It’s not just action but also about reflection: Taking stock of agency research to develop a future research agenda

Giles Hirst, Gillian Yeo, Nicole Celestine, Shen-Yang (Sonya) Lin and Alex Richardson
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Giles Hirst: Research School of Management, ANU College of Business and Economics, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Nicole Celestine: UWA Business School, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
Alex Richardson: Research School of Management, ANU College of Business and Economics, Canberra, ACT, Australia

Australian Journal of Management, 2020, vol. 45, issue 3, 376-401

Abstract: Agency is the human capability to exert influence over one’s actions and environment, such as through forethought, self-regulation and self-reflection. We focus on six prominent agency constructs, including goal orientation, regulatory focus, proactivity, fear of failure, core self-evaluations and psychological capital, and review what we have learned from each construct. By adopting an overarching multidisciplinary perspective, we identify key research agendas for the six prominent constructs: (1) incorporating self-reflection into research on agentic disposition; (2) how agency dispositions equip employees for workplaces of the futures, yet also how such behaviours may challenge societal and corporate mechanisms of control; and (3) well-being and health-related consequences of agency. In addition, we highlight the importance of understanding the interface between agency scholarship and developments in technology, medicine and sociology. JEL Classification: M10, M14

Keywords: Agency; individual differences; proactivity; self-efficacy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:ausman:v:45:y:2020:i:3:p:376-401

DOI: 10.1177/0312896220919468

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