Avoidance behaviour towards using pirated software: testing a seven-component model on SME employees

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Sabbir Rahman ◽  
Md Afnan Hossain ◽  
Fadi Abdel Muniem Abdel Fattah ◽  
Abdel Mubdiu Ibne Mokter

PurposeThis research aims to develop and test a conceptual model for shaping small and medium enterprise (SME) employees' avoidance behaviour towards using pirated software. The model specifies the components of morality, spirituality, emotional intelligence and ethical values that influence employees' avoidance behaviour towards using pirated software.Design/methodology/approachA conceptual framework was developed and tested on the basis of information technology and management literature by using data from 275 influential and active employees of SMEs. Data were collected via a survey and analysed through covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM).FindingsIn the context of SMEs, employees' avoidance behaviour towards using pirated software is motivated by significant moral antecedents. Moral equity and judgement significantly influence employees' avoidance behaviour towards using pirated software when moral emotion mediates such a relationship. In addition, individual spirituality significantly moderates the relationship between moral equity and moral emotion. Employees' emotional intelligence optimises the strength of the relationship between moral judgement and moral emotion. Employees' likelihood to engage in unethical behaviour decreases when they exhibit strong ethical values in the relationship between moral emotion and their behaviour towards using pirated software.Research limitations/implicationsThis study offers theoretical support for employees' avoidance behaviour towards using pirated software. The findings of this cross-sectional work have limited generalisability. Single-country data may not be generalised to SME employees in other countries. Thus, cross-country analysis and additional measures and antecedents must be developed and identified in the future.Practical implicationsPolicymakers and managers should consciously review the proposed seven-component model that causes SME employees to avoid the use of pirated software. Ethical standards that lessen the use of pirated software can be improved if managers and policymakers understand the components of moral equity and judgement that influence moral emotions.Originality/valueThis study is the first to examine the specific antecedents of the ethical standards and avoidance behaviours of SME employees towards the use of pirated software. As such, it provides a foundation for further studies on this critical area and software piracy in the context of SMEs in an emerging economy, which is limited in current literature.

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 280-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Galit Meisler

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the associations between emotional intelligence (EI) and both political skill and job satisfaction, as well as the possibility that political skill mediates the relationship between EI and job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach – The data, collected from a sample of 368 employees, were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings – EI was positively related to political skill and job satisfaction. In addition, the findings show that political skill mediates the relationship between EI and job satisfaction. Research limitations/implications – The research highlights the importance of EI and political skill in the workplace. Practical implications – EI training may be employed by organizations and human resource managers to enhance employees’ EI. Originality/value – Not enough research attention has been paid to exploring the interplay between EI and organizational politics. The current study clarifies the relationship between EI and political skill in the work arena. Moreover, this study found political skill to be a mediator in the relationship between EI and job satisfaction. Given that in the main the literature has neglected the possibility that political skill might act as a mediator and/or affect work attitudes/behaviors, findings from the current study broaden the scope through which the role of political skill in the workplace can be viewed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 1412-1431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haemi Kim ◽  
Hailin Qu

Purpose This paper aims to study how the negative spiral of incivility from customers to employees happens by measuring the mediating effect of employees’ burnout. Moreover, it investigates how to mitigate the detrimental influences of customer incivility by assessing the moderating effect of employees’ emotional intelligence. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional questionnaire survey using MTurk was conducted, targeting full-service restaurant employees. Descriptive statistic, confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling and hierarchical multiple regression analysis were applied. Findings The results presented that there is a direct relationship between customer incivility and employee incivility toward customers and coworkers. Additionally, employees’ burnout significantly mediates the relationship between customer incivility and employee incivility. Moreover, it presented the significant moderating effect of employees’ emotional intelligence on the relationship between customer incivility and employee incivility. Research limitations/implications Experiences of customer incivility during a service encounter directly trigger employee incivility. Moreover, customer incivility indirectly leads to employee incivility by increasing employees’ burnout. In addition, employees’ emotional intelligence mitigates a negative spiral of incivility from customers to employees. However, this study has limitations that provide suggestions for future research. Originality/value This research shows how customer incivility causes employee incivility in the workplace. It also shows a significant moderating role of employees’ emotional intelligence to mitigate the influence of customer incivility on employee incivility.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 687-707
Author(s):  
Syed Jamal Shah ◽  
Syed Asad Ali Shah ◽  
Rizwan Ullah ◽  
Adnan Muhammad Shah

Purpose With a foundation in the conservation of resource theory, this paper aims to examine the validity of a conceptual model that explains the mechanism connecting perceived threat of terrorism to production deviance. The link between perceived threat of terrorism and production deviance was examined via emotional exhaustion. Notably, the study evaluated whether the relationship between perceived threat of terrorism and production deviance is mediated by emotional exhaustion and moderated by levels of emotional intelligence. Design/methodology/approach The study is cross-sectional in nature and data were collected from 432 pharmaceutical sales representatives who operate outdoors in the high-risk region. Two-step approach consisting confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling was used for analysis. To examine conditional direct and indirect effects, the authors used model 8 in PROCESS. Findings Results were consistent with prediction made from the conceptual model in that emotional exhaustion partially mediated the relationship between perceived threat of terrorism and production deviance. This was particularly the case when emotional intelligence was low, but not when high. Likewise, perceived threat of terrorism exerted a direct effect on production deviance when emotional intelligence was low, but not when high. Originality/value The study is the first to examine the relationship between perceived threat of terrorism and production deviance. Moreover, no study to date has examined the mediating role of emotional exhaustion between perceived threat of terrorism and production deviance. Finally, up till now, it is unknown that emotional intelligence moderates the relationship of perceived threat of terrorism with emotional exhaustion and production deviance.


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 1154-1184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Chen ◽  
Judy Drennan ◽  
Lynda Andrews ◽  
Linda D. Hollebeek

PurposeThis paper aims to propose user experience sharing (UES) as a customer-based initiation of value co-creation pertaining to service provision, which represents customers’ level of effort made for the direct benefit of others in their service network. The authors propose and empirically examine a user experience sharing model (UESM) that explicates customer-to-customer (C2C) UES and its impacts on firm-desired customer-based outcomes in online communities.Design/methodology/ApproachBased on an extensive review, the authors conceptualize UES and UESM. By using online survey data collected from mobile app users in organic online communities, the authors performed structural equation modeling analyses by using AMOS 24.FindingsThe results support the proposed UESM, showing that C2C UES acts as a key driver of both firm-desired customer efforts and customer insights. The results also confirmed that service-dominant (S-D) logic-informed motivational drivers exert a significant impact on C2C UES. Importantly, C2C UES mediates the relationship between S-D logic-informed motivational drivers and firm-desired customer-based outcomes.Originality/valueThis study offers a pioneering attempt to develop an overarching concept, UES, which reflects customers’ initiation of value co-creation, and to empirically examine C2C UES. The empirical evidence supports the key contention that firms should proactively facilitate C2C UES.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Halil Erdem Akoglu ◽  
Oğuz Özbek

PurposeAdopting the brand resonance approach, this research aimed to reveal the effect of emotional (perceived quality) and rational (brand trust) factors between brand experience and brand loyalty.Design/methodology/approachThis article uses the brand resonance model to examine the above-mentioned relationship. The sample of the study consisted of 385 sports consumers between the ages of 18 and 65 years. An online survey was used to collect data and surveys were delivered to sports consumers via social media. Using SmartPLS 3.0 software, a partial least squares structural equation modeling analysis was conducted in this study.FindingsThe results support the hypotheses and demonstrate the importance of quality and trust in building customer loyalty for companies in the sports industry. Brand experience has a positive direct effect on perceived quality, brand trust and brand loyalty. It has been revealed that there is an important intermediary role of perceived quality and brand trust that manages the relationship between customers' brand experience and brand loyalty.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study are essential for brands that want to develop and are included in the sports industry in the online shopping environment, which increases with the development of technology to create long-term loyalty in customers.Originality/valueIt reveals two mediating roles in the relationship between brand experience and brand loyalty, namely perceived quality and brand trust. These research results help to understand the processes of shaping the loyalty of sports consumers towards sports brands. Unlike previous studies, it examines this relationship in the sports industry by adding new mediator variables and contributes to the development of the model.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaveh Asiaei ◽  
Zabihollah Rezaee ◽  
Nick Bontis ◽  
Omid Barani ◽  
Noor Sharoja Sapiei

Purpose The pivotal role of knowledge management (KM) and its extensive implications have been debated in the academic literature with insufficient focus on its link to particular organizational control mechanisms such as performance measurement systems (PMS). To bridge this gap and building on resource orchestration theory, this paper aims to investigate the relationships between KM factors, PMS and corporate performance. Design/methodology/approach Based on a survey data set of 92 listed companies in Iran, the framework and hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) based on partial least squares (PLS). Findings The SEM-PLS results indicate that knowledge assets are significantly associated with both PMS and corporate performance while knowledge process capabilities (KPC) are not significantly associated with PMS and corporate performance. This study also shows that PMS mediates the relationship between knowledge assets and corporate performance. Practical implications The results suggest that the use of appropriate management control systems plays an effective role in synchronizing, aligning and orchestrating a company’s various knowledge resources, which, in turn, can lead to superior overall performance. Originality/value Building on a unique synthesis of resource orchestration theory and the knowledge-based view of the firm, the results of this study provide the first empirical evidence on how PMS intervenes in the relationship between knowledge resources (knowledge assets and KPC) and corporate performance.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Smarty P. Mukundan ◽  
Dhanya M.

Purpose Psychological constructs like emotional labor, emotional intelligence etc. are gaining importance now to understand employee outcomes such as job satisfaction in a health care setting. The study aims to investigate the relationship between Surface Acting (SA) an emotional labor strategy, and Job satisfaction, and the moderating effect of Emotional intelligence (EI) among practicing nurses. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected data through self-reporting questionnaires administered to a sample of 141 nurses working in multi-specialty hospitals in a prominent city in India and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings A negative relationship was found between surface acting and job satisfaction but was found positive when EI was introduced as a moderator. Research limitations/implications The respondent population was females only and diversity in terms of gender was not obtained. Practical implications The study finds significant practical and theoretical contributions to the primary caregivers in a health care setting. It helps to understand the interplay of emotions in this job and use EI as an internal resource to mitigate the harmful effects of continued SA emotional labor strategy to job satisfaction. Social implications It gains a better understanding of the emotion-related parameters in the nursing profession and gives inputs to the community. It throws light on how internal resources can be used for better job satisfaction which in turn leads to better quality care in the health care industry. Originality/value Extant literature has been discussing SA as a negative strategy for positive employee outcomes, but the present study gives insights on how this can be mitigated by using EI as a resource.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Morteza Taheri ◽  
Sharareh Motealleh ◽  
Jalil Younesi

Purpose Past research shows that workplace fun has a positive effect on informal learning, however, the role of individual and organizational mediating variables in this relation has not been studied much. This study aims to examine the role of management support, motivation to learn and learning opportunity in the relationship between workplace fun and informal learning. Design/methodology/approach In this multivariate correlation study, data were collected through questionnaires. In total, 200 employees of the petrochemical industry participated. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings The main finding suggests that motivation to learn contributes to informal learning. Fun in the workplace has a positive and significant indirect effect on informal learning by providing a variety of opportunities to learn; the management support in the final model also mediates the relationship between workplace fun and opportunities to learn. Practical implications The results indicate the benefits of creating and maintaining fun in the workplace to improve informal learning. The authors will be better able to advise by providing abundant resources for formal training such as time, learning climate and financial resources, workplace fun can be used as a practical strategy to promote informal learning where the workplace is fun, innovation, creativity and performance improvement occur. Managers should make arrangements to spontaneously motivate employees to learn informally and provide fun and varied opportunities for informal learning. Originality/value In this study, the multiple correlations and the effect of motivation variables, learning opportunity and management support in the relationship between workplace fun and informal learning were studied. Examining how these relationships are and identifying the moderator of this relationship because of individual and environmental differences requires further studies.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahnoor Zahid ◽  
Hina Naeem ◽  
Iqra Aftab ◽  
Sajawal Ali Mughal

Purpose The purpose of this study is to scrutinize the effect of corporate social responsibility activities (CSRA) of the firm on its financial performance (FP) and analyze the mediating role of innovation and competitive advantage (CA) in the relationship between CSRA and FP in the manufacturing sector of an emerging country, i.e. Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach Data has been collected through an electronic structured questionnaire from 300 middle-level and top-level managers by surveying different manufacturing firms of Gujranwala, Pakistan. The study’s hypotheses have been checked by analyzing the reliability and validity of data and applying confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling through statistical package for the social sciences and analysis of moment structures. Findings Outcomes of this study supported the hypothesized model. It has been found that the CSRA plays a significant positive role in determining the FP of the firm. Furthermore, the CA and innovation have been proved as significant mediators between CSRA and FP. Originality/value The first time examining the intermediation of innovation and CA in the relationship between CSRA and FP is the primary input of this study to the literature. Practically, this study’s findings will help strategy makers of manufacturing firms in emerging countries develop better strategies for implementing CSRA, enhancing innovation, seeking CA and improving FP.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismail Badraoui ◽  
Ivo van der Lans ◽  
Youssef Boulaksil ◽  
Jack G.A.J. van der Vorst

PurposeThis study investigates the impact of agri-food supply chains (AFSCs) characteristics on the antecedents of horizontal logistics collaboration (HLC). Specifically, the study compares the relationship between collaboration activities and outcomes for companies in and outside AFSCs.Design/methodology/approachFirst, a survey was used to collect data from different industries. Second, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were applied to compare the measurement and structural models from different industry categories.FindingsThe results support the premise that collaboration improves trust and commitment in the relationship, which in turn enhance satisfaction. The results also show the existence of a minor influence of AFSCs characteristics on HLC antecedents, in the form of an indirect impact of dedicated investments on commitment.Practical implicationsThe factors having a significant influence on the collaboration outcomes and their respective effects are generally similar across food and nonfood supply chains, providing opportunities for interdisciplinary and collaboration experiences.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the body of knowledge on interfirm collaboration by considering the specificities of HLC. It also highlights the importance of conducting contingency research on collaborative experiences, as firms from different industry contexts operate under distinct operational conditions.


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