Modeling the Antecedents and Consequences of Employees’ Proactive Behaviors in Knowledge-Based Organizations

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Alireza Rajabipoormeybodi 1
Maryam Ahmadi Zahrani 2
Farzaneh Zare Mehrjerdi 3
1 Associate Prof, Department of Business Administration, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran.
2 Assistant Prof, Department of Business Administration, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran.
3 PhD student, Department of Business Administration, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran.
10.22047/hsd.2026.566874.1120
Abstract
Modeling the Antecedents and Consequences of Employees’ Proactive Behaviors in Knowledge-Based Organizations

Alireza Rajabipoormeybodi
Maryam Ahmadi Zahrani
Farzaneh Zare Mehrjerdi

The present study aimed to model the antecedents and consequences of employees' proactive behaviors in knowledge-based organizations. This study is an applied-developmental research in terms of its purpose and was conducted with a mixed design. The qualitative part of the research was conducted with an exploratory approach and data-based theory method, and the quantitative part was conducted with a descriptive approach and survey method. The participant population consisted of managers of knowledge-based organizations in Yazd city. Using theoretical sampling and upon reaching theoretical saturation, 16 experts participated in the qualitative phase. In the quantitative phase, the perspectives of managers and experts of knowledge-based organizations in Yazd Province were utilized, and the sample size was estimated at 190 individuals using power analysis. Quantitative sampling was conducted through a cluster random sampling method. For data analysis, grounded theory using MAXQDA software was applied in the qualitative phase, and partial least squares (PLS) using SmartPLS software was employed in the quantitative phase. Based on the research model, four factors—job self-efficacy, job autonomy, transformational leadership, and innovation culture—were identified as causal conditions influencing the core phenomenon (employees’ proactive behaviors). The emergence of these behaviors becomes possible in a context characterized by a “technological innovation climate” and “free flow of knowledge.” Conversely, the “semi-traditional and bureaucratic structure of knowledge-based organizations in Yazd” acts as an intervening condition that may limit or slow the impact of proactive behaviors. Subsequently, empowerment-oriented strategies and actions lead to three key outcomes: performance proactiveness, proactive learning, and continuous performance improvement. Accordingly, the model demonstrates that employees’ agency, through interaction with individual, job-related, managerial, and organizational antecedents and under the influence of structural conditions, provides the foundation for the formation of performance advantages in knowledge-based organizations in Yazd Province.
Keywords
employees&rsquo
proactive behaviors, antecedents and consequences, knowledge-based companies
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Development of humanities
Volume 6, Issue 12 - Serial Number 12
Humanities
Volume 6, Autumn and Winter 2025-2026, No. 12
March 2026
Pages 169-198