To read this content please select one of the options below:

Continuous learning during crises: achieving change-efficacy, meaningful work and adaptive performance

Sunil Budhiraja (School of Management and Labour Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India)
Neerpal Rathi (Indian Institute of Management Nagpur, Nagpur, India)

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management

ISSN: 1741-0401

Article publication date: 12 April 2022

Issue publication date: 30 October 2023

498

Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to examine the association between learning culture and adaptive performance of delivery employees during crises situation. The study develops and tests a model that explains how learning culture, through change-efficacy and meaningful work, influences employees' adaptive performance (including how they handle crisis situations and deal with uncertainty).

Design/methodology/approach

Data was collected from 298 delivery employees working in e-commerce companies throughout India in a time-lagged manner. Regression analysis and structural equation modeling were performed to assess the influence of learning culture, change-efficacy and meaningful work on adaptive performance using SPSS 24. Further, PROCESS macro was used to test the parallel mediation effects through bootstrapping approach.

Findings

The study establishes a significant direct and indirect relationship between learning culture and adaptive performance for employees. Further, underpinning the transformative learning theory (Mezirow, 1997), and job characteristics theory (1976), this study came across two pathways for organizations to transform their learning efforts into improved adaptive performance for employees.

Practical implications

Organizations, particularly in crisis situations, can leverage employees' change-efficacy and meaningful work to connect learning efforts with employees' adaptive performance.

Originality/value

The study contributes significantly to existing theory on transformative learning and job characteristics theory while strengthening the literature on antecedents of employees' adaptive performance, particularly in crises situation.

Keywords

Citation

Budhiraja, S. and Rathi, N. (2023), "Continuous learning during crises: achieving change-efficacy, meaningful work and adaptive performance", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 72 No. 8, pp. 2317-2334. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-09-2021-0551

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles