Peter Khaola is a senior lecturer in the Department of Business Administration, National University of Lesotho. His research interests are generally in areas of organisational behaviour and human resources management
European Journal of Innovation Management, Feb 23, 2021
PurposeThe pre-eminence of innovation and technological transfer in promoting agricultural produc... more PurposeThe pre-eminence of innovation and technological transfer in promoting agricultural productivity and competitiveness in developing countries is widely acknowledged. However, the disparate streams of literature on productivity and competitiveness have explored innovation and technology transfer as independent predictors. Consequently, the mechanisms through which innovation and technology transfers jointly affect productivity and competitiveness of small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in emerging economies remain under-explored in literature. The present study sought to examine the relationships among innovation, technology transfer, productivity and competitiveness of small-scale agricultural businesses (SSABs) in selected regions in South Africa and Zimbabwe, neighbouring countries which have been plagued by food insecurity in recent years.Design/methodology/approachA total of 400 questionnaires were distributed to SSABs owners based in Free State and Mashonaland provinces of South Africa and Zimbabwe, respectively. In total, 268 usable questionnaires (67%) were returned for analysis. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and Process macro (based on SPSS) techniques were used to analyse data.FindingsThe results supported direct significant paths between innovation and technology transfer; technology transfer and productivity; and productivity and competitiveness. Furthermore, the results suggested that technology transfer and productivity consecutively fully mediate the relationship between innovation and competitiveness.Research limitations/implicationsThe use of a survey could not provide sufficient explanations as to why the variable examined related the way they did.Practical implicationsThe study provides useful insights into the significance of considering the dimensions and methods of innovation and technology transfer in agricultural business activities and processes to improve productivity and competitiveness of SSABs.Social implicationsThe study provides some insights into how innovation and technology transfer could be employed by small scale agricultural businesses as critical mechanisms for heightening productivity and competitiveness of these firms to guarantee food security and employment creation for emerging economies.Originality/valueTo the researchers' knowledge, this is one of the pioneer studies to examine the impact of both innovation and technology transfer on productivity and competitiveness of SSABs in two countries in Southern Africa. The study also constitutes a significant contribution to examining serial mediation of technology transfer and productivity of innovation and competitiveness.
Purpose Even though the influence of transformational leadership on organisational citizenship be... more Purpose Even though the influence of transformational leadership on organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) has been extensively studied in human resource management, evidence on the mechanisms through which transformational leadership affects OCB is only beginning to emerge. In view of the ambivalence about strategies of advancing OCB, this paper aims to establish whether and the extent to which the relationship between transformational leadership and OCB was mediated by organisational justice and affective commitment. Design/methodology/approach The study was based on a random survey of 300 employees from a medium-sized public university, and 122 employees from public and private sector organisations in Lesotho. Partial least squares structural equation modelling and process macro techniques were used to analyse data. Findings The results confirmed significant paths between transformational leadership and organisational justice; organisational justice and affective commitment; and affective commitment and OCB. The results further suggested that perceived justice and affective commitment were significant serial mediators between transformational leadership and OCB. Practical implications Elucidation of the nature of mediating factors between leadership and OCB would leverage organisations’ level of understanding of why transformational leadership is critical to promoting OCB, and hence encourage them to design programmes that would equip supervisors with skills necessary to enhance it. Originality/value This is one of the few theory-driven primary studies that examine the serial mediating roles of organisational justice and affective commitment in the transformational leadership – OCB relationship.
Abstract As one of the most important dependent variables in education and work research, perform... more Abstract As one of the most important dependent variables in education and work research, performance has been operationalised either as the proficiency with which core tasks are performed (task performance), or as extra-role behaviours that support core activities (organisational citizenship behaviours). Relative to academic performance (core academic achievement), there has been little research on the extent to which students practise organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) in their academic work. The aim of the present study was to explore some correlates of both OCB and academic performance. Data used in the study were obtained from 185 students enrolled in a business course at the National University of Lesotho. Survey questionnaires inquiring about students' commitment, self-esteem, and OCB were administered to 204 third-year students. These were correlated with formal academic performance before and after the survey. Students' commitment was significantly related to both OCB and academic performance. Self-esteem was significantly correlated with OCB, but not academic performance. Two dimensions of OCB (altruism and civic virtue) were moderately but significantly related to academic performance. Results suggest that improving self-esteem might affect OCB, and improving commitment and certain elements of OCB might improve academic achievement.
Department of Business Administration, National University of Lesotho, P.O. Roma 180, Lesotho *Co... more Department of Business Administration, National University of Lesotho, P.O. Roma 180, Lesotho *Corresponding Author’s Email: pmonyolo@yahoo.com Tel: +266 62 962 579 The research dissertation and its supervision have been described by researchers as the most advanced levels of learning and teaching respectively. In spite of the intrinsic value of research and its supervision, there are few studies that document the lived experiences of undergraduate students in these areas. Existing studies are dominated by the opinions and experiences of academic staff, and are primarily limited to the issues of research assessment. To our knowledge, there is paucity of research on the lived experiences of undergraduate students in Lesotho. The aim of this paper is to explicate the students’ lived experiences of undergraduate dissertation and its supervision at the National University of Lesotho (NUL). We used interpretive qualitative research to give ‘voice’ to the participants, and identified and interpreted key themes from interviews conducted over a period of two academic years. We specifically used data collected from 17 interviewees in six focus groups, 11 interviewees a year later, documentary analysis and observation over a period of two academic years. The interviews were unstructured, and took between 60 and 120 minutes. We ended the interviews once we realised that no new experiences were related by participants. The analysis of data resulted in nine themes. In general, students expressed positive views about dissertation as an important mode of learning and assessment; acknowledged the important role of research methodology course in undertaking research; found challenges in undertaking some parts of dissertation; and complained about supervisors who were not available, approachable, nurturing, organised, and did not communicate constructive feedback on timely basis using modern communication channels. While qualitative research findings cannot be generalised, we submit that understanding learner experiences can respectively benefit and inform undergraduate learning and supervision at universities.
European Journal of Innovation Management, Jan 14, 2019
PurposeThe mechanisms through which leaders influence innovative work behaviours (IWB) are import... more PurposeThe mechanisms through which leaders influence innovative work behaviours (IWB) are important in innovation management. The purpose of this paper is to explain how leadership and justice relate to IWB through the successive mediating roles of affective commitment and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB).Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on survey of a random sample of 300 employees selected from 652 employees from a public university, and a convenience sample of 159 employees from predominantly service-based enterprises in Lesotho (n=263). The Statistical Package for Social Sciences and the analysis of moment structures version 24 are used to analyse data. Specifically, the study uses factor analysis; correlation; structural equation modelling and bootstrapping techniques to examine the hypothesised relationships.FindingsThe results suggest that the model that fits data well is the one which shows that the effects of both leadership and organisational justice on IWBs are successively mediated by affective commitment and OCB. Because of its social and affiliation-oriented nature, the study submits that OCB is an effective explanatory factor between predictors and IWBs.Originality/valueThe study makes a novel contribution to the extant literature by evaluating the serial mediating roles of affective commitment and OCB between leadership and IWB on one hand, and justice and IWB on the other hand.
International Journal of Innovation Management, Jan 27, 2019
Even though the effects of leadership and affective commitment on innovative work behaviours (IWB... more Even though the effects of leadership and affective commitment on innovative work behaviours (IWBs) have been thoroughly researched, little is known about the interactive effects of these factors on IWBs. Based on data collected from 263 respondents from public and private organisations in Lesotho, the present study examines if affective commitment moderates the relationship between leadership and IWB. Drawing on literatures across management and innovation research domains, the study proposes and finds evidence that affective commitment moderates the relationship between leadership and IWB such that the relationship is stronger for affectively committed employees, while being relatively weaker for less affectively committed employees. The results also reveal that while leadership and management level have the main effects on IWB, affective commitment has no effect on IWB. Overall, the study responds to calls for examining the joint effects of person and context characteristics on IWBs. Drawing on our results, we discuss implications for theory and practice.
European Journal of Innovation Management, Feb 23, 2021
PurposeThe pre-eminence of innovation and technological transfer in promoting agricultural produc... more PurposeThe pre-eminence of innovation and technological transfer in promoting agricultural productivity and competitiveness in developing countries is widely acknowledged. However, the disparate streams of literature on productivity and competitiveness have explored innovation and technology transfer as independent predictors. Consequently, the mechanisms through which innovation and technology transfers jointly affect productivity and competitiveness of small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in emerging economies remain under-explored in literature. The present study sought to examine the relationships among innovation, technology transfer, productivity and competitiveness of small-scale agricultural businesses (SSABs) in selected regions in South Africa and Zimbabwe, neighbouring countries which have been plagued by food insecurity in recent years.Design/methodology/approachA total of 400 questionnaires were distributed to SSABs owners based in Free State and Mashonaland provinces of South Africa and Zimbabwe, respectively. In total, 268 usable questionnaires (67%) were returned for analysis. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and Process macro (based on SPSS) techniques were used to analyse data.FindingsThe results supported direct significant paths between innovation and technology transfer; technology transfer and productivity; and productivity and competitiveness. Furthermore, the results suggested that technology transfer and productivity consecutively fully mediate the relationship between innovation and competitiveness.Research limitations/implicationsThe use of a survey could not provide sufficient explanations as to why the variable examined related the way they did.Practical implicationsThe study provides useful insights into the significance of considering the dimensions and methods of innovation and technology transfer in agricultural business activities and processes to improve productivity and competitiveness of SSABs.Social implicationsThe study provides some insights into how innovation and technology transfer could be employed by small scale agricultural businesses as critical mechanisms for heightening productivity and competitiveness of these firms to guarantee food security and employment creation for emerging economies.Originality/valueTo the researchers' knowledge, this is one of the pioneer studies to examine the impact of both innovation and technology transfer on productivity and competitiveness of SSABs in two countries in Southern Africa. The study also constitutes a significant contribution to examining serial mediation of technology transfer and productivity of innovation and competitiveness.
Purpose Even though the influence of transformational leadership on organisational citizenship be... more Purpose Even though the influence of transformational leadership on organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) has been extensively studied in human resource management, evidence on the mechanisms through which transformational leadership affects OCB is only beginning to emerge. In view of the ambivalence about strategies of advancing OCB, this paper aims to establish whether and the extent to which the relationship between transformational leadership and OCB was mediated by organisational justice and affective commitment. Design/methodology/approach The study was based on a random survey of 300 employees from a medium-sized public university, and 122 employees from public and private sector organisations in Lesotho. Partial least squares structural equation modelling and process macro techniques were used to analyse data. Findings The results confirmed significant paths between transformational leadership and organisational justice; organisational justice and affective commitment; and affective commitment and OCB. The results further suggested that perceived justice and affective commitment were significant serial mediators between transformational leadership and OCB. Practical implications Elucidation of the nature of mediating factors between leadership and OCB would leverage organisations’ level of understanding of why transformational leadership is critical to promoting OCB, and hence encourage them to design programmes that would equip supervisors with skills necessary to enhance it. Originality/value This is one of the few theory-driven primary studies that examine the serial mediating roles of organisational justice and affective commitment in the transformational leadership – OCB relationship.
Abstract As one of the most important dependent variables in education and work research, perform... more Abstract As one of the most important dependent variables in education and work research, performance has been operationalised either as the proficiency with which core tasks are performed (task performance), or as extra-role behaviours that support core activities (organisational citizenship behaviours). Relative to academic performance (core academic achievement), there has been little research on the extent to which students practise organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) in their academic work. The aim of the present study was to explore some correlates of both OCB and academic performance. Data used in the study were obtained from 185 students enrolled in a business course at the National University of Lesotho. Survey questionnaires inquiring about students' commitment, self-esteem, and OCB were administered to 204 third-year students. These were correlated with formal academic performance before and after the survey. Students' commitment was significantly related to both OCB and academic performance. Self-esteem was significantly correlated with OCB, but not academic performance. Two dimensions of OCB (altruism and civic virtue) were moderately but significantly related to academic performance. Results suggest that improving self-esteem might affect OCB, and improving commitment and certain elements of OCB might improve academic achievement.
Department of Business Administration, National University of Lesotho, P.O. Roma 180, Lesotho *Co... more Department of Business Administration, National University of Lesotho, P.O. Roma 180, Lesotho *Corresponding Author’s Email: pmonyolo@yahoo.com Tel: +266 62 962 579 The research dissertation and its supervision have been described by researchers as the most advanced levels of learning and teaching respectively. In spite of the intrinsic value of research and its supervision, there are few studies that document the lived experiences of undergraduate students in these areas. Existing studies are dominated by the opinions and experiences of academic staff, and are primarily limited to the issues of research assessment. To our knowledge, there is paucity of research on the lived experiences of undergraduate students in Lesotho. The aim of this paper is to explicate the students’ lived experiences of undergraduate dissertation and its supervision at the National University of Lesotho (NUL). We used interpretive qualitative research to give ‘voice’ to the participants, and identified and interpreted key themes from interviews conducted over a period of two academic years. We specifically used data collected from 17 interviewees in six focus groups, 11 interviewees a year later, documentary analysis and observation over a period of two academic years. The interviews were unstructured, and took between 60 and 120 minutes. We ended the interviews once we realised that no new experiences were related by participants. The analysis of data resulted in nine themes. In general, students expressed positive views about dissertation as an important mode of learning and assessment; acknowledged the important role of research methodology course in undertaking research; found challenges in undertaking some parts of dissertation; and complained about supervisors who were not available, approachable, nurturing, organised, and did not communicate constructive feedback on timely basis using modern communication channels. While qualitative research findings cannot be generalised, we submit that understanding learner experiences can respectively benefit and inform undergraduate learning and supervision at universities.
European Journal of Innovation Management, Jan 14, 2019
PurposeThe mechanisms through which leaders influence innovative work behaviours (IWB) are import... more PurposeThe mechanisms through which leaders influence innovative work behaviours (IWB) are important in innovation management. The purpose of this paper is to explain how leadership and justice relate to IWB through the successive mediating roles of affective commitment and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB).Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on survey of a random sample of 300 employees selected from 652 employees from a public university, and a convenience sample of 159 employees from predominantly service-based enterprises in Lesotho (n=263). The Statistical Package for Social Sciences and the analysis of moment structures version 24 are used to analyse data. Specifically, the study uses factor analysis; correlation; structural equation modelling and bootstrapping techniques to examine the hypothesised relationships.FindingsThe results suggest that the model that fits data well is the one which shows that the effects of both leadership and organisational justice on IWBs are successively mediated by affective commitment and OCB. Because of its social and affiliation-oriented nature, the study submits that OCB is an effective explanatory factor between predictors and IWBs.Originality/valueThe study makes a novel contribution to the extant literature by evaluating the serial mediating roles of affective commitment and OCB between leadership and IWB on one hand, and justice and IWB on the other hand.
International Journal of Innovation Management, Jan 27, 2019
Even though the effects of leadership and affective commitment on innovative work behaviours (IWB... more Even though the effects of leadership and affective commitment on innovative work behaviours (IWBs) have been thoroughly researched, little is known about the interactive effects of these factors on IWBs. Based on data collected from 263 respondents from public and private organisations in Lesotho, the present study examines if affective commitment moderates the relationship between leadership and IWB. Drawing on literatures across management and innovation research domains, the study proposes and finds evidence that affective commitment moderates the relationship between leadership and IWB such that the relationship is stronger for affectively committed employees, while being relatively weaker for less affectively committed employees. The results also reveal that while leadership and management level have the main effects on IWB, affective commitment has no effect on IWB. Overall, the study responds to calls for examining the joint effects of person and context characteristics on IWBs. Drawing on our results, we discuss implications for theory and practice.
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Papers by Peter Khaola