Fatima Vapiwala

Purpose: The current study intends to assess how relational psychological contracts are linked to psychological safety, as well as the role of psychological safety in mitigating relational contract breaches and workplace conflicts. Design/methodology/approach: Data collection was based on a cross-sectional design involving 266 service sector professionals from the Indian cities of Pune and Mumbai. Data were analysed by employing the partial least squares structural equation modeling technique with the help of SmartPLS 4.0 software. Findings: The results outline that relational psychological contracts and relational contract breaches are positively and negatively associated with psychological safety, respectively. Furthermore, relational contract breaches are positively linked to relationship as well as task conflicts, and the mediating role of relationship conflict between relational contract breaches and task conflicts has also been evidenced. Research limitations/implications: Although studies have assessed how workplace conflicts may cause psychological contract breaches, this study is one of the pioneering studies taking into consideration how relational contract breaches may progress into relationship as well as task conflicts. Thus, this study offers several theoretical implications by unveiling critical variables that trigger workplace conflicts. Originality/value: Through a holistic understanding of psychological contract breaches, organisations can focus on fostering open and transparent communication channels by attempting to align employees’ expectations with organisational commitments. Additionally, although the literature on conflicts has explored the co-occurrence of task and relationship conflicts, this study sheds light on the nuances of psychological contracts and workplace conflicts by exploring the mediating role of relationship conflicts between relational contract breaches and task conflicts.

Purpose: The blurring of work-life boundaries in the post-pandemic era has intensified work-family conflict (WFC), family-work conflict (FWC) and emotional exhaustion (EE), raising critical concerns for employee well-being. This study investigates how these conflicts shape employees’ mental health and explores organisational interventions that may alleviate their impact. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative exploratory approach was employed through 32 semi-structured interviews with functional managers in the information technology sector. Guided by the conservation of resources (COR) framework, the study applied thematic analysis to uncover contextual factors contributing to EE, as well as strategies individuals use to manage resource depletion. Findings: The findings led to the emergence of four main themes: feedback avoidance, emotional masking, psychological detachment and mindfulness. The interview responses shed light on the outcomes, such as feedback avoidance and blame-shifting due to the integration of work-life boundaries. The findings also outline emotional masking as a prominent coping mechanism. Originality/value: The present study contributes to the literature on remote and hybrid working by showing that the psychological and emotional consequences of enforced remote work did not dissipate with the easing of restrictions. Instead, these consequences have led to ongoing patterns of emotional masking, psychological detachment and the need for sustainable coping strategies such as mindfulness. This study contributes actionable insights for practitioners and policymakers, suggesting that effective interventions should be multi-level and context-sensitive, implemented through effective organisational policies.

In May 2021, Diamond Glass Works, an established glass manufacturing company located in Mumbai, India, faced challenges in informal communication due to a strong emphasis on promoting a professional culture among the employees. Misinterpretations during lockdowns due to the usage of e-mails and other official tools created tensions. Failure to communicate informally led to misunderstandings, escalated tensions during lockdown periods and the realization that the current communication structure did not meet the company’s needs. This problem was noticed earlier in 2018 when Husain identified that people are not engaged much in informal communication due to overemphasized task performance. Understanding that stronger internal connections and engagement are required, Husain created the Internal Communication and Engagement (ICE) programme. As a part of the ICE programme, ‘GlassyConnect’ was established as an intranet social media platform through which employees could freely communicate, collaborate and socially interact. Despite these possibilities, the programme faced many challenges in its implementation. The employees complained that switching between the different platforms was complex, and they could not understand why there was a need for GlassyConnect when alternatives such as e-mail were available. By early 2019, the use of the programme had begun to decrease. When the pandemic aggravated the communication issues in 2021, Husain considered bringing back the ICE programme. He considered that GlassyConnect could now play a crucial role in enhancing interconnectedness. However, he was curious to know the factors that led to the programme’s failure in the first place. In response to these challenges, Husain pondered how to bridge the widening communication divide, relaunch the ICE programme or opt for other possibilities to boost employee engagement at Diamond Glass Works.

Purpose: This study aims to examine task and relationship conflict and their linkage with defensive communication strategies, i.e. mature, neurotic and immature defensive communication. Furthermore, Study 1 also investigated the mediating impact of relationship conflict and the moderating impact of a manager’s active-empathic listening in dealing with task conflicts and the defensive communication of the employees. Study 2 intended to assess the causal direction of task conflicts and defensive communication strategies. Design/methodology/approach: This research integrates the Job Demands–Resources framework, Conservation of Resources theory and Conflict Expression framework. Data from 124 professionals in India’s tertiary industry was gathered using a longitudinal approach. Study 1 analyses the dynamics between conflicts and defensive communication while considering managers’ active-empathic listening as a potential mitigating factor. Study 2 was conducted after a 10-month interim to delve into the intricate causal connections between defensive communication strategies and task conflicts. For analysing the data, SPSS was used for conducting confirmatory factor analysis. Furthermore, to analyse the conceptual framework and the hypothesised relationships in this study, partial least squares (PLS) modelling was performed using Smart-PLS 4.0. Findings: Task conflicts have a significant negative association with mature and neurotic defensive communication, whereas they have a strong positive relationship with immature defensive communication. Relationship conflict significantly mediates the association between task conflict and immature defensive communication. The moderating role of the manager’s active-empathic listening was not supported. In addition, the relationship between immature defensive communication and task conflict is significantly positive, outlining their bidirectional association. In contrast, the association between mature defensive communication is significantly negative. This highlights the potential of immature defensive communication to create escalatory conflict spirals and of mature defensive communication to de-escalate them. Research limitations/implications: Defensive communication strategies, commonly explored in the psychological realm, particularly within family and romantic relationship contexts, have received limited attention in organisational behaviour. This longitudinal study offers a unique perspective on the evolution of defensive communication and its impact on task conflict over time, enhancing the understanding of how individuals adapt their communication strategies as conflicts persist or dissipate. The investigation also advances the understanding of conflict spirals, illustrating the potential of mature defensive communication to de-escalate conflicts while revealing a bidirectional connection between immature defensive communication and task conflicts. Practical implications: Leaders need to prioritise addressing task conflicts, particularly those that might spiral into relationship conflicts. This would present managers with the ability to make task conflicts more functional in nature, which could help to enhance both team and organisational achievements. The bidirectional relationship between task conflict and immature defensive communication points towards the exigency for managerial and organisational initiatives to prevent the development of conflict spirals at the workplace. Originality/value: This study offers crucial interdisciplinary perspectives into the body of literature with the longitudinal investigation of the connections between managers’ active-empathetic listening, task conflict, relationship conflict and the various defensive communication strategies. With the help of insights from this study, managers and leaders will be empowered to take the necessary actions to reduce employee defensive behaviours and foster a supportive culture for evoking positive and desirable performance.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand the factors responsible for social media fan engagement and experience. The research study also attempts to analyze the significance of adopting digital strategies with a fan-centric approach for sports organizations.Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted 18 semi-structured interviews with managers in different sports organizations and fans of various popular sports leagues and clubs in India. The authors used a qualitative exploratory approach by applying coding and thematic analysis to arrive at findings and conclusions.Findings: The responses led to the emergence of three major themes comprising effective planning, harnessing fan participation and boosting the quality of experience. Building on these themes, the authors recommended the “PRIME” model for sports organizations.Research limitations/implications: As this study explores the growing importance of fan engagement from the top three sports leagues in India, future researchers can focus on obtaining data from multiple countries and multiple leagues to enhance fan engagement's generalizability. Also with the growing popularity of eSports, the scope of the present study may be expanded based on eSports.Practical implications: The authors' study acts as an eye-opener for managers revealing that to get active participation from fans, sports organizations will have to be active in social media initiatives. In addition to this, the authors also propose the PRIME model, which elaborates on the aspects of Planning social media programs, Regularization of content creation, increased Interaction with the fan base, Motivation through rewards and Enriching fan experience for effectively harnessing fan engagement and experience.Originality/value: In the pandemic era, engaging with fans on social media can enable sports organizations to thrive. The authors suggest a “PRIME” model which can aid sports managers in effectively harnessing fan engagement and experience for the managers of sports organizations. The model can also be applied beyond the sports context in anchoring customer engagement and experience through the social media of other business organizations.