Dongyuan Wu

Despite transformational leadership's (TFL) prominence as a universally effective leadership approach for almost 4 decades, theoretical tensions persist regarding its contextual contingency and temporal stability. To address these tensions, we build on Johns' (2006) conceptualization of context and examine whether occupation, location, and time shape the use and effectiveness of TFL. Synthesizing 625 samples conducted globally over 4 decades (937 TFL-outcome correlations; N = 200,732), we meta-analytically assess whether TFL's foundational assumptions of generalizability hold or whether its use and effectiveness depend on broader contextual features. Results show that while TFL continues to positively predict attitudinal (e.g., commitment, trust) and performance (e.g., task, creative) outcomes, significant contextual differences exist. Specifically, TFL levels and effects vary by occupational (i.e., leader position and job type), cultural, and temporal contexts, with mixed support for compensation versus congruence perspectives. Notably, moderator effects vary across outcome domains, with occupational and cultural moderators exerting stronger effects on attitudinal outcomes than on performance outcomes. These patterns suggest that the mechanisms underlying TFL effects differ across outcome domains and challenge the assumption that transformational leaders universally motivate followers to go beyond expectations. These findings extend TFL theory by clarifying its boundary conditions and highlighting the importance of integrating omnibus contextual features into TFL models. Practically, our study informs evidence-based leadership development by underscoring that transformational approaches are not universally applicable and require contextual tailoring to maximize their effectiveness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

This study examines how the COVID‐19 pandemic, as a disruptive external shock, has reshaped organizational practices, with particular emphasis on changes in work design and compensation strategies. Drawing on a unique dataset of over 1.8 million online job postings from Chinese publicly listed firms, we employed a large language model to systematically quantify work design characteristics. Using a difference‐in‐differences approach, we found that the pandemic significantly enhanced skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, feedback, and work‐from‐home feasibility. Notably, these effects varied by occupational nonroutineness: occupations with high nonroutineness exhibited larger increases in task significance but smaller increases in other work design characteristics. Moreover, work design characteristics mediated the relationship between the pandemic and salaries, though these indirect effects were attenuated for nonroutine occupations. Additionally, we observed post‐pandemic adjustments in firms' compensation, including notable declines in performance‐related pay and insurance benefits, accompanied by increases in subsidies. These findings provide new insights into how organizations redesign work and adjust compensation strategies in response to large‐scale external shocks.

Purpose: This theoretical paper aims to discuss differences in individual collectivism, power distance and uncertainty avoidance among Anglos, Hispanics, Africans and Asians and their impact on the performance management (PM) process. Design/methodology/approach: This is a conceptual paper that does not utilize empirical research methods. Findings: We make six propositions to raise awareness of considering cultural differences in the PM process and guide empirical research on the topic. Research limitations/implications: Propositions are not tested, but they provide an excellent opportunity to collect data and bring empirical evidence to gain understanding of the phenomenon. Practical implications: Managers should gain awareness of the importance of considering cultural differences when designing PM systems and assessing employees’ results in their organizations. Proper modifications should lead to improvements in desired outcomes (e.g. results, performance ratings, job satisfaction, absenteeism, pay increases, promotions and turnover intentions). Social implications: This line of research should help individuals belonging to different ethnicities to better understand each other and design working systems that are fairer and more agreed among participants. Originality/value: This paper is intended to push the boundaries in our quest to gain an understanding of the effect that cultural differences among ethnicities have on the PM process in organizations.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming human life. While some studies find that people prefer humans over AI (AI aversion), others find the opposite (AI appreciation). To reconcile these conflicting findings, we introduce the Capability-Personalization Framework. This theoretical framework posits that when deciding between AI and humans in a context, individuals focus on two dimensions: (a) perceived capability of AI and (b) perceived necessity for personalization. We propose that AI appreciation occurs when (a) AI is perceived as more capable than humans and (b) personalization is perceived as unnecessary in a given decision context, whereas AI aversion occurs when these conditions are not met. Our Capability-Personalization Framework is substantiated by a meta-analysis of 442 effect sizes from 163 studies (N = 82,078): AI appreciation occurs (d = 0.27, 95% CI [0.17, 0.37]) when AI is perceived as more capable than humans and personalization is perceived as unnecessary in a given decision context; otherwise, AI aversion occurs (d = -0.50, 95% CI [-0.63, -0.37]). Moderation analyses suggest that AI appreciation is more pronounced for tangible robots (vs. intangible algorithms), for attitudinal (vs. behavioral) outcomes, in between-subjects (vs. within-subjects) study designs, and in low unemployment countries, while AI aversion is more pronounced in countries with high levels of education and internet use. Overall, our integrative framework and meta-analysis advance knowledge about AI-human preferences and offer valuable implications for AI developers and users. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Insufficient effort responding (IER) presents a significant challenge in management research, potentially leading to flawed inferences. This review critically examines IER practices in 17 leading management journals from 2012 to 2023, highlighting inconsistencies in screening methods, cutoffs, and reporting. We find that IER screening is more prevalent in studies using online paid samples, experimental tasks, and computerized data collection. However, researchers’ IER-related practices, specifically the use of multiple detection methods, predicted IER removal rate above and beyond these study characteristics. Our review revealed that, despite increasing awareness, IER detection and reporting remain unstandardized, with varied practices across studies. While attention checks are frequently used, details about their implementation are often inadequately reported, and multiple detection methods, though recommended, are inconsistently applied. Variability in cutoffs and reliance on single-item checks raise concerns about the risk of retaining IER cases or mistakenly excluding attentive respondents. Our assessment of the impact of IER removal suggests that while it generally improves reliability and model fit, its effect can vary widely across measures and studies. We call on methodologists to resolve existing inconsistencies by developing clearer, empirically derived guidelines for IER detection and removal. We urge researchers to adopt more comprehensive and transparent reporting practices to enhance replicability and methodological rigor, with a flowchart to guide research design and method communication. This review underscores the need for a more systematic approach to IER mitigation in management research to enhance data quality and research validity.

The global obesity epidemic, together with the high cost of employee turnover, makes it increasingly likely that employment decisions will be influenced by employers’ assessments of the risk of tur...

Widespread agreement that training can play a key role in addressing workplace sexual harassment (SH) has led to a dramatic increase in employer‐provided SH training around the world. However, summaries of published research have been qualitative in nature and have yielded inconsistent assessments of SH training's effectiveness in fulfilling that role. The study helps address those uncertain and sometimes conflicting assessments by providing the first meta‐analytic investigation of the relationships between SH training and changes in trainees. We found that the largest SH training effect was on declarative knowledge learning (δ = 1.06), followed by attitude change (δ = 0.41), procedural knowledge‐skills learning (δ = 0.39), and transfer outcomes (δ = 0.14). Significant moderating effects were found for scope of training, instructional method, and gender of trainees; however, the results varied by training outcome. The effect of SH training did not vary significantly as a function of the training delivery media, training duration, or training setting. Theoretical implications, directions for future research, and practical implications are discussed.

We conceptualize other-contingent extraversion as an individual difference in the tendency to elevate one’s state extraversion when interacting with friendly others. Using experience samp...