The Relationship between Workplace Violence and Innovative Work Behavior: The Mediating Roles of Employee Wellbeing

Abstract

It has been contended that violence is prevalent in the workplace, and there has been increasing research interest into its potential effects. Human interactions at workplaces are apparent. However, the interactions among humans may have positive or negative dimensions. Usually, the positive or negative interactions between workers lead to different outcomes. Sometimes, they lead to a productive working environment; however, in some cases, they lead to toxicity among workers. In this study, we investigate the impact of workplace violence (WV) on innovative work behavior (IWB). Specifically, it examines the impact of the three dimensions of WV, namely, harassment, mobbing, and sabotage. Moreover, employees’ wellbeing mediates the relationship between WV (harassment, mobbing, and sabotage) and IWB. A questionnaire survey approach was used in this study. The target population were the workers of SMEs entrepreneurs located in Guangdong Province (China). The results confirm that, in the direct relationship, WV (harassment, mobbing, and sabotage) has a negative relationship with innovative IWB. Moreover, results also confirm that employee wellbeing is mediated between WV (harassment, mobbing, and sabotage) and IWB. Therefore, the empirical results of this paper identify that workplace violence reduces employees’ innovative work behavior by reducing their subjective and eudemonic wellbeing, which further broadens the perspective of IWB’s motivation analysis. Practical implications for small and medium enterprise organizations have also been discussed in this paper.

Exploring the Relationship between Innovative Work Behavior, Job Anxiety, Workplace Ostracism, and Workplace Incivility: Empirical Evidence from Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs)

“…These findings are also in line with the COR theory and RBV (resource-based-view) theory [ 6 , 67 , 73 ]. This is consistent with prior studies that have shown a negative relationship between WI and IWB [ 7 , 77 ].…”

“…According to previous studies, workplace ostracism and workplace incivility decrease organizational performance and innovative work behavior [ 3 , 6 , 7 ]. This problem of performance affected by WO and WI got the attention of researchers to investigate and address this issue with higher consideration to identify the roots and causes of WO and WI for the organization, as well as for other stakeholders [ 8 , 9 ].…”

How Toxic Workplace Environment Effects the Employee Engagement: The Mediating Role of Organizational Support and Employee Wellbeing

“…The results of their study confirmed that a toxic workplace environment has a negative connection with employee engagement, which reduces the individual worker’s productivity. The findings of this research are also supported by COR theory [ 55 ]. Furthermore, it is also noted that the workers’ health is affected by high job demands and work pressures; as a result, effects such as headaches, personality disorders, anxiety disorders, insomnia, burnout, and depression occur.…”

“…Samma, Zhao [ 2 ] examined 254 workers employed at small and medium-size enterprise (SMEs) located in Pakistan, and the outcomes of their study indicated that a toxic workplace environment negatively influences employee well-being. Specifically, in this relationship, COR theory confirms that most of SMEs are facing workplace violence, which brings about a negative attitude among the workers, which negatively affects the balanced and emotional well-being connection with the vision and mission of the organization [ 55 ]. Moreover, in this study, we tested the positive relationship between employee well-being and employee engagement.…”

“…According to the prediction of a number of specific studies, a toxic workplace environment negatively influences employee well-being [ 55 ]. Previous studies have shown that the presence of a toxic workplace environment threatens the well-being of employees.…”