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Muhammad Aamir Shafique Khan,1 Du Jianguo,1 Areeba Mann,2 Sharjeel Saleem,3 Kofi Baah Boamah,1 Usman Javed,4 Muhammad Usman4 1School of Management, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang Shi, Jiangsu Sheng, People’s Republic of China; 2Lahore Business School, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan; 3Lyallpur Business School, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan; 4Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus, Lahore, PakistanCorrespondence: Du JianguoSchool of Management, Jiangsu University 301 Xuefu Road, Jingkou Qu, Zhenjiang Shi, Jiangsu Sheng, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-15052295614Email aamirkhanju@yahoo.comPurpose: The purpose of the present study was twofold. First, this study examined the relationships of work alienation with explorative learning and exploitative learning. Second, the study tested the role of emotional exhaustion as a mediator of the relationships of work alienation with explorative learning and exploitative learning. Job Demands-Resources model was used as the underlying theoretical foundation to establish these relationships.Methods: Two-source time-lagged data were collected from 225 middle-level managers and their 222 immediate supervisors in 87 Pakistani firms spanning different industries. Structural equation modeling and bootstrapping were used to test the hypothesized relationships,.Results: The study revealed that work alienation is negatively related to both explorative learning and exploitative learning. Moreover, the study also established emotional exhaustion as a mechanism underlying the relationships work alienation with explorative learning and exploitative learning by showing that work alienation enhances emotional exhaustion, which, in turn, negatively influences both explorative learning and exploitative learning.Conclusion: By conceptualizing and providing empirical evidence of the negative relationships of work alienation with explorative learning and exploitative learning, both directly and via emotional exhaustion, the study signified some of the important but largely ignored dynamics of the employment relationship within the current regime of organizational structures. The findings suggest that the managers’ sensed estrangement from work and work context need to be addressed, as it can exhaust them emotionally and hinder their search and acquisition of new knowledge and competencies.Keywords: work alienation, emotional exhaustion, explorative learning, exploitative learning, Job Demands-Resources model

Muhammad Aamir Shafique Khan,1 Du Jianguo,1 Ahmed Abdul Hameed,2 Tehseen UL Mushtaq,2 Muhammad Usman2 1School of Management, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore, Pakistan Purpose: The purpose of the present study is twofold. First, we examined the relationship between workplace romance and employee job performance and tested the role of affective commitment foci – namely, affective coworker commitment, affective supervisor commitment, and affective organizational commitment – as parallel mediators in the relationship between workplace romance and employee job performance. Second, we tested the moderating role of culture on the interrelationships between workplace romance, affective commitment foci, and employee job performance. Methods: A two-wave (3-month interval) survey data were collected from 312 paramedics – 162 and 150 from Pakistani and Chinese public-sector hospitals, respectively. The first and second waves of data collection took place in January and May 2017, respectively. Structural equation modeling (SEM), bootstrapping technique, and multigroup analysis were used to test the interrelationships between workplace romance, affective commitment foci, and employee job performance and to examine the cross-cultural differences in these interrelations. Results: Results obtained using SEM show that workplace romance positively influences employee performance. Importantly, the study revealed that the three foci of affective commitment – namely, coworker affective commitment, supervisor affective commitment, and organizational affective commitment – as parallel mediators fully mediate the relationship between workplace romance and employee performance. Moreover, national culture moderates the indirect relationship between workplace romance and employee job performance, where workplace romance is stronger for the Chinese data sample. Conclusion: It is concluded that workplace romance is positively related to employee job performance and that affective commitment foci fully mediate the positive relationship between workplace romance and employee job performance. Moreover, culture moderates the indirect relationship between workplace romance and employee job performance. The study contributes to theory and practice by studying an essential but largely ignored aspect of the workplace and portraying it as a constructive influence on employee job performance and their affective commitment to coworkers, supervisor, and organization. Keywords: workplace romance, job performance, affective commitment, paramedical staff, health sector, cross-cultural comparison, People’s Republic of China, Pakistan

Muhammad Aamir Shafique Khan,1,2 Jianguo Du,1 Farooq Anwar,2 Hira Salah ud Din Khan,1 Fakhar Shahzad,1 Sikandar Ali Qalati1 1School of Management, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China; 2Lahore Business School, University of Lahore, Lahore, Punjab, PakistanCorrespondence: Jianguo DuSchool of Management, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-157-5100-8313Email dujianguoju@hotmail.comBackground: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is emerging as a relevant subject in the business world and in the field of management research. Therefore, the current study incorporates classifications often used in organizational level CSR research that distinguish social responsibility relevant to its focus (internal and external), in proposing diverse routes that link various CSR practices (ie, internal and external) to employees’ choice of emotional labor strategy (ie, via perceived organizational support and perceived external prestige).Methods: Data were collected from front-line employees of banks operating in Pakistan. Due to the study’s focus on front-line employees, other personnel were excluded for data collection. We collected data through a self-administered questionnaire. The structural equation model (SEM) was employed on 376 valid responses using Smart-PLS3 to test the study hypotheses.Results: After the analysis, we found satisfactory results for the fitness of both measurement and satisfactory models. Moreover, the results strongly support our proposed theoretical framework, and all proposed hypotheses were accepted.Discussion: This study confirms that the perception of external prestige is a strong predictor of employees’ emotions and relevant behaviors. Moreover, this study discusses under the light of social exchange theory that perceived organizational support strongly predicts employees’ emotional labor, which diminishes the myth that prestige is the only factor to influence employees’ emotions in the workplace. Moreover, this study negates the findings of Anwar et al that perceived external prestige does not have a significant negative effect on surface acting. It provides an insight not only for managers and researchers but also for society, especially in an Eastern workplace setting like Pakistan’s banking sector.Keywords: CSR, perceived external prestige, perceived organizational support, emotional labor, employees’ welfare

Cai Li, Shumaila Naz, Muhammad Aamir Shafique Khan, Basil Kusi, Majid MuradSchool of Management, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212013, People’s Republic of ChinaBackground: This study aimed to investigate the effect of a high-performance work system (HPWS) on employee performance and the intervening role of mediators in this relationship.Methods: The study was quantitative in nature and used a questionnaire as its instrument. Two hundred and fifty respondents from the private textile sector, located in Lahore and Faisalabad, Pakistan, were selected using a stratified sampling technique. For statistical analysis and to test the proposed research model, partial least squares–structural equation modeling was applied.Results: HPWS was positively related to employee performance. Furthermore, job satisfaction, perceived organizational support, and employee engagement positively and significantly mediated between HPWS and employee performance. Thus, the study provided evidence for the underpinning models of social exchange theory, and ability, motivation, and opportunity framework.Conclusion: The study emphasizes that practitioners should develop strategies that could foster positive work attitudes and increase perceived organizational support to achieve higher levels of performance. It further describes some limitations and gaps for future research.Keywords: high-performance work system, employee performance, job satisfaction, perceived organizational support, employee engagement