PurposeOrganizations take a more oriented approach to the management of business processes since business processes are core elements of organizational performance. The purpose of this study is to bridge certain knowledge, theoretical, literature and contextual gaps that have not yet been addressed, in line with the organizational approach. The current study is also carried out in order to satisfy the needs of the industry for sustainable development that lead to economic prosperity in the country.Design/methodology/approachPositivism research philosophy was espoused followed through a deductive approach. A structured questionnaire was used in order to collect the data from the employees working in public-sector organizations with a purposive sampling technique. In total, 364 respondents’ data were analyzed by using Analysis of a Moment Structures guidelines and tested the sequential path accordingly.FindingsThe results suggested that authentic leadership through sequential mediation of relational identification and positive emotions had a significant impact on employee engagement. Overall, three hypotheses were formulated on the basis of literature, and all hypotheses were supported.Research limitations/implicationsThe first significant limitation is the use of a single source of information. All variables (authentic leadership, employee engagement, gratitude, happiness and compassion and relational identification) were asked to be reported to individuals. In addition, the current study took only three positive emotions (gratitude, happiness and compassion). There are, however, a number of other emotions that can be taken to identify the relationship between authentic leadership and employee attitude.Originality/valueThe plethora of research seeks to identify mechanisms that can overcome the challenge of employee engagement in the organizational sphere. To this end, organizations are continually identifying and implementing strategies to enhance employee engagement. Recently, the adoption of a bottom-up approach identified as a potential contributor to increasing employee engagement. It has also meant that authentic leadership is the best source of support for a bottom-up approach. However, limited research has been identified in relation to authentic leadership and positive employee emotions.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to check the mediating role of work engagement (WE) between leader – member exchange and extra-role behaviours (ERBs) like organizational citizenship behaviour, knowledge sharing behaviour and innovative work behaviour. Design/methodology/approach Hypothetical deductive method was used. Longitudinal, time-lagged approach (three times) was used to collect the data using structured questionnaire. Findings It has been found that the WE plays its mediating role between leader – member exchange, organizational citizenship behaviour and innovative work behaviour but not for knowledge sharing behaviour. Research limitations/implications Data related to dependent variables, specifically and for the whole model generally, was collected through self-reported questionnaire, which leads toward self-serving bias at respondents’ end, as exaggeration/manipulation in responses is highly expected. Second mediating role of WE between leader – member exchange and knowledge sharing behaviour has not been proven, but same mediating role has been found in case of organizational citizenship behaviour and innovative work behaviour which is beyond understanding, as all dependent variables are actually different facets of ERBs. Lastly, data for the study variable has been collected from research and development and IT-related organizations only, which can question the generalization of the survey results to other sectors/organizations. Practical implications The study concluded that leader’s exchange plays a vital role for under commands’ ERBs, and WE vitally predicts ERBs; organizational leaders need to pay attention to this part, in Pakistan, being a poor/developing country fulfilling necessary psychological needs can result in better engagement at employees end. Study findings have importance with the view of training, as while conducting training, strategies through which leaders/supervisors may be trained about how they can build good exchange with their subordinates must be incorporated. This study has significance for policy makers, while making policies, as they consider deviant work behaviours as dangerous phenomena, at the same time they need to recognize the importance of ERBs. Originality/value Early mechanism of work performance did not cover full range of behaviours, so now it has been changed from fixed tasks written in employee’s job description (in-role) to broader terms (extra-role) due to uncertain and dynamic work requirements. Extra-role behaviours are more important for the organization as compared to in-role performance. So, a pathway of WE has been established through which ERBs can be expected. Current study was an attempt to explore that how leader can play his role in this situation.

PurposeThe objectives of the current study were to identify the antecedents and outcomes of authentic leadership. For antecedents, the research considered the HEXACO (Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, eXtraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience) personality model and thereby identified the impact of authentic leadership on employee performance with the mediating role of psychological safety and employee engagement by using the trait theory.Design/methodology/approachThe current study adopted a positivism research philosophy followed by a deductive approach. Overall, 347 samples were collected from the public sector organizations using quantitative research techniques, and data were gathered through a self-administrated questionnaire. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used through structural equation modeling (SEM)-Mplus to generate the results and test the formulated hypotheses.FindingsThe results revealed that honesty-humility significantly impacts authentic leadership (β = 0.094 and p < 0.05). Similarly, other dimensions of HEXACO also play a significant role in forming authentic leadership. After analyzing the HEXACO as the antecedent of authentic leadership, sequential mediation of psychological safety and employee engagement was checked and identified that authentic leadership in the presence of mediators was insignificant. Hence the full mediation has been recorded.Originality/valueSince its inception, a plethora of research has been available on the authentic leadership theory. However, the empirical evidence revealed that most research is related to outcomes of authentic leadership. As far as antecedents of authentic leadership are concerned, the literature is still silent, specifically on the development of authentic leaders. The current study is significantly contributing to the theory of authentic leadership, and in this context, the study is unique since it is taking the HEXACO personality model as an antecedent of authentic leadership to investigate its role in the development of authentic leaders. Moreover, the study is also identified as the impact of authentic leadership on task performance, not in isolation, but by taking psychological safety and employee engagement as a mediating mechanism.

PurposeThe research intended to identify the impact of employee exploitation on knowledge-sharing behavior and withdrawal, not in isolation, but by taking psychological ownership and psychological detachment as mediating variables. Moreover, the research aims to identify optimism’s moderating role concerning employee exploitation and psychological ownership. The research aims to suggest the management implementation of the human-centric business process and, subsequently, management to obtain maximum output from employees.Design/methodology/approachPositivism research philosophy followed by a deductive approach is adopted to meet the objectives of the current study. Survey techniques with a self-administrated questionnaire were used to collect data from employees working in public sector organizations. Moreover, 255 employees with the highest qualification were shortlisted to capture the variables’ impact. Data analysis was done by using SEM-AMOS approaches and obtained structural and path models to test the formulated hypotheses.FindingsResults suggested that employee exploitation has a significant relationship with withdrawal, and psychological detachment mediates the relationship. The other path suggested the insignificant role of optimism as a moderator in the relationship between employee exploitation and psychological empowerment. However, psychological empowerment fully mediates the relationship between employee exploitation and knowledge-sharing behavior.Originality/valueA plethora of research is available on employee exploitation; however, the current research is first to capture both positive and negative paths in public sector organizations. It provides clear insights for managers to reformulate and reanalyze their organizational policies to get employees' positive attitudinal and behavioural outcomes.