Psychological Researches in Management

Psychological Researches in Management

Investigating the impact of challenging and hindrance stressors on the innovative behavior of employees with the mediating role of work engagement

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Abbasali Rastgar 1
Hooshmand Bagheri Garbollagh 2
Razie Zakoei 3
1 Professor, Department of Economics, Management and Administrative Sciences, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran.
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Economics and Management, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran.
3 MSc. Student., Department of Economics, Management and Administrative Sciences, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran.
10.22034/jom.2024.2020677.1134
Abstract
Purpose: As one of the characteristics of the organization, work stress will affect the psychological state of employees and cause them to behave differently from the non-stress situation. Challenging stressors refer to the stressors that employees consider useful concerning work experience to create opportunities for personal growth. A hindrance stressor is a stressor that interferes with or hinders an individual’s ability to achieve valuable goals. Work stress refers to all types of pressures that are perceived by employees to significantly affect the development of an individual’s career in a work setting. Stress is the result of unmet needs, and due to their ability to cope with stress, different individuals have different stress experiences when individuals are in a state of imbalance between demand and capacity. Nowadays, emotional exhaustion, job burnout, and job performance are regarded as the results of job stress. In this regard, the main goal of the current research is to investigate the impact of challenging and hindrance stressors on the innovative behavior of employees with the mediating role of work engagement.
 
Design/Methodology/Approach: The research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive in terms of method, and according to the population of 400 people based on Morgan's table, the data was collected from a sample of 196 employees of Zal Iranian Company in Tehran. Sampling was done in a simple random way, and the information was obtained using the method of library studies and questionnaires. To analyze the collected data, the structural equation model was used, which includes confirmatory factor analysis, structural models, path analysis, and multiple regressions.  Also, the questionnaire was used to collect data, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to analyze data. PLS-SEM is suitable for building exploratory theory studies that identify the drivers of a construct. PLS-SEM is suitable for testing the proposed hypotheses, and the proposed framework of the current study promotes the construction of exploratory theory instead of theory testing. Finally, the current study adopted Kaiser, Mayer, and Olkin's sampling adequacy criterion and Bartlett's test regarding the appropriateness of the sample size for factor analysis. The amount of sig was calculated to be less than 5% and the KMO index was 0.785, and the number for this index shows the adequacy of sampling to perform exploratory factor analysis.
 
Findings: The results showed that challenging stressors have a positive and significant effect on the innovative behavior of employees through the mediation of work engagement.  Hindrance stressors have a negative and significant effect on the innovative behavior of employees through the mediation of work engagement. Challenging stressors have a positive and significant effect on the innovative behavior of employees. Hindrance stressors have a negative and significant effect on the innovative behavior of employees. Work engagement has a positive and significant effect on the innovative behavior of employees. Challenging stressors have a positive and significant effect on work engagement. Hindrance stressors have a negative and significant effect on work engagement.
 
Discussion and Conclusion: Challenging stressors can promote the generation of innovative ideas and behaviors of employees, and then improve employees’ innovation performance, that is, challenging stressors have a positive influence on innovation performance. Also, this study enriches the existing literature by identifying the impact of stressors on employee innovation behavior and has certain practical significance for optimizing the management of enterprises and improving employee innovation behavior. In management practice, managers should pay more attention to employees’ challenge-hindrance stressors, reasonably set challenging tasks for employees, ensure sufficient task complexity, and challenge expectations for employees.
Keywords
Challenging stressor
Hindrance stressor
Innovative behavior of employees
Work engagement

Subjects

  1. اخوان­راد­، مهسا، جعفرزاده، سحر، و جعفرزاده، سجاد (1402). تعادل کار، زندگی و رفتار نوآورانه با نقش میانجی تعلق خاطر شغلی. نهمین کنفرانس بین­المللی علوم مدیریت و حسابداری، تهران. https://civilica.com/doc/1671313
  2. اصلانی، فرشید، و رجبی، فاطمه (۱۴۰۰). پیشبرد نوآوری از طریق مشارکت: رهبری چندگانه در شیوه‌های نوآوری کارمندمحور کارکنان آموزس پرورش شاهین‏شهر. پیشرفت‌های نوین در روانشناسی، علوم تربیتی و آموزش و پرورش، 4(38)، 170-181. doi.org/10.22034/JHRS.2023.362169.1986
  3. الحسینی ­المدرسی، سیدمهدی، و فیروزکوهی برنج‌آبادی، مجید (1396). تحلیل رابطۀ تاب­آوری با ابعاد عجین شدن با شغل. مطالعات مدیریت بهبود و تحول، 25(83)، 1-24. doi.org/10.22054/jmsd.2017.7476
  4. رستگار، عباسعلی، باقری قره‏بلاغ، هوشمند، و دیانی، حامد (1401). بررسی تأثیر استرس­های محل کار سیار بر رفتار نوآورانۀ کارکنان با توجه به میانجی­گری عجین ­شدن با شغل و تعارض کار - خانواده (مورد مطالعه: بیمارستان کوثر شهر سمنان). فصلنامۀ مدیریت پرستاری، ۱۱(۳)، 61-49. ijnv.ir/article-1-958-en.html
  5. رستگار، عباسعلی، ملکی مین­باش­رزگاه، مرتضی، باقری­قره­بلاغ، هوشمند، و عین­علی، محسن (1401). عملکرد نوآورانه: واکاوی نقش قابلیت­های زیرساختی و عجین شدن با شغل بر تطبیق­پذیری شغلی و رفتار نوآورانۀ کارکنان وزارت ورزش و جوانان. چشم انداز مدیریت دولتی، 13(1)، 161-176. doi.org/10.52547/jpap.2021.221883.1062
  6. فروغی سوها، فردین، زند عموقین، فرح­روز، و تقوی، آذر (1401). مدل‌سازی تأثیر فرهنگ اخلاقی و جو سازمانی بر دلبستگی شغلی با میانجی تعهد سازمانی. پژوهش­های روانشناختی در مدیریت، 8(1)، 71-100. doi.org/20.1001.1.24764833.1401.8.1.3.1
  7. محمدی، سارا و محمدی، نرگس (1401). تحلیل ساختاری اثر استرس شغلی بر کیفیت زندگی کاری و سلامت سازمانی با توجه به نقش میانجی رفتار شهروندی و نقش تعدیل‌گر وضعیت استخدام (مورد مطالعه: کارکنان بیمارستان­های آموزشی وابسته به دانشگاه علوم پزشکی جندی شاپور اهواز). سلامت کار ایران. ۱۹(۱)، ۱۵۱-۱۶۶. ioh.iums.ac.ir/article-1-3291-fa.html

References

  1. Akhwan Rad, M., Jafarzadeh, S., & Jafarzadeh, S. (2023). Work-life balance and innovative behavior with the mediating role of occupational attachment. 9th International Conference on Management and Accounting Sciences, Tehran. civilica.com/doc/1671313 (In Persian)
  2. Alhosseini Almodarresi, M., & Firouzkouhi Berenjabadi, M. (2017). Analysis of Relationship Between resilience with Dimensions of Work Engagement. Management Studies in Development and Evolution, 25(83), 1-24. doi.org/10.22054/jmsd.2017.7476 (In Persian)
  3. Aslani, F., & Rajabi, F. (2021). Advancing innovation through participation: Multiple leadership in employee-centered innovation practices of Shahin Shahr education staff. Recent Advances in Psychology, Educational Sciences and Education, 4(38), 170-181. doi.org/10.22034/JHRS.2023.362169.1986 (In Persian)
  4. Chughtai, A.A., & Buckley, F. (2011). Work engagement: Antecedents, the mediating role of learning goal orientation and job performance. Career Development International, 16(7), 684-705. org/10.1108/13620431111187290
  5. Crawford, E.R., LePine, J.A., & Rich, B.L. (2010). Linking job demands and resources to employee engagement and burnout: a theoretical extension and meta-analytic test. Journal of applied psychology, 95(5), 834. doi.org/10.1037/a0019364
  6. Ding, K., Li, J., Bhanushali, R., & Liu, H. (2019, May). Deep anomaly detection on attributed networks. In Proceedings of the 2019 SIAM International Conference on Data Mining (pp. 594-602). Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.‏ org/10.1137/1.9781611975673.67
  7. Foroghi Sooha, F., Zandamoghin, F., & Taghavi, A. (2022). Modeling the effect of ethical culture and organizational climate on job attachment mediated by organizational commitment. Psychological Researches in Management, 8(1), 71-100. doi.org/1001.1.24764833.1401.8.1.3.1 (In Persian)
  8. Gorgievski, M.J., Moriano, J.A., & Bakker, A.B. (2014). Relating work engagement and workaholism to entrepreneurial performance. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 29(2), 106-121. doi.org/10.1108/JMP-06-2012-0169
  9. Hernandez, M., & Guarana, C. L. (2018). An examination of the temporal intricacies of job engagement. Journal of Management, 44(5), 1711-1735.‏ org/10.1177/0149206315622573
  10. Hulland, J. (1999). Use of partial least squares (PLS) in strategic management research: A review of four recent studies. Strategic management journal, 20(2), 195-204.‏org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199902)20:2<195: AID-SMJ13>3.0.CO;2-7
  11. Jannesari, M.T., & Sullivan, S.E. (2022). Leaving on a jet plane? The effect of challenge–hindrance stressors, emotional resilience and cultural novelty on self-initiated expatriates' decision to exit China. Personnel Review, 51(1), 118-136. doi.org/10.1108/PR-05-2020-0362
  12. Jiayi, S., Lanxia, Z., & Liangting, Z. (2020). Mechanism of work-family dual conflict affects innovative behavior of knowledge workers. Management Review, 32(3), 215. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.796201
  13. Kanter, R. M. (2009). When a thousand flowers bloom: Structural, collective, and social conditions for innovation in organizations. In Knowledge management and organisational design(pp. 93-131). Routledge.‏ org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1014195
  14. Kim, M. S., & Koo, D. W. (2017). Linking LMX, engagement, innovative behavior, and job performance in hotel employees. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 29(12), 3044-3062.‏ org/10.1108/IJCHM-06-2016-0319
  15. Ko, S.H., Choi, Y., Rhee, S.Y., & Moon, T.W. (2018). Social capital and organizational citizenship behavior: Double-mediation of emotional regulation and job engagement. Sustainability, 10(10), 3600. doi.org/10.3390/su10103600
  16. Lee, H., Kim, J. M., & Han, J. W. (2017). Impact of job rotation stress in nurses on psychological well-being: focusing on mediating effect of challenge assessment and hindrance assessment. Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial Cooperation Society, 18(10), 373-381. doi.org/10.5762/KAIS.2017.18.10.373
  17. Lesener, T., Gusy, B., & Wolter, C. (2019). The job demands-resources model: A meta-analytic review of longitudinal studies. Work & Stress, 33(1), 76-103. doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2018.1529065
  18. Liu, X., Huang, Y., Kim, J., & Na, S. (2023). How ethical leadership cultivates innovative work behaviors in employees? Psychological safety, work engagement and openness to experience. Sustainability, 15(4), 3452. doi.org/10.3390/su15043452
  19. Mazzola, J. J., & Disselhorst, R. (2019). Should we be “challenging” employees? A critical review and meta‐analysis of the challenge‐hindrance model of stress.Journal of Organizational Behavior, 40(8), 949-961.‏ org/10.1002/job.2412
  20. Mohammadi, S., & Mohammadi, N. (2022). Structural analysis of the effect of job stress on quality of work life and organizational health according to the mediating role of citizenship behavior and the moderating role of employment status (Case study: employees of teaching hospitals affiliated to Ahvaz Jondishapur University of Medical Sciences). Iran Occupational Health, 19(1), 151-166.‏ ‎iums.ac.ir/article-1-3291-fa.html (In Persian)
  21. Montani, F., & Staglianò, R. (2022). Innovation in times of pandemic: The moderating effect of knowledge sharing on the relationship between COVID‐19‐induced job stress and employee innovation. R&D Management, 52(2), 193-205. doi.org/10.1111/radm.12457
  22. Montani, F., Vandenberghe, C., Khedhaouria, A., & Courcy, F. (2020). Examining the inverted U-shaped relationship between workload and innovative work behavior: The role of work engagement and mindfulness. Human Relations, 73(1), 59-93. doi.org/10.1177/0018726718819055
  23. O'Brien, K. E., & Beehr, T. A. (2019). So far, so good: Up to now, the challenge–hindrance framework describes a practical and accurate distinction. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 40(8), 962-972.‏ org/10.1002/job.2405
  24. Qi, L., Liu, B., Wei, X., & Hu, Y. (2019). Impact of inclusive leadership on employee innovative behavior: Perceived organizational support as a mediator. PloS one, 14(2), e0212091. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0212091
  25. Rastgar, A.A., Maleki Minbashrazgah, M., Bagheri Garbollagh, H., & Eynali, M. (2022). Innovative Performance: Examining the Role of Infrastructure Capability and of Job Engagement on the Job Adaptability and Behavioral Innovation of Ministry of Sports and Youth Staff. Public Administration Perspective, 13(1), 161-176. doi.org/10.52547/jpap.2021.221883.1062 (In Persian)
  26. , A, Bagheri Garbollagh, H., & Dayani., H. (2022). Investigating the Impact of Mobile Workplace Stress on the Employee Innovative Behavior of with Regard to Mediation Work Engagement and Work-Family Conflict (Case Study: Employees of Kausar Hospital in Semnan). Quarterly journal of nursing management, 11(3), 49-61. ijnv.ir/article-1-958-en.html (In Persian)
  27. Rhee, C., Dantes, R., Epstein, L., Murphy, D. J., Seymour, C. W., Iwashyna, T. J., & CDC Prevention Epicenter Program. (2017). Incidence and trends of sepsis in US hospitals using clinical vs claims data, 2009-2014. Jama, 318(13), 1241-1249.‏ org/10.1001/jama.2017.13836
  28. Rosen, Z., Weinberger-Litman, S. L., Rosenzweig, C., Rosmarin, D. H., Muennig, P., Carmody, E. R., & Litman, L. (2020). Anxiety and distress among the first community quarantined in the US due to COVID-19: Psychological implications for the unfolding crisis.‏ Journal of voice, 22(4), 472-488. org/10.1891/JCPSY-D-20-00039
  29. Schaufeli, W. B. (2017). Applying the Job Demands-Resources model: A ‘how to’guide to measuring and tackling work engagement and burnout. Organizational dynamics, 46(2), 120-132.‏ org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2017.04.008
  30. Su, W., Lin, X., & Ding, H. (2019). The influence of supervisor developmental feedback on employee innovative behavior: a moderated mediation model. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 1581. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01581
  31. Sun, Y., Wu, L., & Jeyaraj, A. (2022). Moderating role of enterprise social media use in work engagement. Information Processing & Management, 59(1), 102793. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2021.102793.
  32. Sun, Z., Bebis, G., & Miller, R. (2006). On-road vehicle detection: A review. IEEE transactions on pattern analysis and machine intelligence, 28(5), 694-711.‏ org/10.1109/TPAMI.2006.104
  33. Syrek, C.J., Kühnel, J., Vahle-Hinz, T., & De Bloom, J. (2018). Share, like, twitter, and connect: Ecological momentary assessment to examine the relationship between non-work social media use at work and work engagement. Work & Stress, 32(3), 209-227. doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2017.1367736
  34. Van Wingerden, J., & Poell, R. F. (2019). Meaningful work and resilience among teachers: The mediating role of work engagement and job crafting. PloS one, 14(9), e0222518.‏ org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222518
  35. Vila-Vázquez, G., Castro-Casal, C., Álvarez-Pérez, D., & del Río-Araújo, L. (2018). Promoting the sustainability of organizations: Contribution of transformational leadership to job engagement. Sustainability, 10(11), 4109. doi.org/10.3390/su10114109
  36. Wang, X., Zhang, Z., & Chun, D. (2022). How does mobile workplace stress affect employee innovative behavior? The role of work–family conflict and employee engagement. Behavioral Sciences, 12(1), 2. org/10.3390/bs12010002
  37. Wu, H., Qiu, S., Dooley, L.M., & Ma, C. (2020). The relationship between challenge and hindrance stressors and emotional exhaustion: The moderating role of perceived servant leadership. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(1), 282. doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17010282
  38. Yang, T., Ma, M., Zhu, M., Liu, Y., Chen, Q., Zhang, S., & Deng, J. (2018). Challenge or hindrance: Does job stress affect presenteeism among Chinese healthcare workers?. Journal of Occupational Health, 60(2), 163-171. org/10.1539/joh.17-0195-OA