John W. Lounsbury, Eric D. Sundstrom, Lucy W. Gibson, James M. Loveland and Adam W. Drost
The purpose of this paper is to empirically compare managers with employees in other occupations on Big Five and narrow personality traits to identify a distinctive personality…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically compare managers with employees in other occupations on Big Five and narrow personality traits to identify a distinctive personality profile for managers.
Design/methodology/approach
An archival data set representing employees in a wide range of business sectors and organizations was utilized to compare trait scores of 9,138 managers with 76,577 non-managerial employees. Profile analysis (PA) with MANOVA and analysis of covariance was used to compare managers and non-managers on Big Five traits Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Emotional Stability; and narrow traits Assertiveness, Optimism, Work Drive, and Customer Service Orientation.
Findings
As hypothesized, compared to non-managers, managers had significantly higher scores across nine traits, all of which correlated significantly with managerial career satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications
Although job tenure and managerial level are not examined, the findings align with managerial competence models, the Attraction-Selection-Attrition model, and vocational theory and raise questions for research on the adaptive value of these traits for managers’ satisfaction and effectiveness.
Practical implications
The results carry practical implications for selection, placement, training, career planning for managers, and particularly for their professional development.
Social implications
A distinctive personality profile for managers clarifies the occupational identity of managers, which contributes to public and professional understanding of managers and their roles.
Originality/value
This study is original in reporting an empirical, theoretically grounded personality profile of managers that includes both Big Five and narrow traits.
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John W. Lounsbury, Nancy Foster, Patrick C. Carmody, Ji Young Kim, Lucy W. Gibson and Adam W. Drost
The purpose of the present study is to identify key personality traits which distinguish customer service (CS) employees from other occupations and are related to their career…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the present study is to identify key personality traits which distinguish customer service (CS) employees from other occupations and are related to their career satisfaction. As hypothesized, 2,610 CS employees were differentiated from other occupational groups by higher levels of conscientiousness, customer service orientation, and lower tough‐mindedness. Conscientiousness, customer service orientation, emotional stability, extraversion, and tough‐mindedness were significantly, positively related to customer service representatives’ (CSRs’) career satisfaction. Results are discussed in terms of the adaptive value of these traits for the recruitment, selection, and management of customer service employees.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for this study were extracted from an archival database containing information on individuals’ many different occupations and industries, including 2,641 CSRs and 76,788 individuals in other occupations. Measures included demographic items and the Big Five personality traits as well six other narrow personality traits.
Findings
As hypothesized, CS employees differed from other occupational groups by having higher levels of conscientiousness, customer service orientation, and lower tough‐mindedness. Also, conscientiousness, customer service orientation, emotional stability, extraversion, and tough‐mindedness were significantly, positively related to career satisfaction. Using hierarchical multiple regression, the Big Five traits (Openness, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and Emotional Stability) accounted for 22 percent of the variance in CSR career satisfaction, while the narrow traits added an additional 6 percent.
Originality/value
The findings of the present study are original in that the authors used a relatively large sample to identify key personality traits which distinguish CS employees from other occupations and are related to their career satisfaction. An empirically validated personality profile of CS workers was presented. The typical CS representative is more: conscientious, optimistic, intrinsically motivated, tender‐minded, deferential, conventional, willing to serve other people, and reluctant to work long hours or become workaholics.
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Tim Mazzarol, Geoffrey N. Soutar and Douglas Adam
We outline the design and development of a diagnostic tool for use in health care organisations to assist in benchmarking the management of human resources. Key areas of focus…
Abstract
We outline the design and development of a diagnostic tool for use in health care organisations to assist in benchmarking the management of human resources. Key areas of focus were the way in which employees perceived their work roles, work loads, satisfaction with their work life and their views of clients, peers, front line supervisors and senior management. Using a cross-section of metropolitan and regional health services, the study used focus groups and large-scale survey research to capture data on these employee perceptions. Principal component analysis identified a series of ‘factors’ associated with the key elements found within human resource management (HRM) frameworks. The diagnostic tool we developed offers a way of measuring employees’ perceptions of their work environment and offers managers within large health care service organisations a potentially useful tool for benchmarking human resources.
Although co-creation draws attention from researchers and practitioners, the concept is theoretically discussed, and it is not known enough how to measure co-created value (CCV…
Abstract
Purpose
Although co-creation draws attention from researchers and practitioners, the concept is theoretically discussed, and it is not known enough how to measure co-created value (CCV) substantially at service encounters. This study aims to conceptualize CCV from the service-dominant (S-D) logic perspective and develop a CCV scale for hospitality services.
Design/methodology/approach
In addition to the conventional psychometric procedure for scale development, this study combined text-mining techniques and interviews to generate items to capture the concept of CCV comprehensively. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted using two different surveys. Moreover, structural equation modeling was performed to test concurrent validity.
Findings
The study developed a CCV scale, including four sub-dimensions: CCV-in-use, CCV-in-interaction, CCV-in-involvement and CCV-in-experience. The validity test results demonstrated that the new scale effectively measured CCV in a hospitality setting.
Research limitations/implications
The multidimensional constructs and the scale that this study developed will contribute to empirical research and improve understanding of CCV at the service encounter. Moreover, managers can enhance their competitive advantages by identifying and evaluating factors to facilitate CCV.
Originality/value
The study reconceptualized CCV, drawing on a resource-based view from S-D logic, and developed a scale to measure the degree to which customers perceive CCV. Furthermore, it achieved methodological advancement in adopting text mining of online reviews for the scale development process.
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Monalisa Mahapatra and Dianne P. Ford
This study aims to examine a common failure in knowledge sharing, called disengagement from knowledge sharing (DKS), and investigates how technostress may contribute to this…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine a common failure in knowledge sharing, called disengagement from knowledge sharing (DKS), and investigates how technostress may contribute to this unintentional withholding of knowledge for knowledge workers. The authors apply the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model to explain the dual path of technostress creators and inhibitors on DKS via burnout and job engagement. The authors also examine how the pandemic and the changes in remote work and information and communication technology (ICT)-related stress may have impacted DKS.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a time-lag survey, two independent samples of knowledge workers who use information and communication technologies for their jobs were surveyed during early 2020 and mid-2021. Analyses were completed with partial least squares-structural equation modelling.
Findings
Technostress (via the JD-R model) explained DKS. Technostress creators were positively associated with burnout, which was in turn positively related to DKS. Technostress inhibitors were positively associated with job engagement, which in turn was also positively related to disengagement to knowledge sharing. Technostress inhibitors were negatively associated with burnout. Results from the multigroup analysis indicated that technostress inhibitors had a stronger relationship with engagement pre-pandemic than mid-pandemic.
Originality/value
This research addresses a more common source of knowledge sharing failures and illustrates how ICTs may impact this DKS via burnout and job engagement. In addition, this research captures a change in relationships associated with the pandemic.
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Joshua D. Bazzy, Adam R. Smith and Teresa Harrison
The purpose of this paper is to test a theoretical model examining the potential impact of abstract thinking on entrepreneurial intentions (EI). The impact of perceived…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to test a theoretical model examining the potential impact of abstract thinking on entrepreneurial intentions (EI). The impact of perceived desirability of entrepreneurship on the relationship between abstraction and intentions was also examined.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 155 participants completed measures of abstraction, self-efficacy, desirability and EI. Hierarchical regression was used. A bootstrapping approach was utilized to test for mediation.
Findings
High levels of abstraction were positively related to EI, while also interacting with self-efficacy. High levels of abstraction counteracted otherwise low levels of self-efficacy, resulting in subsequently higher intentions. The perceived desirability of entrepreneurship mediated the relationship between abstraction and EI.
Research limitations/implications
The scope of analysis and student population sample may limit generalizability.
Practical implications
The results identify a cognitive process that may help individuals overcome feasibility concerns. Entrepreneurial training programs might choose to instruct individuals that, when encountering a roadblock, they should focus on their ideals and the bigger picture rather than being discouraged by the challenges of the process.
Originality/value
The results provide insight into the psychological processes that lead individuals to become entrepreneurs. The study helps in explaining the mechanism by which a tendency toward abstract thinking leads to stronger EI and identifies an additional antecedent to individuals’ perceptions of desirability toward entrepreneurship.
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Jessie George and Stephanie Wallio
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between distributive justice, procedural justice, and turnover intentions for Millennial employees working in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between distributive justice, procedural justice, and turnover intentions for Millennial employees working in the public accounting environment.
Design/methodology/approach
Data collection utilized an online survey sent to members of a regional certified public accountant organization (n=75).
Findings
Lower levels of both distributive and procedural justice predicted higher turnover intentions, controlling for gender and job tenure. Procedural justice was found to have a stronger relationship with turnover intentions than distributive justice for Millennial public accountants.
Practical implications
The public accounting industry is facing a crisis based on the shortage of staff and senior level accountants, which are primarily Millennial employees. The study results have practical implications for public accounting firms. The findings suggest that the fairness of organizational processes could impact Millennials’ turnover intentions more than the fairness of organizational rewards. Employers could use this information to manage levels of procedural justice, which could reduce turnover intentions, actual turnover, and other byproducts of the staffing shortage.
Originality/value
This study examined the relationship between organizational justice and Millennial turnover intentions in public accounting. The study replicated the findings of some prior studies in a purely Millennial sample in the public accounting context and addressed some of the contradictory results seen previously related to organizational justice. As the public accounting industry has an abnormally large percentage of Millennial employees, these findings may be applied to other environments as the Millennial population in the workforce increases.
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Fernanda Leão and Delfina Gomes
In the context of Portugal, this study examines the stereotypes of accountants held by laypeople and how they are influenced by financial crises and accounting scandals.
Abstract
Purpose
In the context of Portugal, this study examines the stereotypes of accountants held by laypeople and how they are influenced by financial crises and accounting scandals.
Design/methodology/approach
To better understand the social images of accountants, the authors adopt a structural approach based on the big five model (BFM) of personality. The authors test this approach on a Portuguese community sample (N = 727) using a questionnaire survey. The results are analyzed considering the socioanalytic theory.
Findings
The results suggest the existence of a stereotype dominated by features of conscientiousness, which is related to the superior performance of work tasks across job types. This feature comprises the core characteristics of the traditional accountant stereotype, which survives in a context challenged by financial scandals and crises. The findings highlight the social acceptance of accountants as an occupational group but do not suggest the possibility of accountants benefiting from the highest levels of social status when considered in relation to the traditional accountant stereotype.
Originality/value
By combining the BFM and the socioanalytic theory, this study provides a unique theoretical approach to better understand the social images of accountants. The findings demonstrate the suitability of using the BFM to study the social perceptions of accountants. They also indicate a paradox based on the survival of the traditional stereotype. This stereotype appears to be resistant to scandals and financial crisis, instead of being impaired, giving rise to another prototype with concerns about integrity.
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Cecil A.L. Pearson and Samir R. Chatterjee
In an increasingly competitive global environment, impacted by a myriad of social, economic and technological forces, managerial roles have, over the past two decades, undergone…
Abstract
In an increasingly competitive global environment, impacted by a myriad of social, economic and technological forces, managerial roles have, over the past two decades, undergone dramatic transformation. Indeed, managers around the world are struggling to redefine their roles and responsibilities against a backdrop of the classic ten roles of managers espoused by Mintzberg in the 1970s, which were based on research in the US context. Yet these traditional roles are still widely taught in universities and training programs, and particularly all over Asia with the spread of Western business education literature. The relevance of the Mintzberg formulation in the Asian context was the aim of this four country study. The study reports the importance and degree of use of the ten Mintzberg managerial roles in the contemporary Asian context. The findings suggest although the roles overlap considerably, they are acted out in a very different manner. Implications for the findings in an international market arena are discussed.