correlation of human capital sustainability leadership style and resilience of the managers in airline operations group of an AIRLINE Company
Authors: Co Kimon Irvin 
Published: February 2023

This study aimed to analyze the correlation between Human Capital Sustainability Leadership style and manager resilience through a pragmatic worldview. Using explanatory sequential mixed methods research design (QUAN→qual), respondents covered were managers from the Airline Operations Group of an AIRLINE Company with at least one year of managerial experience within the organization. In the quantitative phase, Human Capital Sustainability Leadership Scale by Di Fabio and Peiro (2018) and Domain-Specific Resilient Systems Scales (DRSSWork) by Maltby, Day, Hall, and Chivers (2019) were used for the online survey. Forty-five (45) eligible respondents have participated. Mean, standard deviation, and Spearman rank correlation coefficient were employed. To further explain the quantitative results, one-on-one qualitative interviews were done with eight (8) key informants, face-toface and online. Themes were identified. Results showed that Human Capital Sustainability Leadership style was exhibited by the Airline Operations Group managers to a very high degree while resilience was exhibited to a high degree. There was a linear, positive, and highly significant correlation between Human Capital Sustainability Leadership style and resilience. Each aspect of the Human Capital Sustainability Leadership style was positively, highly, and significantly correlated with manager resilience. Through triangulation, a model of leadership styles and manager resiliency was built. To implement the model, implications for a management development program were identified.ReferencesAcosta, H., Cruz-Ortiz, V., Salanova, M., & Llorens S. (2015). Healthy organization: Analysing its meaning based on the HERO model. Revista de Psicologia Social, 30 (2), 323-350. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21711976.2015.1016751.Ashegi, M. & Hashemi, E. (2019). The relationship of mindfulness with burnout & adaptive performance with the mediatory role of resilience among Iranian employees. Annals of Military and Health Sciences Research, 17 (1), 1-7. doi: 10.512/amh.87797.Aust, I., Matthews, B., & Muller-Camen, M. (2020). Common good HRM: A paradigm shift in sustainable HRM? Human Resource Management Review, 30 (3), 100705. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2019.100705.Barasa, E., Mbau, R., & Gilson, L. (2018). What is resilience & how it can be nurtured? A systematic review of empirical literature on organizational resilience. International Journal of Health Policy & Management, 7 (6), 491-503. https://doi.org/10.15171/ijhpm.2018.06.Bendell, J. & Little, R. (2015). Seeking sustainability leadership. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 60, 13-26. https://doi.org/10.9744/GLEAF.4700.2015.de.00004.Bernard, H., Wutich, A., & Ryan, G. (2017). Analyzing qualitative data: Systematic approaches (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications Inc. Callegaro, M., Lozar Manfreda, K., & Vehovar, V. (2015). Web survey methodology. SAGE Publications.Caniels, M. & Hatak, I. (2019). Employee resilience: Considering both of the social side & the economic side of leader-follower exchanges in conjunction with the dark side of followers’ personality. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 1-32. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2019.1695648.Chinyerere, E. & Sandada, M. (2018). Job related outcomes in relation to servant leadership. Euro Economica, 1 (37), 138-150.Coetzer, M., Bussin, M., & Geldenhuys, M. (2017). The functions of a servant leader. Administrative Sciences, 7 (5), 1-32. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci7010005.Cochran, W. (1977). Sampling techniques (3rd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.Creswell, J. (2015). Educational research: Planning, conducting, & evaluating quantitative & qualitative research (5th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.Creswell, J. & Creswell, J. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, & mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). SAGE Publications Inc.Creswell, J. & Plano Clark, V. (2018). Designing & conducting mixed methods research (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications Inc.Creswell, J. & Poth, C. (2018). Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications Inc. Denzin, N. (1978). The research act: A theoretical introduction to sociological methods (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill.Di Fabio, A. (2017). The psychology of sustainability & sustainable development for well-being in organizations. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1534, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01534.Di Fabio, A. & Peiro, J. M. (2018). Human capital sustainability leadership to promote sustainable development and healthy organizations: A new scale. Sustainability, 10, 2413, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072413.Di Fabio, A. & Rosen, M. (2018). Opening the black box of psychological processes in the science of sustainable development: A new frontier. European Journal of Sustainable Development Research, 2 (4), 47, 1-5. doi: https://doi.org/10.20897/ejosdr/3933.Dooley, L., Alizadeh, A., Qiu, S., & Wu, H. (2020). Does servant leadership moderate the relationship between job stress and physical health? Sustainability, 12, 6591, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12166591.Duchek, S. (2020). Organizational resilience: A capability-based conceptualization. Business Research, 13, 215-246. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40685-019-0085-7.Ehnert, I. (2009). Sustainable human resource management: A conceptual & exploratory analysis from a paradox perspective. Physica-Verlag.Espiner, S., Orchiston, C., & Higham, J. (2017). Resilience & sustainability: A complementary relationship? Towards a practical conceptual model for the sustainability-resilience nexus in tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 1-16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2017.1281929.Folke, C. (2016). Resilience (Republished). Ecology & Society, 21 (4), 44, 1-30. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09088-210444.Fraenkel, J., Wallen, N., & Hyun, H. (2012). How to design and evaluate research in education (8th ed.). McGraw-Hill.Guest, D. (2017). Human resource management and employee well-being: Towards a new analytic framework. Human Resource Management Journal, 27 (1), 22-38. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12139.Guest, G., MacQueen, K., & Namey, E. (2012). Applied thematic analysis. SAGE Publications Inc.Hahn, T., Pinkse, J., Preuss, L., & Higge, F. (2015). Tensions in corporate sustainability: Towards an integrative framework. Journal of Business Ethics, 127, 297-316. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2047-5.Hahs-Vaughn, D. & Lomax, R. (2020). An introduction to statistical concepts (4th ed.). Routledge.Hair, J., Jr., Page, M., & Brunsveld, N. (2020). Essentials of business research methods (4th ed.). Routledge.Heizmann, H. & Liu, H. (2018). Becoming green, becoming leaders: Identity narratives in sustainability leadership development. Management Learning, 49 (1), 40-58. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350507617725189.Hoeppe, J. (2014). Practitioner’s view on sustainability: The case of a German bank. In I. Ehnert, W. Harry, & K. Zink (Eds.), Sustainability & human resource management: Developing sustainable business organizations. CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance (pp. 273-294). Springer-Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3- 642-37524-8.Holling, C. (1973). Resilience & stability of ecological systems. Annual Review of Ecology & Systematics, 4, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.04.110173.000245.Holling, C. (1996). Engineering resilience versus ecological resilience. In P. Schulze (Ed.), Engineering within ecological constraints (pp. 31-44). The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/4919.Kimura, T. & Nishikawa, M. (2018). Ethical leadership & its cultural & institutional context: An empirical study in Japan. Journal of Business Ethics, 151 (3), 707-724. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3268-6.King, E. & Badham, R. (2018). The wheel of mindfulness: A generative framework for second-generation mindful leadership. Mindfulness, 11 (1), 166-176. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-018-0890-7.King, N., Harrocks, C., & Brooks, J. (2019). Interviews in qualitative research (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications Inc.Kira, M. & Lifvergren, S. (2014). Sowing seeds for sustainability in work systems. In I. Ehnert, W. Harry, & K. Zink (Eds.), Sustainability & human resource management: Developing sustainable business organizations. CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance (pp. 57-81). Germany: Springer-Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37524-8.Kossek, E. & Perrigino, M. (2016). Resilience: A review using grounded integrated occupational approach. The Academy of Management Annals, 10 (1), 729-797. http://dx.doi.org/10/1080/19416520.2016.1159878.Lincoln, Y. & Guba, E. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Sage.Linnenluecke, M. (2017). Resilience in business and management research: A review of influential publications and a research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 19, 4-30. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12076.Liu, Y., Cooper, C., & Tarba, S. (2019). Resilience, wellbeing and HRM: A multidisciplinary perspective. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 30 (8), 1227-1238. https://doi.org/10.1080/0985192.2019.1565370.Luthans, F. (2002). The need for and meaning of positive organizational behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23, 695-706. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.165.Malaya, M. (2018). Statistical pitfalls & fallacies in applied research. Management Digest, 2 (1), 1-9. San Beda University Graduate School of Business.Malik, P., & Garg, P. (2018). Psychometric testing of the resilience at work scale using Indian sample. Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, 43 (2), 77-91. https://doi.org/10.1177/0256090918773922.Maltby, J., Day, L., Flowe, H., Vostanis, P., & Chivers, S. (2019). Psychological trait resilience within ecological systems theory: The resilient systems scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 101 (1), 44-53. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2017.1344985.Maltby, J., Day, L., & Hall, S. (2015). Refining trait resilience: Identifying engineering, ecological, and adaptive facets from extant measures of resilience. PLos ONE, 10 (7), 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0131826.Maltby, J., Day, L., Hall, S., & Chivers, S. (2019). The measurement and role of ecological resilience systems theory across domain-specific outcomes: The domain-specific resilient systems scales. Assessment, 26 (8), 1444-1461. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191117738045.Mascarenhas, A. & Barbosa, A. (2019). Sustainable human resource management and social and environmental responsibility: An agenda for debate. Revista De Administração De Empresas, 59 (5), 353-364. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0034-759020190505.Mea, W. & Sims, R. (2019). Human dignity-centered business ethics: A conceptual framework for business leaders. Journal of Business Ethics, 160, 53-69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-3929-8.Mergenthaler, E. & Stinson, C. (1992). Psychotherapy transcription standards. Psychotherapy Research, 2 (2), 125-142. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503309212331332904.Mitsakis, F. (2019). Human resource development (HRD) resilience: A new ‘success element’ of organizational resilience? Human Resource Development International, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1080/13678868.2019.1669385.Molino, M., Cortese, C., & Ghislieri, C. (2019). Unsustainable working conditions: The association of destructive leadership, use of technology, & workload with workaholism & exhaustion. Sustainability, 11, 446, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11020446.Nesselroade, K., Jr. & Grimm, L. (2019). Statistical applications for the behavioral & social sciences (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons Inc.Nguyen, Q., Kuntz, J., Naswall, K., & Malinen, S. (2016). Employee resilience and leadership styles: The moderating role of proactive personality and optimism. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 45 (2), 13-21.Patton, M. (2015). Qualitative research and evaluation methods: Integrating theory and practice (4th ed.). SAGE Publications Inc.Paul, H., Bamel, U., & Garg, P. (2016). Employee resilience & OCB: Mediating effects of organizational commitment. Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, 41 (4), 308-324. https://doi.org/10.1177/0256090916672765.Pereira, V., Temouri, Y., & Patel, C. (2020). Exploring the role and importance of human capital in resilient high performing organisations: Evidence from business clusters. Applied Psychology, 69 (3), 769-804. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12204.Pillay, D. (2020). Positive affect & mindfulness as predictors of resilience amongst women leaders in higher education institutions. SA Journal of Human Resource Management/SA Tydskrif vir Menslikehulpbronbestuur, 18 (0), a1260, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhrm.v18i0.1260.Rai, R. & Prakash, A. (2016). How do servant leaders ignite absorptive capacity? The role of epistemic motivation and organizational support. Journal of Work & Organizational Psychology, 32, 123-134. http://doi.dx.org/10.1016/j.rpto.2016.02.001.Rangachari, P. & Woods, J. (2020). Preserving organizational resilience, patient safety, staff retention during COVID-19 requires a holistic consideration of the psychological safety of healthcare workers. International Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health, 17, 4267, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124267.Ritchie-Dunham, J. (2014). Mindful leadership. In A. Ie, C. Ngnoumen, & E. Langer (Eds.), The Wiley Blackwell handbook of mindfulness (pp. 443-457). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Rodriguez-Olalla, A. & Aviles-Palacios, C. (2017). Integrating sustainability in organizations: An activity-based sustainability model. Sustainability, 9, 1072, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9061072.Ryan, G. & Bernard, H. (2003). Techniques to identify themes. Field Methods, 15 (1), 85-109. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X02239569.Salanova, M., Llorens, S., & Martinez, I. (2016). Contributions from positive organizational psychology to develop healthy and resilient organizations. Papeles del Psicologo, 37 (3), 177-184.Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thronhill, A. (2019). Research methods for business students (8th ed.). Pearson Education Limited.Schindler, P. (2019). Business research methods (13th Ed). McGraw-Hill/Irwin.Securities and Exchange Commission (November 22, 2016). Code of corporate governance for publicly-listed companies. https://www.sec.gov.ph/mc-2016/mc-no-19-s-2016/.Spradley, J. (1979). The ethnographic interview. Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, Inc.Suriyankietkaew, S. & Petison, S. (2019). A retrospective & foresight: Bibliometric review of international research on strategic management for sustainability, 1991 – 2019. Sustainability, 12, 91, 1-27. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12010091.Tang, G., Kwan, H., Zhang, D., & Zhu, Z. (2016). Work-family effects of servant leadership: The roles of emotional exhaustion and personal learning. Journal of Business Ethics, 137, 285-297. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2559-7.Tejada, J. & Punzalan, J. (2012). On the misuse of Slovin’s formula. The Philippine Statistician, 61 (1), 129-136.Tokarz, A. & Malinowska, D. (2019). From psychological theoretical assumptions to new research perspectives in sustainability & sustainable development: Motivation in the workplace. Sustainability, 11, 2222, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11082222.Vreeling, K., Kersemaekers, W., Cillessen, L., van Dierendonck, D., & Speckens, A. (2019). How medical specialists experience the effects of a mindful leadership course on their leadership capabilities: A qualitative interview study in Netherlands. BMJ Open, 9 (12), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-031643.Winwood, P. C., Colon, R., & McEwen, K. (2013). A practical measure of workplace resilience: Developing the resilience at work scale. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 55 (10), 1205-1212. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0b013e3182a2a60a.Xu, L. & Kajikawa, Y. (2018). An integrated framework for resilience research: A systematic review based on citation network analysis. Sustainability Science, 13, 235-254 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-017-0487-4.Xu, L., Marinova, D., & Guo, X. (2015). Resilience thinking: A renewed system approach for sustainability science. Sustainability Science, 10, 123-138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-014-0274-4.Yin, R. (2016). Qualitative research from start to finish (2nd ed.). The Guilford Press.Yousaf, K., Abid, G., Butt, T., Ilyas, S., & Ahmed, S. (2019). Impact of ethical leadership & thriving at work on psychological wellbeing of employees: Mediating role of voice behaviour. Business, Management and Education, 17 (2), 194-217. https://doi.org/10.3846/bme.2019.11176.Zhu, W., Zheng, X., He, H., Wang, G., & Zhang, X. (2019). Ethical leadership with both “moral person” & “moral manager” aspects: Scale development & cross-cultural validation. Journal of Business Ethics, 158 (2), 547-565. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3740-y.