Section 5 Leadership Context

#### **Chapter 13**

## Leveraging Leader Relations to Cultivate Brain-Friendly Workplaces

*Kumars Ahmadi*

#### **Abstract**

Regarded as the future of management, leadership is becoming increasingly important, but one of the most serious challenges facing leaders today is the declining trend in job satisfaction, commitment, and work motivation in HR, making the current working environment less effective. Today, neuroscience provides a more precise definition and description of the human being, so many different sciences use neuroscience findings more effectively, and leadership is linked to neuroscience in the form of organizational neuroscience. New understandings of human concepts regarding human brain-directed thoughts, feelings, actions, and behaviors consider that almost all human activities are the result of interactions between the brain and chemistry. Founded upon the brain–directed man, the theory of brain-friendly workplace aims to introduce processes and activities, which can lead to a pleasant experience for employees' brains, and it can help HR to experience favorable thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Conducted on the basis of qualitative research and implication research, the two contributions of brain structure and chemistry are considered as the source for calculating the effects of neuroscience on workplace design. Sampling and validity are also theoretically considered by examining valid sources and implications. This research is first about cognition and finally considers the conceptual extension of the brain-friendly workplace. Based on the theoretical framework and implications, seven processes and dimensions were counted: Communication, happiness and mobility, ability by self-awareness, respect, purposefulness & focus, security & relaxation, and sleep & rest. This brain-friendly workplace model was called CHARPSS, which is intended to help leaders create different and effective workplaces.

**Keywords:** leadership, organizational neurosciences (ON), brain–friendly workplace, CHARPSS model, implication study

#### **1. Introduction**

First of all, we want to consider the state of the existing workplaces, worrying levels of motivation, commitment, and human resource (HR) satisfaction. Organizational leaders need to know new human perceptions to become more effective because leadership is the future of management. A leader's mission is to motivate his subordinates. Human resources (HR), which is the most vital element in the field of

organizational management, have always received special attention in various eras by researchers in the field of leadership. However, the quality of employees' performance have been found to be influenced by their motivation within and toward the organization. Leadership in an organization requires new but practical ideas. Creating an ideal work environment is an important investment for the company. Today, with the help of neuroscience, a more suitable workplace must be designed. There is an increasing trend of using neuroscience research results in different fields [1].

According to the prestigious journal of science in 2018, almost 24% of different sciences use neuroscience findings. Neuroscience may be able to make extremely important contributions to management sciences in terms of interdisciplinary studies [2]. In 2018, LinkedIn reported that 93% of employees want to stay longer with their organization, as long as their organization invests more in their workplace [3]. One of the most important responsibilities of a manager is to create a happy and positive environment in which employees feel safe and valued [4]. Leaders need to know that today the ability to create a motivating workplace and have motivated employees is a competitive advantage for an organization as it leads to developing organizational commitment and motivation [5]. The declining trend of commitment, motivation, and satisfaction in the workplace is a matter of serious concern. According to the Gallup Institute, about 20 percent of American employees are not committed and 50 percent are not very committed to their organizations. The annual cost of employee commitment reduction in the United States of America is approximately 300\$ billion. This cost is greater than the GDP of countries like Portugal and Singapore and a quarter of the GDP of Iran. In some countries, fully committed employees account for about 3% of their total workforce [6]. Committed employees are 20% more productive and 87% less likely to leave the organization [7]. In a 2013 report by the Business Monitor Institute, about 90% of Iranian employees rated their organization's incentive system as ineffective. On the other hand, about 75% of managers feel that their employees lack the necessary commitment and loyalty [8].

According to Gallup's global study, approximately 13% of employees are completely satisfied with their jobs [9]. The Gallup Institute recently announced that by 2022, employee engagement and workplace belonging will be 21% globally and 15% in the Middle East. In another survey of 20,000 employees, only 36% said they felt positive and energized at work [10]. In another study of 20,000 employees, only 36% said they received positive feelings and energy in their workplace. It is estimated that many workplaces today reinforce the tendency of employees to quit because in today's workplaces up to 30% of employees suffer from mild to severe anxiety disorders.

Another study by the Gallup Institute found that about 88% of employees tended to do their best, but workplace barriers did not allow it, and 55% of employees said they did not do their best in those workplaces. They should strive only to the extent that they will not be dismissed, and they should fulfill their common duties [11]. These examples are important signals and warnings for managers. They point to rethinking and revision at workplace. Leaders need to know that sticking to and insisting on the current workplace is a mistake and that a better and more accurate solution is to rethink and reshape the workplace based on neuroscience findings. This introduction explains the problem and clarifies the concerns.

#### **2. Literature review**

Neuroscience is helping improve leadership behaviors while making it easier for employees and, in turn, for organizations. In the light of contemporary research, the

#### *Leveraging Leader Relations to Cultivate Brain-Friendly Workplaces DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107836*

leadership training can be a personal, brain-based approach that helps individuals identify their problems and realize their true potential. While there are still many gaps in how the brain makes us better leaders, clear evidence now shows that the brain is the foundation for building effective leadership [12]. Science is just beginning to study the neurological mechanisms underlying these effects [13]. As I said at the beginning, there are many similar examples. This is evidence of the inefficiencies we see in the workplace.

Leaders need to know that existing workplaces are inefficient and boring. Unfortunately, the workplace plays a significant and undeniable role in altering the brain chemistry of employees within the organization. Thus, the quality of employees' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors deteriorates. We need to create a new framework for the workplace design. This chapter introduces a brain-friendly workplace that is also highly efficient. Since our brains function under certain conditions, methods can be used to provide brain-compatible functionality. These are called brain-friendly strategies. You can transform your workplace to boost brain function for your employees, managers, and customers, which means the brain consumes less energy and imposes less tension on the brain. Knowing that the workplace alone cannot provide a brainfriendly environment, it must be provided [14]. According to Franklin Becker, a workspace is like body language, and every part of that environment conveys messages to the brains of employees, managers, and customers. When you talk about improving employee performance and satisfaction, the workplace needs to support it too [15]. When it comes to the evolution of organizational man, we adopt Taylor's economic human theory and witness a new view of man as brain-driven human (**Figure 1**).

Understanding this change in the concept of organizational humans is resourceful and vital for leaders.  It is the chemical change in our brain that create our emotions and logic and guide our behavioral function. Simply put, hormones and neurotransmitters are quite effective in shaping our performance. This view may be a reinterpretation of the complex concept of man but with its own logic. This view is for the black box to explain the complexities of human thought, emotion, and behavior. Neuroscience translates and explains the black box of the complexity of human behavior. Neuroscience is giving a renewed and serious interest to the accuracy and depth of analysis of human behavior in personal, professional, and social life [16, 17]. Everything we do is a reflection of our brain. Even man, his death is completely under the control of the biological changes of his body, which underline the same concept of man as directed by the brain [18].

The purpose of the new perspective and knowledge resulting from the combination of management and neuroscience is to examine human reality to enhance managers' perception of themselves and their employees [19]. The brain is one of the organs that fully involved in our temperament, character, consciousness, and every

**Figure 1.**

*The evolution of the concept of organizational man [15].*

decision. The brain tells us to be cautious or reckless, to try or be indifferent, and considerate [20]. Neuroscience helps us gain valuable insights that are considered unknown and unanalyzable in the dark basements of behavioral science [21].

A brain-friendly workplace seeks to create satisfaction in HR and to create satisfaction within them. An important and guiding fact from neuroscience is that anything that is good for the brain is good for business [22], and this is good news for organizational leaders. The brain-friendly approach is a scientific and practical approach that provides the best working conditions for brain functioning in an organization. It seeks to provide things like convenience, happiness, and many other rewards from the employee's brain's point of view. The condition in which brain energy is consumed the least. Diligence and hard work are kept to a minimum degree. Leaders are advised to improve employee decisions and actions by establishing brainfriendly approaches in their organizations [23]. A brain-friendly workplace that strives to provide a maximum reward experience for the brains of employees, managers, and even customers or consumers, and the conditions under which they experience maximum and minimal threat to create inner satisfaction. Remember that for the brain, rewards and threats may be different from our previous perceptions. The brain needs very subtle stimuli to function properly. Brain-friendly workplaces seek to provide processes to provide a positive emotional experience during the workday for employees so that their brain awareness is one of the maximum rewards and minimum threats. We want to tell organizational leaders that a brain-friendly workplace is where employees' brains are more rewarded and less threatened (**Figure 2**).

The whole point of organizational neuroscience (ON) is that the workplace should be designed to provide the maximum reward experience from the brain's point of view for employees and managers and even customers or clients during the business day to further govern the trend-based approach to thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and this is an important point that leaders need to keep in mind. Because it will make the workplace more satisfying and attractive. The biased approach in the brain is influenced by the release of hormones and neurotransmitters including serotonin, oxytocin, dopamine, and endorphins, and the avoidance approach in the brain is influenced by the hormones cortisol and even adrenaline or epinephrine, as well as sometimes testosterone. For example, an increase in testosterone is inversely

**Figure 2.** *The tendency-avoidance approach of the brain [24].*

#### *Leveraging Leader Relations to Cultivate Brain-Friendly Workplaces DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107836*

associated with development of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). The PFC is one of the brain's upstream systems. This lobe prevents immediate, impulsive, and even hostile actions. Cortisol plays an important role in the amygdala hyperactivity in our brain. The amygdala is one of the downstream systems in the brain that increase our anxious and negligent behaviors. HR brain chemicals, although highly impactful, can be influenced by changes in behavioral and structural conditions in the environment. This golden tip is the window into designing a brain-friendly workplace. ON helps leaders look at the factors that drive employee behavior and performance from a new angle.

#### **3. Methodology**

Methodology can determine how an idea and a theory form for us. To present a new point of view and theory, it is necessary to look at this Suddody matrix to see from what angle we are discussing (**Table 1**).

The lower right quadrant of **Table 1** characterizes a theoretical approach that focuses on clear structures and incorporates some literary content. Oswick and colleagues suggest that mixing explicit structures from multiple knowledge domains can produce creative output, depending on the characteristics of the input domains. The higher the similarity between the input domains, the less likely the resulting theory is to be considered entirely new. In the model presented in this chapter, neuroscience was used to combine leadership topics and workplace design to make organizational leadership more effective. For theorizing, a new method of implication study has been used, and the steps of this method are presented in this methodology section. Oswick, Fleming and Hanlon make this observation most clearly, convincingly demonstrating that most (i.e., roughly two-thirds) of the research conducted in management is rooted in theories borrowed from other disciplines [25]. This research also seeks to combine the topics of leadership and workplace with neuroscience. This research is strategic, qualitative, and method-based participatory discovery study. The two contributions of brain structure and chemistry are considered to be the source for calculating the effects of neuroscience on workplace design.

Sampling and validity are also theoretically cited and reliable with valid sources and implications. In this study, the concept of a brain-friendly workplace is first defined and finally will be explained. Implied research is one of the popular strategies for adapting and borrowing knowledge from one field to extend knowledge in another. This approach introduces a new methodology and we can use the findings of

**Table 1.** *Map of different theorizing approaches.* one science in another. However, borrowing the sciences from each other was used and led to the creation of interdisciplinary. In fact, much of human progress is due to studies of this implication. In this study, the researcher extracts important implications that are consistent with the underlying theoretical framework.

In this study, the researcher extracts important implications that are consistent with the underlying theoretical framework. In this study, we identified and calculated significant implications in two areas of brain chemistry and brain structure to demonstrate the dimensions of the theoretical framework. The steps to conducting the research based on the implied research method are as follows:

#### **4. Discussion of brain-friendly workplace**

A golden tip for leaders to learn is that consider a brain plate that the brain can access during the day to optimize its performance. This study was carried out using the implication research method. Underground research is one of the popular strategies for adapting and borrowing knowledge from one discipline to refine and extend knowledge from another. The two contributions of brain chemistry and brain structure are considered to be the source for calculating the effects of neuroscience on workplace design. In fact, much of human progress owes much to this search for participation. In this approach, the researcher develops a basic conceptual framework in his or her science before borrowing contributions and other scientific implications. For each component of the conceptual framework, it computes the implication. Thus, the researcher derives a meaningful implication that matches the elements of the theoretical framework (**Figure 3**).

A plate for healthy brain human resources can be considered as the processes and conditions for forming a brain-friendly working environment as follows:

*Leveraging Leader Relations to Cultivate Brain-Friendly Workplaces DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107836*

**Figure 3.** *Workplace plate for the brain.*

These seven factors can be considered as components of the theoretical framework and are known to be the source for finding implications. In this study, the contribution of neuroscience in the two areas of brain chemistry and brain structure was considered. Two main questions can be asked (**Table 2**):

Based on current implications and evidence, it seems likely that providing the conditions and context for effective workplace communication and interaction as a

**Table 2.**

*Effective communication as a brain-friendly process in the workplace.*

brain-friendly process can be accepted. Therefore, it is an important task for leaders to establish effective communication and interaction in the workplace, as the findings of neuroscience see it as a reward for employees' brains. By providing the right conditions for employee interactions, neuro leaders can truly claim that they have provided a brain-friendly workplace (**Table 3**).

Current evidence and existing findings suggest that coaching-based interactions create relationship emotionalization and provide familiarity in relationships as brainfriendly components in brain-friendly work relationships. Studies have revealed the significance of familiarity and we now know that leaders who profusely used social language in their vision and mission statements are more likely to have greater coherence in the right frontal part (PFC) of the brain than leaders with more self-language [12]. We have learned that effective work interactions and connections are rewarding for the HR brain. Leaders are encouraged to take seriously the impact of some behaviors and preparations that create the conditions for effective workplace communication on institutionalizing brain-friendly interactions.

• Improve communication skills, effective listening, and empathy to increase oxytocin and estrogen

#### **Table 3.**

*Components related to effective communication.*

In the image below you can see the relationship between the type of hormone and the activity state of the brain system. Some hormones and neurotransmitters cause more activity in the lower and posterior systems of the brain, and some other hormones cause more activity in the upper and front systems of the brain (**Figure 4**).

#### **Figure 4.** *Brain systems and brain chemistry [24].*

**Table 4.**

*Happiness and mobility as a brain-friendly process in the workplace.*

Analyzing the dimensions and components identified, it is important to know that anything that provides maximal activity of the upstream and cortical systems of the brain is considered brain-friendly (**Table 4**).

From the current implications and evidence, it appears that providing conditions and a platform for happiness and mobility in the workplace as a brain-friendly process can be accepted and approved. Maybe before, organizational leaders did not consider happiness in the workplace to be so important, but neuroscience has shown that it is a pleasant reward for the brain, and it has a great effect on improving work performance. Happiness is one of the vital elements for the optimal functioning of the brain, so it will be considered one of the vital elements of brain-friendly workplaces. Creating a happy workplace is one of the characteristics of a neuroleader. A neuroleader is a leader who uses neuroscience as a benchmark to have a deeper and more accurate impact on employees (**Table 5**).

The happiness and mobility of HR, as neuroscience implications have shown, are a reward for the human resource brain. A neuroleader understands the positive effects of happiness in the workplace so he tries to create it. Acts and actions and preparations that provide the conditions for happiness and mobility in the workplace are:

#### **Table 5.** *Components related to happiness and mobility.*

In a simple and superficial view, it may be thought that these implications are not for organizational issues, but the rewards of the brain are the same for all of us, and this inspiration and borrowing from neuroscience can be the basis of a new approach in leadership. Evidence and current evidence suggest that providing empowerment for self-awareness in the workplace as a brain-friendly process can be acceptable. Organizational leaders should know that the best kind of awareness is self-awareness, so they should try to make their employees self-aware in the workplace (**Table 7**).

The implications, current evidence, and available findings suggest that providing conditions and contexts in the workplace for the emotionalization of memory, flow, independence, and learning are acceptable components of the workplace and activities within the workplace ability by self-awareness process. Any reflection, contemplation, and thinking on oneself or on different topics can cause the creation of new neural circuits in the brains of employees. Self-awareness and HR empowerment are considered a reward for their brains. Suggestion to organizational leaders and activities that provide the conditions to facilitate self-awareness and empowerment in the workplace are:

• Utilizing coaching capabilities for self-awareness and internalizing motivation to increase serotonin and decrease cortisol

**Table 6.**

*Ability by self-awareness as a brain-friendly process in the workplace.*

#### **Table 7.**

*Components related to ability by self-awareness.*

Respect is a vital and inseparable part of inner satisfaction. In a work environment where the priority is to respect the employees, in that work environment, the brain function of the employees can be much better and the organizational efficiency can be improved. So that both the employees reach inner satisfaction and the organization achieves efficiency. It has been proven that if we talk to people with behavioral abnormalities with respect, they will behave more reasonably and so, we should have respectful words and behavior with the employees so that their brains feel rewarded (**Table 8**).

#### **Table 8.**

*Respect as a brain-friendly process in the workplace.*

#### **Table 9.**

*Components related to respect.*

Current implications and evidence suggest that providing a platform for respect and reverence in the workplace as a brain-friendly process can be accepted and endorsed. Respect has always been important, but leaders now know why and how to increase it. They learned the consequences of disrespect on the brains of employees therefore, conditions for increasing respect for employees should be provided (**Table 9**).

As an important point, we must mention that a neuroleader empathizes with his employees, not with sympathy. Because sympathy aggravates their pain and problems, sympathy strengthens the ability and self-confidence of employees. The neurological reason is that empathy causes the release of serotonin and sympathy causes the release of cortisol. From the implications, current evidence, and findings, it appears that providing conditions in the workplace to appreciate the efforts and actions, compassion and empathy for each other, forgiveness and sacrifice of colleagues toward each other, gender differences in delegating authority can be used as components are brain-friendly. These activities should be considered as part of the process of respect in the workplace. Suggestions to organizational leaders and activities that provide the conditions to facilitate respect in the workplace are:

*\* RAS: Reticular Activation System.*

#### **Table 10.** *Purposefulness and focus as a brain-friendly process in the workplace.*

*Leveraging Leader Relations to Cultivate Brain-Friendly Workplaces DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107836*

• Encouraging sacrificing behaviors in the organization to increase the hormone oxytocin (**Table 10**).

Having a purpose at work helps to build a sense of purpose in employees. The feeling of dignity and satisfaction among employees is increasing day by day. Concentration is important for creating purpose. From the meanings and evidence in the table above, it can be seen that providing the conditions and context to create purpose and focus for personnel in the workplace as a process of the brain-friendly paradigm sets can be accepted and verified. With these discoveries, wise leaders know they must provide the conditions and platforms to increase workplace focus and employee engagement like never before (**Table 11**).

From the implications, current evidence, and available findings, it seems that providing conditions and contexts in the workplace for meaning and hope, mindfulness, lack of multitasking, and appropriateness of workplace conditions as acceptable components and activities within the process of purposefulness and focus can be accepted and approved. Suggestion to organizational leaders, activities that provide the conditions to facilitate purposefulness and focus for HR in the workplace are:

Based on the implications and current evidence, it seems acceptable to provide the conditions and context for safety and relaxation in the workplace as a brain-friendly process. **Table 13** shows the components of the safety and relaxation in the workplace. Therefore, leaders should know that providing a quiet and safe environment can be a good brain reward for their employees.

The implications, current evidence, and available findings suggest that providing conditions and contexts in the workplace to increase similarity, simplicity, support, transparency, and certainty as brain-friendly components and activities within the security and relaxation process are acceptable. It can only be said about the importance of similarity, results showed that in 80 percent of the 43 elections since 1901, the candidates who used the most collective-oriented language (we-or us-referencing) in their official election speech were the victors. Research findings showed that leaders' words are inspiring when they convey a sense of commonality and us. gives some neuroscientific substance to claims that it is only when in-group leaders speak for "us" that followers embrace their pronouncements enthusiastically [13]. Accordingly,

**Table 11.**

*Components related to purposefulness and focus.*

**Table 12.**

*Security and relaxation as a brain-friendly process in the workplace.*

suggestion to organizational leaders, activities that provide the conditions to facilitate security and relaxation for HR in the workplace are:

Current implications and evidence suggest that providing conditions and contexts to improve the adequate sleep and rest in the workplace as a brain-friendly process can be accepted and approved. With these experimental and important findings, it is necessary for organizational leaders to pay special attention to the quality of sleep and rest of their subordinates (**Table 15**).

Sleep is also an active state that is important for cognitive processes such as memory consolidation, semantic integration, learning, and emotional processing. Sleep is also important for the body, and evidence suggests it may be even more important for the brain. A study of working hours, sleep, and depression of 2643 fulltime employed Japanese citizens found that participants worked more than 10 hours a day, slept less than 6 hours a day, and reported inadequate sleep 37 and 43,

#### **Table 13.**

*Components related to security and relaxation.*

respectively, and also 97% were more likely to be depressed than those who worked 6–8 hours a day, slept 6–8 hours a day, and reported getting enough sleep. The study concluded that depression associated with long work hours is primarily a result of sleep deprivation [93]. The implications, current evidence, and available findings suggest that providing workplace conditions to minimize shift work, compensating for sleep deprivation in shift staff, and ultimately providing short restpackages during work are components of sleep and rest and having enough activities. As suggested to organizational leadership, the activities that provide the necessary conditions to facilitate adequate sleep and rest for personnel in the workplace are:

#### **Table 14.**

*Enough sleep and rest as a brain-friendly process in the workplace.*

**Table 15.**

*Components related to have enough sleep and rest.*

### **5. Conclusion**

The findings and statements in this chapter help leaders execute their strategy more effectively in creating motivation. This model presented a valuable opportunity. A smart organizational leader knows when the current workplace is dysfunctional. This leader should find a way to design a new environment that is more appropriate. Due to the downward trend in job satisfaction, employee engagement, and motivation

**Figure 5.** *Brain-friendly workplace of CHARPSS model.*

#### *Leveraging Leader Relations to Cultivate Brain-Friendly Workplaces DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107836*

in different organizations, the need to renovate the current workplace is inevitable. Today, neuroscience offers more precise definitions and explanations of human beings, so many different sciences use the findings of neuroscience to have greater effect, and management knowledge is linked to neuroscience in the form of organizational neuroscience. Based on the brain-driven human, brain-friendly workplace theory suggest that workplace implementations bring pleasurable experiences for employees' brains, ultimately introducing favorable processes and activities into employees' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. This research is first about cognition and finally considers the conceptual extension of the brain-friendly workplace. This is an important message for leaders. Based on the theoretical framework and implications, seven processes and dimensions were counted: Communication, happiness, and mobility, ability by self-awareness, respect, purposefulness and focus, security and relaxation, and sleep and rest. In addition, multiple ingredients are blended for each process, and a total of 27 types of brain-friendly ingredients are blended. This brainfriendly workplace model was called CHARPSS. The quality of employees' thoughts, feelings, and actions is due to brain activity. Therefore, by introducing measures and actions to implement the components of the CHARPSS model, we can create a brainfriendly environment in the HR workplace. The CHARPSS model is able to maximize the satisfaction and rewards that an employee's brain receives from the workplace, while also minimizing frustration and brain threats (**Figure 5**).

This model, derived from the effects of neuroscience on the two contributions of brain chemistry and brain structure, can provide leaders with new insights so they can provide additional motivation and job satisfaction. To create a mind-friendly workplace, a leader must make a list of what to add to the current workplace and a list of what to remove from the current workplace. Most of these changes including changes of values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors toward employees must happen within the leader himself. CHARPSS model can create very positive changes in brain chemistry and neural circuits of employees. In our brain, there are neurons called mirror neurons. These neurons are activated when we do something or when we observe or imagine the same thing. These neurons cause emotional transmission and the good feeling of the employees from the workplace, of the brain, will spread to the customers and clients and will have positive effects even in their families.

#### **Author details**

Kumars Ahmadi Department of Management, Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj, Iran

\*Address all correspondence to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
© 2022 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

### **References**

[1] Friedman R. The Best Place to Work. Publisher of Perigee; 2015

[2] Tracy B. Full Engagement: Inspire, Motivate and Bring Out the Best in Your People. Publisher of American Management Association; 2011

[3] Li L. 17 Surprising Statistics about Employee R. TINYpulse blog; 2020

[4] Mobbs D, Mcfarland W. The neuroscience of motivation. NeuroLeadership Journal. 2010;**3**

[5] Pink D. Published in the Carol Stanford. 2010

[6] Fazli M, Amiran H. The Future and Position of HRM in Iran. Publisher of Amiran; 2011

[7] Valier K, Key HR. Metrics: Measure & leverage employee satisfaction. 2021

[8] Porath C. Creating a More Human Workplace Where Employees and Business Thrive. SHRM Fundation; 2016

[9] Ferreia F, Dacasta R, Pereira.L & Jeroimo. C. The relationship between chemical of stress, leadership, motivation and organizational trust. Journal of International Business and Economics. 2018;**6**(2)

[10] Twyla D. How to Motivate People. Publisher of Kogan; 1989

[11] Montgomery C. Your level of generosity is related to the street you are walking on. Interpreter of Humanities Quarterly. 2018;**8**

[12] Joy M. The Neurosience oF Leadership. Pallikkutam; 2018

[13] Molenberghs P, Prochilo G, Steffens N, Zacher H, Haslam S. The neuroscience of inspirational leadership: The importance of collective-oriented language and shared group membership. Journal of Management. 2017;**43**(7)

[14] Zwaan L, Viljoen R. The role of Neuroleadership in work engagement. Journal of Human Resource Management. 2019

[15] Mundlein K, Zwart T. Business and the Brain. Lund University; 2013

[16] Ghadiri A, Habermacher A, Peters T. Neuroleadership: A Journey through the Brain for Business Leaders. Springer-Verlag Publishing; 2012

[17] Ahmadi K. The basics of Neuroleadership. Publisher of Termeh; 2016

[18] Amodio D. The social neuroscience of intergroup relations. European Review of Social Psyhology. 2008

[19] Karim A, Farid.M & Rafiq.S. NeuroManagement: Key to maintaining performance literature review. The lnternatioal Journal of Business Management and Technology. 2019

[20] Amen D. Use Your Brain to Change Your Age: Secrets to look, Feel and Think Younger Every Day. Publisher of Harmony; 2012

[21] Meacham M. Neuroscience IN corporate training: All hype or practical applications? Journal of L&D Talks. 2011

[22] Lanz K. How to build a brainfriendly work environment after COVID-19. 2020

*Leveraging Leader Relations to Cultivate Brain-Friendly Workplaces DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107836*

[23] Affinwala S, Bandy O, Chugh A. How neuroscience transformed business. NHRD Network Journal. 2018;**2018**:4

[24] Ahmadi K. Organizational Neuroscience (ON). Publisher of Termeh; 2020

[25] Suddody R, Hardy C, Huy Q. Introduction to special topic forum where are the new theories of organization? 2011;**36**(2)

[26] Danaeefard H. Methodology of implication studies in social and human sciences. Methodology of Human Sciences. 2016;**36**

[27] Chirico F. Job stress models for burnout syndrome. Journal of Health and social sciences. 2016;**52**(3)

[28] Jaaskelainen I. Introduction to cognitive neuroscience. 2014

[29] Lehmann S. The Science of Happiness. Published by Da Capo Press; 2006

[30] Zak P. The neuroscience of high trust organization consulting. Psychological Journal. 2018;**70**(1)

[31] Ghosh SK. Happy hormones at work. NHRD Network Journal. 2018;**11**(4)

[32] Swart T, Chisholm K, Brown P. Neuroscience for Leadership. Pub Palgrave Macmillan; 2015

[33] Leikomaa T. Coaching as a Tool for Performance Management. Tampere University; 2016

[34] Horne T, Wootton S. Training Your Brain. Hodder Education Group; 2007

[35] Madigan S. Narrative therapy. American Psychological Association; 2011

[36] Crawford J. The Brain-friendly Organization. Cascasdan; 2011

[37] Dispenza J. You Are the Placebo. Hay House Inc; 2014

[38] MacDonald M. Your Brain.  HREC. 2015

[40] Chopra D, Tanzi R. Super Brain. Publisher of Harmony; 2013

[41] PRISM. Coaching and neuroscience: The way ahead. 2018

[42] Dethmer J, Chapman D, Klemp K. T*he* 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success. Chicago, IL: Conscious Leadership Group; 2014

[43] Hughes D, Baylin J. Brain – Based Parenting. W. W. Norton & Company; 2012

[44] Murphy C, Ozturgut O. Brain–wise leadership. Journal of International Education and Leadership. 2013

[45] Leviton R. Brain Builders: A Life Long Guide to Sharper Thinking. Prentice Hall; 1995

[46] Irimia A, Robles D, Rostowsky K, Maher A, Chowdhury M. Amazon indigenous group's lifestyle may hold a key to slowing down aging. Journals of Gerontology. 2021;**2021**:glab138

[47] Bnadkoki M. Ways to Increase Happiness Hormones: Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin and Endorphins. Profitable Business Site; 2016

[48] Sophie M. Peace in the Workplace. Shamdoni; 2017

[49] Ahola S, Doston C. Psychological momentum. Frontiers in Psychology. 2016

[50] Leon Z. Neuromarketing: Exploring the Brain of Consumer. Springer; 2010

[51] Shams AH. Environmental Psychology. Samt; 2014

[52] Boghosian AJ.  John Wiley & Sons; 2009

[53] Ratey J. A User Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention and four Theaters of the Brain. Vintage; 2002

[54] Pageup,People. The Neuroscience of Learning & Development. Pageup People; 2011

[55] Small G. The Memory Bible: An Innovative Strategy FOR Keeping your Brain Young, Hyperion. 2002

[56] Jansen E. Brain and Education, roshd. 2017

[57] Cheruvu R. The Neuroscience of Learning: An Introduction to Mind, Brain, Health and Education. Havard University; 2018

[58] Rippon G. The Gendered Brain. Pantheon; 2019

[59] Breuning LG. Habits of a Happy Brain. Publisher of Adams Media; 2015

[60] Danny R. Motivate to Win. Kogan Page; 2009

[61] Ruyle K. Neuroscience in Performance Management, Inventive Talent Consulting. 2015

[62] Decety J, Bartal I, Uzefovsky D. Empathy as a Driver Prosaically Behavior: Highly Conserved

Neurobehavioral Mechanisms across Species. The Royal Society Publishing; 2015

[63] Deblauwe T. Awareness of employee stress response NHRD. Network Journal. 2018

[64] Locas.Marsha. Rewire your Brain for Love. Publisher of Hay House Inc; 2012

[65] Tylor B. My Stroke of Insight. Bloomington Inc; 2006

[66] Brizendine L. Woman Brain. Roshd; 2016

[67] Lombard J. The Mind of God: Neuroscience, Faith and a Search for the Soul. Harmony; 2018

[68] Hicks E. The Astonishing Power of Emotions. Hay House; 2008

[69] Church D. Mind to Matter: The Astonishing Science of How your Brain Material Reality. Publisher Hay House Inc; 2018

[70] Miendlarzewska E, Kometer M, Preuschoff N. Neurofinance. Journal of Organizational Research Methods. 2019

[71] Ariely D. Payoff the Hidden Logic That Shapes our Motivations. Simon & Schuster; 2017

[72] Waldman D, Berka C & Stikic M. Neuroscience and Team Processes, Organizational Neuroscience; 2015. 15

[73] Nori A. Neurological Foundations and Principles of Learning and Education. Samt; 2014

[74] Edrisi M. Heatwaves Dan't Just Give You Sun Burn They Can Harm Your Mental Health Too. Science beta; 2020

*Leveraging Leader Relations to Cultivate Brain-Friendly Workplaces DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107836*

[75] Kiran C, Tripathi P. Leadership development through change management. A Neuroscience Prospective. 2020

[76] Pitman C, Karle E. Rewire your anxious brain. New Harbinger Publications. 2015

[77] Elliott V, Horrigan K. Neuroscience: The brains behind behavior based safety. In: Proceedings 19 Triennial Congress of the IEA. Melbourn; 2015

[78] Bagozzi R, Lee N. Philosophical Foundation of Neuroscience in organizational Reaserch. Journal of Organizational Reaserch Methods. 2019

[79] Murphy C, Ozturgut O. Brain–wise leadership. Journal of International Education and Leadership. 2013

[80] Cheruvu R. The Neuroscience of Learning: An Introduction to Mind, Brain, Health and Education,Submission The Neuroscience of Flow. Havard University Extention School Handbook; 2018

[81] Synaptic, potential. Harnessing a brain friendly style of communication. 2015

[82] Hughes D, Baylin J. Brain – Based Parenting. W. W.W. Norton & Company; 2012

[83] Swart T. The role of organizational NeuroScience in human resources. 2019

[84] Ashkanasy N, Becker WJ, Waldman DA. Neuroscience and organizational behavior: Avoiding both neuro-Euphoria and neuro-phobia. Journal of Organizational Behavior. 2014;**35**(7)

[85] Beugre D. Exploring the neural basis of fairness: A model of

neuro- organizational justice. Journal of organizational Behavior and Human Decision Proccess. 2009;**110**

[86] Lieberman D. The Molecule of More: How a Single Molecule in Your Brain Drive Love. Ben Bella Books; 2018

[87] Blum F. Opportunities in Neuroscience for Future Army Applications. National Research Council; 2009

[88] Rampton J.  Economic World Newspaper. 2017;**2017**: 4118

[89] Doidge N. The Brain that Change Itself. Penguin; 2007

[90] Dispenza J. You Are the Placebo. Hay House Inc; 2014

[91] Schaufenbuel K. The neuroscience of leadership: Practical Applications. UNC Executive Development; 2014

[92] Alloway T, Parker T. Traning Your Brain for Dummies. Publisher of For Dummies; 2011

[93] Rock D, Siegel D, Poelmans S, Payne J. The healthy mind platter. NeuroLeadership Journal. 2015;**5**

#### **Chapter 14**

## Impact of Human Resource Management Practice on Organizational Performance: The Case of Food Processing Enterprises in Vietnam

*Nguyen Thanh Hung*

#### **Abstract**

This research investigates the relationships among human resource management (HRM) practices, corporate social responsibility (CSR), organizational commitment (OC), and the performance of food processing enterprises. The study involved a sample of 438 staff and managers from 278 food processing enterprises in Vietnam. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed for data analysis. The findings indicate that HRM practices directly influence CSR dimensions, including CSR towards employees, customers, and the environment, all showing positive effects. CSR, in turn, positively correlates with OC. However, the study found a direct link only between CSR towards customers and enterprise performance. While HRM did not directly impact OC, it significantly predicted it indirectly through CSR and OC. These results underscore the importance of enhancing HRM practices such as recruitment, training, job evaluation, compensation, job stability, and fostering innovation. Integrating CSR initiatives is crucial for enhancing organizational outcomes in food processing enterprises.

**Keywords:** human resource management, corporate social responsibility, organizational commitment, business performance, leadership and management

#### **1. Introduction**

In the twenty first century, businesses frequently expand across national borders. Not only multinational corporations and international organizations, but also small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), strive to gain and maintain a competitive advantage by effectively managing their human resources. The strategic importance of effective human resource management (HRM) and development for the future prosperity of organizations cannot be overstated.

People are the most valuable asset of an organization, but they can also become a burden if their abilities and attitudes do not align with the organization's needs. In a

fiercely competitive environment, both globally and locally, finding and nurturing the right human resources to execute business strategy is crucial for success [1]. Previous transactional leadership methods, which focus on offering better salaries, incentives, and perks, have failed to attract and retain the best talents in the long run [2]. While these methods provide immediate relief, they are insufficient for long-term retention and solving the talent crunch. Organizations need inspiring leadership, an appealing vision, and meaningful employee engagement to transform into a meaningful, soulful social entity [3]. Effective leadership can radically improve organizational performance and fortunes, as leaders are responsible for key organizational decisions.

Effective HRM is especially essential for SMEs, as international expansion puts additional pressure on their limited resources, particularly their people. Lado and Wilson defined HRM systems as "a set of distinct but interrelated activities, functions, and processes that are directed at attracting, developing, and maintaining (or disposing of) a firm's human resources" [4]. To maintain competitive advantage and sustainable development, organizations should focus not only on human resources but also on other aspects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) such as customers, community, society, and the environment. Today's business competition involves quality, price, distribution channels, advertising, and the implementation of CSR.

Carroll argued that CSR operates through economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic dimensions [5]. Profits and legal compliance are top priorities when it comes to business ethics and corporate social support. Carroll further argued that employees are the main factor linking HRM and CSR, and they are the ones who bring social responsibility to stakeholders [6]. HRM practices play a critical role in achieving this goal, as they garner the employee support and commitment necessary for the implementation of CSR policies [7].

The stressors facing organizations highlight the need for leaders who lead with purpose, values, and integrity; who build enduring organizations; who motivate their employees to provide superior customer service; and who create long-term value for shareholders [8]. When leaders evaluate the long-term outcomes of making socially and ethically responsible decisions, the results are significantly positive [9]. To evaluate the effectiveness of leaders, this chapter analyzes the impacts of HRM functions on business performance by evaluating the perceptions of employees and managers in Vietnamese seafood processing companies.

HRM has different measurement components across studies by George [8], Mahoney and Thorne [9], Pfeffer [10], Singh [11], and Guest [12]. In Vietnam, research on HRM mostly focuses on SMEs, such as the studies by Guest [12], Thang and Quang [13], and Dung et al. [14]. To specifically analyze the function of HRM, a path analysis model of the relationship between HRM practices and business performance in food processing companies was conducted. The findings provide a basis for proposing measures to enhance leadership effectiveness and improve organizational performance.

#### **2. Literature review**

#### **2.1 Leadership and management**

Leadership is a part of management, characterized by the ability to persuade others to achieve defined goals, bring cohesion to a group, and motivate the group towards these goals. Management activities such as planning, organizing, and decision-making *Impact of Human Resource Management Practice on Organizational Performance: The Case… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108003*

are ineffective until the leader unleashes the motivating power of people and directs them toward certain targets [15]. Leaders are fundamental to an organization, with their essential role being the direct influence on people and group activities.

Managers engage in activities that derive from the management function: they develop and apply development strategies, make forecasts and plans, organize and coordinate work, and provide an environment conducive to performance, which in turn motivates employees. They also ensure the effective execution of management actions, promote communication with employees, customers, and suppliers, and develop strategic relationships [16].

Managers are associated with action verbs, such as do, develop, intervene, manage, control, and fix. They do not merely manage equilibria but dynamic phenomena, seeking not to maintain an unprofitable situation. In contrast, leaders are associated with the inflection of the verb to change [17]. Therefore, within the framework of this chapter, we will focus on the aspect of HRM in organizations.

#### **2.2 Human resources management**

Schuler and Jackson argued that HRM practices refer to organizational activities aimed at managing the pool of human resources and ensuring these resources are employed towards fulfilling organizational goals [18]. Theriou and Chatzoglou stated that all superior practices that lead to performance were referred to as "best HRM practices," "high commitment practices," and "higher productivity and product quality practices" [19]. A significant body of research suggests specific HRM practices that promote inimitable attributes in human resources, helping an organization gain a competitive advantage and enhance performance [20].

Tocher and Rutherford defined HRM as "a set of distinct but interrelated activities, functions, and processes that are directed at attracting, developing, and maintaining (or disposing of) a firm's human resources" [21, 22]. HRM is a strategic and coherent approach to managing an organization's most valued assets—its people—who individually and collectively contribute to achieving its objectives [18, 19]. HRM is a very important function in organizational operations, encompassing recruitment, compensation, organizational development, safety, employee motivation, health care, effective information sharing, training, and managing all employee-related activities to achieve organizational goals [23, 24]. More recent definitions emphasize the strategic and humanistic roles of HRM, aligning with sustainable development trends in organizations [14].

For this study, components of HRM include selection and recruitment, training and development, employee performance evaluation, workplace stability and advancement, compensation and rewards, and the encouragement of engagement and innovation.

#### **2.3 Corporate social responsibility**

Carroll argued that CSR involves economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary benefits, and social support activities [5]. The CSR literature suggests that socially responsible companies strive not only to be economically sustainable and profitable but also to work with their employees, families, local communities, and nation–states to improve the quality of life in ethical and sustainable ways [25]. CSR includes two dimensions: external and internal stakeholders. The external dimension reflects the relationship between the organization and the community, while the internal

dimension involves management and employees, who expect functional, economic, psychological, and ethical benefits from their employer organizations [21, 22, 26].

Peterson showed a positive relationship between a civic enterprise and organizational commitment (OC) through employee perceptions of CSR activities [27]. Crowther and Abreu identified five stakeholders of CSR: consumers, suppliers, communities, government, and the environment [28]. Based on the concepts of Peterson [27], Carroll [6], Mason and Simmons [29], and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), as well as CSR characteristics in Vietnam [24], CSR can be understood as activities that meet stakeholder expectations and contribute to sustainable development, focusing on employees, customers, and the environment [6, 23, 26].

Becker recommends linking CSR and HRM, suggesting that this combination can bring business benefits such as improved reputation, loyalty, and employee retention [30]. According to Sarvaiya, the interaction between HRM and CSR is mainly influenced by factors such as the scope of CSR implementation, the stage of CSR development, and differences between companies [31]. HRM assists employees in enhancing their commitment to CSR policies and practices.

We propose the following hypotheses:

*H1a: There is a positive relationship between HRM practices and CSR toward employees.*

CSR activities are also influenced by external stakeholders such as customers, shareholders, suppliers, competitors, the environment, and the community [32]. HRM practices help foster an environment that meets customer satisfaction and enhances organizational performance [29].

*H1b: There is a positive relationship between HRM practices and CSR toward customers.*

Clarkson [29] argued that HRM roles have a significant impact not only on organizational behavior, attitudes, organizational culture, and leadership skills but also on employee awareness [28, 33]. In addition, Cacioppe and Fox emphasized the importance of analyzing environmental factors in relation to CSR [25]. HRM influences employee awareness, behavior, attitudes, organizational culture, and leadership skills development [34, 35].

*H1c: There is a positive relationship between HRM practices and CSR toward the environment.*

Organizational commitment (OC) represents a spiritual relationship between workers and the organization, reducing the likelihood of turnover [36]. Commitment impacts business goals and outcomes when employees align with the organization's aims [37].

Social Identity Theory (SIT) explains the link between CSR perceptions and employee attitudes and behavior [38]. When employees see their organization acting for societal good, it enhances their image and satisfaction, boosting confidence and pride [23, 29].

De Roeck et al. showed CSR improves employee attitudes toward the organization [39]. Mory et al. [40], Albdour et al. [41], and Thang [42] found positive correlations between CSR towards employees and OC [36–38, 43]. In addition, CSR is viewed as an important tool to influence the emotions, thoughts and purchasing behavior of target customers. However, these activities not only improve the corporate image but also affect the perception of employees. At least from the customer's point of view, the employee looks like an agent of the employer. Therefore, if an organization misleads its customers or produces unsafe products, its employees may

*Impact of Human Resource Management Practice on Organizational Performance: The Case… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108003*

be ashamed of this behavior as well. On the contrary, if an organization cares about its customers by providing quality products and accurate information about its activities, employees can be proud to be part of that organization [43].

Moreover, studies by Farooq et al. [44] and Glavas and Kelley [45] noted positive relations between CSR towards employees, the environment, and customers with OC [42, 43].

We propose the following hypotheses:

*H2a: CSR towards employees has a significant positive effect on OC.*

*H2b: CSR towards customers has a significant positive effect on OC.*

*H2c: CSR towards the environment has a significant positive effect on OC.*

Business performance is expressed through organizational and market performance [44, 45]. Richard et al. [46] recommend measuring company performance based on accounting, financial, and market factors obtained via company reports and feedback on Likert scales [47].

As employees become more aware of their organization's activities and goals, their increased support can significantly enhance organizational performance, impacting both job satisfaction and business outcome [48].

Commitment, defined as the psychological state that influences an employee's relationship with the organization and their decision to stay or leave, plays a crucial role in this dynamic [49, 50]. Committed employees tend to participate more actively and produce more, leading to lower absenteeism and turnover, and consequently higher operational performance. Engaged employees are thus more productive, with lower absenteeism and turnover rates.

It is essential for an organization's personnel practices to consider employee attitudes and beliefs, as misconceptions can lead to demotivation and poor performance, adversely affecting organizational outcomes [51]. A high-performance facilitator work system, which fosters trust, OC, and a positive perception of performance, can significantly boost organizational performance [52].

*H3: OC relates positively with business performance.*

Torgusa et al. found significant positive relationships between CSR measures and employee engagement, CSR, and organizational performance [53]. CSR toward customers had a positive effect on financial performance [48–50]. If customers are dissatisfied with a product or related service, investors worry that negative customer reactions, such as a shrinking customer base or lawsuits, will directly impact revenue [54]. Therefore, companies must pay attention to factors such as ethical advertising standards, the health and safety of their customers while using their products, and a company-wide quality program to offer better products at fair prices. A company's policies and practices for dealing with such issues can signal its responsible attitude towards its customers, thereby improving performance [55].

Aragon-Correa et al. examined the impact of environmental practices on business performance and showed that companies actively taking steps to minimize their environmental impact can positively influence performance [56]. Although the government has introduced many regulations and legal systems to regulate behavior, the implementation of CSR depends on the capacity of the organization [57]. Therefore, we propose the following hypotheses:

*H4.a: There is a statistically significant relationship between CSR towards employees and business performance.*

*H4.b: There is a statistically significant relationship between CSR towards customers and business performance.*

*H4.c: There is a statistically significant relationship between CSR towards the environment and business performance.*

Singh [11] showed that components of HRM practices have a positive effect on performance [9, 58]. Dung et al. have shown that HRM practices not only affect business performance through human resource outcomes but also have a direct impact on business performance itself [59].

*H5: HRM practices have a directly positive effect on business performance.*

#### **3. Method**

#### **3.1 Sample**

Sample size plays an important role in estimating and interpreting structural equation modeling (SEM) results. Hair et al. [60, 61] suggested that the sample size for SEMs with 10–15 indices typically ranges from 200 to 400. This also depends on the number of observed variables and the reliability of each study, which can be measured across different survey samples [60, 61]. According to Hair et al. [60, 61], the sample size must be at least four to five times the number of observations. With 49 items in this research, the minimum sample size is 49 \* 5 = 245. Samples were selected using a convenient stratified sampling method, distributing answer sheets to 278 enterprises to ensure enough suitable samples for analysis.

The survey targeted private businesses and sole proprietorships in 2018. The questionnaire was administered through face-to-face interviews and selected responses from a conveniently stratified sample of 438 observations. The sample structure included managers and employees with at least 5 years of professional experience.

Based on geographical characteristics and the number of food processing enterprises, 7 out of 13 provinces/cities in the Mekong Delta were selected for the survey, ensuring appropriate sampling for analysis in the official study. A total of 452 questionnaires were collected, but 14 were rejected as incomplete. Thus, the final usable questionnaires totaled 438, resulting in a response rate of 75.3%. About half of the respondents were women (41.3%).

#### **3.2 Research methods**

Qualitative Research: The initial scale development involved reviewing documents, conducting discussions with survey participants, and gathering expert opinions, resulting in 51 observed variables.

Quantitative research: Subsequently, a survey involving agricultural personnel in 136 companies was conducted using these 51 variables. Through Cronbach's alpha analysis and exploratory factor analysis (EFA), 42 variables were retained. These were further tested in a formal study involving 438 samples across 278 companies, using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to validate the observed variables and confirm their conceptual relationships. This phase aimed to demonstrate consistency and the unidimensionality of the concept. SEM was then employed to assess and calculate the relationships within the research model [62].

Measurement of HRM components included selection and recruitment, training and development, task evaluation, job stability and advancement, compensation and rewards, and promotion of engagement and innovation. The scale was adapted from

*Impact of Human Resource Management Practice on Organizational Performance: The Case… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108003*

sources such as Schuler and Jackson [18], Bohlander and Snell [26], Lievens and Chapman [63], Mathis and Jackson [64], Huselid [65], Jiang et al. [66], and Katou [67].

Measurement of CSR encompassed CSR towards employees, CSR towards customers, and CSR towards the environment. The scale focused on Turker [68] and other relevant sources [69, 70].

Measurement of OC utilized scales adapted from Turker [68], Jesús Barrena-Martínez [69], Meyer and Allen [70], and Allen and Meyer [71].

Measurement of business performance (PER) included both organizational performance (PEP) and market performance (PEM) and was adapted from Huselid [65] and Delaney et al. [72].

#### **4. Result**

#### **4.1 Descriptive statistics**

Among the 278 surveyed companies, 21.6% were private enterprises, 48.6% were Co., Ltd., 21.9% were joint stock companies, and 7.9% were household businesses. In terms of the scale of employees:

Regarding the number of years of operation:

Descriptive statistics confirmed no missing values in the study. All 438 responses collected were considered for data analysis.

#### **4.2 Analysis of the reliability of the scales**

The results in **Table 1** indicate that all scales alpha weight > 0.7, indicating satisfactory internal consistency reliability. Additionally, the total variable correlations within each scale are acceptable, further supporting the reliability of the analysis. Therefore, it can be concluded that the scales used in the study demonstrate sufficient reliability for the analysis.

**Table 1.** *Testing reliability of the scales.*

#### **4.3 Results of CFA analysis for component concepts**

The scale results show the index of df, Chi-square/df; TLI and CFI are both >0.9. The model fits the market data [60]. The normalized weights of the variables are >0.5. The scale reaches one dimension (**Table 2**).

**Table 3** describes the overall reliability of all scales with composite reliability coefficients greater than Cronbach's alpha value (> 0.8). In addition, the scale with total variance was extracted to explain the variability in the data for high scores (all at 55% or greater). Combined with the built-in reliability and reliability values, this scale meets the requirements for reliability and total variance extracted.

#### **Table 2.**

*Analysis results of CFA for each component concept.*

*Impact of Human Resource Management Practice on Organizational Performance: The Case… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108003*

#### **Table 3.**

*Summary results of testing the reliability.*

#### **4.4 Model results - The standardized estimates**

**Table 4** shows the results of the model path analysis. As noted from the path analysis, the associated standardized regression weights are provided. However, two of the hypotheses were not confirmed with the required statistical significance. It is important to note that the significance threshold for this study was set at a P-value of 0.05. In tables with P-values, three asterisks (\*\*\*) indicate a P-value of <0.001 (**Figure 1**).

The results show a statistically significant relationship between HRM practices and CSR towards stakeholders. This shows that HRM practices play a crucial role in CSR, especially in aspects related to the environment and employees in the food processing industry. In addition, HRM activities can positively influence employees' attitudes through OC. This finding aligns with studies by Whitener [73], Chew and Chan [74], and Gong et al. [75], which highlight the relationship between HRM and business performance through OC [72, 73, 76].

The results also show that the implementation of CSR towards customers and the environment directly affects a company's performance. This is consistent with studies by Rettab et al. [77] and Murtaza et al. [78], which argue that expanding CSR improves the organization's image in the minds of consumers, positively impacting financial performance [77]. Aragón-Correa et al. found that enterprises reduce the positive impact of the environment on financial performance [56].

CSR for employees does not directly impact company performance. However, if employees are aware of the level of CSR that the company has for its stakeholders,

#### *Leadership - Advancing Great Leaders and Leadership*

*Source: Data surveyed by author.*

#### **Table 4.**

*Results of testing the relationship between concepts in theory model.*

**Figure 1.** *SEM results for the theoretical model.*

they will actively promote a positive attitude to improve productivity. Social Identity Theory (SIT) is often used as a basis to explain the relationship between CSR perception and employee attitudes [38].

#### **5. Conclusion and implications**

The research results show that leadership plays an important role in HRM, having a positive influence on employee perception and company performance [2, 79]. HRM

#### *Impact of Human Resource Management Practice on Organizational Performance: The Case… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108003*

practices positively affect CSR across employee, customer, and environmental dimensions, aligning with previous studies emphasizing HRM's role in shaping organizational social responsibility policies [7, 31]. Particularly notable is HRM's substantial impact on CSR related to human resources and the environment (β = 0.796 and 0.794), highlighting the critical management and implementation levels of CSR, especially concerning environmental factors, echoing findings from Clarkson's study [77].

These results are consistent with the food industry, an industry in which most companies adhere to management standards such as SA 8000 to ensure suitable working environments. Customer-oriented standards continue to evolve to meet food safety management norms such as GMP, HACCP, and ISO 22000.

All three aspects of CSR affect OC, with CSR towards employees exerting the strongest impact (β = 0.329). This underscores the crucial role of employee-focused initiatives in enhancing OC, which is consistent with research such as that by This result is consistent with a study by Skudiene and Auruskeviciene on internal CSR (employee orientation), which showed that insternal CSR has a more positive influence on employee motivation than external CSR aspects [80]. Additionally, studies by Al-bdour et al. and Halim and Rahayu also confirmed that internal CSR strongly influences OC [41, 81, 82].

In addition, OC has a positive impact on a company's business performance (β = 0.325), indicating that committed employees contribute to enhanced business outcomes. Gouldner [83] theorized that reciprocal benefits between individuals lead to positive organizational outcomes, supporting the link between OC and firm performance [41, 81, 84].

While CSR toward employees and the environment is important, it does not directly affect business performance. However, CSR towards customers positively affects operational efficiency (β = 0.348). This result motivates underscores the importance for companies to bolster brand image and reputation among customers [78].

Although HRM practices do not directly affect performance, they indirectly impact business performance significantly (β = 0.805), explaining 82.3% of the variance. This highlights the critical role of HRM in integrating stakeholder accountability, including employees, customers, and environmental responsibilities. Companies are encouraged to focus on factors such as working conditions, labor protection, food safety, and environmental stewardship, as these positively impact organizational performance.

#### **5.1 Implications**

To improve OC and business performance among employees in the seafood processing industry through HRM activities, leaders need to focus on implementing certain activities, which we discuss in the following sections.

The first is to improve management efficiency by maintaining and reforming a company's ISO management system. For this, it is necessary to approach, maintain, and develop a good manufacturing practice (GMP) management system to ensure safe and hygienic conditions for production. This includes adhering to general principles, regulations, and guidelines for basic production conditions to ensure product quality. Additionally, it involves developing a Hazard Analysis

and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system and food safety management standards (ISO 22000).

Employee recruitment and training should be done publicly, with clear job descriptions for each position. To improve the quality of on-the-job training, HRM needs to focus on direct and indirect workers.

For workers who directly create products, it is necessary to pay special attention to their skills and production levels, as well as the implementation of regulations and processes, ensuring strict adherence to regulations in occupational and food safety as well as hygiene.

For indirect workers, it is necessary to improve their qualifications in many aspects, including regularly updating standards on quality management, science, and technology, and accessing and developing products suitable for market. In addition, employees should be encouraged to become proficient in other areas to increase flexibility in problem-solving and to easily take on other jobs when there is a change of responsibilities. Regularly organizing and sending employees to participate in professional training and retraining courses helps them update their knowledge in a timely manner to respond to market demands.

Leaders should regularly monitor and evaluate employees through a set of assessment criteria based on knowledge, skills, qualifications, and work performance in the company, regardless of gender. The criteria should be clear, open, and fair in evaluating employees. In addition, it is necessary to build a feedback channel and hold dialogs with the company at least twice a year to answer questions, solve difficulties, and address employee complaints.

The salary and bonus policy must be implemented in a timely manner, ensuring that the salary is suitable for the job position and reasonable compared to other companies of the same type. Today, the demand for human resources for the processing industry is expected to increase. Therefore, salary and bonus policies should be carefully considered to both increase revenue and ensure OC. The determination of marginal labor and wages should be reviewed and adjusted every 6 months to suit the actual production and business situation. This includes regulations on salary, bonus, sick leave, convalescence, maternity, and so on.

Leaders should encourage employees to help develop rules and procedures within the company to ensure quality improvement and increase employee engagement. This will improve operational efficiency through improved management and streamlined work processes. Consequently, the quality of the product will improve to meet customer needs, thereby improving the company's market performance.

The research presented in this chapter is limited to analyzing three aspects of social responsibility: employees, customers, and the environment. Social responsibility also encompasses other aspects, such as social responsibility towards the community, suppliers, shareholders, and others; however, these were not analyzed in this study. Therefore, the study underestimates the extent to which social accountability is exercised among stakeholders. This gap in the research points to the need for future research to analyze the broader aspects of CSR towards stakeholders.

#### **A. Appendix**

(See **Table A1**)

*Impact of Human Resource Management Practice on Organizational Performance: The Case… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108003*

#### *Leadership - Advancing Great Leaders and Leadership*

**Table A1.**

*Impact of Human Resource Management Practice on Organizational Performance: The Case… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108003*

#### **Author details**

Nguyen Thanh Hung Tra Vinh University, Tra Vinh Province, Vietnam

\*Address all correspondence to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
© 2022 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

### **References**

[1] Bhatt P, Reddy SC. HRM practices and its impact on performance - Exploratory literature review in the context of Indian SMEs. NJRIM. 2011;**1**:73-87

[2] Pradhan S, Pradhan RK. An empirical investigation of relationship among transformational leadership, affective organizational commitment and contextual performance. Vision. 2015;**19**: 227-235

[3] Singh P, Bhandarker A. Winning the Corporate Olympiad: The Renaissance Paradigm. Vikas Publishing House; 2002

[4] Lado AA, Wilson MC. Human resource systems and sustained competitive advantage: A competencybased perspective. The Academy of Management Review. 1994;**19**: 699-727

[5] Carroll AB. The pyramid of corporate social responsibiiity: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders. Business Horizons. 1991; **34**:39-48

[6] Carroll WR. Organizational Culture, HRM and Firm Performance: Examining Relationships Using the Competing Values Framework in Call Centres. Halifax, Nova Scotia: Saint Mary's University; 2008

[7] Buciuniene I, Kazlauskaite R. The linkage between HRM, CSR and performance outcomes. Baltic Journal of Management. 2012;**7**:5-24

[8] George B. Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons; 2003

[9] Mahoney LS, Thorne L. Corporate social responsibility and long-term

compensation: Evidence from Canada. Journal of Business Ethics. 2005;**57**:241-253

[10] Pfeffer J. Seven practices of successful organizations. California Management Review. 1998;**40**:96-124

[11] Singh K. Impact of HR practices on perceived firm performance in India. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources. 2004;**42**:301-317

[12] Guest DE. The international journal of human resource management human resource management and performance: A review and research agenda. International Journal of Human Resource Management. 2011;**8**(3):37-41

[13] Thang LC, Quang T. Antecedents and consequences of dimensions of human resource management practices in Vietnam. International Journal of Human Resource Management. 2005a; **16**:1830-1846

[14] Dung TK, Thi T, Anh L. A framework of significant human resource management practices in Vietnam. Journal of Economic Development. 2017;**24**:46-63

[15] Răducan R, Răducan R. Leadership and management. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2014;**149**:808-812

[16] Zaccaro SJ, Gulick LMV, Khare VP. Personality and leadership. In: Leadership at the Crossroads. Vol. 1. 2008. pp. 13-29

[17] Morrison JL. Management of organizational behavior. The Journal of Education for Business. 2008;**83**:181

[18] Schuler RS, Jackson SE. Linking competitive strategies with human

*Impact of Human Resource Management Practice on Organizational Performance: The Case… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108003*

resource management practices. Management. 1987;**1**:207-219

[19] Theriou GN, Chatzoglou PD. Enhancing performance through best HRM practices, organizational learning and knowledge management. European Business Review. 2008;**20**:185-207

[20] Guest DE, Michie J, Conway N, et al. Human resource management and corporate performance in the UK. British Journal of Industrial Relations. 2003;**41**: 291-314

[21] Tocher N, Rutherford MW. Perceived acute human resource management problems in small and medium firms: An empirical examination. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. 2009;**33**:455-479

[22] Armstrong M. A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 2014. Epub ahead of print 2014. DOI: 10.1007/s10551-011-1141-1

[23] Jahanian A, Nawaz N, Yamin R, et al. Human resource management and productivity : A comparative study among banks in Bahawalpur division. European Journal of Business and Management. 2012;**4**:253-262

[24] Freeman RE. The stakeholder approach revisited. Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts-und Unternehmensethik. 2004;**5**:228-241

[25] Cacioppe R, Fox M. A survey of managers' perceptions of corporate ethics and social responsibility and actions that may affect companies' success. Journal of Business Ethics. 2008; **82**:681-700

[26] Bohlander G, Snell S. Managing Human Resources. New York: South-Western, Cengage Learning; 2011

[27] Peterson DK. The relationship between perceptions of corporate citizenship and organizational commitment. Business & Society. 2004; **43**:269-319

[28] Crowther D, Abreu R. Corporate social responsibility in Portugal : Empirical evidence of corporate behaviour. Corporate Governance. 2005; **5**:3-18

[29] Mason C, Simmons J. Embedding corporate social responsibility in corporate governance: A stakeholder systems approach. Journal of Business Ethics. 2014;**119**:77-86

[30] Becker WS. Are you leading a socially responsible and sustainable human resource function? People & Strategy. 2011;**34**:18-23

[31] Sarvaiya H. The Relationship between CSR and HRM : A Study of Large New Zealand Organisations. Albany New Zealand: Massey University; 2014

[32] Clarkson ME. A stakeholder framework for analyzing and evaluating corporate social performance. The Academy of Management Review. 1995; **20**:92-117

[33] Peterson DK. The relationship between perceptions of corporate citizenship and organizational commitment. Business & Society. 2004; **43**:296-319

[34] Rimanoczy I, Pearson T. Role of HR in the new world of sustainability. Industrial and Commercial Training. 2010;**42**:11-17

[35] Hogg MA, Terry DI. Social identity and self-categorization processes in organizational contexts. The Academy of Management Review. 2000;**25**:121-140

[36] Meyer JP, Herscovitch L. Commitment in the workplace: Toward a general model. Human Resource Management Review. 2001;**11**: 299-326

[37] Steers RM. Antecedents and outcomes of organizational commitment. Administrative Science Quarterly. 1977;**22**:46-56

[38] Tajfel H. Social psychology of intergroup relations. Annual Review of Psychology. 1982;**26**:1-39

[39] de Roeck K, Marique G, Stinglhamber F, et al. Understanding employees' responses to corporate social responsibility: Mediating roles of overall justice and organisational identification. International Journal of Human Resource Management. 2014;**25**:91-112

[40] Mory L, Wirtz BW, Göttel V. Factors of internal corporate social responsibility and the effect on organizational commitment. International Journal of Human Resource Management. 2016;**27**: 1393-1425

[41] Al-bdour A, Nasruddin E, Lin S. The relationship between internal corporate social responsibility and organizational commitment within the banking sector in Jordan. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science. 2010;**5**: 932-951

[42] Thang NN. Internal CSR and commitment in Vietnam. International Business Management. 2016:784-792

[43] Turker D. How corporate social responsibility influences organizational commitment. Journal of Business Ethics. 2009;**89**:189-204

[44] Farooq O, Payaud M, Merunka D, et al. The impact of corporate social

responsibility on organizational commitment: Exploring multiple mediation mechanisms. Journal of Business Ethics. 2013:1-18

[45] Glavas A, Kelley K. The effects of perceived corporate social responsibility on employee attitudes. Business Ethics Quarterly. 2014;**24**:165-202

[46] Richard PJ, Devinney TM, Yip GS, et al. Measuring organizational performance: Towards methodological best practice. Journal of Management. 2009;**35**:718-804

[47] Welford R. Work life balance in Hong Kong: Survey results

[48] Sheldon ME. Investments and involvements as mechanisms producing commitment to the organization. Administrative Science Quarterly. 2012; **16**:143-150

[49] Meyer JP, Alien NJ. A threecomponent conceptualization of organizational commitment. Human Resource Management Review. 1991;**1**: 61-89

[50] Marcus A. The deterrent to dubious corporate behavior: Profitability, probability and safety recalls. Strategic Management Journal. 1989;**10**: 233-250

[51] Omondi G, Magutu P, Onsongo C, et al. The adoption of strategic human resource management practices in commercial banks: The process and challenges in Kenya. Journal of Human Resources Management Research. 2011; **2011**:1-20

[52] Bakiev E. The influence of interpersonal trust and organizational commitment on perceived organizational performance. Journal of *Impact of Human Resource Management Practice on Organizational Performance: The Case… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108003*

Applied Economics and Business Research. 2013;**3**:166-180

[53] Torugsa NA, O'Donohue W, Hecker R. Capabilities, proactive CSR and financial performance in SMEs: Empirical evidence from an Australian manufacturing industry sector. Journal of Business Ethics. 2012;**109**:483-500

[54] Berman S. Does stakeholder orientation matter ? The relationship between stakeholder management models and firm. The Academy of Management Journal. 1999;**42**:488-506

[55] Mishra S, Suar D. Does Corporate Social Responsibility Influence Firm Performance of Indian Companies? 2010. Epub ahead of print 2010. DOI: 10.1007/s10551-010-0441-1

[56] Aragón-Correa JA, Hurtado-Torres N, Sharma S, et al. Environmental strategy and performance in small firms: A resource-based perspective. Journal of Environmental Management. 2008;**86**: 88-103

[57] Mellahi K. The effect of regulations on HRM: Private sector firms in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Human Resource Management. 2007;**18**:85-99

[58] Waddock S, Graves S. The corporate social performance-Financial performance link. Strategic Management Journal. 1997;**18**:303-319

[59] Trần Kim Dung và cộng sự. Mối quan hệ giữa thực tiễn Quản trị nguồn nhân lực, kết quả quản trị nguồn nhân lực và kết quả kinh doanh trong các doanh nghiệp. Tạp chí Phát triển Kinh tế. 2010; **3**:37-41

[60] Hair JF, Black WC, Babin BJ, et al. Multivariate Data Analysis. Pearson Prentice Hall; 2010. Epub ahead of print 2010. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2011. 02.019

[61] Hair JF, Black WC, Babin BJ, et al. Multivariate Data Analysis. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall; 2006

[62] Nguyen TH. Impact of leadermember relationship quality on job satisfaction, innovation and operational performance: A case in Vietnam. Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business. 2020;**7**:449-456

[63] Lievens F, Chapman D. Recruitment and Selection. Wilkinson. Epub ahead of print 2010. DOI: 10.4135/97808570 21496.n9

[64] Mathis RL, Jackson JH. Human Resource Management. 13th ed. 2011. Epub ahead of print 2011. DOI: 10.1080/<PHONE_NUMBER>0000162

[65] Huselid MA. The impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performance. The Academy of Management Journal. 1995;**38**:635-672

[66] Jiang J, Wang S, Zhao S. Does HRM facilitate employee creativity and organizational innovation? A study of Chinese firms. International Journal of Human Resource Management. 2012;**23**: 4025-4047

[67] Katou A. Measuring the impact of HRM on organizational performance. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management. 2008;**1**:119-142

[68] Turker D. Measuring corporate social responsibility: A scale development study. Journal of Business Ethics. 2009;**85**:411-427

[69] Jesús Barrena-Martínez ML-F and PMR-F. Research proposal on the

relationship between corporate social responsibility and strategic human resource management. International Journal of Management and Enterprise Development. 2011;**10**:173-187

[70] Meyer JP, Allen NJ, Smith CA. Commitment to organizations and occupations: Extension and test of a threecomponent conceptualization. The Journal of Applied Psychology. 1993;**78**:538

[71] Allen NJ, Meyer JP. Commitment in the Workplace: Theory, Research and Application. Sage Publications, Inc; 1997. Epub ahead of print 1997. DOI: 10.4135/<PHONE_NUMBER>556

[72] Delaney JT, Huselid MA. The impact of human resource management practices on perceptions of organizational performance. Academy of Management Journal. 1996;**39**:949-969

[73] Whitener EM. Do "high commitment" human resource practices affect employee commitment? Journal of Management. 2001;**27**:515-535

[74] Chew J, Chan CCA. Human resource practices, organizational commitment and intention to stay. International Journal of Manpower. 2008;**29**:503-522

[75] Gong Y, Law KS, Chang S, et al. Human resources management and firm performance: The differential role of managerial affective and continuance commitment. The Journal of Applied Psychology. 2009;**94**:263-275

[76] Delaney JT, Huselid M. The impact of human resource management. The Academy of Management Journal. 1996; **39**:949-969

[77] Rettab B, Ben BA, Mellahi K. A study of management perceptions of the impact of corporate social responsibility on organisational performance in

emerging economies: The case of Dubai. Journal of Business Ethics. 2009;**89**: 371-390

[78] Murtaza IA, Akhtar N, Ijaz A, et al. Impact of corporate social responsibility on firm financial performance: A case study of Pakistan. Journal of Business Ethics. 2014;**1**:1914-1927

[79] Avolio BJ, Gardner WL. Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly. 2005;**16**:315-338

[80] Skudiene V, Auruskeviciene V. The contribution of corporate social responsibility to internal employee motivation. Baltic Journal of Management. 2012;**7**:49-67

[81] Halim L, Rahayu M. The effect of employee's perceptions on corporate social responsibility activities on organizational commitment, mediated by organizational trust. International Journal of Business and Management Invention. 2016;**5**:43-49

[82] Mansour N, Gara E, Gaha C. Getting inside the black box: HR practices and firm performance within the Tunisian financial services industry. Personnel Review. 2014;**43**:490-514

[83] Gouldner HP. Dimensions of organizational commitment. Administrative Science Quarterly. 1960; **4**(4):468-490

[84] Buzzell RD, Gale BT. The PIMS Principles: Linking Strategy to Performance. New York: Simon and Schuster; 1987

[85] Dutra JS. Gestão por competências: um modelo avançado para o gerenciamento de pessoas. 5th ed. São Paulo: Editora Gente; 2001

*Impact of Human Resource Management Practice on Organizational Performance: The Case… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108003*

[86] Devanna MA, Fombrun CJ, Tichy NM. Strategic Human Resource Management. New York: Wiley; 1984

[87] Amabile TM, Conti R, Coon H, et al. Assessing the work environment for creativity University of Michigan University of Southern California. The Academy of Management Journal. 1996; **39**:1154-1184

[88] Maignan I, Ferrell OC. Measuring corporate citizenship in two countries: The case of the United States and France. Journal of Business Ethics. 2000;**23**: 283-297

[89] Meyer JP, Stanley DJ, Herscovitch L, et al. Affective, continuance, and normative commitment to the organization: A meta-analysis of antecedents, correlates, and consequences. Journal of Vocational Behavior. 2002;**61**:20-52

#### **Chapter 15**

## Authentic Leadership: Supporting Employees' Performance, Creativity, Involvement in Decision-Making and Outcomes

*Hanan AlMazrouei*

#### **Abstract**

One of the most important roles in leadership is to support and encourage team members by empowering them and providing them with the opportunity to take greater ownership of their work outcomes. By supporting a culture of innovation, authentic leaders inspire and support individuals, encouraging them to improve performance and develop the confidence to exhibit creativity, demonstrate innovation, and show greater agility when faced with challenges. This enables them to work more independently, helping their organization to better achieve its objectives and increase competitiveness. Authentic leadership enhances an organization's effectiveness by encouraging its employees to approach their tasks with a more optimistic attitude and with creativity. Through the use of emotional sensitivity organizational leaders can tailor their interactions with their employees to elicit their best performance. By drawing on each employee's strengths, erudite leaders can create effective individuals that will enhance performance and foster a positive organizational culture. Authentic leadership also encourages employees to participate in decision-making. This empowers them and offers them a feeling of ownership of their tasks and responsibility for the outcomes. Encouraging such a culture promotes the organization as an employer of choice, further supporting its efforts to gain and maintain competitive advantage.

**Keywords:** authentic leadership, employees' performance, creativity, participative decision-making, outcomes

#### **1. Introduction**

Authentic leadership is a style of leadership that has attracted a significant amount of attention, by both scholars [1, 2] and practitioners [3]. It is characterized by an affirmative psychological attitude that promotes a positive organizational culture with a view to developing increased self-awareness, the objective evaluation of information, the application of supportive moral principles, and transparency on the part of the leader. This then enhances self-development not only for the leader, but also their followers [2]. Academic opinion is that it enhances organizational performance by

encouraging positive approaches and behaviors by employees [4]. Authentic leadership enhances an organization's performance by providing employees with the support and motivation to take greater ownership of their work and its outcomes, which benefits the organization as a whole. It also allows employees to participate in discussions regarding their tasks and make decisions that affect their work.

Leaders can reap the benefits of practicing authentic leadership through the enhanced motivation of their employees that it brings. By supporting their employees in this way the employees will, in turn, support their manager and their organization by taking greater ownership of the outcomes derived from their efforts, resulting in mutual benefit.

As the world business environment continues to gather pace, organizational leaders need to adapt in order to benefit from management methodologies that help them to gain and maintain competitive advantage. The purpose of this chapter is to assist managers to better understand the concept of authentic leadership so that they can utilize its practical aspects for the mutual benefit of themselves, their employees, and their organization. The aim is to shed light on the importance of authentic leadership with regard to employee motivation by involving employees in decision-making. This chapter discusses the robust relationship between authentic leaders and followers that could lead to increased employee commitment and job performance. It also seeks to determine the relationship between authentic leaders and their followers and how it supports and encourages employee creativity at both the individual and the team level.

#### **2. Theoretical framework**

Uhl-Bien et al. [5] traced the historical study of leadership from its beginnings, where leaders were the focus and followers were considered merely the resources used to achieve the leader's desired goals, through to the concept of a dyadic relationship, where leadership and followership engaged in a symbiotic relationship directed toward the mutual attainment of the organization's goals and objectives. In this, the hierarchical view of the leadership-followership model has developed into more of a social view.

Authenticity has been described as an individual's taking ownership of their experiences, thoughts, feelings, opinions, principles, or longings [6]. This involves an individual possessing a large measure of self-awareness and taking actions commensurate with their beliefs [7]. Erickson [8] advises that authenticity is not either fully present or fully absent in a person but, rather, is on a continuum. Whitehead [9] defined authentic leadership as involving self-awareness, humility, a desire for continuous improvement, an awareness of others' welfare, the ability to create an organizational culture of trust by emphasizing and maintaining strong ethics and morals, and a commitment to the organization's success. Shamir and Eilam [10] based their definition of authentic leadership on the association between leaders' self-concepts and their ensuing actions and behaviors, describing how the leader's organizational role is a part of their concept of self and how, as role models, their actions and behaviors are consistent with this. This, they argue, generates authenticity on the part of their followers, given that the followers are motivated to follow their leaders out of a desire to form genuine working relationships. Zhang et al. [11] and Javed et al. [12] note that the effectiveness of an authentic leader varies between employees, with factors such as employees' political skills and openness to experience affecting how strongly they adopt the behaviors demonstrated by their authentic leader.

*Authentic Leadership: Supporting Employees' Performance, Creativity, Involvement… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108624*

Authentic leaders possess transparency in relation to their intentions, linking their actions and behaviors to their values [7]. In rapidly changing business environments, organizations need authentic leaders to engender followers' confidence in the direction they take the organization. Such situations are the basis of leadership of the highest quality [13, 14]. A review of the body of literature by Kernis and Goldman [15] and Kernis [16] found that authenticity involves four aspects relating to both an individual's thoughts and behaviors, these being based on an awareness of themselves and having belief in their emotions, motives and values, objectivity in evaluating their personal qualities, both positive and negative, taking actions based on their values rather than being influenced by others, and the ability and willingness to be both open and genuine in interpersonal relationships.

Given that authentic leadership may be viewed as a function of the dyadic mutual exchange process, research into followership needs to investigate the type of influence that leaders and followers have on each other in their combined pursuit of organizational objectives for their mutual benefit.

#### **3. Method**

This chapter is based on a review of the literature concerning authentic leadership and its relationship with employee creativity and participative decision-making. These important associations have not received the attention they deserve, given their importance in developing robust working relationships and, through these, enhanced competitive advantage. This research critically reviews the literature to improve our understanding of authentic leadership based on the theoretical focus of follower participation in decision-making. The focus of this chapter is on creating a clear understanding of how authentic leaders can build a strong relationship with followers. This chapter is centered on theory and its practical application, and although it may be based on existing research, it covers a topic that is only now beginning to receive the attention it deserves. Participative decision-making has enjoyed only limited coverage in the literature to the present time [17, 18], yet it is deserving of increased attention. This chapter aims to examine how the existing theoretical frameworks can be combined with more recent work on authentic leadership to arrive at a better understanding of authentic leadership and how it affects leaders' dynamic relationships with their followers. This stands as one of the most important challenges that leaders face.

#### **4. Discussion**

#### **4.1 Leader self-awareness**

An authentic leader is one who leverages their own positive characteristics, such as a strong awareness of self and a robust sense of ethical behavior in order to nurture a positive working environment in which employee trust and positive working relationships are developed and employee creativity and innovation are encouraged and rewarded [19]. A leader's self-awareness develops over time as they gain an increased understanding of their strengths and weaknesses and talents, as well as their personal beliefs, values, and desires [1].

Authentic leadership entails a manager possessing well-developed emotional intelligence. With this, leaders can work on building not only their own positive

characteristics by recognizing their strengths and weaknesses, but also those of their followers. In so doing, they can develop empathy with their followers and utilize this to develop better and stronger working relationships by enhancing their followers' positive characteristics as well as their own and harnessing them for mutual benefit.

Self-awareness is akin to self-evaluation, in that a better awareness of self is more likely to result in a more accurate self-assessment. How individuals assess their leadership is related to this. Discrepancies between an individual's assessment of themselves and assessments of them by others can indicate a lack of self-awareness regarding their leadership [20]. An individual's awareness of their own leadership may well enhance both their workplace effectiveness and the satisfaction they derive from this [20]. Of course, a leader's self-awareness needs to be truly objective if it is to be an accurate reflection of their capabilities. This is a difficult undertaking for any individual given that the natural human trait is often to view events in a favorable light.

#### **4.2 Follower development**

Authentic leadership affects outcomes such as employees' job performance and also their organizational commitment and their demonstration of citizenship behaviors [21, 22]. It develops over time as the leaders become increasingly aware of their values, beliefs, desires, and role within the organization [23]. Followers also develop a greater transparency and a stronger awareness of their values and beliefs within the organizational context as a result of their leader's influence, thereby cultivating their own values, beliefs, and desires. This, then, creates a symbiotic relationship where both leaders and followers can develop. This is not necessarily intentional on the part of the leader, but may occur simply in the act of their being a role model [1].

By building on their awareness of self and of others, authentic leaders increase their ability to evaluate not only their employees' current capabilities, but also their potential capacity for increased responsibility [24]. This, of course, presupposes that followers are resources that exist in a vacuum and need developing by the leader. Followers already have their own views, perceptions, and predispositions. In order for followers to be developed by their leader, they must be willing for this to occur. Good leaders may well be able to develop positive working relationships with most followers, but should recognize that not all followers can be bent to the will of the leader in the way the leader would always prefer.

#### **4.3 Authentic leadership and creativity**

By emphasizing the positive aspects of working relationships rather than the negative [21, 25], authentic leaders encourage trust among their followers. This then increases the followers' sense of safety and encourages them to contribute their creative ideas [26]. Followers of authentic leaders obtain increased motivation through their leaders' support [27], thus encouraging creativity [28]. This is achieved by the authentic leaders having a heightened self-awareness, particularly in relation to their strengths and weaknesses, emotions, values, and beliefs. These leaders candidly share these with their followers transparently, engendering trust. In this way, authentic leaders develop trust and encourage creative thinking among their followers by creating a supportive organizational environment that allows reasonable risk-taking. As well as this, these leaders carefully consider all the information available to them, while maintaining a moral standpoint, before deciding on any courses of action.

#### *Authentic Leadership: Supporting Employees' Performance, Creativity, Involvement… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108624*

Authentic leaders encourage constructive exchanges between stakeholders [3] and enhance positive attitudes and emotions among their followers. This encourages their followers to consider creative alternatives [29]. This promotes an organizational culture where employees feel sufficiently safe to seek out alternatives, present and implement creative ideas, and develop their potential [30]. In this context, authentic leaders do not necessarily develop their followers' attitudes directly as their followers will already have their own attitudes but, rather, indirectly in that they, as custodians of the organization's culture, create the conditions and the supportive environment in which followers can feel safe to propose their creative ideas.

#### **4.4 Team leaders' authenticity and team innovation**

Innovation is the implementation of creative ideas within a specific context [31] and represents a change to the organization's traditional method of operating. This usually creates resistance to the proposed change and possible conflict, often requiring continuous effort in order to successfully implement the change. This highlights the difference between the leadership needed to encourage employee creativity and that required to support innovation, with each requiring different incentives [32].

Authentic leaders offer empowerment to their followers by instilling in them a common sense of purpose and values and providing encouragement and opportunity to undertake leadership roles in the pursuit of organizational objectives [33]. Authentic leaders do this on an ongoing basis through their presence as a role model, thus providing the conditions in which authentic followership can develop. It is this that sets authentic leadership apart from other styles of leadership. Also, by being transparent, authentic leaders can support their followers by showing their faith and trust in them [32].

As a result of the organizational environment created by the authentic leader, followers will have a greater propensity to perceive their leaders as role models. The leaders, being imbued with increased self-confidence, are themselves encouraged to support the implementation of creative new ideas [34] or generate new ideas themselves. This can, in turn, motivate the followers to devise and implement new ideas [35] as well as becoming role models themselves.

Authentic leaders, indeed, possessing increased levels of self-awareness will have the responsibility to nurture their team members' creative ideas and support their implementation. As leaders, they will use their knowledge of the broader issues and their experience to guide their team members' suggestions into reality by supporting their efforts, rather than taking them over and personally implementing them. This will provide the team members with a greater sense of ownership, not just of the work task itself, but the creative solution to the task's problems and its implementation.

#### **4.5 Affective commitment**

Affective commitment relates to the personal and emotional attachment an employee experiences. Those with a high level of affective commitment are less likely to separate from the organization [36] as they believe in the organization's values and goals [37]. Behaviors demonstrated by authentic leaders represent the values that support transparent working relationships. A greater employee perception of leader authenticity is likely to result in an increased emotional connection between employees and authentic leaders [16, 23] leading to an increase in the quality of exchanges between them, thus increasing employees' affective commitment [38]. Based on the

author's observation and their experience as an authentic leader, when individuals and teams have a better informal and formal working relationship with their leader, they feel more supported, are more committed to that relationship, their job, and their organization, and are more engaged. This then results in enhanced cohesiveness and a stronger leader-member exchange as well as encouraging employees to demonstrate increased creativity, resulting in mutual benefits for both the leader and the followers.

#### **4.6 Affective commitment and creativity**

As creativity involves a process of developing solutions to problems and issues [39], it may assist in increasing employees' commitment to their organization [40] and, as such, may support creative behaviors. Therefore, there is an association between employees' affective commitment and creative behaviors [41, 42]. Employees who are happier in their work display increased creativity [43] and, through this, an affective attachment to their place of employment [44]. Positive emotions enhance cognition and support creative thought [45] so there is a correlation between happiness, affective attachment, and creative thinking [46]. Following this, there is also a correlation between positive affective attachment and workplace creativity as it enhances the chances of employees making associations between seemingly unrelated pieces of information, possibly leading to creative solutions to problems [47].

Employees' affective commitment has been found to be a predictor of creativity [40]. There is also a relationship between employee autonomy, perseverance, achievement, and dedication [48]. These factors create ties between employees and their organizations and define how the creativity exhibited by an employee is influenced by the culture of their workplace [40]. As a result, employees having a strong affective commitment to their workplace are more likely to develop creative solutions and apply them in an effort to enhance their organization's efficiency [49].

#### **4.7 Authentic leadership, employee creativity and performance**

Creativity relates to the production of new and useful ideas or solutions to problems [50–52], while performance is concerned with employees' productivity in relation to desired workplace outcomes [53]. Creativity is therefore a predictor for effective workplace performance [54, 55].

Many studies have found that the workplace culture influences a number of employee-related factors, including job satisfaction, job performance, work stress, and organizational commitment [56–58]. An investigation of the literature by Da Costa et al. [59] found that intrinsic motivations, such as interest in the task, job satisfaction, the amount of pleasure derived by undertaking the task, and the challenges presented by the task are greater motivators than extrinsic motivations, such as pressure or rewards and compensation. The positive and supportive environments that authentic leaders create, therefore, lay the foundation for a variety of positive employee behaviors, many of which contribute to many of the others. By contrast, workplace cultures based on sanctions such as pressure can stifle the positivity resulting from supportive environments.

#### **4.8 Authentic leadership is positively related to psychological empowerment**

Empowerment, or autonomy, is a psychological concept [22, 60] and is considered to contain four aspects [61]. The first of these is the meaning or value of any work

*Authentic Leadership: Supporting Employees' Performance, Creativity, Involvement… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108624*

an employee undertakes in the light of their personal values [61]. The second is competence, or self-efficacy, which relates to an employee's belief in their capacity to successfully achieve a required outcome [62]. The third is self-determination, being an employee's perception of their freedom to instigate or alter an action [63]. The fourth is impact, or the amount to which the employee's actions affect their organization's productivity [64]. In combination, these factors encourage proactive behaviors and confidence on the part of the employee [60].

Workplace empowerment is also a function of the relationship between an employee and their manager [65]. The concept of empowerment differs between cultures. In individualistic cultures, empowerment is considered to be a function of the job itself, while in collectivist cultures, it relates more to the amount of trust a manager has in their subordinate [66, 67]. As a function of social exchange, employees gain a sense of empowerment when their supervisor has a working relationship with them. This is particularly so where large amounts of information are present requiring transparency in the sharing and processing of that information [68]. This enhances the development of trust between the supervisor and the subordinate and contributes to the enhancement of the employee's performance [2, 69, 70]. Authentic leaders are able to balance the flow of information while allowing the employee to develop a greater sense of ownership of the work. This develops an increased sense of empowerment on the part of the employee [22, 27].

Empowerment can be considered as having two varieties within the workplace environment, these being structural and psychological. The structural variety relates to the hierarchy within the workplace and the workplace environment [71], while the psychological variety relates purely to the motivation to undertake tasks [60]. Psychological empowerment practiced by authentic leaders has been found to motivate employees [72, 73] by facilitating employee autonomy and provides them with the feeling that they have influence over their tasks [74]. The concept of empowerment in cultures other than those in the west, particularly in the south-east Asian region, is the power distance between the leader and the employee and the degree of trust the leader has in the employee [75]. These theoretical aspects determine employee behaviors. This is of particular importance in organizations where the amount of information is high and where decisions need to be made quickly [76].

Based on the existing body of knowledge in this field, empowerment influenced by authentic leaders is positively related to creativity [55, 77]. This is founded on the principle that authentic leaders cultivate and sustain working relationships with their followers as a result of their personal characteristics [78]. Employees working in organizational cultures oriented toward interpersonal relationships therefore have the perception of empowerment and respond with creative thoughts that may lead to innovative solutions [76].

#### **4.9 Authentic leadership and organizational culture**

Based on the adage that the standard you walk past is the standard you accept an organization's authenticity was defined by Novicevic et al. [79] as a manifestation of the authenticity of the organization's leadership. This then creates an authentic organizational culture. The culture of a workplace directly results from the values and beliefs of its leaders. As such the role leaders play in creating and maintaining the workplace culture is vital [80]. Authentic leaders are effectively the role models for their organization. By making decisions and undertaking behaviors in accordance with their values and beliefs, authentic leaders encourage similar behaviors among

their followers [81]. Authentic leadership is therefore vital in developing an inclusive workplace culture [82] that develops and maintains an atmosphere of inclusion that encourages creativity. Authentic leaders engage in inclusive behaviors, which involve the use of participative decision-making, encouraging free and open communication from employees, and valuing opinions from a diverse variety of perspectives [81]. Employees will soon detect any incongruence from leaders who make decisions and undertake behaviors that are not aligned with their values and beliefs, undermining the leader's position.

Authentic leaders enhance an organization's culture in several ways. By demonstrating transparency, they create a culture of commitment to the organization, encourage the sharing of knowledge, and increase employee satisfaction, engagement, performance, and productivity [83], as well as increasing employees' feelings of inspiration and passion for their work [84]. By being transparent with their employees, authentic leaders promote an organizational culture that supports employee psychological safety [4], respect, and trust and, through this, encourages creativity [85]. Authentic leaders, therefore, as custodians of their organizational culture, are responsible for nurturing the positive workplace environment that results in their employees feeling sufficient confidence to propose ideas, safe in the knowledge that not only will their leaders support their efforts, but also the other employees, as all workers should share in the positivity created by the leader, having taken on some of the authenticity the leader displays as a role model.

#### **4.10 Authentic leadership and followers' participative decision-making**

While there has been much written about authentic leadership and its effect on employee motivation and employee requests for feedback from their leaders [86], less has been written about the effect of authentic leadership and its impact on participative decision-making. The organizational culture created by an authentic leader through their transparency also encourages participative decision-making by providing a safe environment in which employees feel trust and confidence that their creative ideas will be noted and considered. By encouraging employees to participate in the decision-making process, authentic leaders inspire employees at all levels to be a part of the organization's decision-making process.

Authentic leaders can also act as mentors for their employees, providing them with the guidance they need to approach their work and the decisions relating to it, increasing their self-reliance. This builds confidence among employees and helps the organization to innovate, benefitting the employees, their leaders, and the organization as a whole. By taking this path, the organization will be more likely to identify creative solutions to unsolved problems. An added benefit of this is that employees can share some of the responsibilities for managing the completion of tasks, reducing the authentic leader's workload, and providing them with greater time to manage other aspects of their role. Taking part in making workplace decisions helps employees to feel self-actualized, which increases their motivation and, through this, their performance [87]. Employees will also experience feelings of empowerment and affective commitment, thus strengthening the organization's retention of corporate knowledge. The creation of such an environment increases the organization's reputation as an employer of choice and increases its competitive advantage.

*Authentic Leadership: Supporting Employees' Performance, Creativity, Involvement… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108624*

#### **5. Conclusions**

#### **5.1 Theoretical contribution**

To the present time, much of the research in this field has focused on the effectiveness of empowering leadership in improving employee efficiency [55]. There has been relatively little investigation into determining the relationship between authentic leaders and their followers and how this relationship supports and encourages employee participation in decision-making and leads to creativity at both the individual and the team levels.

This chapter has focused on understanding and applying the theory of authentic leadership in order to make use of the practical features it contains as a way for leaders to utilize it for their own benefit as well as for the benefit of their followers and the wider organization. Of necessity, theory regarding authentic leadership will adapt as new research refines it by retaining its fundamentals, while incorporating new concepts. While authentic leadership has been researched [9] and found to be a characteristic of the exchange between leaders and followers, investigation of followership should examine the nature of the mutual influence between leaders and followers as all parties involved in the process seek to gain shared benefit from the pursuit of their organization's goals.

While there has been a significant amount written about the effects of authentic leadership on employee motivation and employee requests for feedback from their leaders [86], there has been less attention paid to how authentic leadership affects participative decision-making. The culture an authentic leader's transparency creates in their organization promotes participative decision-making by generating an environment where employees can feel confident that their creative ideas will receive appropriate consideration. This chapter provides an opportunity for researchers to gain a stronger understanding of how the relationships between leaders and followers develop and continue through employee involvement in making decisions and challenges researchers to investigate how the effectiveness of leaders can better be facilitated. Additionally, this study helps authentic leaders to become increasingly aware of how important it for their leadership to promote a culture based on participative decision-making, such that it increases both employees' performance and organizational commitment, as well as utilizing this awareness to develop and improve training in authentic leadership.

#### **5.2 Practical contribution**

Authentic leaders should build an innovative culture in their organization. They should support and inspire their employees to enhance their performance and gain the confidence to demonstrate creativity and agility when confronted with challenges. Doing so will facilitate their ability to do their work with greater independence and help their organization to realize its objectives. Authentic leaders exemplify mutual exchanges between themselves and their followers. Therefore, research relating to followership should examine how leaders and followers influence each other as they work in combination to achieve their organization's goals and, in so doing, achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. Authentic leaders involving their followers in the decision-making process promote an organizational environment that encourages the investigation of creative ideas and innovation in resolving workplace problems, leading to a culture of learning and organizational commitment.

This chapter increases leaders' knowledge of authentic leadership and the effects it has on participative decision-making. The environment an authentic leader creates in their organization as a result of their transparency promotes participative decisionmaking by building an organizational culture where employees can have sufficient confidence that their creative ideas will gain a fair hearing that they are motivated to suggest them. This chapter assists authentic leaders to increase their awareness of how authentic leadership encourages a creative organizational culture, which then enhances employees' performance as well as their organizational commitment. This awareness can then form the basis of enhancements to leadership training so that both leaders and their organization can benefit. Employees working with an authentic leader who has created a culture that supports them are more likely to not only develop a positive attitude toward their workplace, but also experience elevated levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment [88].

#### **5.3 Conclusion**

In summary, authentic leadership develops the cohesiveness of working relationships, improves both employee and organizational performance, and enhances the likelihood of improved outcomes by increasing employees' affective commitment, thereby motivating them to approach their work more positively and display creative behaviors that support their organization. It also plays an important role in encouraging employees to become more involved in the decision-making process. This gives them a sense of empowerment and ownership of their work and strengthens retention of the organization's knowledge. Authentic leaders can improve their organization's culture by creating an environment of commitment by motivating followers to share their knowledge, experience, and creative ideas, all of which can contribute to improved organizational performance. Authentic leaders can benefit by encouraging their employees to participate in decision-making as a way to enhance their organizational commitment to the extent that their creativity is maintained. Developing an environment such as this enhances the organization's reputation as an employer of choice, which helps to increase its competitive advantage.

#### **Notes/thanks/other declarations**

I would like to thank Joseph Crawford for the opportunity he has given me to contribute this chapter of his book.

*Authentic Leadership: Supporting Employees' Performance, Creativity, Involvement… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108624*

#### **Author details**

Hanan AlMazrouei UAE University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

\*Address all correspondence to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
© 2023 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

### **References**

[1] Avolio BJ, Gardner WL. Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly. 2005;**16**:315-338

[2] Walumbwa FO, Avolio BJ, Gardner WL, Wernsing TS, Peterson SJ. Authentic leadership: Development and validation of a theory-based measure. Journal of Management. 2008;**34**(1):89-126

[3] George B. Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass; 2003

[4] Rego R, Sousa F, Marques C, Pina e Cunha M. Authentic leadership promoting employees' psychological capital and creativity. Journal of Business Research. 2012;**65**:429-437

[5] Uhl-Bien M, Riggio RE, Lowe KB, Carsten MK. Followership theory: A review and research agenda. The Leadership Quarterly. 2014;**25**:83-104

[6] Harter S. Authenticity. In: Snyder CS, Lopez SJ, editors. Handbook of Positive Psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2002. pp. 382-394

[7] Luthans F, Avolio BJ. Authentic leadership development. In: Cameron KS, Dutton JE, Quinn R, editors. Positive Organizational Scholarship: Foundations of a New Discipline. San Francisco: Barrett-Koehler; 2003. pp. 241-261

[8] Erickson RJ. The importance of authenticity for self and society. Symbolic Interaction. 1995;**18**:121-144

[9] Whitehead G. Adolescent leadership development: Building a case for an authenticity framework. Educational

Management Administration and Leadership. 2009;**37**:847-872

[10] Shamir B, Eilam G. What's your story?: A life-stories approach to authentic leadership development. The Leadership Quarterly. 2005;**16**:395-417

[11] Zhang J, Song LJ, Wang Y, Liu GJ. How authentic leadership influences employee proactivity: The sequential mediating effects of psychological empowerment and core self-evaluations and the moderating role of employee political skill. Frontiers of Business Research in China. 2018;**12**(5):1-21

[12] Javed B, Rawwas M, Khandai S, Shahid K, Tayyeb H. Ethical leadership, trust in leader and creativity: The mediated mechanism and an interacting effect. Journal of Management & Organization. 2018;**24**(3):388-405

[13] Conger J. The dark side of leadership. Organizational Dynamics. 1990;**19**(2):44-55

[14] Luthans F, Peterson SJ Ibrayeva E. The potential for the "dark side" of leadership in post communist countries. Journal of World Business. 1998;**33(2**:185-201

[15] Kernis MH, Goldman BM. A multicomponent conceptualization of authenticity: Theory and research. In: Zanna MP, editor. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. Vol. 38. San Diego: Academic Press; 2006. pp. 283-357

[16] Kernis MH. Toward a conceptualization of optimal self-esteem. Psychological Inquiry. 2003;**14**:1-26

[17] Miller KI, Monge PR. Participation, satisfaction and productivity: A

*Authentic Leadership: Supporting Employees' Performance, Creativity, Involvement… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108624*

meta-analytic review. Academy of Management Journal. 1988;**29**:727-753

[18] Kayode BK, Mojeed AQ, Fatai IA. Leadership and decision-making: A study on reflexive relationship between leadership style and decision-making approach. British Journal of Education, Society & Behavioural Science. 2014;**4**(4):473-484

[19] Novitosari D, Siswanto E, Purwanto A, Fahmi K. Authentic leadership and innovation: What is the role of psychological capital? International Journal of Social and Management Studies. 2020;**1**(1):1-21