Yes, I Made It! Proactivity Effectiveness Alleviates the Psychological Costs of Proactive Behavior

Francesco Cangiano, March Leung To, Elizabeth J Sander

    Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperResearchpeer-review

    Abstract

    Proactivity is an important work behavior commonly encouraged by organizations. However, a growing number of studies suggest that being proactive can have negative psychological costs for employees. In this diary study, we contribute to this emerging discussion by examining the contingencies that enhance or attenuate the effect of proactivity on resource depletion. Specifically, we identify proactivity effectiveness and competitive climate as two crucial factors determining whether proactivity leads to a state of depletion at the end of the workday. Hypotheses were tested in a sample of 105 employees of a multinational construction company, who completed a general survey and two daily surveys over the course of a working week. Multilevel analyses showed that proactive behavior on a workday resulted in lower depletion at the end of the workday when proactive efforts were perceived as effective, particularly among employees perceiving a low-competitive climate. Our work offers a contingency model that explains when and why being proactive is (not) depleting, contributing a more nuanced understanding of the impacts of proactivity on employees’ well-being.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages1-37
    Publication statusPublished - Aug 2022
    Event82nd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management: Creating a Better World Together - Hybrid, Seattle, United States
    Duration: 5 Aug 20229 Aug 2022
    Conference number: 82nd
    https://aom.org/events/annual-meeting/past-annual-meetings/2022-creating-a-better-world-together

    Conference

    Conference82nd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management: Creating a Better World Together
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    CitySeattle
    Period5/08/229/08/22
    OtherMany organizations and the world’s social structures have been vastly challenged, and, in some cases devastated, by the COVID-19 global pandemic and the broad social unrest of the last couple of years. The resulting uncertainty has stunned and shaken us all. Governments became polarized as millions of people lost their lives during the COVID 19 pandemic while riots over social inequity swept the world. The events that have shaken the world make it clear that if it affects one of us, it affects all of us. While governments have played a key role in responding to these world events, business organizations have been important in leading the world from darkness to better days. As the world emerges from the dark days of the recent past and a new normal takes place, collaboration and cooperation between business organizations, managers, and stakeholders will be of utmost importance.

    What will business organizations look like in the new normal? While the spreading uncertainty challenged many organizations and social structures, several lessons were nonetheless learned. The innovative strides made during these last couple of years illustrate that business has the capacity to address world problems at a pace and scale that few would have predicted. During these last two years, disparities around the world and within countries were laid bare. However this period also led to a new awareness for organizations and managers as well as scholars of management; this could be an opportunity to reset organizational practices that enable the creation of new future organizational arrangements.

    Business organizations, managers, and stakeholders will be challenged by society as perhaps never before in history. So too will scholars of management be challenged. In many parts of the world, society increasingly expects business organizations to help solve problems of environmental degradation, inequality, and poverty. There seems to be a growing awareness of the vital role of business organizations, managers, and stakeholders in tackling societal challenges including environmental sustainability; inter-generational trade-offs where future generations cannot make their voices heard today; and issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. And business organizations and their managers are beginning to respond. Still, many challenges lie ahead for business and for us the scholars who study and inform management. This transition from the past two years to a better future leads to the following questions:

    To what extent is there a need to create future institutions, relationships, systems, and processes that are different from the past? To what extent do these structures in some way already exist and thus merely need to be improved upon?
    What skills will business organizations and managers of the future need?
    How can business organizations, managers, and stakeholders deal with prevailing uncertainty while responding to predictable situations in what might be ongoing transitions from one to the other?
    How can business organizations, managers, and stakeholders develop and enhance capabilities to anticipate and agilely respond to pandemics, other world-wide concerns, and new challenges?
    Will business organizations and governments need to work more closely together in the future?
    What will the future of work look like?
    These and many more questions will need to be examined as we move towards a new normal. What, where, how, when, and why will business organizations, managers, and stakeholders seek to adapt to what exists or create a world in which we will all be better off together?
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