Abstract
The role of organizational structure as an important contextual variable has long been recognized in affecting a host of employee attitudes and behaviors, but there is a dearth of theoretical and empirical research that examines the ways in which organizational structure influences the occurrence of self-efficacy and its performance effects. This study addresses this gap by exploring how the two core structural components-formalization and centralization-separately and jointly affect employee self-efficacy and how they interact with self-efficacy to influence employee task performance. The study further examines the extent to which structure weaves its influence on individual performance through perceptions of self-efficacy. Data from 120 Pakistani public sector employees were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and polynomial regression to assess the hypothesized relationships. The empirical analysis shows that formalization is positively associated with self-efficacy while centralization has a negative association, and such an improvement/attenuation in self-efficacy is partly transformed into performance improvements. The findings further reveal that self-efficacy and performance relationship is diminished under conditions of high formalization and high centralization. We discuss implications for theory and practice and delineate directions for future research.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 860 |
Journal | Sustainability (Switzerland) |
Volume | 11 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Feb 7 2019 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Centralization
- Formalization
- Organizational structure
- Self-efficacy
- Social cognitive theory
- Task performance
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Computer Science (miscellaneous)
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
- Building and Construction
- Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
- Energy Engineering and Power Technology
- Hardware and Architecture
- Computer Networks and Communications
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law