Is knowledge liberating? The role of knowledge behaviors and competition on the workplace happiness of healthcare professionals.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to highlight the joint impact of competitive culture and knowledge behaviors (sharing, hoarding and hiding) on workplace happiness among healthcare professionals. It addresses a literature gap that critiques the development of happiness programs in healthcare that overlook organizational, social and economic dynamics. The study is based on the Social Exchange Theory, the Conservation of Resources Theory and the principles of Positive Psychology. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The study analyzes a linear relationship between variables using a structural equation model and a partial least squares approach. The data are sourced from a survey of 253 healthcare professionals from Portuguese healthcare organizations. FINDINGS: The data obtained from the model illustrate a positive correlation between competitive culture and knowledge hoarding as well as knowledge hiding. Interestingly, a competitive culture also fosters workplace happiness among healthcare professionals. The complex relationship between knowledge behaviors becomes evident since both knowledge hoarding and sharing positively affected these professionals' workplace happiness. However, no direct impact was found between knowledge hiding and workplace happiness, suggesting that it negatively mediates other variables. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This research addresses a previously identified threefold gap. First, it delves into the pressing need to comprehend behaviors that enhance healthcare professionals' workplace satisfaction. Second, it advances studies by empirically examining the varied impacts of knowledge hiding, hoarding and sharing. Finally, it sheds light on the repercussions of knowledge behaviors within an under-explored context - healthcare organizations.

The role of ethical leadership and social networks in the promotion of workplace happiness and quality of care: A cross-sectional study.

This study examines the sequential effects of perceived ethical leaders and the strength of social networks among healthcare professionals on the perceived workplace happiness of healthcare professionals and its impacts on the quality of provided care. We conduct a partial least squares (PLS) analysis to estimate the relationship between the variables. Data comes from a survey conducted to 321 healthcare professionals with primary/direct contact with patients working at Portuguese hospitals. We use previously validated scales in the literature for measuring the variables; ethical leadership, social network in the context of the workplace; satisfaction, engagement, and commitment as proxies of workplace happiness, and, quality of care provided to patients (the outcome of the research model). Results show that ethical leadership positively influences social networks, workplace happiness, and quality of provided care. Social networks also have a positive relationship with workplace happiness and quality of provided care. Additionally, the workplace happiness of healthcare professionals positively influences the quality of provided care to patients. Our work addresses a diverse research gap regarding hospitals' ethical and social environment and hospital performance. Specifically, the empirical operationalisation of ethical leadership fights a literature gap in healthcare management. Moreover, we report evidence on the influence of antecedents, but also the performance consequences, of workplace happiness in healthcare environments. Our findings contribute to the literature while providing managerial implications for healthcare settings.

Transformational leadership and work performance in health care: the mediating role of job satisfaction.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relation among transformational leadership, job satisfaction and adaptive performance of health-care professionals and administrative personnel of Portuguese non-profit health-care organizations. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: This study collects data using an online survey sent to a nationwide database. This study uses a structural equation modeling approach to specify and estimate models of linear relations among the variables. This study tests the direct and mediated effects proposed by the hypotheses using a sample of non-profit 192 health-care organizations. FINDINGS: The results show (regardless of being direct health-care professionals or employees performing support functions) that job satisfaction fully mediates the relation between transformational leadership and adaptive performance. Transformational leadership alone and directly seems to have no effect on adaptive performance. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS: The theoretical implications of this study concern the influence that transformational leadership has on job satisfaction and the consequent indirect influence on performance regardless of being direct health-care professionals or employees performing support functions. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The main managerial contribution of the study regards how health-care organizations' leaders may contribute to increase employees' performance by ensuring job satisfaction. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: Despite the numerous studies that relate transformational leadership to job satisfaction and performance, there is a gap on research run in health care settings involving both health care and administrative personnel. Transformational leadership can increase the satisfaction of health-care professional and consequently job satisfaction has a positive influence on employees' adaptive performance.

Psychosocial antecedents of knowledge sharing in healthcare research centers: a mixed-methods approach.

PURPOSE: Literature addressing psychosocial factors' relation with knowledge sharing in healthcare organizations is still scarce, being of extreme shortage in specific environments, such as healthcare research centers. This paper investigates the impact of psychosocial factors as antecedents of knowledge sharing between healthcare research peers in such environments. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: By expanding on the theory of reasoned action (TRA), the authors follow a mixed-methods design to study the relation between perceptions of psychosocial factors and knowledge sharing in healthcare researchers. A quantitative approach uses a structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the links in an original model. A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) identifies alternative configurations that lead knowledge sharing intention and its absence as well as the knowledge sharing behavior and its absence considering additional sample characteristics. FINDINGS: Findings show evidence of the proposed psychosocial antecedents' effect on knowledge sharing. Additional configurations of causal conditions that lead to the presence or absence of the intention and knowledge sharing behavior are discussed, with emphasis on both psychosocial antecedent configuration and sample characteristics. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This study identifies the influence of both psychosocial and team characteristic aspects leading to knowledge sharing behavior between healthcare researchers. The importance of a rich social network lying on trust is vital for a sharing environment inside research environments. Given the complex nature of behavioral intentionality, additional findings allow an articulation between individual characteristics, substantiating the proposition of complex configurations between antecedents that hints for team configuration strategies and managerial practices in healthcare research teams.