PurposeThe purpose of the study is to explore empirically the consequences of knowledge hiding at the individual level and from the knowledge hiding committers' perspective. Hence, in line with ...agency theory and prior literature on knowledge hiding, the study investigates the associations between different facets of knowledge hiding and individual-level job performance, as well as the mediating role of employee well-being in the associations.Design/methodology/approachStructural equation modeling was used to analyze multisource survey data from a sample of 214 employees and 34 immediate supervisors, in a professional services company in Finland.FindingsEvasive hiding was found to be negatively associated with in-role job performance and positively associated with innovative job performance. Playing dumb was found to be positively associated with in-role job performance. Finally, even though the association between rationalized hiding and innovative job performance was found to be positive, it was found to be of a smaller magnitude when employee well-being was taken into account.Practical implicationsForceful unhealthy competition and exploitative and workaholic cultures are discussed to reduce knowledge hiding behavior among employees and their negative consequences.Originality/valueThe study highlights the paradox of managing organizational knowledge. In line with agency theory, we advocate that while knowledge sharing is one of the major assets of organizational welfare from the organizational perspective, it may resonate with the employee's perspective. Consequently, unless employees' self-interest and organizational interests are aligned, the paradox of managing organizational knowledge arises, and the classic agency problem occurs.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an important topic in business literature and strategy talk. Yet, much of this literature is normative and conceptual in nature. How organizational members ...perceive AI and the job role changes that come with it is, so far, largely unknown territory for both HR scholars and practitioners. We sought to investigate the relationship between humans and AI and conducted an in‐depth exploratory study into the co‐existence of humans and two early‐stage AI‐solutions, one for “low‐status” automation and another for “high‐status”; augmentation. We suggest that different organizational groups may engage in distinctly different sensemaking processes regarding AI, an important insight for successful HRM strategies when AI is being introduced into the workplace. Moreover, contrary to recent conceptual work, our findings indicate that AI‐enabled automation and augmentation solutions may not be detached from nor exist in tension with each other. They are deeply embedded in organizational processes and workflows for which people who co‐exist with the technologies must take ownership. Our findings, in part, go against discussions on AI “taking over” jobs or deskilling humans. We describe a more nuanced version of reality fluctuating around the various ways different organizational groups encounter different AI‐solutions in their daily work. Finally, our study warns against unconditional technological enthusiasm, managerial ignorance of the nature of work that employees undertake in different organizational groups, and a neglect of the time and effort required to successfully implement AI‐solutions that affect not only the home organization but also members of the broader ecosystem.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the associations between the skill-, motivation- and opportunity-enhancing dimensions of human resource (HR) practices and in-role and innovative job ...performance. Furthermore, it considers the mediating effects of psychological, physical and social employee well-being on these associations.
Design/methodology/approach
Structural equation modeling was utilized to analyze multi-source survey data from a sample of 300 employees and 34 immediate supervisors in a professional service company in Finland.
Findings
The results indicate that whereas physical and social employee well-being partially mediate the association between skill- and opportunity-enhancing HR practices and in-role job performance, psychological employee well-being partially mediates the association between motivation-enhancing HR practices and innovative job performance.
Research limitations/implications
Given its cross-sectional nature, the authors cannot completely exclude the possibility of common method bias influencing the study results. The authors thus call for longitudinal research to examine the nature of causality within the associations analyzed in the study.
Originality/value
This study does not support the notion of trade-offs between HR practices, employee well-being and employee performance. Instead, it illustrates that even though different dimensions of HR practices enhance different dimensions of employee well-being, which, in turn, increase different types of employee performance, the different dimensions of HR practices work in the same direction and do not generate any unintended consequences in terms of reduced employee physical well-being.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between leadership development practices and the following employee attitudes: affective commitment, commitment to acceptance of ...increasing performance demands and commitment to building competencies. Building on social exchange theory, the study seeks to reveal whether affective commitment mediates the relationship between leadership development practices and both commitment to acceptance of increasing performance demands and commitment to building competencies.
Design/methodology/approach
– Structural equation modelling was utilized to analyse survey data representing a sample of 332 high-potential employees in eight Nordic multinational corporations.
Findings
– The study findings show that by means of affective commitment, organizations can expect an induced commitment to acceptance of increasing performance demands as well as an induced commitment to building relevant competencies among employees who engage in leadership development practices.
Research limitations/implications
– Given the cross-sectional nature of the study, future research is encouraged to look into how the relationship between leadership development practices and employee attitudes evolves over time.
Originality/value
– The study provides insights into the underlying processes by which leadership development practices become reflected in desired employee attitudes. It offers a useful point for future efforts to explore the impact of human resource management (HRM) on employees and organizations through various mediators with the purpose of establishing the current trends within HRM and avoiding tensions in future.
We offer a critical inquiry into the faltering entry of an anthropomorphised AI (ro)bot, an algorithm without physical or visual form, into the workplace in a media consultancy company. While living ...a digital life in the virtual world, the ro(bot) was given a human name. We highlight the unexpected consequences the humanisation of an early form of artificial intelligence (AI) has on the affects circulating between people and the new technology and between members of different organisational groups. We argue that anthropomorphising technologies such as AI influences the affective life of organisations and amplifies existing discontent between organisational members, complicating the introduction of the technology. Focusing on human–AI interaction, our analysis reveals a rift between managers who are excited and hopeful about the future capabilities of AI and employees who are frustrated and angry about its present shortcomings. We conclude that collective affects play a central role in contemporary technology-driven organisations in which the role people play in relation to the avalanche of AI technologies is often neglected.
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the evolving patterns and challenges of talent management (TM) in the emerging markets of Russia and Kazakhstan from the employer perspective. ...Increasing the understanding of how TM is recognized from the employer perspective may better equip us to address how to effectively manage and lead the available talents in these and other emerging markets.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a qualitative study comprising 50 semi-structured interviews, with 37 business leaders from Russian subsidiaries, and 13 from Kazakh subsidiaries, in all cases of Nordic Multinational enterprises (MNEs).FindingsThe study supports the object approach to TM in the emerging markets of Russia and Kazakhstan. The authors reveal that the exclusive and developable talent philosophy is predominant in these emerging markets, where TM faces the challenges of fierce competition for talents and an insufficient supply, so business leaders tend to be reluctant to inform employees of their talent pool membership. The results demonstrate that MNEs do not act independently of context, thus supporting calls for consideration of the local institutional context.Originality/valueTM is still a somewhat novel idea in many emerging economies, and challenges related to managing talents are believed to be far more complex in such settings. Furthermore, to the best of authors’ knowledge, no studies have investigated the notion of talent and TM conceptualization in the emerging markets from an employer perspective.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the responses of employees, who are identified as talents by their multinational enterprises, in regards to leadership development activities. By ...applying social exchange and expectancy theories, the authors examine the association between talent identification, perceived effectiveness of leadership development activities, willingness to participate in those activities and actual participation in them.
Design/methodology/approach
– The data were collected through a web-based questionnaire entitled “Leadership2020 Talent Survey”. Eight multinational enterprises joined the survey and delivered a sample based on the target group definition.
Findings
– The analysis shows that perceived effectiveness of leadership development activities is positively associated with willingness of employees to undertake those activities. The results also reveal that there is no significant association between the employees’ willingness to participate in leadership development activities and their actual participation in those activities.
Research limitations/implications
– Given its cross-sectional nature, the authors cannot completely exclude the possibility of common method bias having impact on the results of this study. The authors thus call for longitudinal research to examine the nature of causality within the relationships analyzed in this study.
Practical implications
– Managers and practitioners should keep in mind that willingness to participate in leadership development activities does not always result in actual participation of employees in those activities. Symbolic representations may be very different from representations in real-life situations. Investigations that rely on the willingness as a proxy for actual behaviour must thus be interpreted with caution.
Originality/value
– The authors found that employees often fail to act in accordance with their stated eagerness. According to the findings, there is a clear discrepancy between expressed willingness to implement certain behaviour and its actual implementation. This study poses a strong bias in overestimating the likelihood that an employee will engage in a desirable behaviour based on his/her willingness to do so.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the role of talent management (TM) in strategic renewal. Furthermore, the authors extend the existing knowledge on the process of TM implementation ...by underlining particular activities, which are involved in this process during strategic renewal.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors report a qualitative study of a TM program in a Finnish–Swedish Multinational corporation undergoing major strategic renewal. The data consist of 46 semi-structured interviews and secondary data.
Findings
The role of TM in the context of strategic renewal is to provide the conditions for the self-initiation and identification of potential change agents and for the development of the talented employees to perform in their roles of change agent. In the context of strategic renewal, TM process consists of identification of key projects to address critical business opportunities and challenges, the identification of talented employees to execute them, and the identification and creation of key positions.
Research limitations/implications
The authors encourage scholars to explore the empirical settings characterized by change and unpredictability in more detail, and thus examine the role of talented employees and TM in other specific contexts. Future studies are also encouraged to study other cultural settings and examine to what degree the process of TM implementation may positively influence attitudes and behaviors of talented employees and, consequently, the overall organizational performance.
Practical implications
This study offers practical advice for top management and HR managers. First, the process of TM implementation during strategic renewal should start with the identification of “must-win-battles” that can have a more profound impact on change. Furthermore, top management should allow and enable motivated potential talented employees to volunteer for the job of aiding company-wide changes. Next, top management should provide the talented employees with the space to come up with novel ideas and conceive new business opportunities. Finally, the importance of transparent and spot-on evaluation criteria should be emphasized.
Originality/value
The study contributes to advancing our understanding of TM and strategic management in practice.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to enhance the theoretical and empirical understanding of the process through which talent management (TM) practice effectiveness impacts high-potential ...employees’ commitment to leadership competence development.
Design/methodology/approach
Structural equation modelling was utilized to analyse survey data representing a sample of 439 high-potential employees from 11 Finnish multinational corporations.
Findings
First, the authors found that the more high-potential employees perceived TM practices to be effective, the more they were committed towards leadership competence development. Next, the findings revealed that the association between TM practice effectiveness and commitment to leadership competence development operates by means of psychological contract fulfilment. Finally, the authors found that female employees possessed a stronger reaction to the effectiveness of TM practices by demonstrating higher levels of commitment to leadership competence development than male employees.
Originality/value
This study supports social exchange theory, which postulates that when organizations invest in their employees, the employees are likely to reciprocate these corporate investments in positive ways. The findings indicate that TM practices may help high-potential employees to make sense of their employment relationship and communicate to employees those attitudes and behaviours that organizations value. The authors thus advocate that in order to have the desired effect, such as for instance the increased commitment to leadership competence development, it is crucial for organizations to invest in those TM practices that are perceived as effective by employees.
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