MORE than thirty national bodies, previously comparative strangers, have been brought into closer contact during the year. They have now collectively organised a National…
Abstract
MORE than thirty national bodies, previously comparative strangers, have been brought into closer contact during the year. They have now collectively organised a National Productivity Year Conference to be held at Eastbourne in the closing days of November. It would be wrong to regard this as a finale; to apply to it the closing words of Vanity Fair: ‘Come, children, let us shut up the box and the puppets, for our play is played out.’
Since the first Volume of this Bibliography there has been an explosion of literature in all the main areas of business. The researcher and librarian have to be able to uncover…
Abstract
Since the first Volume of this Bibliography there has been an explosion of literature in all the main areas of business. The researcher and librarian have to be able to uncover specific articles devoted to certain topics. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume III, in addition to the annotated list of articles as the two previous volumes, contains further features to help the reader. Each entry within has been indexed according to the Fifth Edition of the SCIMP/SCAMP Thesaurus and thus provides a full subject index to facilitate rapid information retrieval. Each article has its own unique number and this is used in both the subject and author index. The first Volume of the Bibliography covered seven journals published by MCB University Press. This Volume now indexes 25 journals, indicating the greater depth, coverage and expansion of the subject areas concerned.
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A.J.M. Sykes and Isobel Lindsay
This article describes a study of the workers in two heavy engineering plants, in the Glasgow area, one belonging to a British company of a traditional type, the other to an…
Abstract
This article describes a study of the workers in two heavy engineering plants, in the Glasgow area, one belonging to a British company of a traditional type, the other to an American company. A comparison was made of the perceptions and expectations that the workforces held of their respective managements and the attitudes they held towards them.
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IT IS a great pity that Training for the Future, the consultative document issued by the Department of Employment on the first of last month, should have been overtaken by other…
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IT IS a great pity that Training for the Future, the consultative document issued by the Department of Employment on the first of last month, should have been overtaken by other urgent matters that have attracted wider public interest. This has foreshortened the time for general debate before sending comments to the Department by the end of May.
The critique of the neo‐classical theory of the labour market has been growing in strength in recent years. Two main strands can be identified. The American traditions emphasise…
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The critique of the neo‐classical theory of the labour market has been growing in strength in recent years. Two main strands can be identified. The American traditions emphasise the role of the production process of firms or industries, either in terms of its task requirements (Doeringer and Piore 1971), or the mode of labour process control (Edwards 1979). The British tradition emphasises the role of trade unions and the character of the industrial relations system (Rubery 1978; Nolan 1983). By looking at one industry — construction — and thereby controlling for production process and industrial relations system, this article suggests that firm type, in interaction with the product market, is also an important factor in generating non competing labour markets.
It is common to hear it said that the most important benefits yielded by vocational training and organizational development programmes cannot be assessed because they are too…
Abstract
It is common to hear it said that the most important benefits yielded by vocational training and organizational development programmes cannot be assessed because they are too ‘intangible’. The ‘demand’ for them is in itself sufficient indication of their value. Unfortunately, as economists such as Thurow have, only too belatedly recognized, the value of a certificate to an individual is a very different thing from the value of the knowledge to the acquisition of which the certificate testifies. Most school pupils, parents, and teachers believe that, while it is very important to pass examinations, the value of what is learned at school is minimal. Their beliefs are confirmed by the studies of Berg, Jencks and Raven. Because of the social functions of educational qualifications, teachers and pupils attend to the goals which are assessed. Because the goals which are easiest to assess are not those which they believe to be most important, teachers and pupils fail to attend to the goals which they actually believe to be most important. Had these teachers and students spent their time working toward the most important goals, the students' life chances, and the teachers' own reputation, would have been jeopardized.
Some organisations use external management and supervisory training courses as a major means of developing and training their staff. Whose needs do these courses address however…
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Some organisations use external management and supervisory training courses as a major means of developing and training their staff. Whose needs do these courses address however? Is it those of the sponsoring organisation's or those of the individuals attending? What implication does this have for the role of the external trainer and for the administration of organisational training policy?
The topic discussed in this monograph is how to make training moreeffective by fitting it more closely into the organisational context.Models of training are examined to consider…
Abstract
The topic discussed in this monograph is how to make training more effective by fitting it more closely into the organisational context. Models of training are examined to consider the difference between training an individual and changing the way in which the individual performs in the work context. In order to highlight the ways in which individual and organisational needs can be integrated, the identification of training needs is discussed. To emphasise the essentially cyclical nature of learning, the learning experience is broken down into a sequence of events. Most of these attempts to define effective training imply that it is often an attempt to change the way the organisation functions. In the final section therefore, the problems of using the training department as an agent for change are discussed.
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Christopher Robert and Wan Yan
The study of humor has a long tradition in philosophy, sociology, psychology, anthropology, and communications. Evidence from these fields suggests that humor can have effects on…
Abstract
The study of humor has a long tradition in philosophy, sociology, psychology, anthropology, and communications. Evidence from these fields suggests that humor can have effects on creativity, cohesiveness, and performance, but organizational scholars have paid it relatively little attention. We hope to “jump-start” such a research program. To do this, we first outline the theoretical rationale underlying the production and appreciation of humor, namely, its motivational, cognitive, and emotional mechanisms. Next, we review the literature linking humor to creativity, cohesiveness, and other performance-relevant outcomes. In particular, we note how this literature is theoretically well-grounded, but that the empirical findings are largely correlational and/or based on qualitative research designs. Finally, we go beyond the current humor literature by developing specific predictions about how culture might interact with humor in organizational contexts. Throughout the paper, we discuss possible research directions and methodological issues relevant to the study of humor in organizations.
Jessica Mesmer‐Magnus, David J. Glew and Chockalingam Viswesvaran
The benefits of humor for general well‐being have long been touted. Past empirical research has suggested that some of these benefits also exist in the work domain. However, there…
Abstract
Purpose
The benefits of humor for general well‐being have long been touted. Past empirical research has suggested that some of these benefits also exist in the work domain. However, there is little shared understanding as to the role of humor in the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to address two main gaps in the humor literature. First, the authors summarize several challenges researchers face in defining and operationalizing humor, and offer an integrative conceptualization which may be used to consolidate and interpret seemingly disparate research streams. Second, meta‐analysis is used to explore the possibility that positive humor is associated with: employee health (e.g. burnout, health) and work‐related outcomes (e.g. performance, job satisfaction, withdrawal); with perceived supervisor/leader effectiveness (e.g. perceived leader performance, follower approval); and may mitigate the deleterious effects of workplace stress on employee burnout.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors examine the results of prior research using meta‐analysis (k=49, n=8,532) in order to explore humor's potential role in organizational and employee effectiveness.
Findings
Results suggest employee humor is associated with enhanced work performance, satisfaction, workgroup cohesion, health, and coping effectiveness, as well as decreased burnout, stress, and work withdrawal. Supervisor use of humor is associated with enhanced subordinate work performance, satisfaction, perception of supervisor performance, satisfaction with supervisor, and workgroup cohesion, as well as reduced work withdrawal.
Research limitations/implications
Profitable avenues for future research include: clarifying the humor construct and determining how current humor scales tap this construct; exploring the role of negative forms of humor, as they likely have different workplace effects; the role of humor by coworkers; a number of potential moderators of the humor relationships, including type of humor, job level and industry type; and personality correlates of humor use and appreciation.
Practical implications
The authors recommend caution be exercised when attempting to cultivate humor in the workplace, as this may raise legal concerns (e.g. derogatory or sexist humor), but efforts aimed at encouraging self‐directed/coping humor may have the potential to innocuously buffer negative effects of workplace stress.
Originality/value
Although psychologists have long recognized the value of humor for general well‐being, organizational scholars have devoted comparatively little research to exploring benefits of workplace humor. Results underscore benefits of humor for work outcomes, encourage future research, and offer managerial insights on the value of creating a workplace context supportive of positive forms of humor.