Muhammad Amir Rashid

Purpose: Many organizations started using green marketing to demonstrate their environmental efforts; however, this often compromises authenticity, giving significant rise to “greenwashing”. Grounded in expectancy violation theory (EVT) and contingency theory, this study empirically examines a conceptual model linking perceived greenwashing (PGW) to self-brand connection (SBC), both directly and indirectly through psychological contract violation (PCV), while also testing the moderating role of consumers’ environmental knowledge (EK) in direct and indirect relationships. Design/methodology/approach: Data on two brands positioned as green or eco-friendly were collected from 497 consumers and analysed using the PROCESS macro to test the proposed conceptual model. Findings: The results found that PGW negatively affects SBC, and PCV mediates (partially) the PGW–SBC link. Moreover, consumers’ EK moderates the direct and indirect relationships such that the effects of PGW become amplified for consumers with high EK. Research limitations/implications: Based on the study’s findings, practitioners can gain valuable insights for developing effective communication strategies in pursuit of sustainable performance. Practical implications: In the hyper-competitive green market, consumers’ perceptions of firms’ green communication and consumer–brand relationships are of paramount importance. This study provides actionable insights for managers, especially in emerging economies, aiming to build trust and credibility through transparent and responsible green communication. Originality/value: Based on the EVT paradigm, this study attempts to explain and answer why and how PGW negatively affects SBC directly and indirectly with the intervening role of PCV. Furthermore, the study contends that these effects are dependent on the contingency factor – EK – which provides additional insight into the PGW-SBC relationships.

Purpose: This study aims to examine the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership (EL) and new product development performance (NPDP) at the firm level (level 2) of analysis and employee’s creativity (EC) at the cross level (level 1) of analysis. It also examines the serial mediations of (1) intrinsic motivation (IM)-EC and (2) creative self-efficacy (CSE)-EC on the relationship between EL and NPDP.Design/methodology/approach: A systematic random sampling technique was used to collect data through self-administered surveys from leaders and employees of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Pakistan’s IT sector. Analysis was conducted on net responses from 114 leaders and 476 employees.Findings: The results revealed significant positive associations between EL and NPDP at the firm level of analysis and EC at the cross level of analysis. The results of the cross-level serial mediations show that (1) IM and EC, and (2) CSE and EC serially mediate the relationship between EL and NPDP.Originality/value: This study is among the few to use the Coleman bathtub model to show top-down and bottom-up relationships. The study extends and complements the multilevel perspective on leadership and new product development research by simultaneously examining the relationships between EL and NPDP at the individual and firm levels.

The resurgence of green marketing engrossed the phenomenon of greenwashing, misleading and deceiving consumers with false claims about the firms’ environmental practices. Drawing on attribution theory, this study examines the direct relationship between perceived greenwashing (PGW) and brand credibility (BC) and indirect relationship through green skepticism (GSP). The study also examines the moderating effect of environmental concern (EC) based on contingency theory in both direct and indirect relationships. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires from consumers and 508 usable responses were analyzed. The study’s hypotheses were tested using PROCESS macro for SPSS. The results show that PGW is negatively related to BC both directly and indirectly via GSP, whereas EC moderated, directly and indirectly, the relationships between PGW and BC, suggesting that the relationship between PGW and BC is fostered when EC is high. This study helps managers to understand how overstated/deceptive green claims may lead to destructive consequences for the company.

Purpose: This study aims to examine the direct and indirect effects of supply chain resilience enablers on supply chain disruption orientation per supply chain resilience. It conjointly examined the moderation of supply chain complexity on resilience enablers and supply chain resilience. It further detailed the conditional indirect effects of supply chain resilience enablers on supply chain disruption orientations via supply chain resilience at varying levels of supply chain complexity.Design/methodology/approach: This study employed a time-lagged design (three-wave) and self-administered surveys to collect data from the supply chain managers of fast-moving consumer goods firms. A sample of 214 responses was used to test the hypothesized relationships.Findings: The results showed that supply chain resilience significantly mediated on the relationship between supply chain resilience enablers and supply chain disruption orientation. Further, supply chain complexity positively moderated on supply chain resilience enablers and supply chain resilience. The results also supported the moderated mediated hypothesis.Research limitations/implications: This study contributes to prevalent theory and practices in the wake of recent disruptions faced by the firms. It persuades the managers to emphasize on structuring resilient supply chain system to recover from the disruptions and accumulate and incorporate learning gained from the disruptions to strengthen the firm's response management system.Originality/value: This study attempted to explore the underlying antecedents and consequences of supply chain resilience in Pakistan and established boundary condition effects of supply chain complexity on the proposed relationships. This research complemented and extended the conceits of resource-based and contingent resource-based views.

Although previous studies provide diverse perspectives on subordinate's deviant behavior as a reaction to abusive supervision (ABS), the influence of ABS on subordinates’ inter-personal relations received little attention. Grounded on social exchange theory, this study proposes that subordinates who are being abused by the same supervisor develop a bond among each other. That further provides strength to each of the abused group member to exhibit deviant behaviors against supervisor and non-abused peer group. Data were collected and analyzed through mediation analysis using AMOS. Using a sample of 920 employees from multi-sector organizations it was found that abused employees show citizenship behavior toward other abused peer-group members and counter-productive behavior toward supervisor and non-abused peer-group members. Moreover, citizenship behaviors created among the abused peer-group members partially mediate the relationship of ABS and counter-productive work behavior.