Ruth McKay, Aareni Uruthirapathy and Yulia Pankova
Canadian organizations started addressing workplace bullying and harassment in the 1990s. Proactive organizations have written policies, trained managers and employees, created a…
Abstract
Purpose
Canadian organizations started addressing workplace bullying and harassment in the 1990s. Proactive organizations have written policies, trained managers and employees, created a complaint process and conducted surveys. The objective of this study is to examine how effective these efforts by Canadian organizations have been.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for this research were collected through a survey administered to employees in Canadian workplaces (n = 1,000), including managers (n = 461). A stratified sample was used to facilitate a good representation of region, age, gender, sector and occupational level of working Canadians.
Findings
The survey indicated that some Canadian organizations continue to be negligent in addressing workplace bullying and harassment and that the problem is particular to large organizations, young employees and the private sector.
Research limitations/implications
The survey identifies that some Canadian organizations are still negligent in addressing workplace bullying and harassment. The problem is particular to large organizations, young employees and the public sector.
Practical implications
Senior and middle-level managers need to be aware that workplace bullying and harassment continue to occur in their work environment. Further, given that managers at times defer excessively to authority, the human resource (HR) department has a vital role in addressing workplace bullying and harassment. HR needs to establish a reputation among employees that their complaints will be taken seriously, and corrective actions will be taken.
Originality/value
This study examined the nature of workplace bullying and harassment in the Canadian context. The study found that organizations are still neglecting issues of workplace bullying and harassment and that there is a disconnect between what employees are experiencing and what senior management is professing is the situation. This disconnect is a continued liability for organizations.
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Keywords
Aareni Uruthirapathy and Lorraine Dyke
General causality orientation is a mini-theory within the self-determination theory (STD). The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of general causality orientations…
Abstract
Purpose
General causality orientation is a mini-theory within the self-determination theory (STD). The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of general causality orientations (autonomous, controlled, and impersonal) on perceived stress and self-esteem among students in a women-only college.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through a questionnaire administered to students (n = 132) of a small women-only university in Roanoke, Virginia, USA. The survey included questions on the three general causality orientations, perceived stress, and self-esteem; the survey also included questions on student satisfaction, financial resources, and academic performance, used as control variables in the study.
Findings
Autonomous orientation was not significantly related to self-esteem or perceived stress. Controlled orientation negatively influences self-depreciation. Finally, impersonal orientation positively influenced self-depreciation and negatively affected self-confidence.
Practical implications
Faculty and administrators in women-only universities should be encouraged to implement programs that strengthen the sense of optimism among female students. Student support services that emphasize enhancing autonomous orientation could be even more helpful by offering interventions that help students overcome their impersonal orientation.
Originality/value
While previous studies have concentrated on autonomous orientation, this study provides recommendations for overcoming impersonal orientation among female undergraduate students in women-only colleges to enhance self-esteem and reduce stress.
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Aareni A Uruthirapathy and Gerald G. Grant
Information technology (IT) professionals and their intentions to leave an organization have been studied by researchers; however, these studies do not compare the turnover…
Abstract
Purpose
Information technology (IT) professionals and their intentions to leave an organization have been studied by researchers; however, these studies do not compare the turnover intentions of IT professionals with non-IT professionals from the same institution. The purpose of this paper is to examine how IT and non-IT job professionals relate to motivational and social job characteristics and their impact on job satisfaction, job performance and turnover intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from IT-shared services employees through a survey and quantitative analyses were performed.
Findings
Among the motivational job characteristics, IT professionals experienced greater task significance than the non-IT job holders. With social job characteristics, IT professionals had greater outside interaction than the non-IT professionals. However, the non-IT professionals had greater intentions to leave the IT organization than the IT professionals. Additionally, the study examined the differences of the job characteristics and job outcomes among transactional, transformational, and professional advisory work groups. The professionals and advisory group differed from the other groups in terms of feedback from the job, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are based on a small sample. However, it highlights some unique differences in how IT and non-IT job occupants perceive job characteristics and job outcomes.
Originality/value
This study compares job characteristics and job outcomes of IT and non-IT job occupations in the same IT work environment.
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Moses N. Kiggundu and Aareni Uruthirapathy
Exploration of the policy reforms necessary to strengthen Canada's competitiveness among world trading economies. The paper aims to compare Canada's competitiveness with two…
Abstract
Purpose
Exploration of the policy reforms necessary to strengthen Canada's competitiveness among world trading economies. The paper aims to compare Canada's competitiveness with two economic partners, the USA and the UK, and two emerging economies, China and India.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from the annual Global Competitiveness Reports (GCRs) were used to compare Canada with the other countries.
Findings
Canada requires a national strategy to create a generation of Canadian innovators, entrepreneurs and executives with a global mindset.
Research limitations/implications
Although Canada has many global trading partners, the paper compares Canadian competitiveness with only two economic partners and two emerging economics. Also, only data from the GCRs are used. Other measures of competitiveness need to be taken into consideration to better understand Canada's global and business competitiveness.
Originality/value
This paper provides new insights into Canada's lack of global competitiveness. The main reasons for this lack of competitiveness are analysed and recommendations are provided for Canadian policy makers to enhance competitiveness.