The role of positive meaning at work: linking perceived operational flexibility to greater good motivation

Purpose Using principles from self-determination theory, the job characteristics model and psychological empowerment theory, we hypothesized that positive meaning would mediate the relationship between the degree of flexibility employees perceive in how operations are performed at work and employees' greater good motivation within the Indian service industry. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a positivist research philosophy, this study employs a cross-sectional survey design. Data were collected from a stratified sample of employees across key Indian service sectors, including IT, healthcare, hospitality and banking. Hypotheses were tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings Employee-reported perceived operational flexibility was associated with positive meaning, and positive meaning was associated with greater good motivation. Once positive meaning was statistically controlled for, the previously significant direct association between perceived operational flexibility and greater good motivation was no longer significant, indicating full mediation. We interpret the strong PM–GGM association conservatively, given the conceptual overlap among the WAMI subdimensions and the cross-sectional design. Originality/value We specify perceived operational flexibility as employee-level work-process flexibility, posit positive meaning as the mechanism through which work-process discretion is associated with prosocial motivation and offer initial support for the argument in the Indian service-sector setting.