Theories and Methods of Positive Organizational Behavior

Dear Colleagues,

The theoretical foundation of positive organizational behavior is derived from the findings of positive psychology. Positive organizational behavior is a new field of study that has only emerged in the 21st century in the discipline of organizational behavior. It was formally introduced by Luthans in 2002 and emphasizes the development and management of human psychological strengths. There are six categories traditionally studied in positive organizational behavior, referred to as CHOSER, namely the six areas of confidence, self-efficacy, hope, optimism, submissive wellbeing, emotional intelligence, and resiliency.

Unlike traditional organizational behavior, which focuses its field of study on addressing dysfunction, conflict, and work stress among managers and employees, in this Special Issue, positive organizational behavior focuses its research on how to take a positive approach in a more macro view and how to leverage member strengths to improve organizational or social development.

First, in order to clarify the goals and directions of the practice and system design of positive organizational behavior, the historical evolution and evolutionary trends of positive organizational behavior theory need to be deeply analyzed. It is necessary to systematically analyze the components of positive organizational behavior and the causal mechanisms among them from the perspectives of concept, subject, object, content, process, and method, analyze the international frontier status and contemporary value of positive organizational behavior theory, and accurately grasp the characteristics and evolution of positive organizational behavior theory and practice innovation in different contexts.

Second, it is a consensus among scholars that culture has an important influence on human psychology and behavior, and it is increasingly important to study positive organizational behavior under the influence of cultural differences from the perspective of cultural influence. This requires research from the perspectives of cultural background, cultural differences, and cultural characteristics to further enrich the static and dynamic studies of positive organizational behavior under the influence of cultural differences.

Third, since ancient times, health, safety, and peace have been prerequisites for human survival and development and have also become the conceptual consensus for building a community of shared destiny for humankind. COVID-19 is a common challenge requiring the collaboration of the international community to tackle it. In the context of the impact of COVID-19, organizations and society will also experience major changes. The first change is the change of members’ mentality. People go through emotional stages such as tension, panic, and sadness, and this psychological state is different from the past, so it will certainly be mapped to human resources management as well. Another change is the transition from process-based organizations to data-based organizations. In the post-pandemic era, the combination of reality and reality will be a mainstream state of organizations, and human economic activities will grind to a halt if the response to the pandemic is not supported by digital technology. Therefore, in the context of building a community with a shared future for humankind and the post-pandemic era, identifying how to innovate and develop positive organizational behavior is an important topic.

Finally, in order to achieve the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, governments around the world must implement carbon emission reduction targets and enforce them onto enterprises, which will definitely affect the production operation and management mode of enterprises. Meanwhile, energy saving and carbon-neutral behavior of individuals is also an emerging research direction. The significance of research on positive organizational behavior in the context of carbon peak and carbon neutrality includes exploring how members of an organization or society can generate a high level of green, trust, hope, optimism, resilience, intelligence, humility, and positivity, as well as how to generate an environmentally friendly collective power as a lasting resource so as to promote a low-carbon sustainable development of enterprises and society and form a lasting competitive advantage.

Based on the above perceptions, this Special Issue aims to incorporate positive organizational behavior into a broader research perspective and provide new insights into the design and enhancement of positive organizational behavior theories and methods in the future based on cultural background differences, carbon peaking, and carbon neutrality, forging a community of shared future for humankind, and the post-pandemic era context.

We welcome topics addressing, but not limited to:

• The historical evolution of positive organizational behavior research;
• Theories and methods of positive organizational behavior based on cultural contextual differences;
• Positive organizational behavior in the context of carbon peak and carbon neutrality;
• Positive organizational behavior in forging a community of shared future for humankind;
• Positive organizational behavior in the post-pandemic era.

Prof. Dr. Hong Chen
Prof. Dr. Hui Qi
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Qianwen Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.