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This study aims to demonstrate the importance of recognizing stress in the workplace. Accurate novel objective methods that use electroencephalogram (EEG) to measure brainwaves can promote employee well-being. However, using these devices can be positive and potentially harmful as manipulative practices undermine autonomy.

Emphasis is placed on business ethics as it relates to the ethics of action in terms of positive and negative responsibility, autonomous decision-making and self-determined work through a literature review. The concept of relational autonomy provides an orientation toward heteronomous employment relationships.

First, using digital devices to recognize stress and promote health can be a positive outcome, expanding the definition of digital well-being as opposed to dependency, non-use or reduction. Second, the transfer of socio-relational autonomy, according to Oshana, enables criteria for self-determined work in heteronomous employment relationships. Finally, the deployment and use of such EEG-based devices for stress detection can lead to coercion and manipulation, not only in interpersonal relationships, but also directly and more subtly through the technology itself, interfering with self-determined work.

Stress at work and EEG-based devices measuring stress have been discussed in numerous articles. This paper is one of the first to explore ethical considerations using these brain–computer interfaces from an employee perspective.

Organizational Bases of Power and Personal Bases of Power refer to distinct types of power that when applied can influence perceptions, attitudes, behaviors, and performance, changing organizational culture, outcomes, and overall effectiveness. Perceptions of Organizational Bases of Power and Personal Bases of Power were assessed by online survey of 52 higher education faculty and administrators from institutions in more than 16 countries using the Human Synergistics International Organizational Effectiveness Inventory® (OEI^®). Results revealed that total mean scores were less desirable than established Constructive benchmarks (derived from corporations with constructive cultures) for both measures and were below the 50th percentile (historical average from normative data) for Personal Bases of Power. Interestingly, subgroup analysis revealed that perceptions of Organizational Bases of Power were more favorable than the Constructive Benchmark among females (vs males), faculty (vs administrators), and public not-for-profits. Perceptions of Personal Bases of Power were better than the 50th percentile among females (vs males), administrators (vs faculty), and for-profit institutions. Observed trends for perceptual discrepancies between genders, professional roles, and business models are analyzed in the context of worldviews and values. Recommendations are presented for modifying the use of personal expert, referent, and exchange powers and organizational legitimate (position), reward, and coercive powers in alignment with the ideal values of higher education institutions seeking to improve their outcomes by moving their organizational cultures toward constructive styles.

Drawing on work from home (WFH), job demand-control and street-level bureaucracy literature streams, this paper specifically focuses on the emerging trend of WFH for public sector employees in a developing country context of Egypt.

The empirical sample comprises focus group discussions with a total of 40 public sector employees in Egypt. Thematic analysis was subsequently used on focus group discussion transcripts to bring out main themes linked to this topic.

Our findings show that employee (marginal discretion power, pharaonism, corruption), citizen (unfamiliarity with digital services) and country (lack of proper info-structure, overstaffing in the public sector)- level challenges hinder and/or slow down the potential for WFH in Egyptian public sector.

A major implication of our paper relates to highlighting the criticality of e-governance and WFH for public sector employees, as well as highlighting multilevel challenges associated with those. At the same time, socio-economic and political consequences of offering such options need to be considered in a country like Egypt where most public organisations are overstaffed, and those employees lack modern day employability skills. Hence, there needs to be an open debate in countries such as Egypt on the consequences of e-governance and WFH and whether it may facilitate delivering citizen services digitally. Also, high power distance culture plays a role in this context, and any change cannot be successful unless that specific aspect is confronted.

This study contributes to the emerging WFH literature by being one of the pioneering studies to offer a multilevel (micro, meso and macro) assessment of this phenomenon in the under-researched fragile developing country’s context.

The purpose of the study is to give a new perspective to presenteeism. Traditionally, there are two approaches to it. In our study, we have tried to empirically prove that there is a third approach to looking at presenteeism from the lens of employee engagement.

The research design used a mixed-method approach and was carried out in two parts. In Part I of the study, survey research was carried out to study presenteeism. In part II, a vignette on presenteeism was designed to study whether respondents exhibit presenteeism more in a crisis than other modes of handling the situation.

The findings from Study 1 showed that high employee engagement led to high presenteeism. Study 2 showed that in crisis situation employee engagement led to voluntary presenteeism in the form of work–from–home as the most preferred response.

The study's limitations were the small sample size and cross-sectional survey research design. The same was offset by using the vignette study to show the relationship between employee engagement and presenteeism.

Voluntary presenteeism is different from forced presenteeism and often is a mark of engaged behaviour of employees.

If work-from-home when sick is managed correctly and supported with adequate resources, attending work during illness can benefit health and performance in the long run.

The study provides a unique perspective on presenteeism in general and voluntary presenteeism in particular.

Companies seek to increase the percentage of acquisitions in different parts of the world by expanding operations. Many companies are adopting strategic mergers to expand their influence. However, most strategic change programs fail to achieve their objectives. This study aims to investigate employees’ reactions after strategic mergers through the mediating role of the employees’ psychological context. It was necessary to identify the most prominent postmerger employees’ behaviors. The study addressed this gap by investigating the outcomes of strategic mergers.

Data for this study were collected from 30 family businesses. Accordingly, 341 questionnaires were collected with an overall response rate of 64%. The structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach and the nonlinear relationships approach were adopted by implementing artificial neural network (ANN) analysis.

The results confirm that there is a clear impact of strategic mergers on employees’ postmerger behavior because of the change at the hierarchical level and the process of distributing roles. Employees’ psychological context (individual incentives, anxiety and individual mobbing) mediates the relationship between strategic mergers and postmerger employees’ behavior. In addition, individual incentives are considered the main contributor to retaining or not retaining employees in family businesses after strategic merger.

Policymakers in organizations must pay attention to employees’ possible reactions to the internal and external policies of the organization by increasing individual incentives and reducing individual mobbing toward strategic merger. This study has theoretical implications that are critical guidelines for academics in mitigating the negative consequences for employees’ postmerger behavior. This study captured linear and nonlinear relationships to discover the determinants and antecedents of a strategic merger in family businesses. However, future studies should focus on using more robust statistical methods by adopting decision-making methods to determine the best and worst companies in terms of adopting strategic mergers.

The scarcity of literature on the most important determinants of postmerger employees’ behavior is considered an encouragement to conduct the current study. To this end, this study enriches the ongoing and future literature by examining the most important factors influencing the strategic merger of family businesses. Family businesses have changed the economic landscape of many countries. The investigation of the strategic merger of these companies is considered a worthy matter of study to improve the nation’s economy.

The Australian retail industry is facing skills shortages while mature and old-age workers are experiencing high unemployment rates. This study focuses on understanding organizational inclusion and turnover intentions in the context of employee age.

Survey data were collected from 502 retail supervisors and employees.

Drawing on socioemotional selectivity theory and social exchange theory, the findings indicate: no difference in inclusive supervisory behaviors perceptions for different age groups; a significantly higher workplace social inclusion perceptions among employees aged 55 plus than among employees aged 35–44; a significantly lower turnover intention among employees aged 55 plus and 45–54 years than other age groups; a positive relationship between inclusive supervisory behaviors and workplace social inclusion and a negative relationship between workplace social inclusion and turnover intention which was stronger for older employees than for younger employees.

The findings present a business case for hiring older employees and indicate that managers need to prioritize inclusion.

This study addresses the underexplored area of employee age differences in inclusion and turnover perceptions among retail employees. It links inclusive supervisory behaviors, social inclusion and turnover intention.

Trauma can affect everyone. The effects of trauma often extend into workspaces, adversely affecting relationships and productivity. A trauma-informed leader is someone who incorporates compassion and empathy into their management toolkit. This chapter will define trauma-informed leadership, the role it can play in shaping the lives of individuals and creating a positive work environment which fosters health and well-being, and how it can be applied in a library setting with a specific focus on grief and loss.

Cultural friction (CF) was introduced by researchers to overcome the issues and challenges of cultural distance measurement in the context of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (CBMAs). However, this construct has proved itself to be problematic to operationalize. To address this challenge, this paper aims to elaborate on a CF measurement instrument based on individual perceptions in CBMAs. This study used a microfoundation approach to measure CF, relying on managers’ interactions in CBMA settings.

To develop and validate a CF measurement in the context of CBMAs, this study followed a classical procedure including items development, lab tests and one field-study and an assessment of the construct validity.

The final instrument developed for measuring CF is composed of six critical incidents with three associated items each. The factor analysis revealed that the scale used in the field-test measures two factors of CF: internal and external. Reliability and discriminant validity are tested, demonstrating a good discriminant validity of “external” CF. The final measurement can be used as a valid and reliable scale in further studies to assess CF in the context of CBMAs.

This paper’s originality lies in developing and validating a CF measurement instrument that does not rely on cultural distance frameworks. The resulting scale shows the interest in considering micro-individual perceptions – the microfoundation level – for analyzing an organizational phenomenon as culture in CBMA contexts. Using a micro-founded approach, this study offers promising avenues for researchers who wish to study cultural interactions in international settings.

Social robotics is a rapidly growing application of artificial intelligence (AI) in society, encompassing an expanding range of applications. This paper aims to contribute to the ongoing integration of psychology into social robotics ethics by reviewing current theories and empirical findings related to human–robot interaction (HRI) and addressing critical points of contention within the ethics discourse.

The authors will explore the factors influencing the acceptance of social robots, explore the development of relationships between humans and robots and delve into three prominent controversies: deception, dehumanisation and violence.

The authors first propose design factors allowing for a positive interaction with the robot, and further discuss precise dimensions to evaluate when designing a social robot to ensure ethical design technology, building on the four ethical principles for trustworthy AI. The final section of this paper will outline and offer explicit recommendations for future research endeavours.

This paper provides originality and value to the field of social robotics ethics by integrating psychology into the ethical discourse and offering a comprehensive understanding of HRI. It introduces three ethical dimensions and provides recommendations for implementing them, contributing to the development of ethical design in social robots and trustworthy AI.

The aim of the research reported here was to determine how Lithuanian citizens engaged in information-seeking behaviour in response to the stress caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

An interview survey was designed, using a semi-structured interview schedule. A convenience sample of 21 participants was obtained and the interviews lasted between 20 and 70 min. The schedule design was guided by the transactional theory of stress and coping and employed the Perceived Stress Scale.

A majority of participants experienced moderate to high levels of stress associated with the war in Ukraine. Information seeking and discussing information found with family members and friends played a significant role in helping to moderate stress. Most of the participants understood more than one language and, consequently, were able to compare local information sources with international sources. Only five participants were active users of social media, the rest were critical of these sources. All participants valued those sources they believed to be reliable and truthful.

The small convenience sample of educated urban participants limits generalizability but provides indicative findings for future investigations into information behaviour during prolonged international conflicts.

The study highlights the importance of media literacy in managing psychological stress during geopolitical tensions, demonstrating how strategic information seeking and social support can serve as effective coping mechanisms.

The research reveals psychological impacts of war beyond direct conflict zones, illustrating how communities develop collective emotional resilience through informed, critically engaged information practices.

The study provides unique insights by examining war-related stress in a neighbouring country not directly experiencing conflict, applying stress-coping theory to understand intricate information-seeking behaviours during a geopolitical crisis.