Forced shift to teleworking: how abusive supervision promotes counterproductive work behavior when employees experience COVID-19 corporate social responsibility
Journal of Organizational Change Management
ISSN: 0953-4814
Article publication date: 16 January 2024
Issue publication date: 6 February 2024
Abstract
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated teleworking, which inadvertently led to an impaired communication between supervisors and employees, resulting in abusive supervision. Drawing on the conservation of resources (COR) theory and the social identity theory, this study aims to address this negative association by examining the mediating role of state mindfulness and the moderating role of COVID-19 corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the relationship between abusive supervision and counterproductive work behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
This research employs both qualitative and quantitative research designs. Data collection involved an experimental design with 117 participants (Study 1), a cross-sectional survey with 243 participants (Study 2) and semi-structured interviews with 24 full-time employees (Study 3).
Findings
The results reveal that state mindfulness acts as a mediator in the positive relationship between abusive supervision and counterproductive work behaviors (CWB). Furthermore, COVID-19 CSR mitigates the relationship between abusive supervision and CWB within the organization, but not with the supervisor. Additionally, COVID-19 CSR moderates the impact of abusive supervision on state mindfulness.
Practical implications
The results emphasize the crucial role of CSR when employees encounter abusive supervision during the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizations and managers should adopt appropriate strategies to enhance employees' perception of CSR. Prioritizing the cultivation of state mindfulness is also recommended, and organizations can provide short-term mindfulness training to improve employees' state mindfulness.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the understanding of abusive supervision and CWB in the context of forced teleworking.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province (YQ2021G004), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (72131005), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities in Harbin Institute of Technology.
Since submission of this article, the following author(s) have updated their affiliations: Yushu Wang is at the Northeastern University, Shenyang, China; Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao, Qinhuangdao, China.
Citation
Liang, Y., Wu, T.-J. and Wang, Y. (2024), "Forced shift to teleworking: how abusive supervision promotes counterproductive work behavior when employees experience COVID-19 corporate social responsibility", Journal of Organizational Change Management, Vol. 37 No. 1, pp. 192-213. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-03-2023-0091
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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