Organizational virtuousness and job performance in Japan: does happiness matter?

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to examine the effect of subjective well-being, often referred to as happiness, on the relationship between organizational virtuousness and job performance among Japanese employees. The concept of happiness has been receiving more attention over the past decade as research suggests that it may be a source of greater performance. Design/methodology/approach This research uses a questionnaire survey and conditional process analysis among Japanese managers and front-line workers within Japanese firms in Japan. Findings This paper found that positive subjective well-being partially mediates the relationship between general organizational virtuousness and self-management-related job performance, while it acts as a moderator in the relationship between general organizational virtuousness and leadership-related job performance. Practical implications These findings indicate that in the Japanese context, the firm’s investment in organizational virtuousness will increase one part of job performance, but that investment may not be sufficient in itself to positively affect leadership competency, unless it also pays attention to its employees’ positive subjective well-being. Originality/value Based on this growing realization of the importance of subjective well-being, or happiness, and the lack of academic research in Japan on its impact on organization, this paper investigates its effect on employees’ ability to manage their own tasks and lead others.

Organizational virtuousness, subjective well-being, and job performance

“…Organizational integrity indicates that honor, truthfulness, and honesty permeate the organization, which always acts in good faith. Organizational forgiveness reflects the intentional acceptance of mistakes, seeing them as learning and growth opportunities (Rego, Ribeiro, Cunha, and Jesuino, 2011;Magnier-Watanabe, Uchida, Orsini, and Benton, 2017).…”

“…40-41). In other words, job performance consists of all employee activities, which support in part or in whole the achievement of organizational goals (Viswesvaran, and Ones, 2000;Magnier-Watanabe, Uchida, Orsini, and Benton, 2017). Job performance has eight dimensions: job-specific task proficiency, non-job-specific task proficiency, written and oral communication, demonstrating effort, maintaining personal discipline, facilitating peer and team performance, supervision, and management or administration (Campbell, McCloy, Oppler, and Sager, 1993).…”

“…Facilitating peer and team performance assesses how much workers effectively engage in teamwork and support colleagues. Supervision considers the leadership abilities, whereas management or administration reflect non-supervisory work (Campbell, McCloy, Oppler, and Sager, 1993;Magnier-Watanabe, Uchida, Orsini, and Benton, 2017).…”

The Mediating Roles of Happiness and Cohesion in the Relationship between Employee Volunteerism and Job Performance

“…Happiness is a subjective perception of one’s inner state and it is fundamentally related to personal outcomes [71]. In particular, happiness enhances identification with an employee’s roles in the workplace [38]; therefore, happiness may have a stronger impact on in-role behavior than on helping behavior. In contrast, a key facet of cohesion is the feeling in relationships with others [52] as it is conceptually related to interpersonal outcomes.…”

“…Recent research shows that happiness is important not only for an employee’s own betterment but also for one’s organization [38]. People are more likely to be more active in helping others when they experience positive emotions [39].…”