Dr. Maggie M Davis

This paper explores the role of branding in new-venture growth, focusing on how corporate branding communicates brand identity to target markets. Early-stage new ventures require unique branding strategies that differ from the branding strategies of established small and medium-sized
enterprises and large corporations. Effective branding for new ventures involves targeting niche products and specific markets, utilising techniques distinct from larger organisations, such as promotional events rather than sales discounts. This theoretical study presents research-based propositions
highlighting the critical importance of early-stage corporate branding in enhancing growth and survivability for new firms. By emphasising the unique aspects of new-venture branding, this study aims to guide scholars and practitioners in developing more effective branding strategies for emerging
businesses.

Purpose
From a social cognitive perspective, the current study examines how the relationship between the employee and the organization changes following supervisor motive misattribution of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB).

Design/methodology/approach
The current study utilizes an experimental vignette methodology (EVM), linear regression and Hayes' (2017) Process Version 4 macro in SPSS to examine the relationships between supervisor misattribution of employee OCB, personality and individual differences and future organizational citizenship behavior intentions.

Findings
Results indicate that supervisor misattribution of employee OCB, specifically when the act is attributed to impression management, will reduce the intention to engage in future OCBs. Results also indicate that this negative relationship is enhanced when subordinates are high in openness.

Research limitations/implications
This study extends social exchange theory by demonstrating how the misattribution of motivation to perform OCBs creates a negative social exchange and discourages future organizational citizenship behavior from the employee. The current research demonstrates the importance of supervisors understanding employees' motivations for engaging in (OCB). If an employee engages in OCB based on intrinsic motivation, such as a desire to help others, and their motivation is attributed to external motivation, such as impression management, the employee may feel misunderstood and believe their values and motivations are incorrectly perceived, leading to reduced OCB.

Originality/value
The current research is examined using EVM. By immersing participants in realistic hypothetical scenarios, experimental vignette methodology allows researchers to explore the intricacies of decision-making across unique scenarios, unraveling both the “why” and the “what next” behind decision-making.

In this timely piece, we delve into the potential downside of remote work: workaholism. We explore the nuanced relationship between remote work environments and workaholic behavior based on data we collected from over 150 remote work professionals who transitioned from office to remote work during COVID-19 restrictions.

Our findings show how highly conscientious employees in low situational strength environments may be particularly susceptible to overworking and burning out while working remotely. We also outline practical strategies managers can implement to support their teams and prevent workaholism from taking hold.

This study examines cognitive and behavioral mechanisms that explain why narcissism leads to positive and negative workplace outcomes. By sampling 296 working adults in the United States at three time points, we tested the model using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Drawing from social cognitive theory, we explore how grandiose and vulnerable narcissism influence workplace attitudes and behaviors, including organizational commitment, citizenship behavior, and workplace deviance. Our findings reveal that these differences are mediated through the serial mechanisms of self-efficacy and political skill. By highlighting the role of self-concept and social effectiveness skills in shaping narcissistic employees' workplace behaviors, this study contributes to a deeper theoretical understanding of the factors motivating their engagement in positive workplace contributions versus unethical workplace behaviors.

The application of augmented reality (AR) for education and training has grown dramatically in recent years, resulting in an expansive research domain within a relatively short amount of time. Two primary goals of the current article are to (a) summarize this literature by determining the overall effectiveness of AR programs relative to alternative comparisons and (b) assess the extent that AR program effectiveness is influenced by aspects of hardware, software, outcome, context, and methodology. A meta-analysis of over 250 studies supports that AR programs produce learning outcomes that are, on average, three-fifths of a standard deviation larger than alternative comparisons. Our results surprisingly show that AR programs using head-mounted displays produce significantly smaller effects than those using other output hardware (e.g., smartphones and tablets), and programs using image recognition are no more effective than those using alternative input methods (e.g., QR codes). We further find that most other aspects do not significantly influence observed program effectiveness; however, studies with younger participants produced significantly larger effects, and naturalistic studies produced significantly larger effects than laboratory studies. In our discussion, we utilize these findings to suggest promising theoretical perspectives for the study of AR, and we highlight methodological practices that can produce more accurate research moving forward. Thus, the current article summarizes research on AR education and training programs, identifies aspects that do and do not influence program efficacy, and provides several avenues for future research and practice.

Integrating leadership theories and understanding the interactions between these theories is a goal for many leadership scholars. The dark side of leadership has become a topic of interest for researchers and practitioners alike in recent years. Dark leadership is likened to poison in an organization, embedding toxins in the company’s culture and instilling deep-rooted behaviors, attitudes, and actions that are a source of internal organizational decay. After viewing a brief introductory video, this article uses a cross-sectional design to investigate followers’ evaluations of a potential leader’s toxic leadership, destructive leadership, and identity leadership propensities. Relevant theory relating to identity leadership, toxic leadership, and destructive leadership constructs is reviewed and empirically tested to clarify how these topics interrelate. Most studies examining follower personality and leadership attributions have focused on positive leadership styles (e.g., transformation or transactional). This study addresses this gap in the literature in several ways. First, we examine how identity leadership is related to destructive and toxic leadership characteristics. We examine how the perceived relationship between these variables varies based on the follower’s personality, a need identified in previous studies. Further, this study contributes to Pelletier’s (2012) discussion of the lack of research that considers leader-follower relationships in the context of the dark side of leadership. Specifically, to clarify the influence of followers’ evaluations, the role of follower personality is explored as a moderating variable. These results support research from others showing that personality affects the interpretation of leadership actions. However, the current study extends this notion to show that even a short period of contact with the leader allows followers to make judgements about the leader.

COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs have a powerful detrimental influence on COVID-19 vaccine perceptions and behaviors. We investigate an expanded range of outcomes for COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, and we test which vaccine hesitancy dimensions mediate these relations. Our results show that COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs relate to COVID-19 vaccination willingness and receipt, flu vaccination willingness and receipt, as well as vaccine word-of-mouth. Many of these relations are mediated by vaccine hesitancy dimensions that represent perceptions that vaccines pose health risks as well as perceptions that vaccines are not needed because the respondent is healthy. Our discussion identifies directions for future research.

This study examines cognitive and behavioral mechanisms which explain why employee narcissism leads to positive and negative workplace outcomes. Drawing from social cognitive theory, we propose that grandiose and vulnerable narcissism have divergent relationships with workplace attitudinal and behavioral outcomes, including organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, and workplace deviance. We further suggest that these differences can be explained via the serial mediating mechanisms of self-efficacy and political skill. Using data gathered in a three-wave survey from 296 working adults in the United States, the results of this study provide support for 12 of the hypothesized relationships. This study advances the theoretical understanding of personal and behavioral factors (i.e., self-concept and social effectiveness skills) motivating narcissistic employees to engage in positive versus negative behavior, and the boundary conditions under which narcissistic employees may operate more efficiently and effectively in the workplace.

Researchers have shown great interest in the creation of rehabilitation programs using mixed reality (MR), which includes both augmented reality (inclusion of virtual elements in a real environment) and augmented virtuality (inclusion of real elements in a virtual environment). Due to its recent development and systematic limitations of associated studies (e.g., small sample sizes), many pivotal research questions for the study of MR rehabilitation (MRR) programs remain unanswered, and the current article seeks to answer these questions via a meta-analysis and systematic literature review. Our random-effects meta-analysis, including 29 studies, showed that MRR programs produce significant improvements in users' outcomes, and they were significantly more effective than alternative rehabilitation programs when matched for duration. It also demonstrated that there was not a significant effect regarding all studied characteristics of MRR programs, including the incorporation of game elements, use of head-mounted displays, and task-technology fit. Our systematic literature review identified the most studied types of MRR programs, and it revealed that the most common research designs are the least methodologically robust (e.g., single group post-test only design). Our discussion suggests that MRR programs are still in the earliest stage of research, and the current results are encouraging for future development. Because none of our studied characteristics altered the effectiveness of MRR programs, we argue that characteristics that are generally consistent across all MRR programs are the drivers of their effectiveness, which can be categorized as fidelity and motivational characteristics.

An estimated 50,000 parents are behind bars on average daily for child support nonpayment, but information about these fathers and their recidivism rates are lacking. Using a jail sample (N = 16,382), multinomial logistics regression method was utilized; subgroup analysis was used to investigate differential beta weights of predictor variables. Informed by Critical Race Theory, findings showed that fathers incarcerated for arrears had significantly higher rates of recidivism than other jailed men, but had an interaction effect with race. After controlling for age, education, and prior attendance at 12-step meetings, Black fathers but NOT White fathers showed significant post-release recidivism. Implications are discussed.