THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURES AND APPROACH-AVOIDANCE JOB CRAFTING, AND THE MODERATING ROLE OF LEADERSHIP STYLE
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2025-06-27
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en
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This master thesis investigates how organisational structure influences employee job crafting
behaviours, specifically distinguishing between approach and avoidance job crafting, and
examines the moderating role of leadership style. Drawing on the Job Demands–Resources (JDR)
framework, the research integrates insights from organisational design theory and leadership
literature to address the underexplored impact of structural complexity on proactive work
behaviour. A mixed-methods, comparative case study was conducted in two Dutch retail
organisations characterised by simple and complex structure. Quantitative data were collected
from 105 employees via validated surveys measuring perceived structure, leadership style, and
job crafting behaviours; qualitative insights were derived from semi-structured managerial
interviews. Regression analyses revealed that complex organisational structures are
significantly associated with lower levels of approach job crafting, while no significant
relationship was found for avoidance job crafting. Furthermore, transformational leadership
buffered the negative impact of structural complexity on approach crafting, whereas
transactional leadership showed no moderating effect. These findings highlight the importance
of aligning leadership style with structural context to promote proactive employee behaviour.
The study contributes to JD-R theory by introducing organisational structure as a contextual
antecedent and offers practical implications for designing adaptive and enabling work
environments.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen