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The Mixed Blessing of Leaders’ Artificial Intelligence (AI)-oriented Change Behavior: Implications for Employee Job Performance and Unethical Behavior

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Abstract

The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) has led many companies to embrace AI-oriented changes; leaders’ AI-oriented change behaviors have therefore become increasingly prevalent in contemporary organizations. However, knowledge on the effects of such behavior remains limited. Additionally, literature on change-oriented behavior (e.g., taking charge, change-oriented citizenship) has uniformly demonstrated that it is beneficial for employees, teams, and organizations. We challenge this consensus by revealing that leaders’ AI-oriented change behavior has mixed effects on employee outcomes. In Study 1, we developed a scale for leaders’ AI-oriented change behavior and assessed its psychometric properties using samples from the United States. In Study 2, we tested our full model with a three-wave, multi-source field study in China. The results show that leaders’ AI-oriented change behavior is positively associated with employee performance orientation, in turn increasing both employee job performance and unethical behaviors. Furthermore, employee trait competitiveness moderates the positive effect of leaders’ AI-oriented change behavior on employee job performance and unethical behavior via employee performance orientation. By revealing the perils and benefits of leaders’ AI-oriented change behavior, our research contributes to the literature on change-oriented behavior and performance orientation.

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Funding

This work was supported by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [grant numbers 2022M713555] and Tongshan Fund for Young Scholars of Humanities and Social Sciences at Sun Yat-sen University [grant numbers 2022066], awarded to Guohua He.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Management, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

    Guohua He

  2. College of Foreign Studies, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    Xinnian Zheng

  3. Antai College of Economics & Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

    Wenpu Li

  4. School of Management, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    Ling Tan

  5. Sun Yat-Sen Business School, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    Siying Chen

  6. School of Management, Hebei GEO University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China

    Yifan He

Authors
  1. Guohua He
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  2. Xinnian Zheng
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  3. Wenpu Li
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  4. Ling Tan
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  5. Siying Chen
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  6. Yifan He
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Guohua He, Xinnian Zheng; Methodology: Guohua He, Wenpu Li, Ling Tan; Formal analysis and investigation: Guohua He, Wenpu Li, Siying Chen; Writing—original draft preparation: Xinnian Zheng, Guohua He; Writing—review and editing: Guohua He, Xinnian Zheng, Wenpu Li, Ling Tan, Yifan He; Funding acquisition: Guohua He; Resources: Guohua He, Siying Chen, Yifan He; Supervision: Guohua He.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xinnian Zheng.

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Appendix A

Appendix A

Scale Items Used in Study 2

Leaders’ AI-oriented Change Behavior

  1. (1)

    My supervisor often tries to introduce AI technologies to improve efficiency.

  2. (2)

    My supervisor often makes constructive suggestions on how AI technologies can improve organizational operations.

  3. (3)

    My supervisor often tries to design organizational rules and policies that promote AI transformation.

  4. (4)

    My supervisor often suggests changes to unproductive rules or management using AI technologies.

  5. (5)

    My supervisor often adopts AI technologies for his or her job.

  6. (6)

    My supervisor often corrects faulty procedures or practices using AI technologies.

Employee Performance Orientation

  1. (1)

    I feel very good when I know I have outperformed other employees.

  2. (2)

    I spend a lot of time thinking about how my performance compares with others.

  3. (3)

    I always try to communicate my accomplishments to my supervisor.

Employee Trait Competitiveness

  1. (1)

    I enjoy working in situations involving competition with others.

  2. (2)

    It is important to me to perform better than others on a task.

  3. (3)

    I feel that winning is important in both work and games.

  4. (4)

    I try harder when I am in competition with other people.

Job Performance

  1. (1)

    This employee always completes the duties specified in his/her job description.

  2. (2)

    This employee meets all the formal performance requirements of the job.

  3. (3)

    This employee fulfills all responsibilities required by his/her job.

  4. (4)

    This employee never neglects aspects of the job that he/she is obligated to perform.

  5. (5)

    This employee often succeeds in performing essential duties.

Unethical Behavior

  1. (1)

    This employee purposely wasted the company’s materials/supplies.

  2. (2)

    This employee complained about insignificant things at work.

  3. (3)

    This employee told people outside the job what a lousy place he/she works for.

  4. (4)

    This employee came to work late without permission.

  5. (5)

    This employee stayed home from work and said he/she was sick when he/she was not.

  6. (6)

    This employee insulted someone about their job performance.

  7. (7)

    This employee made fun of someone’s personal life.

  8. (8)

    This employee ignored someone at work.

  9. (9)

    This employee started an argument with someone at work.

  10. (10)

    This employee insulted or made fun of someone at work.

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He, G., Zheng, X., Li, W. et al. The Mixed Blessing of Leaders’ Artificial Intelligence (AI)-oriented Change Behavior: Implications for Employee Job Performance and Unethical Behavior. Applied Research Quality Life 19, 469–497 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-023-10250-4

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