During uncertain situations, such as the COVID-19 partial lockdown, maintaining satisfactory levels of employee performance (EP) is an important area of concern for many organizations. The current study examines the relationship of work stress due to COVID-19 (COVID-19 STR) and EP. Using social exchange theory (SET), safety culture (SC) is presented as a moderator for stress and performance relationships. A sample of 213 bank employees was collected using a convenient sampling method. Data were analyzed using stepwise linear regression and PROCESS Macro by Hayes (2013). Results revealed that COVID-19 STR has a negative impact on task and contextual performance (CP) and a positive impact on adaptive performance (AP). Similarly, the prevalence of SC significantly moderates the stress and performance relationships.

Technostress, a stressor, has implications for employee’s psychological states; however, flexibility like work from home can have positive outcomes, especially for instructors who have to teach and ensure social distance during COVID-19. The present study examined the relationship of technostress and employee performance while taking training and creative self-efficacy as boundary conditions. A sample of 222 university instructors, who worked from home or hybrid (home and workplace) during COVID-19 lockdown, was selected from Pakistan. The responses were recorded using a closed-ended questionnaire. Stepwise linear regression and PROCESS Macro by Hayes (2013) was used to analyze the data. It was revealed that technostress, instead of having adverse effects, had a positive effect on employee’s performance and both training and one’s creative self-efficacy significantly moderated the relationship. As the main finding, it was revealed that the employees continued to perform well despite the prevalence of technostress. The training and one’s creative self-efficacy were useful to control the technostress and maintain the performance of instructors during COVID-19. The university administrators and employees must take technology as a positive tool for performance. The training, along with creative self-efficacy, adds to the working capacity of employees and enhances their performance.

Although they are significant contributors to environmental concerns, emerging economies provide a very different context concerning corporate environmental behavior. The study investigates the impact of environmental orientation and business environmental commitment on proactive and reactive environmental strategies by firms in an emerging economy. Based on stakeholder perspective, organizational legitimacy concept, and natural-resource-based view, we have proposed a model where business environmental commitment is presented as an explanatory mechanism for the relationship of internal and external environmental orientation and proactive and reactive environmental strategies. A convenient sampling method was used for data collection from 152 SMEs operating in three industrial cities of Pakistan. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used as an analysis technique. Results revealed that internal environmental orientation has a more profound impact on proactive stance than the impact of external environmental orientation on reactive environmental strategies. Similarly, the business environmental commitment was also identified as an important mediating force. Our results draw important implications for theory and practice.

Corporate environmentalism recognizes the importance of environmental issues to a corporation and how it integrates these issues into its strategy. Studies in the US and Spain have identified three variables, namely, public concern, regulatory pressures and competitive advantage to be significant in influencing corporate environmentalism. Emerging countries, although significant contributors to global environmental concerns have generally been ignored in the corporate environmentalism literature. We collected data through a questionnaire survey from managers operating in a variety of industries in Pakistan, an emerging market. Structural equation modeling technique was used for data analysis. Results show that, unlike in the developed countries, customer concern is not an antecedent of corporate environmentalism. Top management commitment was found to be important, both directly and as a mediating variable which has important implications for research and policy in this context.

No abstract