Veranstaltungsprogramm der VHB Jahrestagung

Employees´ innovative work behavior (IWB) is crucial for organizations’ long-term performance and success. Nonetheless, research on the antecedents of IWB has paid little attention to how leader-member exchange (LMX) translates into IWB through both motivational and cognitive factors of subordinates. Hence, our understanding is still limited as to why scholars presented mixed findings of the relationship between LMX and IWB. We address this shortcoming by building on LMX theory and examine how the relationship from LMX to IWB is translated through creative self-efficacy as motivational factor and subordinates´ perceived support for innovation by their supervisors as cognitive factor. We conducted a field survey with 171 subordinates, matched them with their supervisors and found a positive association between LMX and IWB. However, we find that this relationship is not mediated by creative self-efficacy, but, in line with our hypotheses, by support for innovation. Our study extends the empirical evidence of LMX theory by examining how LMX translates into IWB.

In today’s global business landscape, expatriates play an increasingly pivotal role in the operations of multinational corporations. However, the decision to deploy foreign assignees entails substantial costs for firms. Previous research has recognized that proficiency in English and/or the host country’s language is a critical but often underestimated determinant of expatriate success. Nonetheless, existing research on the relevance and importance of language skills for expatriates’ work-related outcomes has yielded inconclusive and, at times, conflicting findings. Drawing on self-efficacy theory, job embeddedness theory, and experiential learning theory, this meta-analysis integrates the findings of 105 studies comprising 155 samples to investigate the relationships between language proficiency and six essential work-related outcomes (i.e., expatriation intention, cross-cultural adjustment, job satisfaction, job performance, life satisfaction, and turnover intention). Additionally, we examine the moderating influence of international experience, as represented by expatriation experience and country tenure, and assess the robustness of the relationship across various contextual and methodological factors. Our results reveal significant associations between language proficiency and all six work-related outcomes. Furthermore, we identify that international experience mitigates the relationship between language proficiency and both job satisfaction and performance. These findings expand the existing literature in this domain and underscore the pivotal role of foreign language proficiency as a determinant of expatriate success.

Die organisationale Sozialisation (OS) von Newcomern ist für Unternehmen von besonderer Relevanz, um schnellstmöglich das Potenzial der Mitarbeiter abzurufen und sie an das Unternehmen zu binden. Damit sie ihre vorgesehene Rolle erfüllen, Aufgaben bewältigen und sich sozial integrieren können, sind Newcomer auf vielseitige Informationen angewiesen. Vor dem Hintergrund der zunehmenden Normalität des mobilen Arbeitens untersuchen wir die Herausforderungen, denen Newcomer bei der OS in diesem Kontext begegnen. Auf Basis einer qualitativen Interviewstudie (N=13) zeigen unsere Ergebnisse, dass insbesondere der Mangel an Interaktionsfrequenz und Interaktionsqualität als zwei wesentliche Herausforderungen von Newcomer wahrgenommen werden. Mit Hilfe der Uncertainty Reduction Theory und dem Konzept des sozialen Kapitals zeigen wir, welche Gefahren dies hinsichtlich der OS mit sich bringt.

While employees’ sleep quality has already been studied as an outcome of emotion regulation at work, knowledge about sleep quality as an antecedent of emotion regulation remains scarce. This study examines the relationship between employees’ daily sleep quality and their emotion regulation at work, specifically focusing on their daily emotion regulation ability (i.e., as an individual ability), as well as their daily surface acting and deep acting (i.e., as used strategies). We conducted a one-week diary study to collect data on participants’ sleep quality, emotion regulation ability and strategies, and their general perception of display rules in their respective organizations. Employees who experienced better daily sleep quality demonstrated improved daily emotion regulation ability, which was related to a reduction in daily surface acting—a form of emotion regulation where individuals display fake emotions. At the same time, there were no significant effects on deep acting as a more authentic strategy. Furthermore, perceived display rules were found to moderate the relationship between sleep quality and the use of surface acting. This indicates that the impact of sleep quality on emotion regulation can vary depending on individuals’ preexisting beliefs towards emotional displays in the workplace. Overall, this study highlights the important role of good sleep quality, which improves the daily emotion regulation ability and, in turn, reduces the use of surface acting, which has been shown to be detrimental to employee well-being and work behavior and, accordingly, is an important prerequisite for organizational performance.