Volume: 25, Issue: 1

Page: 175-187
International Journal of Science and Business
2023
Journal homepage: ijsab.com/ijsb

The Mediation Role of Exploitative

Activities on the Effect of Benevolent
Leadership on Organizational Adaptability
Richard Irawan Jap

Abstract
Facing the current wave of change in the business world, organizations are
required to be able to adapt well. Organizational adaptability is a competitive
advantage and a condition for organizational survival. This study focuses on
the role of benevolent leadership in organizational adaptability through the
mediation of exploitation activities. Social exchange theory illustrates how
benevolent leadership creates various attributes that support organizations
adapting to the organizational environment through exploitative activities.
IJSB
This research involved 59 company managers who are in the biggest city in Accepted 01 July 2023
Indonesia, Jakarta. Data analysis using PLS-SEM v. 4.0. The results of this Published 03 July 2023
DOI: 10.58970/IJSB.2193
study reveal the positive influence of benevolent leadership on
organizational adaptability and the mediating role of managers' exploitation
activities.

ISSN: 2520-4750 (Online) 2521-3040 (Print)

Papers published by IJSAB International are

licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Keywords: Benevolent leadership, Organizational adaptability, Exploitation activities, Social exchange

theory.

About Author (s)

Richard Irawan Jap, Universitas Widya Mandala Surabaya, Indonesia.

175
IJSB Volume: 25, Issue: 1 Year: 2023 Page: 175-187

Introduction
Change is a necessity; digital technology has developed very rapidly through the development
of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to equip robots with the ability to learn and
make decisions from their own experiences. With the development of the Internet of Things
"IoT", and the big data industry, humans are trying to transfer 'all' work to technology. The
phenomenon of change has occurred in the last few decades. Reeves and Deimler, (2011)
concluded that adaptability is a new competitive advantage for organizations. The global
pandemic of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) has forced all of humanity to change faster. The
demands for changes in the industrial revolution 4.0 seem to be gaining momentum to increase
the speed of change at maximum speed. Exposure to e-commerce started in 2000 with a growth
of around 1 percent per year, until 2020 manual transactions moved to e-commerce by 16
percent. As a comparison, during this pandemic, within 8 weeks until mid-April 2020, this
figure jumped to 27 percent (Scott Galloway, 2020). Changes will continue to occur with
unexpected direction and speed.

Organizational leaders' competence creates organizational adaptability in this dynamic

operational environment (Boylan & Turner, 2017). One of the biggest challenges facing leaders
today is the need to position and enable organizations and people to adapt in the face of an
increasingly dynamic and demanding environment (Uhl-Bien & Arena, 2018). One of the
leadership roles in organizational adaptability is exploiting resources embodied in a leader’s
role in formal systems, structures, and processes that produce performance through selection,
refinement, execution, and efficiency (Uhl-Bien & Arena, 2018). The concept of adaptability
emerged long ago from the integration of organizational theory and strategic management as
it underlies the ideas of strategic decisions and efficiency as the concept of adaptability
(Chandler, 1962). Organizational adaptability is defined as intentional decision-making by
members of the organization, leading to observable actions aimed at reducing the distance
between the organization and its economic and institutional environment (Sarta et al., 2021).

Examining the importance of the role of leadership on organizational adaptability, while

research on this problem is carried out in the literature in a variety of different fields (Uhl-Bien
& Arena, 2018), while the literature on adaptability is mostly carried out in fields other than
leadership such as organizational reasons for adapting, internal reasons hinder adaptability
and external reasons demand adaptation (Sarta et al., 2021) so that the implications for
leadership are still unclear. Leadership is often associated with the term V.U.C.A (volatile,
uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) which was introduced by the United States Army War
College in 1987 (Glaeser, 2021) where the demands on organization and management become
more contradictory and paradoxical than before, leadership must pay attention to dynamic
aspects, distributed, and contextual to position its organization for adaptability (Schulze &
Pinkow, 2020). Benevolent leadership is often described as “fatherly concern for
subordinates”, and “sensitivity to the views of subordinates” (Farh & Cheng, 2000). The care
given often includes personal and family issues. Previous studies on the relationship between
benevolent leadership and dimensions of organizational adaptability have shown various
results, including arousing gratitude that results in reciprocating the kindness of superiors by
working harder (Cheng et al., 2004); which has a positive effect on team identification and
satisfaction in uncertain situations (Lin, et al., 2018); positive impact on psychological
empowerment (Wang & Cheng, 2010); improve task completion through team identification
(Gumusluoglu et al., 2017). Other studies that have no significant relationship also reveal
inconsistent results on the effect of benevolent leadership such as (Wang & Guan, 2018)
concluded that benevolent leadership does not significantly affect subordinate performance,
and does not affect employee intention to leave (Law, 2013). From the presentation of the

176
IJSB Volume: 25, Issue: 1 Year: 2023 Page: 175-187

studies above, it is suspected that the relationship between benevolent leadership and
organizational adaptability shows a complex relationship. The role of operational leadership in
exploitation activities emphasizes the improvement of formal systems, structures, and
processes in producing output through selection, refinement, implementation, and efficiency
(Uhl-Bien & Arena, 2018). In the end, the exploitation activity will create reliability in
experience (Bontis, 2002) which has an impact on organizational adaptation performance. So
that the manager's exploitation activity will function as a mediation in this relationship. This
study aims to obtain empirical evidence about the effectiveness of benevolent leadership.
Against a background of uncertain dynamics of environmental change, Benevolent leadership
is believed to be correlated with exploitative capabilities and have an impact on organizational
adaptability.

2. Literature Reviews
2.1 Social Exchange Theory
According to social exchange theory, leader-member exchange refers to the quality of the
exchange relationship between leaders and followers (Graen & Mary Uhl-Bien, 1995). There
are several reasons why benevolent leadership is associated with a higher quality of leader-
member exchange. First, because benevolent leaders show individual concern for subordinates
and their families, employees tend to experience strong feelings of gratitude towards their
leaders then this strong gratitude leads followers to repay their leaders more in return for
kindness.

2.2 Organizational Adaptability

The study of organizational adaptability gave birth to various views and definitions, Cyert &
March 1963 identified organizational adaptability as a decision-making rule and an important
element in the learning process where organizations evaluate feedback from the environment
and try to make adjustments to their environment. (Gibson & Birkinshaw, 2004) define it as
the ability to move quickly toward new opportunities, adapt to volatile markets and avoid
complacency. Other researchers define it as decision-making made by members of the
organization, leading to observable actions aimed at reducing the distance of the organization
from its economic and institutional environment (Sarta et al., 2021). Pulakos et al., 2000 looked
at adaptability performance from 8 dimensions, namely: (1) Ability to solve problems
creatively; (2) Ability to deal with uncertainty or unpredictable work situations (3) Learning
new tasks, technologies, and procedures; (4) Demonstrating adaptability; (5) Demonstrating
cultural adaptability; (6) Demonstrating the orientation of physical adaptability; (7) Dealing
with job stress (eg: staying calm under pressure, handling frustration, and acting as a reliever);
(8). Organizational environmental situations that have V.U.C.A. These characteristics require
organizations to have a capability including the ability to solve problems creatively, handle
uncertainty, learn to complete tasks and deal with job stress. (Marques-Quinteiro et al., 2015).

2.3 Benevolent Leadership

Benevolent leadership refers to the concept of "shi-en", namely the behavior of leaders who
show individual and holistic concern for the personal or family well-being of subordinates. The
concept of "shi-en" refers to leader behavior that demonstrates the leader's virtue, for example
offering financial assistance to a former employee who is experiencing financial difficulties
through his fault. Benevolent leadership emphasizes the importance of reciprocity in social
relations (Farh et al., 2008). So that in its implementation in the organization reciprocal
obligations arise through the fulfillment of work assignments. The leader as the initiator
protects the subordinates and expects the subordinates to repay them with loyalty. Leaders do
this to reach contexts outside of work such as concern for the families of subordinates. They

177
IJSB Volume: 25, Issue: 1 Year: 2023 Page: 175-187

show holistic and individualistic concerns about the welfare of subordinates (Niu et al., 2009).
The leader's kindness is expected to arouse feelings of indebtedness and the desire of
subordinates to reciprocate. Previous studies have shown various positive impacts of
Benevolent leadership. In Pakistan, Benevolent leadership shows a positive influence on
employee organizational citizenship behavior (Kanwal et al., 2019); has a positive effect on
organizational commitment (Chen; et al., 2019); hurts employee turnover intentions
(Ugurluoglu et al., 2018) and benevolent leadership behavior can cause subordinates to feel
differently in the relationship between superiors and subordinates, and to show selfless
kindness and integrity as they do with family (Fang et al., 2019); facilitating superior-
subordinate exchange relationships, thereby increasing high-level creativity (Lin, Jingjing, et
al., 2018).

2.4 Manager Exploitation Activities

Manager exploitation activity is an effort to create reliability in experience (Mom et al., 2007)
which is associated with deepening the knowledge base of existing managers. The exploitation
activities of such managers include using and perfecting existing knowledge, applying,
improving, and expanding existing competencies, technologies, processes, and products,
focusing on production and adopting a short-term orientation, and elaborating existing beliefs
and decisions. Summarizing from various previous points of view, experience Mom et al., 2007
stated that the essence of exploitation activities is to create reliability in experience associated
with deepening the existing manager's knowledge base. Manager exploitation activities include
using and perfecting existing knowledge, applying, improving, and expanding existing
competencies, technologies, processes, and products, focusing on production and short-term
oriented, and elaborating existing beliefs and decisions. The focus of managers' exploitation
activities is on reducing variation, strengthening institutionalized learning, refinement,
efficiency, selection, implementation, and implementation, mechanisms to address how these
goals can be achieved (Baskarada et al., 2016). Therefore, organizations also need to pay
attention to short-term-oriented exploitation activities.

2.5 Relations Between Variables.

2.5.1 The Influence of Benevolent Leadership on Organizational Adaptability
In contemporary organizations, where creativity is increasingly valued, Benevolent leadership
has a major role to play in encouraging creative action; in that way effectively adapts to the
ever-changing business environment (Wang et al., 2017; Wang & Cheng, 2010). In the context
of such change, creativity is needed in handling it, whether it includes ideas or new methods.
The attention to personal and family given by a benevolent leader has a positive impact on the
quality of superior-subordinate relationships (LMX) which results in increasing the creativity
of subordinates (Lin et al., 2018). LMX is the proximal component where benevolent leadership
influences the results of more creative individual behavior in line with the findings of Pan et al.,
2012 that good relations with supervisors can influence employee creativity through
psychological empowerment. The positive effect of benevolent leadership has a direct
influence on task completion behavior. When a benevolent leader provides an atmosphere of
security and care, subordinates feel valuable which increases feelings of gratitude to their
superiors (Gumusluoglu et al., 2017). Through the trust born of these relationships,
subordinates tend to put time and effort into completing tasks and beyond job roles that impact
broader organizational goals (Konovsky & Pugh, 1994). In situations of uncertainty, life- and
work-oriented benevolent leadership increases team identification and team satisfaction of
subordinates (Kanwal et al., 2019). The emotional significance attached to group members to
their membership in the group enhances team learning and performance (Vet & Bunderson,
2005). Furthermore, under benevolent leadership, subordinates will also receive more

178
IJSB Volume: 25, Issue: 1 Year: 2023 Page: 175-187

resources and task-related recognition (Farh & Cheng, 2000) which enhances task completion
abilities. Concluding the above studies, a hypothesis is drawn that: H1: Benevolent leadership
influences organizational adaptability.

2.5.2 The Influence of Benevolent Leadership on Exploitation Activities.

Manager exploitation activity is an effort to create reliability in experience (Mom et al., 2007)
which is associated with deepening the knowledge base of existing managers. Leaders can
encourage exploitative activity in several ways. Manager exploitation activities include using
and perfecting existing knowledge, applying, improving, and expanding existing competencies,
technologies, processes, and products, focusing on production and short-term oriented, and
elaborating existing beliefs and decisions. Uhl-Bien & Arena, 2018 defines the role of leadership
in exploitation as leadership in formal systems, structures, and processes that produce outputs
through selection, refinement, implementation, and efficiency. Benevolent leadership has a
positive impact on the quality of the exchange relationship between superiors and
subordinates (Lin, et al., 2018) and leaders tend to empower followers who have good
relationships and equip them with autonomy and resources in carrying out tasks (Gómez &
Rosen, 2001). Autonomy and availability of resources will encourage exploitation activities.
Benevolent leadership shows a positive influence on subordinate empowerment efforts (Lin,
et al., 2018) which will increase exploitation activities. Cheng et al., (2002b) obtained a positive
influence of benevolent leadership on the level of loyalty of subordinates as a form of gratitude
and returning favors (Cheng et al., 2004). The loyalty of a subordinate encourages leaders to
share information in a better and more constructive manner with subordinates. The quality of
such mutually beneficial interactions increases the exchange of resources needed (Graen &
Mary Uhl-Bien, 1995) to be exploited, so a hypothesis can be drawn that (H2): benevolent
leadership influences the exploitation activities of managers.

2.5.3 The Influence of Exploitation Activities on Organizational Adaptability.

The role of exploitation activities on organizational adaptation performance can be traced by
looking at the importance of past knowledge and experience in formulating adaptation actions.
In the concept of absorptive capacity which is defined as "the ability of a company to recognize
the value of new information, assimilate it, and apply it for commercial purposes" (Cohen &
Levinthal, 1990), this capacity is highly dependent on prior related knowledge and diverse
backgrounds. Absorptive capacity is needed when "activation triggers" (eg: disruptive
innovation disruption, technological change, regulatory/market changes) demand a firm
response (Winter, 2003). So exploitation activities create reliability in experience (Bontis,
2002) and will improve organizational adaptation performance. Manager exploitation
activities will improve operational performance such as skills and expertise (Kang & Kim,
2019). This skill is formed through the routine of carrying out clear activities and the use of
knowledge that is already owned. Through these activities, organizational skills will be honed
through the learning process to better complete work assignments. This activity is associated
with deepening the manager's knowledge base (Katila & Ahuja, 2002) where learning work
task skills are well honed. Exploitation activities are associated with organizational needs to
produce (Tushman & O´Reilly, 1996), using and perfecting existing knowledge (Levinthal &
March 1993) exploitation activity will boost the ability to solve problems. Exploitation focuses
on incremental innovation efforts such as increasing efficiency and productivity (O’Reilly &
Tushman, 2004) by adopting short-term goals thereby reducing future uncertainties while
continuously accumulating results. In Rothaermel, 2001 it was found that companies that
focused on exploiting complementary assets outperformed companies that focused on
exploring new technologies. Examining the logical relationship above, we can conclude the
following hypothesis: (H3): Managers' exploitative activities affect organizational adaptability.

179
IJSB Volume: 25, Issue: 1 Year: 2023 Page: 175-187

2.5.4 Exploitation Activity Mediation Manager Role

Previous research has linked exploitation with leadership roles and organizational adaptability
(Uhl-Bien & Arena, 2018; Schulze & Pinkow, 2020). The role of the benevolent leader in
creating a space for exploitation activities which includes using and perfecting existing
knowledge, applying, improving, and expanding existing competencies, technologies,
processes, and products, focusing on production and adopting a short-term orientation, and
elaborating beliefs and decisions. Furthermore, exploitation activities that occur in an adaptive
organizational space allow for a process of correction, refinement, and efficiency of systems,
structures, and processes in producing organizational adaptation performance. The process of
interaction between agents within the organization gives birth to the capabilities needed in
organizational adaptation, which include the ability to solve problems creatively, handle
uncertainty, learn to complete tasks, and deal with job stress (Marques-Quinteiro et al., 2015).
Considering the theoretical arguments and hypotheses mentioned previously (H1, H2, and H3),
it is concluded that managers' exploitation activities can act as a mediator between
authoritarian leadership and organizational adaptability, therefore the following hypothesis is
proposed: (H4): Managers' exploitation activities mediate the effect of authoritarian leadership
on adaptability organization.

3.1 Research Design

Figure 3 1
Conceptual Framework

Information:
BENE = Benevolent Leadership
BENE1, BENE2, BENE3, BENE4, BENE5 are indicators of Benevolent Leadership
XPLOI = Manager Exploit Activity
XPLOI1, XPLOI2, XPLOI3, XPLOI4, and XPLOI5 are indicators of Exploiting Activity.
ADAP = Organizational Adaptability
ADAP1, ADAP2, ADAP3, ADAP4, ADAP5, ADAP6, ADAP7, ADAP8 are indicators of
Organizational Adaptability.

3.2 Technique and Sample Size

Filling out the questionnaire will be carried out by middle-level managers as respondents. The
selection of managers as respondents was carried out with the consideration that according to

180
IJSB Volume: 25, Issue: 1 Year: 2023 Page: 175-187

research, managers are associated with a strategic role as implementers of corporate strategy
(Van Rensburg et al., 2014). Sampling-based on convenience random sampling refers to
collecting information from members of the population that is easy to obtain (Sekaran &
Bougie, 2016). Questionnaires were distributed to 100 companies, with responses received by
64 respondents. After verification, there are 5 invalid data so 59 valid data remain to be
processed. The research data analysis technique begins with the presentation of descriptive
statistical results. Furthermore, by using the partial least squares (PLS) tool, tests were carried
out on the measurement model and structural model.

4. Results of Data Analysis.

4.1 Internal Consistency Reliability
Table4.1: Construct Validity and Reliability
Variable Indikator Outer Loading Composite reliability (rho_a) (AVE)
ADAP1 0.723
ADAP2 0.726
ADAP3 0.615 0,877 0,527
Organizational
ADAP4 0.749
Adaptability
ADAP5 0.767
ADAP6 0.815
ADAP7 0.766
ADAP8 0.622

BENE1 0.886
BENE2 0.771 0,902
Benevolent Leadership BENE3 0.874 0.694
BENE4 0.821
BENE5 0.807
XPLOI1 0.707
XPLOI2 0.777
0,837 0,589
Exploitation Activities XPLOI3 0.671
XPLOI4 0.844
XPLOI5 0.824
Source: Processed Data, 2023

Table 4.1 above the results of the evaluation of the reflective measurement model with a
loading indicator greater than 0.6 (Chin W, 1998). Evaluation of internal consistency reliability
with Composite reliability rho-a which shows a score above 0.7, AVE shows a score above 0.50
(J. F. Hair et al., 2019).

4.2 Discriminant Validity.

Tabel. 4.2: Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio
ADAP BENE XPLOI

ADAP

BENE 0.593

XPLOI 0.593 0.558

Source: Processed Data, 2023

The mean score of the HTMT correlation in Table 4.2 is less than 0.90 which indicates that it
meets the discriminant validity requirements. The results of the VIF evaluation in Table 4.1

181
IJSB Volume: 25, Issue: 1 Year: 2023 Page: 175-187

show that the Variance inflation factor (VIF) score is all < 5 which indicates that there is no
multicollinearity between exogenous constructs.

4.3 Significance of Path Coefficients.

Table 4.3: Path Coefficients
Original (O) Sample mean (M) (STDEV) T stat 2.5% 97,5% P values f2
BENE -> ADAP 0.317 0.315 0.125 2.529 0.061 0.553 0.011 0.131
BENE -> XPLOI 0.516 0.539 0.104 4.959 0.320 0.720 0.000 0.362
XPLOI -> ADAP 0.440 0.450 0.126 3.490 0.182 0.667 0.000 0.252
Source: Processed Data 2023

Based on the results of the path analysis test it was concluded that: there is a significant
influence of benevolent leadership on increasing organizational adaptability with β=0.317; CI
= 0.061-0.553; f2=0.131 ρ=0.011, thus hypothesis 1 is accepted. H2 The results of the
hypothesis test show the value of β=0.516 p=0.0000, CI=0.320-0.720; f = 0.362), thus
hypothesis 2 is accepted. H3 The results of the hypothesis test show the value of β=0.440;
CI=0.182-0.667; f2=0.252; p=0.000, thus hypothesis 3 is accepted.

4.4 The Role of Mediating Exploitation Activities

Mediation analysis was performed to access the mediating role of XPLOI on BENE's influence
on ADAP. The results are shown in Table 4.3 It shows a significant direct effect of benevolent
leadership on organizational adaptability of b=0.317; p=0.011. By including the mediating
variable of manager exploitation activities in the relationship of benevolent leadership to
organizational adaptability, it still shows a significant mediating effect of manager exploitation
activities (B=0.227, p<0.010). The total effect of benevolent leadership on organizational
adaptability is significant (b=0.544; p=0.000). This indicates a partial mediating role, thus H4
is accepted.

4.5 Evaluation of Model Fit

Table 4.5: Coefficient Determinant
R2
ADAP 0.438
XPLOI 0.266
Source: Processed Data, 2023.

Reviewing R2 shows the variance explained in each endogenous construct. The coefficient of
determination (R2) of ADAP is 0.438 which indicates that in the sample, 43.8% of the variance
of organizational adaptability is explained by its exogenous variables. With the criteria for an
R2 value of 0.438, it indicates that the model is classified as moderate (J. Hair et al., 2014).
Evaluations of ƒ2, respectively 0.02, 0.15, and 0.35, represent small, medium, and large effects
(Cohen 1988). The BENE variable has a large effect on XPLOI (0.362) while BENE=>ADAP is
classified as weak (0.131); and XPLOI => moderate ADAP (0.252).

5. Discussion
5.1 The Influence of Benevolent Leadership on Organizational Adaptability
Benevolent leadership is proven to have a significant positive effect on organizational
adaptability. Organizational adaptability here is characterized as the ability to solve problems
creatively, the ability to deal with uncertainty, and competency development efforts. These
results are in line with research conducted by (Wang et al., 2017; Wang & Cheng, 2010) that
benevolent leadership roles can encourage creative action so that organizations can adapt to
changes in the business environment. The leader's concern can be translated as the kindness
of the leader which evokes feelings of gratitude and ends in reciprocating the superior's
kindness by working harder (Cheng et al., 2004); through emotional situations and verbal

182
IJSB Volume: 25, Issue: 1 Year: 2023 Page: 175-187

support that culminate in an increased willingness to develop technical and interpersonal

competencies as well as new competencies needed. Leader concern is perceived as the leader's
acceptance and support for creative work (Amabile, 1998) which is often accompanied by a
higher risk of failure. In the context of high-risk work, creativity is needed in handling it,
including new ideas, methods, and alternatives. The positive effect of superior support and a
good innate understanding of the causes of failure in benevolent leadership is a strong signal
that a leader agrees to the role of his subordinates both as exemplary subordinates and as
valuable people (Farh & Cheng, 2000). This will create the courage to face uncertain situations
and the courage to make alternative plans. Leaders who accommodate employee preferences
are a form of giving autonomy to subordinates to encourage will and courage in developing
innovations, alternative plans, and various creative actions. Leaders who try to understand
subordinate preferences will generate feelings of worth and increase feelings of gratitude to
superiors (Gumusluoglu et al., 2017; Wang & Cheng, 2010). Through the trust born of these
relationships, subordinates tend to put time and effort into completing tasks and beyond job
roles that impact broader organizational goals (Konovsky & Pugh, 1994).

5.2 The Influence of Benevolent Leadership on Manager Exploitation Activities

Leaders can encourage exploitation activities through exploitation activities such as using and
perfecting existing knowledge, applying, improving, and expanding existing competencies,
technologies, processes, and products, focusing on production and short-term oriented, and
elaborating existing beliefs and decisions. Leader concern can create reliability in experience
(Mom et al., 2007) which is associated with deepening the knowledge base of existing
managers. Through attention and accommodation of subordinate preferences, benevolent
leaders improve the quality of exchange relations between superiors and subordinates (Lin, et
al., 2018), and leaders are more inclined to empower followers who have good relations and
equip them with autonomy and resources in carrying out tasks (Gómez & Rosen, 2001). Giving
autonomy and resources will encourage exploitation activities. The provision of training shows
a positive effect on the empowerment of subordinates which will increase exploitation
activities.

5.3 Effect of Manager Exploitation Activities on Organizational Adaptability

The results of hypothesis testing prove that there is a relationship between the influence of
manager exploitation activities on organizational adaptability. As in the concept of absorptive
capacity "the ability of companies to recognize the value of new information, assimilate it, and
apply it for commercial purposes" (Cohen & Levinthal, 1990), exploitation activities such as
activities using experience, knowledge, and resources that have been owned have created the
ability to solve problems and perform tasks in line with Bontis, 2002 which states that
exploitation activities create reliability in experience. So that the organization can continue to
produce amidst the challenges of change. Proficiency will be formed through the routine of
carrying out clear activities and the use of knowledge that is already owned. Through these
activities, organizational skills will be honed through the learning process to better complete
work assignments. This activity is associated with deepening the manager's knowledge base
(Katila & Ahuja, 2002) where learning work task skills are well honed. The learning process
from exploitative activities will improve operational performance such as skills and expertise
(Kang & Kim, 2019). Exploitation activities that focus on short-term goals are incremental
innovation efforts such as increasing efficiency and productivity (O’Reilly & Tushman, 2004)
by adopting short-term goals (Tushman & O´Reilly, 1996), thereby reducing future
uncertainties while continuously accumulating short-term results.

183
IJSB Volume: 25, Issue: 1 Year: 2023 Page: 175-187

5.4 The Mediating Role of Exploitation Activity.

In line with previous research linking exploitation with leadership roles and organizational
adaptability (Uhl-Bien & Arena, 2018). The role of a benevolent leader can create a space for
exploitation activities, namely utilizing and perfecting existing knowledge, applying,
improving, and expanding existing competencies, technologies, processes, and products,
focusing on production and adopting a short-term orientation, and elaborating existing beliefs
and decisions. Exploitation activities that occur in an adaptive organizational space allow for a
process of correction, refinement, and efficiency of systems, structures, and processes in
producing organizational adaptation performance. The process of interaction between agents
within the organization gives birth to the capabilities needed in organizational adaptation,
which include the ability to solve problems creatively, handle uncertainty, learn to complete
tasks, and deal with job stress (Marques-Quinteiro et al., 2015).

5.5 Implications
Benevolent leadership is proven to have a significant positive effect on organizational
adaptability. These results are in line with research conducted by (Wang et al., 2017) (Wang &
Cheng, 2010) that benevolent leadership roles can encourage creative action. Leader concern
is considered as the leader's acceptance and support for creative work (Amabile, 1998). Apart
from that, it also has an impact on the quality of the superior-subordinate relationship (LMX)
which results in increasing the creativity of subordinates (Lin, et al., 2018), or functions as a
proximal component influencing the results of more creative individual behavior as in Pan et
al. (2012). The leader's concern can be translated as the kindness of the leader which evokes
gratitude and ends in the action of repaying the superior's kindness by working harder (Cheng
et al., 2004). Benevolent leadership is a strong signal that a leader agrees with the role of his
subordinates in increasing the ability to complete tasks (Farh & Cheng, 2000; Farh et al., 2008).

6. Conclusion
Benevolent leadership influences organizational adaptability. The benevolent leadership role
that shows concern and support, understands the preferences/difficulties of subordinates and
provides training and guidance can encourage creative action and gives a strong signal that a
leader agrees with the role of his subordinates so that the organization is able and willing to
adapt to changes in the business environment. Benevolent leadership that shows concern and
is willing to accommodate the preferences of subordinates increases the willingness and ability
of subordinates to exploit the resources and abilities they already have. Manager exploitation
activities affect organizational adaptability. Exploitation activities train organizational agents
in solving problems creatively while still producing by relying on the resources and capabilities
they already have. Manager exploitation activities also mediate the influence of benevolent
leadership in producing organizational adaptability. This research sheds light on
organizational efforts in adapting to the V.U.C.A. Adaptability does not only rely on high-risk
long-term exploration activities but also needs to pay attention to the exploitation of existing
resources to produce a performance for the survival of the organization. The focus of
exploitation activities can be carried out through the use and refinement of existing knowledge,
application, improvement, and expansion of existing competencies, technologies, processes,
and products, focusing on production and adopting a short-term orientation, and elaborating
existing beliefs and decisions.

Limitations of Research and Suggestions for Further Research

This research involves a relatively small number of samples and only covers a metropolitan
city, although it has represented various cities in Indonesia and has fulfilled the data processing
requirements, subsequent research can expand to other cities with a larger number of samples

184
IJSB Volume: 25, Issue: 1 Year: 2023 Page: 175-187

so that it is more convincing in concluding. Some data distributions such as gender groups and
industry categories may lead to different conclusions.

References:
Amabile. (1998). AMABILE-Teresa-A-model-of-creativity-and-innovation-in-organizations.pdf. In
Research in Organizational Behavior (Vol. 10, p. 126).
Baskarada, S., Watson, J., & Cromarty, J. (2016). Leadership and organizational ambidexterity. Journal of
Management Development, 35(6), 778–788. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-01-2016-0004
Bontis, N. (2002). Line managers, Human resource management, Performance management, Call
centers. Journal of Management Studies, 39(4), 0022–2380.
http://proceedings.aom.org/content/1999/1/J1.1.short%5Cnhttp://digitalcommons.mcmast
er.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1019&context=mint
Boylan, S. A., & Turner, K. A. (2017). Developing Organizational Adaptability for Complex Environment.
Journal of Leadership Education, 16(2), 183–198. https://doi.org/10.12806/v16/i2/t2
Chandler, A. D. (1962). Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of the Industrial Enterprise. The
MIT Press.
https://books.google.co.id/books?hl=en&lr=&id=xvz4WOOYzmAC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&ots=diU
9npWTzS&sig=p8RHL84l-sijUOKjwy6S1ZHgxcM&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
Chen;, Zhou, X., & Klyver, K. (2019). Collective Efficacy: Linking Paternalistic Leadership to
Organizational Commitment. Journal of Business Ethics, 159(2), 587–603.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-3847-9
Cheng, B. S., Chou, L. F., Wu, T. Y., Huang, M. P., & Farh, J. L. (2004). Paternalistic leadership and
subordinate responses: Establishing a leadership model in Chinese organizations. Asian Journal
of Social Psychology, 7(1), 89–117. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-839X.2004.00137.x
Chin W, M. G. (1998). The Partial Least Squares Approach to Structural Formula Modeling. Advances in
Hospitality and Leisure, 8 （ 2 ） (January 1998), 5.
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=EDZ5AgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA295&dq=Th
e+partial+least+squares+approach+to+structural+equation+modeling&ots=49uH6qt2lk&sig=
Fwg2GGFWp3LUMMjxMu9h4jbOXnA
Cohen, W. M., & Levinthal, D. A. (1990). A Competence Perspective on Strategic Learning and Knowledge
Management. Strategic Learning in a Knowledge Economy, 39–67.
https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-7506-7223-8.50004-6
Cyert, R., & March, J. (1963). Organizational Behavior 2: Essential theories of process and structure -
John B. Miner - Google Books. In M.E. Sharpe.
https://books.google.co.id/books?hl=en&lr=&id=qqZ_FDFoDcMC&oi=fnd&pg=PA60&ots=9X_I
LgAxbM&sig=MAJpnUzLP5WopwWVTAC-UMsuJVU&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
Fang, C. H., Fang, C. L., Chao, R. F., & Lin, S. P. (2019). Paternalistic leadership and employees’ sustained
work behavior: A perspective of playfulness. Sustainability (Switzerland), 11(23).
https://doi.org/10.3390/su11236650
Farh, J. L., & Cheng, B. S. (2000). A Cultural Analysis of Paternalistic Leadership in Chinese Organizations.
Management and Organizations in the Chinese Context, 84–127.
https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230511590_5
Farh, J. L., Liang, J., Chou, L. F., & Cheng, B. S. (2008). Paternalistic leadership in Chinese organizations:
Research progress and future research directions. In Leadership and Management in China:
Philosophies, Theories, and Practices. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511753763.008
Gibson, C. B., & Birkinshaw, J. (2004). The Antecedents, Consequences, and Mediating Role of
Organizational Ambidexterity. European Journal of Epidemiology, 47(2), 209–226.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-017-0256-9
Gómez, C., & Rosen, B. (2001). The Leader-Member Exchange is a Link between Managerial Trust and
Employee Empowerment. Group and Organization Management, 26(1), 53–69.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601101261004
Graen, G. B., & Mary Uhl-Bien. (1995). Relationship-based approach to leadership: Development of
leader-member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: Applying a multi-level
multi-domain perspective. Leadership Quarterly, 6(2), 219–247.

185
IJSB Volume: 25, Issue: 1 Year: 2023 Page: 175-187

https://doi.org/10.1115/GT2016-57374
Gumusluoglu, L., Karakitapoğlu-Aygün, Z., & Scandura, T. A. (2017). A Multilevel Examination of
Benevolent Leadership and Innovative Behavior in R&D Contexts: A Social Identity Approach.
Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 24(4), 479–493.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051817705810
Hair, J. F., Risher, J. J., Sarstedt, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2019). When to use and how to report the results of
PLS-SEM. European Business Review, 31(1), 2–24. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-11-2018-0203
Hair, J., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2014). A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural
Equation Modeling. In Sage Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2013.01.002
Kang, H., & Kim, M. (2019). The Differential Effect of Exploration and Exploitation on Work
Performances. Sustainability, 11(7), 2074. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11072074
Kanwal, F., Rathore, K., & Qaisar, A. (2019). Relationship of benevolent leadership and organizational
citizenship behavior: Interactional effect of perceived organizational support and perceived
organizational politics. Pakistan Journal of Commerce and Social Science, 13(2), 283–310.
Katila, R., & Ahuja, G. (2002). Something old, something new: A longitudinal study of search behavior
and new product introduction. Academy of Management Journal, 45(6), 1183–1194.
https://doi.org/10.2307/3069433
Konovsky, M. A., & Pugh, S. D. (1994). Citizenship Behavior and Social Exchange. Academy of
Management Journal, 37(3), 656–669. https://doi.org/10.5465/256704
Law, M. (2013). Exploring Forgiveness: Do Benevolence and Revenge Associate with Procedural Justice,
Workplace Satisfaction, and Intention to Leave? International Journal of Management Sciences
and Business Research, 12.
Levinthal, D. A., & March, J. G. (1993). The myopia of learning. Strategic Management Journal, 14(2 S),
95–112. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250141009
Lin, Jingjing, M., Zhang, Q., Chen, L. J., & Jiang, F. (2018). How is Benevolent Leadership Linked to
Employee Creativity? The Mediating Role of Leader–Member Exchange and the Moderating Role
of Power Distance Orientation. Journal of Business Ethics, 152(4), 1099–1115.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3314-4
Lin, T. T., Liao, Y.-H., & Kuo, S. (2018). Benevolent leadership in an uncertain environment:
Dimensionality and contingency effects in teams. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2018(1),
14817. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2018.14817abstract
Marques-Quinteiro, P., Ramos-Villagrasa, P. J., Passos, A. M., & Curral, L. (2015). Measuring adaptive
performance in individuals and teams. Team Performance Management, 21(7/8), 138–154.
Mom, T. J. M., Van Den Bosch, F. A. J., & Volberda, H. W. (2007). Investigating managers’ exploration and
exploitation activities: The influence of top-down, bottom-up, and horizontal knowledge
inflows. Journal of Management Studies, 44(6), 910–931. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-
6486.2007.00697.x
Niu, C. P., Wang, A. C., & Cheng, B. S. (2009). Effectiveness of a moral and benevolent leader: Probing the
interactions of the dimensions of paternalistic leadership. Asian Journal of Social Psychology,
12(1), 32–39. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-839X.2008.01267.x
O’Reilly, C. A., & Tushman, M. L. (2004). The Ambidextrous Organization. Harvard Business Review
(Online). https://hbr.org/2004/04/the-ambidextrous-organization
Pan, W., Sun, L. Y., & Chow, I. H. S. (2012). Leader-Member Exchange and Employee Creativity: Test of a
Multilevel Moderated Mediation Model. Human Performance, 25(5), 432–451.
https://doi.org/10.1080/08959285.2012.721833
Pulakos, E. D., Arad, S., Donovan, M. A., & Plamondon, K. E. (2000). Adaptability in the workplace:
Development of a taxonomy of adaptive performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(4), 612–
624. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.85.4.612
Rothaermel, F. T. (2001). Incumbent’s advantage through exploiting complementary assets via
interfirm cooperation. Strategic Management Journal, 22(6–7), 687–699.
https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.180
Sarta, A., Durand, R., & Vergne, J. P. (2021). Organizational Adaptation. Journal of Management, 47(1),
43–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206320929088
Schulze, J. H., & Pinkow, F. (2020). Leadership for Organisational Adaptability: How Enabling Leaders
Create Adaptive Space. Administrative Sciences, 10(3), 37.

186
IJSB Volume: 25, Issue: 1 Year: 2023 Page: 175-187

https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci10030037
Scott Galloway. (2020). Post Corona: From Crisis to Opportunity. In Penguin Random House.
https://doi.org/10.1088/1751-8113/44/8/085201
Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2016). Research Methods for Business. In John Wiley & Sons Ltd. (7th ed.).
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_102084
Tushman, M. L., & O´Reilly, C. A. (1996). Ambidextrous Organizations: Managing Evolutionary and
Revolutionary Change. California Review Management, 38(4), 8–29.
Ugurluoglu, O., Aldogan, E. U., Turgut, M., & Ozatkan, Y. (2018). The Effect of Paternalistic Leadership on
Job Performance and Intention to Leave the Job. Journal of Health Management, 20(1), 46–55.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0972063417747700
Uhl-Bien, M., & Arena, M. (2018). Leadership for organizational adaptability: A theoretical synthesis and
integrative framework. Leadership Quarterly, 29(1), 89–104.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2017.12.009
Van Rensburg, M. J., Davis, A., & Venter, P. (2014). Making strategy work: The role of the middle
manager. Journal of Management and Organization, 20(2), 165–186.
https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2014.33
Vet, G. S. Van Der, & Bunderson, J. S. (2005). Learning and Performance in Multidisciplinary Teams: The
Importance of Collective Team Identification. Academi of Management Journal, 48(3), 532–547.
https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118269909
Wang, A.-C., & Cheng, B. S. (2010). When does benevolent leadership lead to creativity? The moderating
role of creative role identity and job autonomy. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31(1), 106–
121. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.634
Wang, H., & Guan, B. (2018). The positive effect of authoritarian leadership on employee performance:
The moderating role of power distance. Frontiers in Psychology, 9(MAR), 1–10.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00357
Wang, Y., Tang, C., Naumann, S. E., & Wang, Y. (2017). Paternalistic leadership and employee creativity:
A mediated moderation model. Journal of Management and Organization, 25(1), 137–156.
https://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2017.8

Cite this article:

Richard Irawan Jap (2023). The Mediation Role of Exploitative Activities on the Effect of
Benevolent Leadership on Organizational Adaptability. International Journal of Science and
Business, 25(1), 175-187. doi: https://doi.org/10.58970/IJSB.2193

Retrieved from http://ijsab.com/wp-content/uploads/2193.pdf

Published by

187