Does teachers’ perceived corporate social responsibility lead to organisational citizenship behaviour? The mediating roles of job satisfaction and organisational identification

Background: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature indicates that employees develop positive organisational behaviour towards their organisation when their organisation is perceived as being socially responsible. Such organisational behaviours include organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB), job satisfaction and organisational identity.Objectives: The main objective of this study was to provide empirical evidence as to whether teachers’ perceptions of their schools’ CSR influence their OCB as well as to indicate the mediating role of organisational identification and job satisfaction in this relationship.Setting: Corporate social responsibility is a valuable way for organisations to promote favourable employee behaviours.Method: Data were collected through the use of a questionnaire from 260 teachers working at high schools in North Cyprus. Structural equation modelling was employed to test the hypotheses.Results: The results of this study suggested that employees’ perceptions of CSR positively influence their OCB when job satisfaction and organisational identification mediate the relationship.Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that as long as employees are satisfied with their jobs and as long as they identify with their organisation, CSR favourably influences their voluntary behaviour, which in turn influences the overall performance of the organisation.

Positivity at the workplace

Purpose Recognising the value of positive organisational behaviour at the workplace, this paper aims to provide a major review of the current state of research on positivity, and subsequently proposes new pathways for more theory building relating to important constructs conceptually related to positivity. Following the integration of emerging but disparate research on workplace positivity and related concepts, the paper develops a conceptual framework depicting the relationships amongst authentic leader behaviours, organisational virtuousness, psychological capital, thriving and job performance. Design/methodology/approach The paper offers a systematic critical review of published studies representing the literature addressing authentic leadership, organisational virtuousness, thriving, psychological capital and job performance. The paper relied on computerised keyword searches in the main business source databases of Emerald, ProQuest, ScienceDirect, EBSCOhost and SpringerLink. Findings This paper leads to a conceptual framework proposing direct relationships between authentic leadership, psychological capital, organisational virtuousness and job performance. Further, authentic leadership is proposed to potentially nurture organisational virtuousness, psychological capital, employee thriving and job performance, given the theoretical linkages between these conceptually relevant variables related to positivity. Additionally, organisational virtuousness and psychological capital are projected to mediate the relationship between authentic leadership and employee thriving. Finally, organisational virtuousness, psychological capital and employee thriving are designated as mediators of the relationship between authentic leadership and job performance. Research limitations/implications This paper proposes a conceptual framework focusing on one form of positive leader behaviour and also assumes specific causal pathways using a positivistic research approach to understanding the leadership–performance relationship. The paper did not examine all possible antecedents of positivity at the workplace. Practical implications The proposed conceptual framework should form the basis of many organisational interventions, especially in relation to boosting authentic leadership, organisational virtuousness, psychological capital, employee thriving and job performance. By suggesting the association between authentic leadership, psychological capital and organisational virtuousness, this paper highlights potential benefits from effective leaders’ commitment to enhancing psychological capital and organisational virtuousness and engendering thriving behaviour and job performance. Originality/value This novel paper has the potential to stimulate the empirical studies on workplace positivity through the association of authentic leadership, psychological capital, organisational virtuousness and thriving.

And now for something completely different: Reframing social processes of leadership theory using positive organisational behaviour

Prof. Ken Parry's (1998) conceptualisation of leadership as a social process provoked a shift in the understanding of the processes of influence in the context of achieving adaptation and change in response to changes in an organisation's environment. Reflecting on the state of leadership literature in recent years, we answer Ken's (2013) challenge to broaden our understanding of the positive outcomes achieved by social processes of leadership. Building on Ken's work, we propose a research framework that makes a linkage between the social processes of leadership, positive organisational behaviour, and specifically psychological capital.

The psychological well-being manifesting among master’s students in Industrial and Organisational Psychology

Orientation: Psychological well-being among master’s students is seen as a contributing factor towards having a meaningful, enjoyable and productive experience as a student.Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to provide a qualitative description of the psychological well-being experiences of first-year students in a part-time coursework master’s degree in Industrial and Organisational Psychology (IOP) in order to foster an empathetic understanding of their experiences.Motivation for the study: The understanding of their master’s students’ psychological wellbeing experiences will assist university IOP departments in facilitating the appropriate psychological containment to students and the optimisation of their resilience towards meaningfully completing their first year and perhaps also their master’s degree.Research design, approach and method: Qualitative research was conducted within a hermeneutic interpretive stance. Data were gathered from a focus group with 10 conveniently chosen participants. Thematic content analysis provided eight themes, which were interpreted and linked to the literature on psychological well-being.Main findings: Student distress caused by job demands leads to languishing and feeling overwhelmed. In contrast, student eustress resulting from job resources leads to flourishing, consisting of self-efficacy, locus of control and optimism.Practical implications: University IOP departments can use the information towards understanding their master’s students’ psychological well-being experiences, which could assist in the students’ successful and timeous completion of their studies.Contribution: The study contributes to the literature on master’s students’ real negative and positive experiences and psychological well-being, which university departments often deny or dismiss as idiosyncratic.Keywords: positive organisational behaviour; job demands; job resources; multiple roles; support system; self-efficacy; hope/optimism

‘Committed, motivated and joyful?’ Job satisfaction and organisational commitment of managers at a South African public utility

Objective: This study focuses on an assessment of managerial job satisfaction and commitment in the context of a vibrant and rapidly changing public utility from a positive organisational behaviour (POB) perspective. It aims at contributing towards an in-depth understanding of positive micro-organisational behaviour.Problem investigated: The aim of this study was to gain deeper insights into the relationship between job satisfaction (JS) and organisational commitment (OC) in terms of the ‘how and why’ at a selected public utility in the Eastern Cape Province.Design: This single case study uses a mixed-method approach within the pragmatism research paradigm.Findings: Findings show that managers across cultures share a positive organisational psychology approach on JS and OC. The JS of managers is mainly influenced by their satisfaction with working with colleagues and supervisors, and with strategies of motivation, as well as their dissatisfaction with the use of power, pay and promotion. OC was mainly influenced by positive collegial relationships, the organisation’s positive influence on the environment and on others, the enabling work environment and the location of the organisation.Originality/value: The article introduces new ideas in positive organisational behaviour research and reconstructs the image of South African organisational behaviour based on qualitative and quantitative data.Conclusion: This article shows that post-modern African organisations are opening new frontiers to building positive-oriented organisational cultures whilst creating constructive and future-orientated mindsets, which may spill over into society.