THE ROLE OF EMPLOYEES WORK ENGAGEMENT IN LINKING ORGANIZATIONAL DYNAMICS AND BUSINESS PERFORMANCE IN ENGINEERING CONSULTING: A MEDIATION FRAMEWORK

Abstract

This study examines how organizational resources jointly influence consulting performance in knowledge-intensive professional service firms. Despite growing interest in organizational resources, limited empirical evidence exists on their integrated effects and underlying mechanisms in knowledge-intensive professional service firms, particularly within emerging economy contexts such as China's engineering consulting industry. Drawing on the Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) model, we develop an integrated framework that incorporates caring human resource management (CHRM), transformational leadership (TL), and work–life balance (WLB). Using a three-wave time-lagged design with data from 370 engineering consulting professionals in Southwest China, structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the proposed relationships. The results indicate that all three organizational resources significantly enhance consulting performance both directly and indirectly through work engagement (WE), with transformational leadership showing the strongest direct effect. This study contributes to the literature by highlighting the complementary roles of multiple organizational resources and clarifying the dual pathways—direct functional and indirect motivational-through which resources influence performance. Practically, the findings suggest that professional service firms should adopt an integrated resource management approach to improve employee performance. The findings also provide empirical evidence from an emerging economy, contributing to the broader human resource management literature.