Paul T.P. Wong and Freda Gonot-Schoupinsky
The purpose of this article is to meet Professor Paul T.P. Wong, PhD, CPscyh, who is based at the Department of Psychology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Wong…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to meet Professor Paul T.P. Wong, PhD, CPscyh, who is based at the Department of Psychology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Wong represents an interesting case of how a racial/cultural minority could achieve success in a hostile environment consisting of the systemic biases of injustice, discrimination and marginalization. His life also epitomizes how one can experience the paradoxical truth of healing and flourishing in an upside-down world through the positive suffering mindset (PSM).
Design/methodology/approach
This case study is presented in two sections: a positive autoethnography written by Wong, followed by his answers to ten questions. The core methodology of positive autoethnography allows people to understand how Wong’s life experience of being a war baby in China, a constant outsider and a lone voice in Western culture, has shaped a very different vision of meaning, positive mental health and global flourishing.
Findings
Wong reveals how to live a life of meaning and happiness for all the suffering people in a difficult world. He has researched the positive psychology of suffering for 60 years, from effective coping with stress and searching for meaning to successful aging and positive death. According to Wong’s suffering hypothesis and the emerging paradigm of existential positive psychology (Wong, 2021), cultivating a PSM is essential for healing and flourishing in all seasons of life.
Research limitations/implications
An expanding literature has been developed to illustrate why the missing link in well-being research is how to transcend and transform suffering into triumph. Wong reveals how this emerging area of research is still not fully embraced by mainstream psychology dominated by the individualistic Euro-American culture, and thus why, in an adversarial milieu, existential positive psychology is limited by its inability to attract more researchers to test out Wong’s suffering hypothesis.
Practical implications
The wisdom and helpful tools presented here may enable people to achieve mature happiness and existential well-being even when they have a very painful past, a very difficult present and a bleak future.
Social implications
This autoethnographic case study offers new grounds for hope for all those who are injured by life, marginalized by systemic biases or tormented by chronic illnesses and disorders. It also provides a road map for a better world with more decent human beings who dare to stand up for justice, integrity and compassion.
Originality/value
Meaning as reflected in suffering is according to Wong the most powerful force to bring out either the worst or the best in people. The new science of suffering shows us how the authors can achieve positive transformation through cultivating a PSM, no matter how harsh one’s fate may be.
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Marjut Hirvonen, Katri Kauppi and Juuso Liesiö
Although it is commonly agreed that prescriptive analytics can benefit organizations by enabling better decision-making, the deployment of prescriptive analytics tools can be…
Abstract
Purpose
Although it is commonly agreed that prescriptive analytics can benefit organizations by enabling better decision-making, the deployment of prescriptive analytics tools can be challenging. Previous studies have primarily focused on methodological issues rather than the organizational deployment of analytics. However, successful deployment is key to achieving the intended benefits of prescriptive analytics tools. Therefore, this study aims to identify the enablers of successful deployment of prescriptive analytics.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors examine the enablers for the successful deployment of prescriptive analytics through five organizational case studies. To provide a comprehensive view of the deployment process, each case includes interviews with users, managers and top management.
Findings
The findings suggest the key enablers for successful analytics deployment are strong leadership and management support, sufficient resources, user participation in development and a common dialogue between users, managers and top management. However, contrary to the existing literature, the authors found little evidence of external pressures to develop and deploy analytics. Importantly, the success of deployment in each case was related to the similarity with which different actors within the organization viewed the deployment process. Furthermore, end users tended to highlight user participation, skills and training, whereas managers and top management placed greater emphasis on the importance of organizational changes.
Originality/value
The results will help practitioners ensure that key enablers are in place to increase the likelihood of the successful deployment of prescriptive analytics.
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Xianhan Huang, Shiyu Zhang, Mingyao Sun, Masoumeh Kouhsari and Dongsheng Wang
Most of the current literature investigates workplace-based formal and informal learning separately; thus, the relationship between these two types of learning remains unclear…
Abstract
Purpose
Most of the current literature investigates workplace-based formal and informal learning separately; thus, the relationship between these two types of learning remains unclear. This study aims to fill this research gap, drawing on self-determination theory to bridge teachers’ formal and informal learning and uncover the relationship between the two.
Design/methodology/approach
The participants of the study are 1,886 primary and secondary in-service teachers in China. Structural equation modeling and bootstrapping are used to test the proposed model.
Findings
The study reveals complicated influencing mechanisms of formal learning on different types of informal learning among in-service teachers. Teachers’ basic psychological needs, satisfaction and challenge-seeking behavior are found to play crucial mediating roles in this process.
Practical implications
First, this study suggests that different configurations of intervention strategies should be formulated depending on the foci for improving teachers’ learning. Second, this study indicates that only highlighting the importance of reflection, which is the approach currently used, is not sufficient to improve teachers’ daily reflective practice. Third, there is an urgent need to design training programs to improve teachers’ abilities to purposefully expand their job boundaries, which could not only benefit teachers’ performance but also contribute to school improvement. For policymakers and school principals, we suggest that more attention be given to the satisfaction of teachers’ basic needs.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature on workplace learning by connecting formal and informal learning and elucidating how teachers’ reported formal learning influences their informal learning activities via varied paths. The findings have implications for continuous professional development policy and training programs in the workplace.
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Drawing on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, we propose a mediated moderation showing how proactive personality (PP) and job crafting toward interests (JC-interests…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, we propose a mediated moderation showing how proactive personality (PP) and job crafting toward interests (JC-interests) influence the relationship between interest incongruence and cyberloafing.
Design/methodology/approach
We used a three-wave survey and collected data from 429 full-time employees working in different industries in China.
Findings
We found that interest incongruence was positively related to cyberloafing. Furthermore, this positive relationship was more significant when employees were low in PP or engaged in low levels of JC-interests. In addition, the moderating effect of PP was mediated by JC-interests.
Practical implications
These findings are helpful for organizations in figuring out how to mitigate the detrimental effects of interest incongruence by providing more support to proactive employees and implementing various JC interventions.
Originality/value
This study suggests that PP and JC-interests (resource gain strategy) could mitigate the positive effect of interest incongruence on employees’ cyberloafing.
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Organizational justice plays a crucial role in shaping employee work attitudes. This study examines how and when procedural, distributive, interpersonal, and informational justice…
Abstract
Purpose
Organizational justice plays a crucial role in shaping employee work attitudes. This study examines how and when procedural, distributive, interpersonal, and informational justice affects employees’ affective commitment and work engagement. The research is grounded in an extended job demands-resources model, incorporating the social identity theory. The integrated model hypothesizes that all four dimensions of organizational justice positively influence employees’ commitment and engagement by fostering organizational identification. Furthermore, it is posited that this cognitive-affective process is particularly significant when employees face high job demands, as opposed to low job demands.
Design/methodology/approach
A three-wave prospective study was conducted with a sample of 400 employees in the social and personal services industry in Hong Kong, China. Data were collected at baseline, three months, and one year.
Findings
The findings support the hypothesized conditional indirect associations between organizational justice (procedural, distributive, and informational justice) and both measures of work attitudes.
Practical implications
This study highlights the importance of fair, ethical, and just procedures, resource distribution, and communication in organizations, particularly in stressful industries. Employers and supervisors are encouraged to adopt employee-oriented management practices, foster positive leader-member exchange relationships, and acknowledge and reward valuable contributions.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the existing literature on organizational justice by elucidating its underlying cognitive-affective mechanism and identifying the boundary conditions under which it operates.