Perceived supervisor support, regulatory focus, and intellectual stimulation during a change initiative: Evidence from Kenya

Abstract

Previous research on individual differences has revealed that individuals’ response to change will vary based on their regulatory focus indicating that perceived supervisor support during organisational change will vary across employees. Perceived supervisor support is a key belief that underlies individuals’ motivation to change and is defined as the extent to which employees perceive that their supervisor cares about their well-being and values their contributions. Owing to the supervisor’s influence on the subordinate during times of change, the influence of the supervisor’s intellectual stimulation on the subordinates’ perceived supervisor has been evaluated in past studies and found significant. This research focused on the effect of intellectual stimulation on perceived supervisor support as well as the mediating role of individuals’ situational regulatory focus (promotion and prevention orientation) on the stated relationship. The research hence evaluated the direct effects of intellectual stimulation on perceived supervisor support as well as the indirect effects of intellectual stimulation on perceived supervisor support when mediated by promotion and prevention orientation. The study constituted a quantitative, cross-sectional online survey of employees in a Kenyan organisation undergoing a planned change initiative with 174 complete responses. The surveys constituted items of the appropriate validated scales and the appropriate control variables. The analysis was done using SPSS and AMOS, with the findings revealing that while promotion focus orientation is linked to increased perceived supervisor support during a change initiative, prevention focus orientation is not linked in any way. In addition to promotion focus, the test of mediation revealed the likelihood of omitted mediators between intellectual stimulation and perceived supervisor support. The main contribution of this study lies in extending and testing the organisational support theoretical framework by introducing regulatory focus as a boundary condition that governs reciprocity norms. Future research should focus on identifying the possible missing mediators as well as identifying which gender composition of the supervisor-subordinate dyads would lead to higher perceived supervisor support.