PurposeBased on the job-demands resources model, this study examines the potential of human resource management practices to simultaneously improve physicians' burnout and quality of patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on a sample of 499 physicians working in specialised medical units, structural equation models through PLS-SEM was used to check the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe results show that human resource management can reduce physicians' burnout and increase quality of patient care by considering job demands and job resources as mediators. In addition, this study suggests that burnout and quality of patient care can be improved simultaneously.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is focused on healthcare, which opens important opportunities to extend the proposed model in other public and private industries.Practical implicationsManagers need to understand that fostering well-being among employees is crucial for human resource management and impacts positively on employee performance.Originality/valueThis study offers a double mediation process whereby job demands and job resources are key underlying mechanisms through which human resource management practices reduce burnout and improve performance in a compatible way.
The COVID-19 pandemic has tested health care professionals to the extreme. This study investigated the re-enchanting effect of shared leadership and passion at work in the context of public health care. This study advances on the Self-Determination Theory to suggest that shared leadership has a positive effect on resilience and performance through passion at work at different levels of analysis. A sample of 518 physicians working in Spanish public hospitals was used. The results showed that shared leadership was associated with team and individual outcomes via passion at work at team level, while no significant mediating effect was found for passion at work at the individual level. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed, limitations are considered, and future research directions are suggested.JEL CLASSIFICATION: M12, M54
Despite existing evidence indicating that organizational learning positively influences dynamic capabilities, the complex and dynamic interplay of leadership in this process still remains incomplete. Organizational learning models note that leadership is embedded in the development of dynamic capabilities, and this research empirically investigates the interplay of organizational learning (exploitative and exploratory learning) and strategic leadership (transformational and transactional leadership) in developing dynamic capabilities (sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring). A survey questionnaire on a sample of 106 firms is carried out, and results of hierarchical linear regressions indeed reveal that organizational learning shows a direct or indirect influence on dynamic capabilities through transactional or transformational leadership, depending on the type of department. This study is an innovative attempt to distinguish different antecedents for each type of dynamic capability on the basis of the type of learning and strategic leadership involved.JEL classification: M12
PurposeThe purpose of this research is to examine the impact of high-involvement work systems (HIWS) on absorptive capacity. In addition, the mediating effect of happiness at work in the relationship between high-involvement work practices and absorptive capacity is analyzed.Design/methodology/approachA 2-1-2 bathtub multilevel mediation model was used to analyze a sample of 783 employees from 111 bank branches, gathering data at three different times.FindingsThe results reveal that HIWS positively affect absorptive capacity. In addition, they show that happiness at work partially mediates the relationship between HIWS and absorptive capacity.Originality/valueHappiness at work is a fundamental element for knowledge absorption. The findings support the basic assumptions of the job demands-resources model, and demonstrate how HIWS, acting as a job resource, lead to positive attitudes (happiness at work) and, in turn, to positive outcomes (absorptive capacity). The proposed HIWS, based on the assumptions of the mutual gains model, reveal a positive employment relationship with effects on both HAW and organizational outcomes. If organizations expose their employees to management practices that have specific benefits for their HAW, employees are more likely to perform their jobs in ways that will promote their absorptive capacity.
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to examine whether inspirational leadership of heads of specialized medical units is related to individual ambidexterity of their dependent physicians; and second, to study the possible mediating role of organizational learning capability (OLC) in the relationship between inspirational leadership and individual ambidexterity.Design/methodology/approachStructural equation modeling was used on a sample of 194 medical specialists from Spanish public hospitals.FindingsResults show that inspirational leadership is positively related to individual ambidexterity among healthcare physicians. In addition, the results of the study revealed that the relationship between inspirational leadership and individual ambidexterity is mediated by conditions that facilitate learning, namely, OLC.Research limitations/implicationsThis study uses cross-sectional data, which do not guarantee causality relationships among the examined variables.Practical implicationsThe results of this paper suggest first that heads of healthcare units should inspire followers to achieve both exploration and exploitation. Second, it is also necessary to consider that inspirational leaders promote those conditions that facilitate learning, which should be particularly taken into account to enhance both physician's exploration and exploitation.Originality/valueIn stressing an evident gap in the relationship between leadership and ambidexterity at the individual level, this paper attempts to advance in the leadership literature by revealing how the action or power of moving the intellect or emotions, and enhancing enthusiasm and confidence, empowers physicians to both explore and exploit knowledge. The results also indicate that the inspiration transmitted by the heads of medical services, facilitate physician's perceived learning conditions which, in turn, fosters their individual ambidexterity.