Why and when does performance pressure encourage employee expediency? A moderated mediation model
Khan A.G. Mahmood M. Islam M.S. Li Y. Hwang H.J.
5 August 2024Emerald Publishing
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management
2024#73Issue 72235 - 2253 pp.
Purpose: Employee expediency is a ubiquitous, unethical phenomenon in the workplace that is largely underresearched. Based on the tenets of conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study investigates the influence of excessive performance pressure on employees expedient behaviour via moral disengagement. It further examines the moderating role of employees moral identity in the relationship between performance pressure and employee expediency. Design/methodology/approach: The data were collected using a multi-wave paper-and-pencil survey amongst 388 sales associates working in pharmaceutical manufacturing companies in Bangladesh. A series of hierarchical regression analyses and bootstrapping techniques of the PROCESS macro were conducted to test the hypotheses. Findings: The findings reveal that performance pressure significantly and positively affects employees expediency. Additionally, moral disengagement partially mediates the positive relationship between performance pressure and employee expediency. Furthermore, moral identity moderates the direct effect of performance pressure on moral disengagement and the indirect effect of performance pressure on employee expediency through moral disengagement. Practical implications: Managers are advised to consider the compatibility of economic and moral principles when defining performance targets or evaluating staff performance, as immoral behaviours harm organisations in the long run. Additionally, managers should emphasise candidates with high levels of sensitive moral qualities, such as integrity and moral behaviour, and their abilities should be given preference when hiring new employees, e.g. moral reasoning. Originality/value: This pioneering study investigates the underlying psychological mechanisms and moral characteristics to unravel the association between performance pressure and employee expediency using the lens of COR theory. The study identified the moral consequences of performance pressure and mitigating strategies to reduce employee expedient behaviour.
Conservation of resources theory , Employee expediency , Moral disengagement , Moral identity , Performance pressure
Text of the article Перейти на текст статьи
School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China
Bang College of Business, KIMEP University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Department of Business Administration, Bangladesh Army International University of Science and Technology, Comilla, Bangladesh
Sunway Business School, Sunway University, Bandar Sunway, Malaysia
School of Management and Economics
Bang College of Business
Department of Business Administration
Sunway Business School
10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель
Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026