Chukwuemeka Echebiri

• Echebiri, Chukwuemeka; Mathibe, Motshedisi; Echebiri, Chiaka Martin & Osuigwe, Ubochioma Udo S. (2025). Work From Home Model: An Exploration Into the Experiences of Working Mothers in the Service Sector: The Case of Nigeria and South Africa. Gender, Work & Organization. ISSN 0968-6673. 32(5), p. 1758–1770. doi: 10.1111/gwao.13220. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study examines the influence of societal norms and maternal duties on the Work-From-Home model and the experiences of mothers in the service sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. While working from home has received attention, there is a lack of understanding regarding the specific challenges working mothers face in this region, which is characterised by gender role expectations. Through qualitative interviews with 15 mothers, balancing work, home responsibilities, and childcare, this research sheds light on the increased tension between work and family when the home becomes the primary workplace, considering cultural norms and expectations. The findings reveal that remote working has disproportionately affected working mothers in Sub-Saharan Africa, negatively impacting their overall well-being.

• Adewumi, Olugbenga Michael; Echebiri, Chukwuemeka Kevin & Hauge, Atle Jensen (2025). Music sampling and purchase intention in a developing African economy: An evaluation of the impact of consumer attitude and perceived value. Journal of Tourism, Heritage & Services Marketing. 11(1), p. 61–71. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.15655810. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Purpose: This study investigates whether purchase intention is impacted by music sampling in piracy-prone emerging African markets and identifies the role of premium streaming perceived value as a driver in this relationship. Methods: The research employs Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and the Hayes Process approach to analyze a conceptual model based on survey data of 1000 Nigerian music consumers. Results: The findings indicate that music sampling and consumer attitude positively impact purchase intention, with consumer attitude partially mediating the relationship between music sampling and purchase intention. Notably, higher levels of premium streaming perceived value optimize this mediation effect, enhancing the impact on purchase intention. Implications: The research theoretically extends the Value-Based Adoption Model (VAM) to digital music streaming in emerging economies, demonstrating how premium perceived value mediates sampling-purchase intention relationships. For managers, the research suggests that a value management strategy for music streaming can stimulate purchase intention even in piracy-prone African markets. Hence, value-based pricing in line with local purchasing power and value-focusing marketing can successfully counteract "free mentality" behaviors, offering sustainable growth opportunities for music-streaming firms in emerging African economies.

• Alola, Uju Violet; Echebiri, Chukwuemeka Kevin & Egeli, Serdar (2025). Job insecurity and employee anxiety as predictors of compulsory citizenship behaviour: Psychological resilience as a mediator. European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation. 15(1), p. 105–119. doi: 10.2478/ejthr-2025-0008. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The global business environment has recently faced disruptions, namely the COVID-19 lockdown and artificial intelligence. Sometimes, organisations leverage these disruptions to stoke uncertainty and demand more from their employees. This paper investigated the role of job insecurity and employee anxiety as antecedents of compulsory citizenship behaviour and the role of psychological resilience as a mediator in the face of these disruptions. We adopted a convenience sample approach, collecting data from 380 respondents who were employees in the hotel sector in Turkey. Analyses were performed using structural equation modelling on SPSS AMOS. The findings show that job insecurity and employee anxiety have a negative relationship with psychological resilience and compulsory citizenship behaviour. In contrast, psychological resilience has a positive association with compulsory citizenship behaviour. We also found that psychological resilience mediates the relationships between job insecurity, employee anxiety, and compulsory citizenship behaviour. The results have both theoretical and practical implications. They suggest that organisations should not leverage on uncertainties and disruptions that might trigger feelings of job insecurity or anxiety to stoke compulsory citizenship behaviour, since this could be counterproductive.

• Obekpa, Hephzibah Onyeje; Alola, Andrew Adewale; Adejo, Adejo Moses & Echebiri, Chukwuemeka Kevin (2025). Examining the drivers of ecological footprint components: Is pursuing food security environmentally costly for Nigeria? Ecological Indicators. ISSN 1470-160X. 170, p. 1–11. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2024.113009. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Amidst the fact that Nigeria’s ecological footprint exceeds its biocapacity by 58 percent, rapid population increase, and incessant farmers and herders conflict continue to pose a significant danger to the country’s food security drive. Motivated by this observation, this study attempts to examine whether the pursuit of food security agenda amidst population increase, and economic growth exhibits a significant impact on the country’s aggregate ecological footprint and footprints of built-up land, carbon, cropland, fishing grounds, forest products, and grazing land especially over the period 1981–2020. While the quantile regression method provides robustness to the main Kernel-based regularized least square approach, the Kernel-based regularized least square approach found that food production activities and geometric increase in food production, i.e., the square of food production, both increase the aggregate ecological footprint and footprints of built-up land, cropland, forest products. This revelation suggests serious environmental woe arising from the country’s attempt to improve food production. While the aggregate ecological footprint and its components, except for the fishing ground, experience a surge with an increase in population, economic growth promotes carbon, cropland, fishing ground, and grazing land footprints. The result of the investigation provides insight and measures for improving food security without necessarily increasing ecological pressure. The study suggests that policy measures that directly target recycling, preservation, and conservation of agricultural activities and products be encouraged to reduce the demand on the ecological components.

• Sinan, Erdogan; Pata, Ugur Korkut; Alola, Andrew Adewale & Echebiri, Chukwuemeka Kevin (2025). On cutting coal dependency for establishing a cleaner energy mix: A proposal for energy transition strategy in South Africa. Energy Strategy Reviews. ISSN 2211-467X. 58, p. 1–11. doi: 10.1016/j.esr.2025.101694. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Although coal has powered economic activities for decades and significantly contributed to increasing economic welfare at the global level, its place in the modern economic system remained controversial because of its environmental impacts. Thus, cutting coal utilization and dependency on this energy source posits a great environmental benefit. With is motivation, the primary motivation of this study is to investigate the role of possible cleaner energy alternatives in cutting coal dependence in South Africa, which is prevalently utilizing coal in energy. To this end, the study employs Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) as a baseline estimator and Canonical Regression (CCR) as a robustness check from 1984 to 2022. The obtained outcomes denote that (i) an inverted U-shaped nexus exists between economic growth and coal utilization in some models. (ii) Renewable and hydro energy use has a negative and statistically significant impact on coal use, while nuclear energy and natural gas have no statistically significant impact. (iii) Population density spurs coal utilization. (iv) Robustness checks imply that empirical outcomes are substantially robust. In this regard, South Africa could reduce the demand for coal with renewable and hydro energy sources.

• Adewumi, Olugbenga Michael; Echebiri, Chukwuemeka & Alola, Andrew Adewale (2024). Circular business activities and economic performance optimization in EU countries: towards consumption footprint management. Cogent Economics & Finance. 12(1), p. 1–19. doi: 10.1080/23322039.2024.2394491. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  As circular business activity is a pivotal component of the European Green Deal, this study examines its impact on economic prosperity by examining how the model influences income levels. The investigation spans a panel of 27 European Union (EU) member countries from 2014 to 2023, factoring in the income effect of consumption footprint and public trust in governing institutions. Based on the system GeneralizedMethod of Moments (GMM) estimators of the dynamic panel model, the results reveal that circular business activities enhance economic well-being. However, the interaction effect of consumption footprint limits the full potential of this enhancing effect. Moreover, as public confidence in government institutions improves, so does economic well-being. This perspective underscores the pivotal role of trust in bolstering the economic benefits of circular business activities, leading to more robust societal conditions. Overall, the study suggests that while circular business activities can improve economic well-being, efficient management of the consumption footprint is crucial for optimization. Its policy implication emphasizes balancing economic aspects with social, institutional, and environmental elements to enhance individual well-being. Thus, the findings contribute to the literature and provide valuable policy insights into circular economy models, opening up avenues for future consideration.

• Alola, Uju Violet; Egeli, Serdar & Echebiri, Chukwuemeka Kevin (2024). Exploring the Influence of Employee Personality on Incivility and Innovative Deviance Among Frontline Hotel Employees: The Mediating Role of Perceived Stress. Administrative Sciences. 14(12), p. 1–17. doi: 10.3390/admsci14120334. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study looked at the complex interactions between agreeableness as a personality trait and five deviant workplace behaviours (including experienced incivility and innovative deviant behaviour) and the role of perceived stress as a mediating mechanism in front-of-house hotel workers. The study adopted a convenience sampling approach to improve access to frontline employees in the hotel sector in Turkey; a total of 500 questionnaires were collected, and 360 were usable. A partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the conceptual model and hypothesised associations. The findings show that agreeableness has a negative association with perceived stress and experienced incivility but is positively correlated with innovative deviant behaviour. In contrast, perceived stress is negatively correlated with innovative deviant behaviour but positively associated with experienced incivility. We also found that perceived stress serves as a mediating mechanism in this relationship. According to the findings, the personalities of employees and how they perceive stress could shape how it impacts workplace deviance, depending on whether it is constructive or destructive. The study’s findings have significance for managerial policies aimed at building a collaborative and innovative workplace and understanding how personality traits and perceived stress impact broader workplace deviance.

• Echebiri, Chukwuemeka; Alola, Violet, Uju & Muringani, Jonathan (2024). Linking traffic congestion and remote work to employees’ work-life balance and health: the case of Lagos. In Zheng, Connie (Eds.), Work-Life Balance, Employee Health and Wellbeing: An International Perspective. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISSN 9781803929491. p. 135–151. doi: 10.4337/9781803929507.00010. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This chapter focuses on developing a conceptual framework to study the relationship between life balance and employee health in the congested Sub-Saharan African city of Lagos. We argue that traffic congestion and remote working are expected to have different outcomes on work-life balance and employee health in organisations. However, the relationship is not straightforward but complex. Thus, while organisations can leverage remote working to promote employee’s work-life balance and health in congested cities, there can be unintended consequences as employees may work more from home, unsettling the same balance they wish to achieve. We argue that in organisations, the relationship between work-life balance, employee health, remote working, and traffic congestion is complicated and that one directly or indirectly affects the other. For instance, digitalisation can blur the boundaries between work and non-work life. We make a theoretical contribution by summarising these relationships in the nine propositions argued in this chapter. Although our chapter focuses on the commercial city of Lagos, Nigeria, the discussions and the broader perspective on work-life balance and employees’ health are applicable globally, and the propositions can be tested in future empirical studies.

• Adewumi, Olugbenga Michael; Echebiri, Chukwuemeka & Hauge, Atle (2023). Assessing the Economic Potential of Music Streaming in an Emerging African Market: A PLS-SEM Analysis. Journal of African Business. ISSN 1522-8916. 25(4), p. 811–830. doi: 10.1080/15228916.2023.2281074. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper assesses the economic potential of music streaming in a developing African economy. It aims to know whether, in emer-ging African countries, the economic value of music streaming can significantly improve the world’s music market revenue growth. Hence, the study uses two marketing theories, product and market-ing concepts, to conceptualize a hypothesized model based on survey data from Nigeria. Specifically, it achieves its objective by analyzing the factors that correlate with premium music streaming using the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS- SEM). Our findings suggest that music sampling and consumer attitude are crucial for determining purchase intention and pre-mium streaming. Additionally, we find that stringent anti-piracy measures and low streaming costs can influence optimal music purchase intention and premium music streaming behavior. Overall, while the study fosters an understanding of the economic potential of music streaming in emerging African markets, its evi-dence supports the literature with valuable insights for decision-makers

• Echebiri, Chukwuemeka (2023). Employee Empowerment as a Foundational Approach to Foster Employee-Driven Innovation. In Tan, Justina & Lee, Wing On (Ed.), Making Employee-Driven Innovation Achievable. Routledge. ISSN 9781003228011. doi: 10.4324/9781003228011-5. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Employee-driven innovation is a concept that captures innovative ideas initiated and implemented by non-innovative-specific employees in work practices. The core of employee-driven innovation is that it recognises that each and every employee is capable of being the driver of innovation. Several studies suggest that employees can only contribute to innovation if the organisations create a favourable innovation climate for their employees. This conceptual chapter discusses how organisations can foster employee-driven innovation by enabling and empowering their employees. This chapter examines how empowering practices at both the organisational and individual levels can influence employees’ capacity and capability in innovation processes. This is framed employee empowerment as a foundational approach to stimulate employee-driven innovation.

• Alola, Andrew Adewale; Celik, Ali; Obekpa, Hephzibah Onyeje; Usman, Ojonugwa & Echebiri, Chukwuemeka (2023). The making-or-breaking of material and resource efficiency in the Nordics. Cleaner and Responsible Consumption. 11, p. 100151–100151. doi: 10.1016/j.clrc.2023.100151. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The relevance of efficient direct material input through both export market and domestic material sources offers useful material and resource productivity guidelines from both economic and environmental sustainability dimensions. In the current context, the drivers of material and resource efficiency in the Nordic region are examined by utilizing requisite empirical approaches over the period 1995-2020. The investigation revealed that economic activities which are characterized by Gross domestic product (GDP) alongside the growth of urban population and utilization of oil energy are all detrimental to the region's resource efficiency. It implies that material utilization efficiency cannot be optimized with the current trend of the region's GDP, urban population growth and the use of dirty energy. Contrarily, the findings, further revealed that alternative energy utilization vis-à-vis renewables are key indicators to spur material and resource efficiency in the region, thus throwing more support for the region's unavoidable energy transition goal. These highlighted results alongside the Granger causality inference offer sustainable development measures that are specifically motivated through the improvement of efficient and optimization of output.

• Echebiri, Chukwuemeka; Engen, Marit & Amundsen, Stein (2021). Employee-driven innovation: Conceptualisation, scale development and preliminary validation. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management. ISSN 1368-275X. 25(2/3), p. 233–254. doi: 10.1504/IJEIM.2020.10036012. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Although there has been increasing interest in employee-driven innovation research, the literature is still fragmented. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the construct of employee-driven innovation (EDI) and to develop an instrument that can be used to measure it. We adopted an integrative approach to scale development by incorporating existing scales from concepts related to EDI. Based on a combined exploratory factor analysis (N = 144) and confirmatory factor analysis (N = 144) approach, we identified three dimensions of EDI, emergence and search for ideas, idea generation and idea development and implementation. The instrument showed sufficient reliability and validity (i.e. content, construct, convergent, and discriminant validity).

• Echebiri, Chukwuemeka (2020). An empirical study into the individual-level antecedents to employee-driven innovation. Technology innovation management review. 10(6), p. 41–51. doi: 10.22215/timreview/1367. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The purpose of this paper is to link individual-level factors (such as need for autonomy, selfleadership, and perceived job autonomy) to employee-driven innovation with self-leadership as an indirect link. The study is based on survey data of 315 employees in the banking sector, collected in two waves where the variables were separated in time. The hypothesized model was analysed using a structural equation model on Stata. First, it was found that the need for autonomy had an indirect association with employee-driven innovation through self-leadership. Second, the findings show that self-leadership had a positive relationship with employee-driven innovation. Finally, there was no support found for the moderating role of perceived job autonomy between self-leadership and employee-driven innovation. The findings in this paper are important because they identify individual-level antecedents of employee-driven innovation.

• Echebiri, Chukwuemeka & Amundsen, Stein (2020). The relationship between Leadership Styles and Employee-driven Innovation: The mediating role of Leader-Member Exchange. Evidence-based HRM: a Global Forum for Empirical Scholarship. ISSN 2049-3983. p. 2049–3991. doi: 10.1108/EBHRM-10-2019-0091. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The purpose of this study is to explore the association of two opposite leadership styles with employee-driven innovation and how the leader–member exchange mediates these relationships.

• Echebiri, Chukwuemeka; Amundsen, Stein & Engen, Marit (2020). Linking Structural Empowerment to Employee-Driven Innovation: The Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment. Administrative Sciences. 10(3). doi: 10.3390/admsci10030042. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper aims to link structural empowerment to employee-driven innovation (EDI) with psychological empowerment as a mediation mechanism. Recently, there has been an increase in interest in utilizing all sources of knowledge in an organization to stimulate innovation among all employees. A clear understanding of some of the mechanisms used to achieve this is needed. The paper applies a quantitative approach based on two studies. Study 1 involved a total of 228 employees in a public sector organization, while study 2 involved 60 employees from a private sector organization. We employed structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized relationships among the variables. It was determined that both structural empowerment and psychological empowerment have a direct positive association with EDI. Second, the relationship between structural empowerment and EDI was partially mediated by psychological empowerment. EDI can only happen in an organization if employers and managers empower the ordinary employees to not only generate creative ideas but also to participate in its development and implementation.

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• Echebiri, Emeka; Osuigwe, Ubochioma Udo S.; Mathibe, Motshedisi & Echebiri, Chiaka Martin (2026). Navigating Pregnancy at Work: Perspectives from Women in Southern Nigeria. Full text in Research Archive
• Echebiri, Emeka & Echebiri, Chidimma Phoebe (2026). Jeg husker at vi kom av toget. Det var 16 minusgrader ute. [Journal]. Gudbrandsdal dagningen. doi: https:/www.gd.no/jeg-husker-at-vi-kom-av-toget-det-var-16-minusgrader-ute/f/5-18-2459901. Full text in Research Archive
• Echebiri, Emeka; U, Osuigwe Udo; Mathibe, Motshedisi & M, Echebiri Chiaka (2026). Pregnancy at Work: Lived Experiences of Working Women in Southern Nigeria. Full text in Research Archive
• Echebiri, Chukwuemeka (2020). The role of individual-level factors in employee-driven innovation. Full text in Research Archive
• Echebiri, Chukwuemeka (2018). Measuring employee-driven innovation. Full text in Research Archive
• Echebiri, Chukwuemeka (2021). Employee-Driven Innovation : An empowerment-based view. Universitetet i Innlandet. ISSN 9788283802863. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The participation of employees in the innovation process has become a focus of various research streams. Previous studies show that the assumption that innovation requires specific skills is no longer tenable in today’s modern organizations. This dissertation focuses on the involvement of employees without innovation-specific functions in the framework of employee-driven innovation (EDI) using empowerment as my lens. In most organizations, these employees constitute a significant proportion of the workforce, and understanding how to harness their creative potential should be an advantage to the majority of organizations. The overarching aim of this dissertation is to gain more knowledge about EDI and empowerment-related approaches that can stimulate it. To address these issues, I conducted three empirical studies that resulted in the four appended papers. Paper I focuses on the conceptualization and operationalization of EDI. Paper II examines the link between structural empowerment and EDI and how psychological empowerment mediates this relationship. Paper III concerns how leadership behaviours relate to EDI and the mediating role of leader–member exchange. Paper IV investigates individuallevel antecedents of EDI. Based on the findings, EDI was operationalized as a second-order reflective construct consisting of three dimensions/stages: emergence and search for ideas, idea generation, and idea development and implementation. It was also found that various empowerment approaches, namely structural empowerment, empowering leadership behaviour, psychological empowerment and self-leadership can foster EDI. Therefore, my original contributions to the EDI literature are twofold: (1) the employee-driven innovation scale and (2) empowermentrelated approaches that stimulate EDI. Across all three studies, employee empowerment can be viewed as an approach to stimulate EDI. Through various employee empowerment practices, organizations enable employees to participate in the innovation process. Employees who were not overtly assigned innovation-specific functions are given the licence to venture into a more innovation-specific role through these empowering practices. This dissertation shows that organizations can foster EDI through a range of empowering practices.

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