on motivation and morale, (c) development of destructive behavior, and (d) intentions to leave. The study also provides some suggestions that could be used by the organizational forerunners to curb workplace bullying and improve the organization culture.

Emic and Etic: Different Lenses for Research in Culture

This article is an attempt to provide an integrated discussion of culture through both universal and indigenous approaches: etic and emic. Both universal and indigenous points of views are very important in understanding specific culture and its comparison with other cultures. Methodological concerns of both, however, have resulted in valuable yet incomplete explanation to concept of culture. Intricacies of using both in culture research have been explained in the article. The article uses these two lenses to discuss Indian context vis-à-vis other cultures in order to come up with unique aspects for Indian organizations. This way it offers a comprehensive look at culture as a concept, providing different approaches to capture the unique features of culture in Indian organizational context. It also discusses the challenges of culture research in multi-culture environment of India. Few propositions for future research have been suggested. Also implications for individuals and organizations planning to operate from India have been discussed.