Do empowerment, job interdependence and organization support drive work outcome in the Indian insurance sector?

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors which influence positive and antagonistic job behavior of employees and their effects on work outcome. Such factors are regulated by the job design and policies of an organization. This is part of the findings. Design/methodology/approach - The paper surveys a sample of 635 middle and lower level executives working in insurance organizations. Structural equation modeling was employed to test the nomological network. Findings - Results reveal significant roles of empowerment and job interdependence in explaining positive job behavior and its influence on work outcome. In addition, limited role of organization support on employee job behavior was observed. Research limitations/implications - This study was limited by its cross-sectional design and self- reported data. Issues of common method bias have been addressed. The outcome of this quantitative research provides input for job design focused on increasing work outcome. Originality/value - This study highlights that empowerment at work brings about positive work behavior that significantly enhances employee commitment to customer service. Further, organization support at work does not explain employee behavior influencing work outcome; whereas, most past studies show significant role of support factors. Antagonistic behavior does not necessarily make an individual decide to leave the organization, indicating that such behaviors can be controlled by managing the contextual factors. The findings offer insights to motivation and behavior-related theories and suggest a shift in HR practices by predicting employee behavior.