Potential Dark Side Research Articles

The potential dark side of remote work transformation: a social vulnerability and relational perspective

The global COVID-19 pandemic led many organizations and employees to abruptly adopt remote work. This remote work transformation has broadly encompassed individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds (e.g. ethnicity, gender) and job roles. A multi-level, conceptual model is developed that explores its potential dark side, particularly for women and ethnic minorities. Drawing on social vulnerability theory and the relational framework of diversity, this manuscript explores how disproportionate exposure to remote work, surveillance and disciplinary mechanisms, along with adverse job and wage loss, job insecurity, and psychological health impacts for women and ethnic minorities may potentially permeate their workplace interactions and stimulate interpersonal conflict. Moreover, this model incorporates these relationships within their broader social context, shaped by the legislative framework and shared cultural beliefs such as social difference codes. Nevertheless, this model elucidates how certain organizational approaches to diversity management can potentially alleviate these disproportionate outcomes. Theoretical implications, future research directions, and recommendations for policy and practice are highlighted.

Social media as an amplifier of insider trading profits

Our study investigates the relationship between stock forum posts and insider trading profitability. Using regression analysis, we find a positive relationship between the number of posts on a firm’s stock forum and insider trading profitability, particularly for sales transactions. A difference-in-differences analysis based on the launch of the mobile app for stock forums further confirms these results. This profit-amplifying effect of stock forum posts is likely due to the pervasive noise on social media, as it weakens following the introduction of regulations aimed at cleaning up the internet’s information environment. Additionally, we observe distinctions in post tone around insider trades, with the profit-amplifying effect more pronounced in firms with high information asymmetry, substantial retail holdings, and less foreign ownership. Overall, our study highlights a potential dark side of social media in amplifying insider trading profits, emphasizing the need for regulatory measures.

Unraveling the dark side of resilience: entrepreneurial resilience diversity in new venture teams and entrepreneurial performance

PurposePrevious studies may have overstated the benefits of entrepreneurial resilience while neglecting its potential adverse effects, especially in the context of team entrepreneurship. This study focuses on the structural characteristics of resilience, entrepreneurial team resilience diversity, to delve into the potential dark side effects of entrepreneurial resilience. Drawn upon the similarity-attraction theory, this study investigates the detrimental impact of entrepreneurial team resilience diversity on entrepreneurial performance from the team-member exchange (TMX) perspective, which describes the reciprocal relationships within a team and the moderating effect of environmental hostility.Design/methodology/approachThe study collected data by conducting a two-wave survey. With the assistance of officials from entrepreneurship service agencies, entrepreneurship parks and entrepreneurship training institutions in southeast China, this study collected survey data from 361 participants of 91 entrepreneurial teams. The current research conducted empirical tests with SPSS and PROCESS macro to test the hypotheses.FindingsEmpirical results from a two-wave survey of 91 entrepreneurial teams in China reveal the detrimental effects of entrepreneurial resilience. In the context of team entrepreneurship, the diversity of a team’s entrepreneurial resilience negatively impacts entrepreneurial performance by impairing the quality of TMX. Moreover, the indirect effect of TMX is strengthened in more hostile environments.Originality/valueExisting studies have mainly focused on the positive side of resilience. However, based on the similarity-attraction theory, this study explores the potential adverse effects of the structural characteristics of entrepreneurial team resilience from the perspective of team-member exchange (TMX). This study enriches the literature on resilience by demonstrating how resilience functions in new venture teams and challenges the assumption that resilience is universally beneficial to entrepreneurs. Introducing team members with high resilience in a hostile environment may not always benefit the team, deepening the understanding of entrepreneurial resilience when confronting adversities.

Limitations and Potential Dark Sides of Transformational Leadership: The Case of the Founder and Former CEO of Theranos

Transformational leadership is widely recognized as an effective leadership style; however, it is important to recognize its potential misuse, where it may serve a leader’s self-interests at the expense of others, both inside and outside the organization. In this article, we present an experiential exercise that uses the case of Theranos and its founder and former CEO, Elizabeth Holmes, to highlight the limitations and potential dark sides of transformational leadership. In this exercise, students watch three YouTube videos about Holmes, identify the characteristics of Holmes that match transformational leadership, and discuss issues with her leadership style. This exercise can be used in Introductory Management and Organizational Behavior courses, in-person or virtually. Students who have completed the exercise agree it is effective in teaching the concept of transformational leadership and in fostering active class engagement.

Do proactive peers inhibit employee innovative behavior? The roles of team cooperative climate and sense of power

Drawing on approach–inhibition theory and proactivity research, this study examines the potential dark side of peer proactive personality for employee innovative behavior by exploring the mechanism through which peer proactive personality hinders employee innovative behavior and the underlying boundary condition. To test the hypotheses, we conducted a three-wave field study using a nested dataset (i.e., 861 employees and their 122 leaders) in China and an experimental vignette study with a U.S. sample. The results supported our hypotheses that peer proactive personality has a negative effect on employee innovative behavior via reduced employee sense of power, depending on the level of team cooperative climate. This study shifts research attention from the focal employees' proactive personality to peer proactive personality and advances the proactive personality literature by highlighting the potential dark side of peer proactive personality.

The unintended consequences of temporal leadership: a multilevel investigation of the effects of temporal leadership on employee silence

Purpose Existing research has generally viewed that temporal leadership has positive impacts on employees but ignores its potential drawbacks. This study aims to develop a model to explore its possible negative impacts on employees, drawing upon social information processing theory. Design/methodology/approach This study conducts a multi-wave and multisource survey to test the model, and the authors test the hypotheses with multi-level analysis using Mplus 7.4 and R package for Monte Carlo. Findings Results suggest that temporal leadership induces employee work alienation, thus leading to employee silence. Furthermore, shared temporal cognitions moderate both the relationship between temporal leadership and work alienation and the indirect effect of temporal leadership on employee silence via work alienation. Originality/value Taken together, this study reveals the potential dark side of temporal leadership and provides a more comprehensive and dialectical research perspective for temporal leadership literature.

Facing the music: an entrepreneur’s struggle with e-commerce failure

Research methodology The case was developed in partnership with the focal entrepreneur, Michael Maher, and relies on primary data he provided. Case overview/synopsis This case is based on the experiences of Michael Maher, a Cincinnati, OH (USA)-based entrepreneur whose ecommerce business failed in 2016, largely due to a major change in Amazon’s marketplace. The case puts students in Michael’s position as this is happening. It focuses on the fact that although Michael knew, logically, that the failure was largely beyond his control, and that he “should” think about failure as a learning opportunity, emotionally and psychologically he felt terrible. The case forces students to confront this reality as they reflect on the situation and determine how Michael might best respond. The case is intended to help instructors address the often undiscussed “dark sides” of entrepreneurship, which can include financial hardship and intense stress, and also cause or exacerbate depression, substance abuse and other mental and physical health issues (Shepherd, 2019). These challenges frequently impact other involved stakeholders (e.g. family members) and, as a result, can negatively impact familial dynamics, friendships and other relationships. The goal of the case is not to discourage students from entrepreneurial activity, but to make them aware of these potential dark sides. In addition to awareness, the teaching plan is designed to provide students with tools and strategies to recognize and navigate the dark sides. Complexity academic level This case is appropriate for introductory entrepreneurship courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. It might also be used in more advanced courses focused on developing/launching a new venture (e.g. “New Venture Planning” courses). The case can be taught at any point within a given course, but it is recommended after students have developed an understanding of key entrepreneurship concepts in the focal course or in previous courses. In particular, students should have a working knowledge of the concept of “learning from failure” and other tenets of the lean startup and similar approaches (Blank, 2013; Ries, 2011). This background knowledge is important because the case confronts students with the reality that, although “learning from failure” is central to entrepreneurship, that does not necessarily eliminate the social and psychological challenges that often follow failures. Assuming students possess this background knowledge, the case is most effectively used early in a course to make students aware of the “dark sides” they might confront as an entrepreneur and set the stage for the development of strategies and skills to navigate those dark sides throughout the rest of the course. The case’s brevity means it can be assigned to be read in advance of class or during the class session in which it is being covered.

Economic uncertainty, risk-taking incentives and production management

PurposeThis study aims to validate the link between production manipulation and a firm’s performance variability (fundamentals and stock returns). It explores whether executives' risk-taking incentives encourage production deviations around the normal level during uncertainty.Design/methodology/approachUtilizing panel data of manufacturing firms from Compustat over three decades, the study investigates production management practices during economic uncertainty. The Economic Policy Uncertainty Index (EPU) is employed as a key metric. The empirical strategy involves documenting the effect of economic uncertainty on overproduction and underproduction, examining the role of executive compensation and assessing the impact on risk.FindingsThe research finds that risk-taking incentives increase over/underproduction, particularly amplifying the extent of underproduction during uncertainty. Production deviation rises, indicating that firms take greater risk by engaging in abnormal business operations. The study’s results are robust against various econometric methods, emphasizing the influence of risk-taking incentives on corporate production decisions.Research limitations/implicationsWhile providing valuable insights, the study acknowledges inherent limitations, including factors influencing production decisions beyond risk-taking incentives. Further research could explore additional determinants for a comprehensive understanding.Practical implicationsThe findings highlight the potential dark side of executive compensation that motivates suboptimal risk-taking decisions, impacting risk, cost of capital and firm performance. Policymakers and compensation committees can use these insights to design efficient systems that mitigate moral hazard problems associated with productivity changes.Social implicationsThe study emphasizes the broader social implications of production manipulation under uncertainty. It prompts discussions on the ethical considerations of managerial opportunism, its potential consequences for stakeholders and market dynamics.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature by examining the role of economic uncertainty on production manipulation and the influence of risk-taking incentives. It extends the earnings management literature by considering real activity manipulation and emphasizing the importance of decomposing production deviation into positive and negative values.

When humor masks abuse: employee responses to abusive supervision through the lens of relational energy

PurposeDrawing on conservation of resources theory, this study aims to develop a resource-based model depicting a decreased level of psychological resourcefulness – relational energy, as a novel explanatory mechanism that accounts for the harm of abusive supervision, and we further investigate the role of leader humor as a boundary condition.Design/methodology/approachWe applied multilevel path analysis to test our hypotheses with three-time-point survey data collected from 226 supervisor-employee dyads in a telecommunication company in China across six months.FindingsOur results show that abusive supervision is negatively related to employee relational energy, leading to a subsequent decline in employee job performance. The predictions of the depleting effects get alleviated by leader humor.Practical implicationsThis study foregrounds the importance of employee relationship management in the workplace and reveals that some abusive supervisors may manage to sustain employee performance and relational energy by using humor in their interactions, which necessitates immediate intervention.Originality/valueThese findings offer novel insights into the deleterious impact of abusive supervision by demonstrating the critical role of relational energy in dyadic interactions. We also reveal the potential dark side of leader humor in the context of abuse in the workplace.

When it’s cute but also dark: critical analysis of FarmVille 3’s game design in the digital economy

ABSTRACT ‘Cute design’ or ‘cuteness’ is a known design and development trend in the digital economy, with a proven advertising and marketing appeal to both children and adults. However, we postulate that it may also be an effective dark pattern. The following analysis uses the popular online game FarmVille 3 to illustrate the potential dark side of cuteness in digital game design. Through an explorative game analysis, the cute aesthetic can be identified as pervasive and multi-factored. At the same time, the history and economic steer behind the game shows a clear interest in user data ownership and control. Here, we flag cute design as a risk to human autonomy, and therefore a significant regulatory concern. This original conceptualisation of ‘cute but dark’ design is significant in its potential to manipulate the consumer autonomy of both children and adults. Current regulatory frameworks should empower the end user against the manipulate steer of cute but dark design, considering cultural nuances of what might be deemed cute user interfaces, and the vulnerabilities of certain consumer groups. Regulatory development should constitute a more streamlined approach to dark patterns, that enables a thriving digital economy while maintaining rigorous consumer protection.

Digitally Connected, Evolutionarily Wired: An Evolutionary Mismatch Perspective on Digital Work

This paper makes the case for an evolutionary mismatch between digital work and the way human ancestors engaged in work. Psychological adaptations for producing things that early humans needed to survive and thrive, such as cognitive mechanisms for obtaining and processing food, toolmaking, and learning valuable working skills, evolved in the context of small networks of hunter–gatherers. These adaptations are central to understanding the significance of work in human evolution. Evolutionary mismatches operate when novel environments cue ancestral adaptations in ways that no longer provide adaptive benefits. We argue that digital work, although efficient and productive, is misaligned with some fundamental human needs, preferences, and routines, thereby illuminating a potential dark side. Yet digitalization also offers opportunities for matching the modern work environment to our evolved work psychology. We conclude with an agenda for advancing research in industrial and organizational psychology on digital work from an evolutionary mismatch perspective.

The Effect of Online Engagement on New Product Performance: Why Fit and Brand Longevity Matter

Recently, customer engagement in social media has received great attention in the literature, with the aim of understanding its impact on brands and product performance. However, little attention has been given to the potential dark side of engagement, especially in the context of new product launches. This article thus examines the relationships among customer engagement in social media, new product fit, brand longevity, and new product performance. Using the music industry as a context, this research shows that the small but positive effect of prerelease social media engagement on record sales becomes strong when the level of fit is high; for newer artists, engagement can even have a negative effect when fit is very low. This study uses a sample of 181 albums launched by 158 artists in the Canadian market between 2016 and 2017 and a data set that combines weekly record sales, social media activity, and Spotify's audio features analysis. A regression discontinuity–inspired model that accounts for endogeneity concerns is applied to test the hypotheses. This study contributes to the literature by providing robust empirical evidence of a possible negative side of engagement. Although engagement can help artists succeed, it might interfere with their artistic freedom.

The Dark Side of Employee Collaboration with Robots: Exploring Its Impact on Self-Esteem Threat and Burnout

The increasing application of robots in the workplace has made employee collaboration with robots a prevalent phenomenon. Existing literature on human-robot collaboration has both implicitly and explicitly highlighted the benefits of such collaboration, such as promoting efficiency and productivity. Drawing upon self-regulation theory, this study challenges this prevailing assumption by revealing a potential dark side of employee collaboration with robots, specifically its potential to lead to burnout. Our findings, derived from an experiment and a multi-wave field survey, demonstrate that employee collaboration with robots can lead to a self-esteem threat, which in turn results in burnout. Moreover, the perceived intelligence of robots moderated the indirect effect of employee collaboration with robots on burnout through self-esteem threat. This effect was more pronounced when the perceived intelligence of robots was high, as opposed to low. This study offers fresh insights into the consequences of employees collaborating with robots. It also highlights the need for future research to focus on the psychological well-being of employees engaged in such collaborations.

The Dark Side Effect of Entrepreneurial Resilience Diversity on Pivoting: The Role of Team Reflexivity.

Resilience is widely recognized as a form of psychological capital that helps entrepreneurs cope with challenges in the face of adversity by actively adjusting business strategies. Prior research has investigated the effect of resilience on pivoting, which is an important entrepreneurial decision to forgo the original business opportunity and exploit new opportunities. Despite the increasing empirical evidence on the effect of resilience on strategic changes and the pivot, the literature may have overstated the benefits of entrepreneurial resilience while neglecting its potential dark sides. Hence, the current study focuses on the structure of resilience within an entrepreneurial team and introduces the concept of resilience diversity. Drawing from sensemaking theory, we develop a research framework that investigates the dark-side effects of resilience diversity on team reflexivity and pivoting and the moderating effect of environmental hostility. Empirical results from a two-wave survey of 112 entrepreneurial teams in China reveal that resilience diversity negatively affects pivoting by impairing the quality of team reflexivity. Moreover, the mediating effect of team reflexivity is strengthened in hostile environments. These findings contribute to the literature on entrepreneurial resilience, pivot, and team reflexivity, and provide important practical implications for entrepreneurial teams.

Information Technology Innovativeness and Data-Breach Risk: A Longitudinal Study

ABSTRACT The adoption of new Information Technology (IT) innovations has led to increased uncertainty among employees, a greater demand for security measures, and more entry points for cyber-attacks, which all increase the risk of data breaches for firms. Despite the prevalence of discussions around this issue, there has been a lack of empirical research examining the data breach risk associated with IT innovations. To address this gap, we have developed arguments based on an organizational learning theoretical framework that explains how IT innovativeness can exacerbate data breach risk. Through our analysis of a sample of data breaches that occurred between 2013 and 2021, we have discovered that there is a positive association between firm IT innovativeness and the risk of data breaches. We also find that the effects of IT innovativeness can vary under certain conditions. For example, we find that the positive relationship between IT innovativeness and data breach risk is mitigated when managers possess IT expertise or when firms have established extensive board connections with cybersecurity managers. Moreover, we find that the relationship between IT innovativeness and data breach risk is amplified in complex environments but not in dynamic or munificent ones. This study takes the lead in advancing the theoretical understanding and empirical validation of security-related risks associated with IT innovations. Moreover, our findings serve as a timely reminder for research and practice to carefully consider the implications of introducing novel technologies into firms and the potential dark side consequences that may arise. Additionally, this study underscores the importance of understanding organizational learning in risk assessment and change management, as well as the critical role of contextual factors in moderating the unintended security-related consequences linked to IT innovations.

Unconstructive curiosity killed the cat: The importance of follower political skill and constructive curiosity to avoid leader perceptions of insubordination and unlikability

The popular business press has portrayed workplace curiosity – defined as the pursuit of information, knowledge, or learning in the workplace – as the most valuable quality employees can possess. Most research examining workplace curiosity has found that it is positively related to desirable employee outcomes; however, little is known about the potential dark side of this well-intentioned, yet risky, workplace behavior. Further, past research suggests that well-intentioned risky follower acts can lead to unintended negative leader perceptions. In this paper, we theorize that the relationship between follower curiosity and leader ratings of follower likability is mediated by leader perceptions of follower insubordination, and that this mediated relationship is moderated by follower political skill, such that the indirect effect of follower curiosity on follower likability via perceptions of follower insubordination is stronger for followers with lower (rather than higher) political skill. In Study 1, using data from three samples of leader–follower dyads collected at three time points, we find support for our theoretical model. In Study 2, using experimental vignette methodology, we not only find that follower curiosity and political skill interact to predict lower levels of leader perceptions of follower insubordination, but also that the curiosity of politically skilled followers is perceived as more constructive than the curiosity of followers who are less politically skilled. In Study 3, also using experimental vignette methodology, we find that leaders rate curious followers as more insubordinate and less likable when they engage in unconstructive curiosity. Together these three studies suggest that political skill enables followers to be curious without being perceived as insubordinate, that follower curiosity is less risky when it is constructive, and that curious followers who ask the right questions are less likely to be considered insubordinate or unlikable by their leader. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

The dark side of online transition of exams in higher education: a perspective of an emerging nation

PurposeHigher educational institutes (HEIs) are experiencing a significant shift towards online education, which has been fast-forwarded with the global pandemic of COVID-19. The forced shift has also exposed many vulnerabilities in online education, especially assessments. The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential dark side of the digital transformation of examinations through the lens of university students.Design/methodology/approachThis study involves a sample of 127 university students from the fields of business and science, technology, education and management (STEM) and the key factors affecting student perception were assessed quantitatively to explore the interrelationships.FindingsResults revealed that both business and STEM students have a similar impression of the use of online examinations, and the majority still have mixed feelings about them as a replacement for physical examinations. The regrouping of the factors revealed two key dimensions, trustworthiness and apprehensible education, as key areas of student perception in the context of online examinations.Research limitations/implicationsThis study aims to strengthen the understanding of Kolb’s experiential learning mechanism through a discussion on the importance of abstract conceptualization as opposed to concrete experience in the establishment of the online assessment and learning space. Practically speaking, increasing investment in internet infrastructure and forming strategic alliances with important parties, like internet providers, to create uninterrupted network coverage, are an effective place to start if one wants to make sure that the process of moving to online learning is becoming more and more accepted by educators, students, and the general public.Originality/valueThe online transition to higher education has seen expedited growth since the pandemic and has not given much room for many HEIs globally to adjust. The procedures and techniques implemented take a Western lens, and less attention is given to the emerging context and its context-specific characteristics in such implementation. This study takes the theoretical lens of Kolb and proposes the key learnings for a successful online transition to assessment in emerging contexts.

Discovering the juxtaposed affordances in digitally transformed live streaming e-commerce: A mixed-methods study from a vicarious learning perspective

ABSTRACT Live streaming technologies transform the information processing of customers by changing the way they interact with and acquire information. However, this emerging technological artefact may induce both positive and negative consequences for customer decision making. It is yet unknown what constitutes the dimensions of the juxtaposed IT affordances and how they affect customer behaviours in this new social phenomenon. This paper contributes to IS research by uncovering the specific bright and dark sides of IT affordances in live streaming e-commerce and by explaining the cognitive mechanisms underpinning customer purchase and brand citizenship behaviours. We employed a sequential mixed-methods design to embrace and contextualise the theory of affordance, vicarious learning, and cognitive load to rigorously develop a theoretical framework of the juxtaposed IT affordance in live streaming e-commerce. The results indicate that positive affordances (e.g., interactivity, visibility, and entertainment) have stronger effects on both economic and non-economic value. However, the potential dark side (e.g., broadcasting and source diversity) has more negative effects on purchase intention than brand citizenship behaviour, underscoring the importance of involving customers in co-creating brand-related value in live streaming e-commerce. Our findings contribute considerably to the emerging literature on live streaming e-commerce and provide actionable recommendations for practitioners.

The affective side of innovation ambidexterity: the influence of TMT entrepreneurial passion diversity

PurposeAlthough prior research highlights the organizational and cognitive challenges associated with achieving innovation ambidexterity, comparatively limited attention has been paid to the affective characteristics that may differentiate top management teams (TMTs) of firms. The authors build on emerging research and identify TMT entrepreneurial passion diversity as an affective characteristic with particular relevance to innovation ambidexterity.Design/methodology/approachBased on data collected from 195 small- and medium-sized enterprises in China, this study uses ordinary least squares regression models to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results show that TMT passion intensity separation is negatively related to innovation ambidexterity, while TMT passion focus variety has an inverted U-shaped relationship with innovation ambidexterity. In addition, environmental dynamism weakens the effects of TMT passion intensity separation and strengthens the effects of passion focus variety.Originality/valueThis study pushes forward the research agenda on affective microfoundations of innovation ambidexterity. It also reveals the potential dark side of TMT entrepreneurial passion by explicitly delineating its effects on innovation management.

The Curvilinear Effects of Leader Public Service Motivation on Person–Supervisor Fit and Subordinate Emotional Exhaustion: Evidence From Field and Experimental Studies

Past research has shed important light on the dark side of individuals’ public service motivation (PSM) in relation to their own well-being. This study turns attention to the role of leader PSM and asks whether it could have a curvilinear relationship with subordinate emotional exhaustion. Drawing from the person–environment (P-E) fit perspective, this study proposes that this curvilinear relationship is mediated by perceptions of person–supervisor (PS) fit and moderated by subordinate PSM. The results from the field and two experimental vignette studies in Thailand provide support for the proposed hypotheses. In particular, higher levels of emotional exhaustion and lower levels of PS fit were observed at the low and high levels of leader PSM, whereas the moderate level of leader PSM was associated with lower emotional exhaustion and higher PS fit. The results from the experimental studies further indicate that individuals with high PSM, in comparison with those with low PSM, perceived higher PS fit with leaders who have moderate to high levels of PSM, in turn, experiencing less emotional exhaustion. These findings highlight the potential dark side of leader PSM, which lends further credence to the too-much-of-a-good-thing effect. Nevertheless, these effects also depend on employees’ PSM levels.