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1 – 10 of 42Benjamin Brachle and L.J. McElravy
The rising costs of recruiting and hiring workers and the seismic shift of age demographics in the United States workforce has created much stir around the concept of generational…
Abstract
The rising costs of recruiting and hiring workers and the seismic shift of age demographics in the United States workforce has created much stir around the concept of generational cohorts. Although much has been done by researchers and practitioners alike to attempt a better understanding of each generational group’s leadership preferences, confusing and contradictory results has attracted much criticism. This critique has inspired efforts to look at the concept of leadership and followership preference through an alternative lifespan developmental lens. Because leadership influences are inherently social influences, a person’s overall lifespan development level may potentially provide a deeper perspicacity of the phenomenon than examining it from the more conventional generational cohort perspective. However, specific research into this area is lacking. This paper adds to the literature by uncovering what we are missing in research and practice when we look at age-related leadership phenomena solely from a generational cohort perspective. A review of the contradicting literature on generational cohorts and leadership is offered. Next, specific lifespan developmental theories are examined, and propositions and implications of such research are extended.
Previous studies have shown a link between mental health functioning and involvement in HIV risk practices. The present research examines how well one specific group of men who…
Abstract
Previous studies have shown a link between mental health functioning and involvement in HIV risk practices. The present research examines how well one specific group of men who have sex with other men (MSM) fare in terms of their mental health functioning, and then focuses on how mental health functioning relates to HIV risk practices in this population. The study was based on a national random sample of 332 MSM who use the Internet to seek men with whom they can engage in unprotected sex. Data collection was conducted via telephone interviews between January 2008 and May 2009. Depression is more common among men in this population than in the adult male population-at-large. All other measures of mental health functioning that were examined (self-esteem, impulsivity, current life satisfaction, optimism about the future) indicated low rates of mental health problem. Contrary to expectations, in nearly all instances, mental health functioning was not related to HIV risk practices.
More work needs to be done to understand the causes of depression among these men, and to assess how, if at all, depression relates to risk practices in this population. These findings suggest that factors other than mental health problems must be considered if one wishes to understand HIV risk taking in this population.
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Jasmin Mahadevan, Tobias Reichert, Jakob Steinmann, Annabelle Stärkle, Sven Metzler, Lisa Bacher, Raphael Diehm and Frederik Goroll
We conceptualized the novel phenomenon of COVID-induced virtual teams and its implications and provided researchers with the required information on how to conduct a…
Abstract
Purpose
We conceptualized the novel phenomenon of COVID-induced virtual teams and its implications and provided researchers with the required information on how to conduct a phenomenon-based study for conceptualizing novel phenomena in relevant ways.
Design/methodology/approach
This article stems from phenomenon-based and, thus, theory-building and grounded qualitative research in the German industrial sector. We conducted 47 problem-centered interviews in two phases (February–July 2021 and February–July 2022) to understand how team members and team leaders experienced COVID-induced virtual teamwork and its subsequent developments.
Findings
Empirically, we found COVID-induced virtual teams to be characterized by a high relevance of shaping positive team dynamics via steering internal moderators; crisis is a novel external moderator and transformation becomes the key output factor to be leveraged. Work-from-home leads to specific configuration needs and interrelations between work-from-home and on-site introduce additional dynamics. Methodologically, the phenomenon-based approach is found to be highly suitable for studying the effects of such novel phenomena.
Research limitations/implications
This article is explorative. Thus, we advocate further research on related novel phenomena, such as post-COVID-hybrid and work-from-home teams. A model of how to encourage positive dynamics in post-COVID-hybrid teams is developed and lays the groundwork for further studies on post-COVID teamwork. Concerning methodology, researchers are provided with information on how to conduct phenomenon-based research on novel phenomena, such as the COVID-induced virtual teams that we studied.
Practical implications
Companies receive advice on how to encourage positive dynamics in post-COVID teamwork, e.g. on identifying best practices and resilient individuals.
Social implications
In a country such as Germany that faces labor shortages, our insights might facilitate better labor-market integration for those with care-work obligations and international workers.
Originality/value
We offer a first conceptualization of a relevant novel phenomenon, namely COVID-induced virtual teams. We exemplify the phenomenon-based approach as a suitable methodology that serves to build relevant theory using active categorization.
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Engaged employees assure organizational competitiveness and sustainability. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between job resources and employee turnover…
Abstract
Purpose
Engaged employees assure organizational competitiveness and sustainability. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between job resources and employee turnover intentions, with employee engagement as a mediating variable.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 934 employees of eight wholly-owned pharmaceutical industries. The proposed model and hypotheses were evaluated using structural equation modeling. Construct reliability and validity was established through confirmatory factor analysis.
Findings
Data supported the hypothesized relationship. The results show that job autonomy and employee engagement were significantly associated. Supervisory support and employee engagement were significantly associated. However, performance feedback and employee engagement were nonsignificantly associated. Employee engagement had a significant influence on employee turnover intentions. The results further show that employee engagement mediates the association between job resources and employee turnover intentions.
Research limitations/implications
The generalizability of the findings will be constrained due to the research’s pharmaceutical industry focus and cross-sectional data.
Practical implications
The study’s findings will serve as valuable pointers for stakeholders and decision-makers in the pharmacuetical industry to develop a proactive and well-articulated employee engagement intervention to ensure organizational effectiveness, innovativeness and competitiveness.
Originality/value
By empirically demonstrating that employee engagement mediates the nexus of job resources and employee turnover intentions, the study adds to the corpus of literature.
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Merel T. Feenstra-Verschure, Dorien Kooij, Charissa Freese, Mandy van der Velde and Evgenia I. Lysova
The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize job immobility concepts, e.g. staying in an unsatisfying job and perceiving limited opportunities to move and apply for another job…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize job immobility concepts, e.g. staying in an unsatisfying job and perceiving limited opportunities to move and apply for another job. The existing literature on this situation of job immobility in which the employee is experiencing stuckness in the job is scattered across research domains, limited in scope and existing constructs are not clearly defined or operationalized.
Design/methodology/approach
In this conceptual paper, the authors propose the construct “locked at the job,” by reviewing and building on the job immobility literature and the theory of control and self-regulation.
Findings
This study defines the concept that consists of two dimensions as feeling dissatisfied in the current job and inactivity due to perceived limited job opportunities. This study proposes a conceptual model of antecedents and consequences of locked at the job, based on the person-environment fit theory.
Practical implications
This conceptual paper allows value to be added in practice by the conceptualization of locked at the job, in addition to providing a preview with respect to conceptual causes and consequences of this phenomenon.
Originality/value
Research on this job immobility phenomenon is scattered across different research domains, limited in scope and the concept has not been clearly defined or operationalized.
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Anton Wiberg, Johan Persson and Johan Ölvander
The purpose of this paper is to present a Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) methodology that connects several methods, from geometrical design to post-process selection…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) methodology that connects several methods, from geometrical design to post-process selection, into a common optimisation framework.
Design/methodology/approach
A design methodology is formulated and tested in a case study. The outcome of the case study is analysed by comparing the obtained results with alternative designs achieved by using other design methods. The design process in the case study and the potential of the method to be used in different settings are also discussed. Finally, the work is concluded by stating the main contribution of the paper and highlighting where further research is needed.
Findings
The proposed method is implemented in a novel framework which is applied to a physical component in the case study. The component is a structural aircraft part that was designed to minimise weight while respecting several static and fatigue structural load cases. An addition goal is to minimise the manufacturing cost. Designs optimised for manufacturing by two different AM machines (EOS M400 and Arcam Q20+), with and without post-processing (centrifugal finishing) are considered. The designs achieved in this study show a significant reduction in both weight and cost compared to one AM manufactured geometry designed using more conventional methods and one design milled in aluminium.
Originality/value
The method in this paper allows for the holistic design and optimisation of components while considering manufacturability, cost and component functionality. Within the same framework, designs optimised for different setups of AM machines and post-processing can be automatically evaluated without any additional manual work.
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The efficiency of each of an organization’s individual workers determines its effectiveness. The study aims to explore the relationship between human resource management (HRM…
Abstract
Purpose
The efficiency of each of an organization’s individual workers determines its effectiveness. The study aims to explore the relationship between human resource management (HRM) practices and organizational effectiveness with employee performance as a mediating variable.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 800 police officers in the Greater Accra and Tema regions. The data were supported by the hypothesized relationship. Construct reliability and validity was established through confirmatory factor analysis. The proposed model and hypotheses were evaluated using structural equation modeling.
Findings
The results show that career planning and employee performance were significantly related. Self-managed teams and employee performance were shown to be nonsignificantly related. Similarly, performance management and employee performance were shown to be nonsignificantly related. Employee performance significantly influenced organizational effectiveness. The results further indicate that employee performance mediates the relationship between HRM practices and organizational effectiveness.
Research limitations/implications
The generalizability of the findings will be constrained due to the research’s police service focus and cross-sectional data.
Practical implications
The study’s findings will serve as valuable pointers for the police administration in the adoption, design and implementation of well-articulated and proactive HRM practices to improve the abilities, skills, knowledge and motivation of officer’s to inordinately enhance the effectiveness of the service.
Originality/value
By evidencing empirically that employee performance mediates the relationship between HRM practice and organizational effectiveness, the study extends the literature.
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Subodh Kulkarni, Matteo Cristofaro and Nagarajan Ramamoorthy
How can managers reduce information asymmetry in dyadic manager-external stakeholder relationships in a complex and evolving environment? Addressing this question has significant…
Abstract
Purpose
How can managers reduce information asymmetry in dyadic manager-external stakeholder relationships in a complex and evolving environment? Addressing this question has significant implications for firm survival, growth, and competitive advantage.
Design/methodology/approach
We have adopted a multiparadigm approach to theory building, known as metatriangulation. We integrate the dynamic capabilities, sensemaking, and evolutionary theory literatures to theorize how managers can relate to stakeholders in a complex and evolving environment.
Findings
We propose, via a conceptual framework and three propositions, “evolutionary sensemaking” as the managerial metacognitive dynamic capability that helps managers hone their understanding based on the evolutionary changes in the stakeholder’s interpretations of information quality preferences. The framework unfolds across three evolutionary stages: sensing preferences' variation of the stakeholder, seizing preferences, and transforming for complexity alignment and retention. The propositions focus on managing complexity in stakeholder information quality preference, employing cognitive capabilities to simplify, interpret, and align interpretations for effective information asymmetry reduction.
Practical implications
To develop the metacognitive dynamic capability of evolutionary sensemaking, managers need to train for and foster the underlying complex cognitive capabilities by enhancing their (1) perception and attention skills, (2) problem-solving and reasoning skills, and (3) language, communication, and social cognition skills, focusing specifically on reducing the complexity embedded in stakeholder cognition and diverse stakeholder preferences for information quality. Contrary to the current advice to “keep things simple” and provide “more” information to the stakeholders for opportunism reduction, trust-building, and superior governance, our framework suggests that managers hone their cognitive capabilities by learning to deal with the underlying complexity.
Originality/value
The proposed framework and propositions address research gaps in reducing information asymmetry. It enriches the dynamic capabilities literature by recognizing complexity (as opposed to opportunism) as an alternative source of information asymmetry, which needs to be addressed in this stream of research. It extends the sensemaking literature by identifying the complexity sources – i.e. stakeholder preferences for diverse information quality attributes and the associated cognitive preference interpretation processes. The article enhances evolutionary theory by delving into microprocesses related to information asymmetry reduction, which the existing literature does not thoroughly investigate.
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Sait Gürbüz, Beatrice Van der Heijden, Charissa Freese and Evelien P.M. Brouwers
While previous research in career studies has highlighted the positive impact of several leadership behaviors on followers’ work and career success, less is known about how the…
Abstract
Purpose
While previous research in career studies has highlighted the positive impact of several leadership behaviors on followers’ work and career success, less is known about how the emergent topic of inclusive leadership shapes followers’ task performance. Using an inclusive leadership approach and job demands-resources theory, we developed a novel sequential mediation model in which inclusive leadership indirectly facilitates followers’ performance through self-initiating behavior and work motivation. Specifically, we aimed to investigate whether inclusive leaders encourage followers to show enhanced task performance through strengths use and work engagement.
Design/methodology/approach
A representative sample of 278 Dutch employees from diverse organizations was surveyed at three different time points.
Findings
The results of structural equation modeling evidenced that inclusive leadership was indirectly related to follower task performance, initially through the utilization of strengths and subsequently through work engagement over time. When leaders exhibited behaviors that were inclusive in nature, they encouraged their followers to make use of their strengths at work. Such leadership actions boosted the work engagement of their followers and led to enhanced task performance.
Originality/value
We develop and test a novel sequential mediation model that explores how inclusive leadership fosters improved task performance among followers by promoting the utilization of strengths and subsequent work engagement. This sheds light on the mechanisms through which inclusive leadership contributes to follower performance, a crucial indicator in shaping sustainable career trajectories.
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Andrei Novac and Robert G. Bota
How does the human brain absorb information and turn it into skills of its own in psychotherapy? In an attempt to answer this question, the authors will review the intricacies of…
Abstract
How does the human brain absorb information and turn it into skills of its own in psychotherapy? In an attempt to answer this question, the authors will review the intricacies of processing channels in psychotherapy and propose the term transprocessing (as in transduction and processing combined) for the underlying mechanisms. Through transprocessing the brain processes multimodal memories and creates reparative solutions in the course of psychotherapy. Transprocessing is proposed as a stage-sequenced mechanism of deconstruction of engrained patterns of response. Through psychotherapy, emotional-cognitive reintegration and its consolidation is accomplished. This process is mediated by cellular and neural plasticity changes.
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