| The notion of ambidexterity has emerged as a crucial factor for businesses to achieve competitiveness and survive in dynamic settings.The current literature on ambidexterity is mostly focused on the firm level.Regardless of persistent calls that ambidexterity should be studied at the individual level,less attention has been paid to individual ambidextrous behavior.To address this gap a theoretical model examining how self-leadership influences ambidextrous behavior(i.e.,exploitative behavior and exploratory behavior)is presented in this dissertation.The role of work motivation,trust in coworkers,and affectivity(as a state-like affect)as essential mediating mechanisms in the association between self-leadership and ambidextrous behavior are considered.Moreover,the boundary conditions for these relationships to hold are also identified and tested.The proposed relationships will be explained by using ambidexterity theory,self-determination theory,and social exchange theory.This dissertation is comprised of four studies that are based on extensive,distinct data that the researcher collected from the field.Study 1 is designed to investigate the direct link between self-leadership and ambidextrous behavior under paradoxical leadership boundary conditions.Study 2 aims to examine the mediating mechanism role of work motivation(i.e.,autonomous motivation and controlled motivation)between self-leadership and ambidextrous behavior under job interdependence and job complexity conditions as first and second stage moderators,respectively.Study 3 aims to explore the mediating role of trust on coworkers(i.e.,cognitive trust and affective trust)in the self-leadership and ambidextrous behavior relationship under the knowledge sharing boundary condition.Study 4 aims to examine the mediating mechanism role of affectivity(i.e.,positive affect and negative affect)between selfleadership and ambidextrous behavior under paradoxical leadership boundary conditions.Primary data through survey instruments were collected from Chinese manufacturing and service industries by employing a simple random sampling technique.Four sets of questionnaires were developed for time 1(T1),time 2(T2),time 3(T3),and time 4(T4).T1 and T2 dataset were used for study 1 and study 2(n=219),while T3 and T4 dataset was used for study 3 and study 4(n=478),respectively.The items included in the survey instrument about T1 and T3 were comprised of independent and mediating variables,while the survey instrument about T2 and T4 included items that were measuring dependent and moderating variables.All questionnaires were developed in English,and then it was translated into Chinese for data collection purpose as Chinese is the official language of China.To confirm the hypothesized relationships of the four studies,different analytical strategies were adopted.To perform analysis of the data obtained,SPSS 21.0 and AMOS were used.Different tests were performed for different studies.For instance,for study 1,regression analysis was performed to check the influence of self-leadership on ambidextrous behavior(two dimensions).To check the moderating role of paradoxical leadership in the link between self-leadership and ambidextrous behavior,a hierarchical regression analysis was performed.However,in the other three studies,structural equation modeling(SEM)was performed using AMOS to find evidence for direct and mediated relationships proposed and test the overall model fitness.For moderating effects,hierarchical regression analyses were performed.In addition to hierarchical regression analysis,simple slope tests were performed to check the regression of the predicting variables on the outcome variables at a specific value of the moderators.The results of study 1 demonstrated that self-leadership has a significant positive influence on exploitative behavior and exploratory behavior,and these effects are further strengthened under the high level of paradoxical leadership boundary condition.Study 2 results show that self-leadership has a positive influence on autonomous motivation,which in turn boosts employees’ exploitative and exploratory behaviors.However,self-leadership was found to have a negative influence on controlled motivation that in turn has a negative effect on employees’ exploitative and exploratory behaviors.The results further reveal that a higher level of job interdependence strengthens the self-leadership and autonomous motivation relationship.While a higher level of job interdependence weakens the negative relationship of self-leadership and controlled motivation.As expected,it was also confirmed that a higher level of job complexity strengthened the positive relationship of autonomous motivation and ambidextrous behavior and weakened the negative influence of controlled motivation on ambidextrous behavior.Study 3 results confirmed that self-leadership has a positive influence on the two-dimensional trust(i.e.,affective trust and cognitive trust),which consecutively enhances employees’ exploitative and exploratory behaviors.Furthermore,the results revealed that the relationships of affective trust and explorative behavior,cognitive trust and exploitative behavior,and cognitive trust and explorative behavior are strengthened under the high level of knowledge sharing behavior boundary condition,while the moderating role of knowledge sharing in the relationship between affective trust and exploitative behavior was not supported.Study 4 results proved that self-leadership has a positive influence on positive affect that further enables employees to enhance their exploitative and exploratory behaviors,and these relationships are strengthened under a high level of paradoxical leadership boundary conditions.However,self-leadership was negatively related to the negative affect that further decreases employees’ exploitative and exploratory behaviors,and the negative influence of negative affect are curtailed under a high level of paradoxical leadership boundary condition.Overall,the findings of this dissertation suggest that to enhance individuals’ambidextrous behavior,the embracing of the self-leadership approach does matter.Particularly,the findings of this dissertation enrich the existing body of knowledge about exploring the work motivation,trust,and affectivity mediating roles in the selfleadership and individuals’ ambidextrous behavior relationship.Accordingly,it was found that the self-leadership approach is comprised of individuals’ self-directed and self-motivational abilities that are relevant to the notions of work motivation,trust in coworkers,and affectivity.Furthermore,this dissertation found that through the mechanisms of work motivation,trust in coworkers,and affectivity,self-leadership has a differential influence on individuals’ambidextrous behavior.Particularly how contextual and behavioral factors as necessary boundary conditions,like job interdependence,job complexity,knowledge sharing,and paradoxical leadership can influence employee’s outcome are empirically verified.In a nutshell,implications for theory and practice are discussed.Furthermore,based on limitations and probable existence gaps in the field,directions for future research are highlighted to set a stage for future academic work in the field.The author confirms that this is the first study that builds and tests a model of selfleadership and ambidextrous behavior through several psychological and work context intervening and boundary conditions effects. |
