Endangering one’s health to improve performance? How indirect control triggers social momentum in organizations
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Author (Corporation)
Publication date
2017
Typ of student thesis
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Collections
Type
01A - Journal article
Editors
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Parent work
Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation
Special issue
DOI of the original publication
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Series
Series number
Volume
48
Issue / Number
3
Pages / Duration
193-201
Patent number
Publisher / Publishing institution
Springer
Place of publication / Event location
Edition
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Practice partner / Client
Abstract
Background: Companies are increasingly applying both goal- and performance-oriented leadership practices. For employees, such indirect control practices make higher self-regulatory demands: They become responsible for their work outcomes and have to bear the consequences of failure just like the self-employed. The current study focuses on the concept of “self-endangering work behaviors” as representing a possible negative effect of indirect control and a possible mediator between work demands and negative outcomes. Method: An online survey was conducted with 607 employees, who reported to work in an indirect control setting. It assessed extension of working hours, intensification of working hours, sickness presenteeism, and faking as possible self-endangering work behaviors together with exhaustion as a subjective well-being measure. The lavaan package was used to test the mediation hypothesis with a structural equation model. Results: Results supported the assumption that self-endangering work behaviors might partly explain the association between work demands and exhaustion. A mediation effect was found for extension of working hours, intensification of working hours, and for faking. However, sickness presenteeism delivered no statistically significant mediation effect in the association between work demands and exhaustion. Discussion: As a mechanism for coping with high work demands, the new concept of self-endangering work behaviors offers one possible explanation for the negative association between high work demands and both subjective well-being and health. The concept needs to be addressed in occupational health prevention initiatives. Such interventions should balance the negative and positive effects of indirect control and take self-endangering work behavior into account.
Keywords
Self-endangering work behavior, Exhaustion, Work demands, Indirect control
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ISBN
ISSN
2366-6218
2366-6145
2366-6145
Language
English
Created during FHNW affiliation
Yes
Strategic action fields FHNW
Publication status
Published
Review
Peer review of the complete publication
Open access category
License
Citation
Knecht, M., Meier, G., & Krause, A. (2017). Endangering one’s health to improve performance? How indirect control triggers social momentum in organizations. Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation, 48(3), 193–201. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11612-017-0377-3