Purpose This study aims to examine the role of psychological empowerment (PE) in mediating the relationship between organizational culture, innovative behaviour and work-related attitude. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected in two phases from a total sample of 324 middle- and senior-level executives working in India through a completed self-report questionnaire. Findings The results show a significant relation between organization culture, PE and work-related outcomes. PE fully mediated the relationship between adaptability and mission culture and innovative behaviour. PE also fully mediated the relationship between consistency and adaptability culture and job satisfaction; adaptability culture and commitment; and involvement culture and turnover intentions. Research limitations/implications Cross-sectional design undermines the causal conclusions derived from the findings. Generalizability is limited, as the study was set up in India. The research highlights the role of PE for innovative behaviour and other work-related attitudes. Originality/value The study establishes the linkage between organizational culture, PE, work-related attitude and innovative behaviour, thus extending the PE theory.

Purpose Supply and demand characteristics, influenced by the pre- and post-oil economy of Oman, have caused unemployment challenges to Omani graduates. The purpose of this paper is to explore the most common graduate attributes as they apply to graduates’ employability in Oman. Design/methodology/approach The study uses the principles of “hypotheticodeductive logic” and inferential analysis using a combination of focus group and survey approach. Using an online mode of data collection targeting the past three cohorts of graduates from a prominent University in Oman, the study analyses and presents several insights into graduate attributes and employability issues. Findings The research finds that the domain of educational institutions in Oman is mainly restricted to the basic generic skills in developing the graduate attributes. Students’ perspectives on employers’ selection criteria reveal that computing skills, the ability to work in teams, English language proficiency, prior training, and the graduate’s personality are the five most significant employability skills in Oman. Currently, there is little interaction among higher educational institutions, alumni, and industry in Oman for boosting the employability of graduates. Practical implications The study is highly relevant from the policy perspective in Oman. All the stakeholders in Oman need to come together to define employability skills prudently by expanding the domain beyond generic skills. Originality/value The study is important in the context of Oman due to a shortage of studies that look at the graduate attributes from the lens of employability besides addressing concerns about unemployment.

Purpose This paper aims to examine how servant leaders play an essential role in employee work role performance by assessing the mediating role of knowledge sharing and psychological empowerment. Design/methodology/approach Data was collected from a sample of 583 employees working in a public sector organization in India. Structural equation modeling has been used to test the proposed model. Findings The results contribute to new knowledge that servant leadership has a positive link to work role performance. Findings demonstrate that this relationship was partially mediated by knowledge sharing and psychological empowerment. Knowledge sharing has a positive and significant effect on psychological empowerment. Theoretical and practical implications are provided. Originality/value By identifying servant leadership as a determinant of knowledge-sharing behavior and psychological empowerment, this paper significantly supplements current research on the process through which leadership influences individual behavior and motivation toward work performance.

Purpose Navigating the labyrinthine connections between people, process, technology and infrastructure is a key skill for employees in agile organisations. Political skill is imperative amongst millennials who in a continuously changing environment need to stretch their minds to accumulate and disseminate new knowledge and develop core competencies while responding to new business triggers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate a mediation model in which the effect of emotional intelligence (EI) and core self-evaluation (CSE) on knowledge-sharing intention is mediated by levels of political skill amongst millennials. Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses, on mediation, were tested with data collected from prospective employees graduating from a premier management institute in Northern India. Structural equation modelling was used to test hypotheses with bootstrapping to test mediation effects. Findings The findings demonstrate that the relationship between EI, CSE and knowledge-sharing intention is mediated by political skill. Theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research are followed. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on knowledge sharing by providing a basis for understanding the mediating mechanism through which EI and CSE influence knowledge sharing. This is the first attempt examining the role of political skill as a mediator in the study of knowledge sharing, a critical lever for agile organisations to flourish. By investigating the underlying mechanisms through which individual differences impact knowledge-sharing behaviour, this study significantly supplements current research on knowledge management.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and financial well-being (FWB) and the mediating role of materialism on this relationship.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual framework is provided to support the research hypotheses. A survey with 311 working professionals from India allowed the hypothesized relationship to be tested through regression-based models.FindingsThe findings reveal that the three dimensions of FWB – financial anxiety, current money management stress and perceived financial security – are predicted by mindfulness and materialism even after controlling for several demographic variables. Materialism mediates the relationship between mindfulness and FWB.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings are subject to the usual cautions associated with self-reported cross-sectional data. Future research may incorporate mindfulness interventions to establish causal relationships.Practical implicationsThe study provides theoretical guidance to the policymakers and the financial institutions, including banks, which may focus on malleable factors beyond merely income to enhance FWB. Mindfulness is not only a trait but also could be cultivated by various physical and online-based mindfulness practices. Banks may integrate tools promoting mindfulness within their interactive web framework in order to stimulate customers' control over their daily spending through enhancing mindful awareness of present financial actions and their impact on the financial future. Thus, organizations may institutionalize such programs within their framework to help their employees cultivate greater FWB. Mindfulness promotes less anxiety related to financial decisions, which may develop customers' value as well as business opportunities for banks.Originality/valueUnlike other FWB dispositional antecedents, which become relatively stable at the formative stage, mindfulness levels can be enhanced in different age-groups. To our knowledge, this is the first study to empirically establish that mindfulness exerts its beneficial effects on FWB directly, and, through reducing materialistic motives.

PurposeWork-family researchers examining work-family enrichment (WFE) have used a cross-domain model (Frone et al., 2003) to explain relationships between enrichment experienced and the satisfaction reported in the same domain. Recent research points out inconsistencies in this approach, arguing for a source attribution model in which increased satisfaction is reported in the domain where the source of enrichment resides. This study looks at bi-directional WFE and both forms of domain satisfaction, job and family, to explore relative strengths of these relationships in an Indian context, thereby extending theory on source vs cross-domain effects of enrichment.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a single-source cross-sectional study of 508 married individuals working in the services sector in India, each with at least one child in the family. Structural equation modeling is used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results support the source attribution perspective of enrichment where WFE shows stronger links to job satisfaction, and family-work enrichment (FEW) shows stronger links to family satisfaction. Our study revealed that dual-earners report higher satisfaction levels compared to those from single-earner households.Originality/valueIn addition to advancing theory on source attribution for WFE, this is the first study to focus exclusively on married individuals with children to further help accentuate inter-domain resource transfer. In addition, this is one of the few studies to test out the theory of enrichment through service sector knowledge workers in a developing economy like India, where the service sector contributes to 60% of the GDP.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to take a micro-foundational perspective to identify the effective leadership style and employee work behavior in achieving the goals of sustainability. It also aims to identify the mechanism through which leaders influence employees’ performance. Design/methodology/approach The study draws on existing literature for model creation and proposition development to understand the leadership style and employee behavior that would be effective in achieving sustainability goals. Findings In achieving the multifaceted goals of sustainability, servant leadership style is effective in mobilizing the resources and implementing the sustainability strategies among stakeholders. By enhancing interpersonal trust and psychological empowerment, servant leaders positively influence the work role behavior of the employees. Furthermore, the work performance of employees helps in achieving sustainable development. Research limitations/implications This study draws on the theory of micro-foundations to establish how individual-level factors help in realizing the macro goal of sustainability. It throws light on the growing need to cultivate micro-level leadership skills and employee behaviors to have effective organizational sustainability performance. It is imperative for the organizations to be socially responsible along with achieving the business goals. Originality/value This study responds to the call of studying micro-level actions in the context of sustainable development. It extends the current knowledge by developing a causal model linking leadership and employee performance through interpersonal trust and psychological empowerment. Moreover, it presents testable propositions linking interpersonal trust and psychological empowerment.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of personality and individual differences as an antecedent to work-family enrichment (WFE) and consequently with job satisfaction. This study address gaps in WFE literature by looking at proactivity, work-family self-efficacy (WFSE) and family permeability as antecedent variables that have received scant attention from researchers. By addressing these gaps, the study seeks to advance theory on WFE and its relation to job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach The authors do this through the exploration of pathways through WFE and studying 508 married individuals, with at least one child, working in the IT/ITES sector in India. The authors use structural equation modeling to analyze different pathways from personality based antecedents and WFE as mediator. Findings The results demonstrate the mediating role of WFE in the relationship between antecedents (WFSE, family permeability and proactive personality) and job satisfaction. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to existing research on WFE and personality by showing that WFE is a significant pathway toward job satisfaction and how personality variables influence satisfaction. Originality/value It is also the first study to use proactivity and WFSE as antecedents to test out the influence of WFE on job satisfaction. This is also the first study to look at only married individuals with children in a WFE study forced on the services sector. Consequently, these findings have significant implications in the way organizations deal with work-life situations, especially in the 30+ age bracket in India.