Qualitative Job Research Articles

Delivering the Brand Promise Through Gig Workers: Internal Brand Management in Ride-Hailing Platforms

This paper explores the intersection of Internal Brand Management (IBM) and the Sharing Economy, specifically how platform organizations ensure brand-aligned service while relying on gig workers. Basic IBM relationships are examined for continued validity in two ride-hailing platforms. Potential moderators are explored, including electronic performance monitoring, qualitative job insecurity, and platform fairness. Findings reveal that IBM relationships persist, offering a scalable solution for consistent brand delivery. Moderating effects are identified, offering insights for platform managers and prompting avenues for future research. With growth of the gig economy, understanding the adaptability of IBM in platform contexts is crucial for brand success.

Tasks at hand or more challenges: The roles of regulatory focus and job insecurity in predicting work behaviours

AbstractPrevious studies have explored the effects of trait regulatory focus on routine performance and proactive behaviour yet failed to reveal the underlying motivational mechanisms and investigate how these effects may operate in uncertain environments. To fill this gap, our study first draws upon regulatory focus theory to examine the motivational mechanisms linking trait regulatory focus with routine performance and challenge‐seeking behaviour (i.e., a type of proactive behaviour). We hypothesize that trait prevention focus improves routine performance but reduces challenge‐seeking behaviour via avoidance motivation, whereas trait promotion focus increases routine performance and challenge‐seeking behaviour through approach motivation. Incorporating trait activation theory, we further theorize that uncertainty that threatens individuals' security needs (i.e., quantitative job insecurity) strengthens trait prevention focus effects, while uncertainty that threatens individuals' growth needs (i.e., qualitative job insecurity) weakens trait promotion focus effects. Analysing two‐wave data from 275 employees and 58 supervisors, we found that (a) trait prevention focus had an unconditional positive indirect effect on employee self‐reported routine performance via increased avoidance motivation and (b) trait promotion focus had positive indirect effects on employee self‐reported and supervisor‐rated routine performance and challenge‐seeking behaviour via enhanced approach motivation, with these effects stronger at lower levels of qualitative job insecurity.

“Don't you worry ‘bout a thing” – the moderating role of age in the relationship between qualitative job insecurity and career sustainability

PurposeBuilding on a stress-related view, this study examines the impact of qualitative job insecurity on three indicators of career sustainability. It also examines the moderating role of employee age in this relationship.Design/methodology/approachDutch respondents (N = 398) working in various sectors responded to an online survey. Our hypotheses were tested using path modeling with Mplus.FindingsQualitative job insecurity was negatively related to job satisfaction, general health, and employability. Moreover, a moderating effect of employee age on the relationship between qualitative job insecurity and job satisfaction was found.Practical implicationsOrganizations need to take measures to prevent qualitative job insecurity, as this appears to be an essential hindering factor that might endanger an employee's career sustainability. Especially younger workers (<40 years) seem to suffer from qualitative job insecurity as this decreases their job satisfaction, urging management and HR professionals to protect them against it.Originality/valueBy focusing on qualitative job insecurity, this study helps to close an essential gap in the literature that so far has mainly focused on quantitative job insecurity. Besides, this is the very first empirical work investigating the link between qualitative job insecurity and multiple indicators of career sustainability. Finally, this research adds a developmental approach to sustainable careers by comparing younger and older workers.

Invisible struggles: unveiling the mental health implications of job insecurity among migrant hospitality workers

ABSTRACT Migrant workers in India, who are often seen as the backbone of the nation, live in highly precarious conditions, experiencing heightened job insecurity. Nevertheless, they received little attention in scholarly investigations. This study utilises the latent deprivation theory to investigate the impact of quantitative and qualitative job insecurity experienced by interstate migrant hospitality workers in India and its impact on their mental health. The study also explores the potential mediating role of employee morale in this relationship. Additionally, it investigates whether the perception of employability, which refers to the likelihood of finding alternative employment, moderates the link between job insecurity dimensions and mental health. Data was collected from interstate migrant workers employed in tourist hotels in Delhi, India. Findings revealed that both dimensions of job insecurity have been negatively associated with the mental health of these workers, with employee morale serving as a partial mediator in the relationship. Employability is found to be a crucial moderator in alleviating the negative impact of quantitative job insecurity on mental health. In light of the findings, the study offers key interventions required at the policy and organisational levels to enhance well-being while utilising the unique skills and diverse perspectives of these migrant workers.

Test of a moderated serial mediation model of management commitment to the ecological environment

The purpose of our paper is to assess the interrelationships of management commitment to the ecological environment (MCEE), harmonious environmental passion (HEP), task-related and proactive pro-environmental behaviors (PEB), and qualitative job insecurity (QJIS) in a moderated serial mediation model. Data gathered from hotel customer-contact employees were utilized to gauge the aforementioned links. The results from the partial least squares structural equation modeling suggest that HEP and task-related PEB mediate the linkage between MCEE and proactive PEB in a sequential manner. The results further suggest that QJIS mitigates the influence of MCEE on HEP. More importantly, QJIS reduces the indirect positive impact of MCEE on proactive PEB through HEP and task-related PEB such that the indirect positive impact is lower among hotel employees with high QJIS than among hotel employees with low QJIS. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Why and when transformational leadership influences followers' qualitative job insecurity: A three‐wave moderated mediation study

AbstractThis study explored the mediation role of follower organization‐based self‐esteem (OBSE) and the moderation role of workplace friendship in the relationship between transformational leadership and follower qualitative job insecurity. We adopted a three‐wave longitudinal design and collected survey data from 142 Chilean employees. Cross‐lagged mediation panel analysis indicated that transformational leadership had a lagged effect on follower OBSE, which, in turn, had a lagged effect on follower qualitative job insecurity. Further, follower workplace friendship moderated the effect of transformational leadership on follower OBSE such that transformational leadership only promoted follower OBSE when followers had high workplace friendship but did not significantly moderate the indirect effect of transformational leadership on follower qualitative job insecurity via OBSE. Integrating the leadership literature with the job insecurity literature, our study takes the first attempt to explore how, why, and when transformational leadership may influence follower qualitative job insecurity.

Predictors of work engagement in professional musicians during the COVID-19 pandemic

While the coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 crisis is impacting many areas of society, some professions are more affected by the COVID-19 pandemic than others, especially by the feeling of insecurity about future working conditions. The present research was conducted during the pandemic and assesses the extent to which musicians’ desire to develop professionally, their work engagement and their motivation to study further in the context of job insecurity, intolerance to uncertainty, and emotion regulation were affected. A cross-sectional design was used. The participants were 167 Romanian professional musicians. The results show that cognitive reappraisal and achievement-striving moderate the relationship between qualitative job insecurity and work engagement, more specifically: cognitive reappraisal and achievement-striving are moderators and buffer the negative relationship between qualitative job insecurity and work engagement. Given that the current context is marked by uncertainty, future studies could investigate the effect that intervention for managing emotions can have on increasing well-being and work engagement.

Boredom and engagement at work: do they have different antecedents and consequences?

This study aimed to demonstrate the empirical distinctiveness of boredom at work and work engagement in relation to their potential antecedents (job demands and job resources) and consequences (psychological distress and turnover intention) based on the Job Demands-Resources model. A three-wave longitudinal survey was conducted among registered monitors of an Internet survey company in Japan. The questionnaire included scales for boredom at work, work engagement, psychological distress, and turnover intention as well as participants' job characteristics and demographic variables. The hypothesized model was evaluated via structural equation modeling with 1,019 participants who were employed full-time. As expected, boredom at work was negatively associated with quantitative job demands and job resources and positively associated with psychological distress and turnover intention. In contrast, work engagement was positively associated with job resources and negatively associated with turnover intention. Thus, boredom at work and work engagement had different potential antecedents and were inversely related to employee well-being and organizational outcomes. However, contrary to expectations, qualitative job demands were not significantly associated with boredom at work. Further investigation is needed to understand the relationship between boredom and qualitative job demands, which require sustained cognitive load and the use of higher skills.

Job Security and Faculty Commitment within Higher Education Institutions

Purpose: The main objective of this study is to examine the relationship between faculty job security and organizational commitment in Nepalese higher education, focusing on qualitative and quantitative job security parameters.&#x0D; Methodology: A cross-sectional methodology was used to examine perceived job security and its impact on academic professionals in the Kathmandu Valley. The study involved developing and distributing a self-administered questionnaire to 210 academics associated with Tribhuvan University from different occupational specialties and pay tiers. Descriptive and causal-comparative research designs were employed in the study.&#x0D; Findings: The study found significant associations between job security and organizational commitment (OC). From the results obtained in regression analysis, the value of adjusted R square was 0.584, signifying that 58.4 % of the variation in organizational commitment was due to qualitative and quantitative aspects of job security. The study's results provide empirical evidence supporting the positive impact of qualitative and quantitative employment security factors on OC. Keeping all other independent measures constant, an increase of one unit in qualitative forces would increase OC by 0.522 units (β = 0.468, p &lt; 0.01), followed by an increase of 0.333 units in OC due to quantitative factors (β = 0.286, p &lt; 0.01).&#x0D; Implications: Commitment was significantly impacted by both the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of job security, suggesting that improving job security measures could lead to higher levels of commitment. These results illustrate the importance of job security in supporting loyalty and productivity in Nepalese academic institutions, emphasizing the necessity for proactive measures to improve job security to increase faculty members' organizational commitment.&#x0D; Originality/Value: This study examines how quantitative and qualitative job security affects organizational commitment in Nepalese academic institutions, providing novel insights. It emphasizes the importance of job security in faculty commitment, emphasizing the necessity for focused interventions to improve qualitative and quantitative aspects of job security.

Examining the mediating effects of motivation between job insecurity and innovative behavior using a variable-centered and a person-centered approach.

The fierce market competition environment makes employees feel insecure at work. While it is difficult for enterprises to provide employees with a sense of security, they have to rely on employees' innovative behavior to seek competitive advantage. Therefore, this study focuses on how employees engage in innovative behavior when they face job insecurity. Using a variable-centered approach, this study aims to examine the mediating effects of intrinsic and impression management motivation in the relationship between quantitative and qualitative job insecurity and innovative behavior, including proactive and reactive innovative behavior. In addition, a person-centered approach is used to investigate whether it is possible to distinguish different combinations of quantitative and qualitative job insecurity, and examine the effect of these job insecurity profiles on motivation and innovative behavior. We used 503 data sets collected via the Credamo platform in China into the data analysis. The study found that quantitative job insecurity affects proactive and reactive innovative behavior through impression management motivation and that qualitative job insecurity affects proactive and reactive innovative behavior through intrinsic and impression management motivation. In addition, three job insecurity profiles were identified: balanced high job insecurity, balanced low job insecurity, and a profile dominated by high quantitative job insecurity, all of which have significantly different effects on motivation and innovative behavior. This study contributes to provide new insights into the relationship between job insecurity and innovative behavior and compensate for the limitation of the traditional variable-centered approach that cannot capture heterogeneity within the workforce.

Unpacking the Role of Job Insecurity for Employee Creativity: A Multidimensional Perspective

Modern organizations frequently expect their employees to exhibit high creativity while facing considerable job insecurity. Although it is often assumed that job insecurity diminishes individual creativity, the empirical findings on this relationship are not consistent. The present study aims to scrutinize this assumption and to address such inconsistencies. To do so, we cast both job insecurity and creativity as multidimensional constructs, and we examine key mechanisms and boundary conditions of their linkages. Results from both a longitudinal (Study 1) and a time-lagged multisource survey study (Study 2) illustrated a negative indirect relation between quantitative job insecurity and radical creativity via diminished career commitment. For qualitative job insecurity, by contrast, there was a negative indirect relation with incremental creativity via reduced organizational identification. Moreover, Study 2 revealed distinct moderators for these associations. Employees’ turnover risk propensity buffered the indirect connection between quantitative job insecurity and radical creativity, whereas Confucian traditionality mitigated the indirect relation between qualitative job insecurity and incremental creativity. These findings shed new light on the important role of job insecurity for individual employees’ creative performance and advance our theoretical understanding of the complexities underlying these linkages.

The impact of quantitative and qualitative job insecurity on employees’ mental health and critical work-related performance: Exploring the role of employability and gender differences

Further investigation is necessary due to the limited research on the long-term effects of job insecurity resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this research employs the Self-regulation and JD-R theories to investigate the role of mental health (MH) in mediating the impact of quantitative job insecurity (QNJI) and qualitative JI (QLJI) on employees' task, creative, and pro-environmental performance, while also exploring the potential of perceived employability, considering gender differences, to aid employees in managing JI and mitigating its adverse effects on their MH. Data were collected from employees working in deluxe hotels in China. The findings indicate that individuals' perception of their employability influences the impact of QNJI on MH. However, there is no interaction between QLJI and employability on MH. This study represents one of the initial investigations on QLJI and QNJI and indicates that managers must comprehensively understand JI's impact on employees' productivity, particularly in times of crisis.

The Impact of Privatization on Employee Job Insecurity: The Case of the Healthcare Sector in Saudi Arabia

Research has discussed several aspects of privatization in developed and developing countries. In this study, we build on the Psychological Contract Theory and the Human Capital Theory, as well as research on proactive behavior and self-concepts, to examine how understanding privatization impacts the quantitative and qualitative job insecurity of employees in the healthcare sector in Saudi Arabia during the privatization process. Using a sample of 136 employees, our results show that understanding the concept of privatization in general is negatively related to quantitative job insecurity. and knowing the nuances of privatization of the healthcare sector impacts quantitative, but not qualitative, job insecurity. This study makes several theoretical contributions to the literature on privatization, human resources, and organizational behavior. This study also provides useful practical implications for policymakers and managers.

The effect of job insecurity on organizational trust during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from the aviation sector

Due to the novel COVID-19, millions of workers in the aviation industry have lost their jobs, and most of the remaining employees experience unemployment anxiety. This study aims to investigate the effects of job insecurity on both managerial and organizational trust and the mediating role of unemployment anxiety in hopes of improving employees’ well-being and promoting business continuity. In this cross-sectional study, the convenient sampling method was adopted. The research was conducted with the participation of aviation sector employees (n=210) of ground handling companies located in Turkiye. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was performed on the collected data for hypothesis testing. As per the results obtained from the study, quantitative job insecurity increases pessimism and adversely affects managerial trust and organizational trust (through managerial trust). Moreover, qualitative insecurity increases optimism, which adversely affects managerial trust. Managerial trust affects organizational trust positively. This study reveals that qualitative job insecurity led the employees to retain optimism but damaged both management and organizational trust during the COVID-19 pandemic. Quantitative job insecurity, on the other hand, caused pessimism and, as a result, affected managerial trust negatively.

Working on the Frontline: Emotional Demands and Qualitative Job Insecurity as Triggers of Depression

Working on the Frontline: Emotional Demands and Qualitative Job Insecurity as Triggers of Depression

Job Insecurity on Burnout in Kupang City Government Employees, East Nusa Tenggara

The Kupang City Government is expected to create a comfortableenvironment for employees to minimize burnout. This study aims to determine theeffect of job insecurity on burnout in Kupang City Government Employees. Theparticipants in this study were 359 employees who worked in 10 government officesof the City of Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, who were selected using a randomcluster sampling technique. This study uses a quantitative approach with theMultidimensional Qualitative Job Insecurity Scale (MQJIS) (Cronbach’s alpha =0.764) to measure the independent variables and The Maslach Burnout Inventory(MBI) Scale (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.797) for the dependent variable. This study used asimple regression test with the help of the SPSS Statistics 25.0 application. Theresults showed that the value of R = 0.667 with p = 0.000 &lt;0.01 and R² = 0.445. Thisshows a positive relationship between job insecurity and burnout, where jobinsecurity accounts for 44.5% of burnout. This means that job insecurity has a largeeffect on burnout. Hopefully, this research can provide information, thoughts, andinput to the Kupang City Government regarding job insecurity and burnoutexperienced by employees

Special privileges or busywork? The impact of qualitative job insecurity on idiosyncratic deals and illegitimate tasks among hospitality workers

This study examined relationships linking qualitative job insecurity (JI) to idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) and illegitimate tasks (i-tasks) for hospitality workers. I-deals are valuable arrangements, opportunities, or privileges provided to employees by their supervisors for which employees’ have negotiated for themselves and, thus, may not be available to all other employees. I-tasks, refer to employees’ perceptions that they have been delegated tasks that are neither necessary nor reasonable for them to complete. Leveraging the challenge-hindrance stressor framework, we proposed that employee stress appraisals mediate relationships between qualitative JI and both i-deals and i-tasks and that employee proactivity serves as a boundary condition of relationships between qualitative JI and stress appraisals. Results from a four-wave, time-lagged survey study largely supported our hypotheses. In particular, employee stress appraisals were found to explain relationships between qualitative JI and both i-deals and i-tasks. Moreover, employee proactivity moderated the relationship between qualitative JI and hindrance appraisals.

Behavioral Reactions to Job Insecurity Climate Perceptions: Exit, Voice, Loyalty, and Neglect.

Past work has extensively documented that job insecurity predicts various work- and health-related outcomes. However, limited research has focused on the potential consequences of perceived job insecurity climate. Our objective was to investigate how the psychological climate about losing a job and valuable job features (quantitative and qualitative job insecurity climate, respectively) relate to employees' exit, voice, loyalty, and neglect behaviors, and whether such climate perceptions explain additional variance in these behaviors over individual job insecurity. Data were collected through an online survey using a convenience sample of employees working in different organizations in Türkiye (N = 245). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that quantitative job insecurity climate was associated with higher levels of loyalty and neglect, while qualitative job insecurity climate was related to higher levels of exit and lower levels of loyalty. Importantly, job insecurity climate explained additional variance over individual job insecurity in exit and loyalty. Our findings underscore the importance of addressing job insecurity in a broader context regarding one's situation and the psychological collective climate. This study contributes to addressing the knowledge gap concerning job insecurity climate, an emerging construct in the organizational behavior literature, and its incremental impact beyond individual job insecurity. The foremost implication is that organizations need to pay attention to the evolving climate perceptions about the future of jobs in the work environment, because such perceptions are related to critical employee behaviors.

Subtle Cutback Management and Exhaustion: Qualitative Job Insecurity as a Mediator in a Sample of Dutch and Belgian Employees

As an answer to crises such as COVID-19, organizations implemented more subtle forms of cutback measures such as wage moderation, loan sacrifice and recruitment freezes aimed at maintaining a financially healthy organization. In this study, the association between subtle cutback management and employee exhaustion was studied, and it was investigated whether this potential linkage can be explained by employee perceptions of increased qualitative job insecurity or the fear that valued features of the job will decrease in the near future. This research thereby extends prior research on the consequences of cutback management as well as regarding the antecedents of qualitative job insecurity. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted on a sample of workers (N = 218) active in various organizations in the Netherlands and Belgium. Regression analysis was applied to test hypotheses. Mediation was investigated by means of Hayes PROCESS macro. The results of the study indicate that there is no direct relationship between subtle cutback measures deployed at the workplace and employee exhaustion. However, the analyses further reveal that subtle cutback management is positively related to the experience of qualitative job insecurity in workers and that enhanced qualitative job insecurity is positively related to employee exhaustion. Qualitative job insecurity fully mediates the relationship between subtle cutback management and employee exhaustion.

Gender differences in psychosocial factors related to severe stress in a construction company in Japan.

In Japan, women's participation in the workforce has been increasing. However, there are few studies about gender differences in stress factors in the workplace. We aimed to clarify gender differences in psychosocial factors in the workplace related to severe stress. In total, 930 male and 339 female employees working in a construction company in Japan participated in this study. We used individual responses to the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ) conducted by their company for the most recent year between 2016 and 2019. Data were categorized by gender, and we extracted the factors contributing to severe stress using logistic regression. We identified 142 men and 32 women who had severe stress. Logistic regression analysis showed that six factors ("Qualitative job overload", "Job control", "Interpersonal conflict", "Poor physical environment", "Supervisor's support", and "Job satisfaction and life satisfaction") were significantly associated with the presence of severe stress in men. In women, five factors ("Qualitative job overload", "Job control", "Interpersonal conflict", "Suitable work", and "Job satisfaction and life satisfaction") showed a significant association with severe stress. Factors associated with severe stress were "Poor physical environment" and "Supervisor's support" in men, and "Suitable work" in women.