Suchergebnisse

PurposeWith the spread of COVID-19, governments have initiated lockdown procedures and forced organizations to switch to remote working. Employees working remotely in isolated and confined situations are experiencing great stress and uncertainty. This study aims to investigate how remote workers perform during lockdowns.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on social information processing theory, this study developed and tested hypotheses linking professional isolation, cynicism and task performance. This study was comprised of 497 remote workers in the financial industry in China.FindingsThe findings revealed that professional isolation is positively related to cynicism, and cynicism is negatively related to task performance. Cynicism mediates the relationship between professional isolation and task performance. The results indicated that psychological hardiness moderated the mediation effect of professional isolation on task performance through cynicism.Practical implicationsThis research offers implications for managers and practitioners on reducing employees' feeling of isolation through effective communication, collaboration and support via online platforms and preventing and reducing cynicism by introducing clear organizational policy and practice to balance job demands and job resources. Meanwhile, managers can develop commitment, control and challenge components of employees' psychological hardiness to enhance job performance.Originality/valueThis study extends the remote working literature in a crisis situation and fills the gap in the cynicism literature by understanding the role played by cynicism for remote workers. The current study also adds to the literature by highlighting the importance of psychological hardiness for remote workers during the pandemic.

PurposeThe use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace is on the rise. To help advance research in this area, the authors synthesise the academic research and develop research propositions on the antecedents and consequences of AI adoption and application in the workplace to guide future research. The authors also present AI research in the socio-technical system context to provide a springboard for new research to fill the knowledge gap of the adoption and application of AI in the workplace.Design/methodology/approachThis paper summarises the existing literature and builds a theoretically grounded conceptual framework on the socio-technical system theory that captures the essence of the impact of AI in the workplace.FindingsThe antecedents of AI adoption and application include personnel subsystem, technical subsystem, organisational structure subsystem and environmental factors. The consequences of AI adoption and application include individual, organisational and employment-related outcomes.Practical implicationsA research agenda is provided to identify and discuss future research that comprises not only insightful theoretical contributions but also practical implications. A greater understanding of AI adoption from socio-technical system perspective will enable managers and practitioners to develop effective AI adoption strategies, enhance employees' work experience and achieve competitive advantage for organisations.Originality/valueDrawing on the socio-technical system theory, the proposed conceptual framework provides a comprehensive understanding of the antecedents and consequences of AI adoption and application in the work environment. The authors discuss the main contributions to theory and practice, along with potential future research directions of AI in the workplace related to three key themes at the individual, organisational and employment level.