Manuela Morf, Alexandra Arnold and Bruno Staffelbach
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how temporary agency workers’ job attitudes are influenced by the fulfilment of the psychological contract; a set of employees’…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how temporary agency workers’ job attitudes are influenced by the fulfilment of the psychological contract; a set of employees’ expectations, formed with the temporary work agency and its client: the host organisation.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper estimated moderated regressions with data collected through an online survey of 352 temporary agency workers employed by a large temporary work agency in Switzerland.
Findings
Results suggest that temporary agency workers’ job satisfaction, commitment towards the host organisation, and intentions to stay with the temporary work agency relate positively to the fulfilment of the psychological contract by both organisations. Additionally, reported spill-over-effects imply that the fulfilment of the psychological contract by one organisation moderates job attitudes towards the other organisations.
Research limitations/implications
Results of the explorative study reveal that future research should consider the interrelated nature of psychological contracts in working arrangements when multiple employers are involved. However, for more generalisable results, a greater international sample, including different temporary work agencies, would be favourable.
Practical implications
Findings will help temporary work agencies to better understand how they rely on host organisations to fulfil the temporary agency workers’ psychological contract to attract and retain temporary agency workers.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature in the understudied field of non-traditional work arrangements as one of the few to examine these spill-over-effects both empirically and theoretically.
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Manuela Morf, Anja Feierabend and Bruno Staffelbach
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between task variety and counterproductive work behavior (CWB) and the relationship between change in task variety and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between task variety and counterproductive work behavior (CWB) and the relationship between change in task variety and change in CWB. CWB is proposed as being a behavior that serves as an outlet by which employees can express displeasure and acts as a substitute for a lack of interest when task variety is low.
Design/methodology/approach
This study analyzed survey data that were collected at two points in time (T1 and T2) from 515 employees with different occupations working in Switzerland.
Findings
Task variety at T1 negatively related to organizational CWB (CWB-O) at T2 and interpersonal CWB (CWB-I) at T2. Task variety at T1 was also related to a change in CWB-O and a change in CWB-I. However, change in task variety showed a non-significant relationship to change in CWB-O and change in CWB-I.
Research limitations/implications
Results indicated that employees tend to respond with CWB when task variety is permanently low and that CWB may even increase over time. Further studies that examine the dynamics between task variety and CWB are therefore recommended.
Practical implications
Findings inform the practice on the potentially harmful effects of unstimulating work designs and therefore have implications for how to better prevent CWB.
Originality/value
The two-wave data collection allowed for differentiation between the effect of the baseline level of task variety at T1 on CWB at T2 and the effect of a change in task variety on a change in CWB.
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Dan Florin Stanescu, Alexandra Zbuchea and Florina Pinzaru
This study aims to explore the relationship between transformational leadership and employees’ innovative work behaviour (IWB), additionally examining the mediating effect of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the relationship between transformational leadership and employees’ innovative work behaviour (IWB), additionally examining the mediating effect of psychological empowerment.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a cross-sectional design, data being collected from 139 employees through the following structured questionnaires: Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, IWB and psychological empowerment instrument.
Findings
The findings revealed a positive and significant relationship between transformational leadership and both IWB and psychological empowerment, as well as the fact that transformational leadership, through psychological empowerment, fosters IWB.
Research limitations/implications
One of the main weaknesses of this study is the use of a cross-sectional design, which does not allow for an assessment of the cause–effect relation. Also, using a self-reported questionnaire might have brought common method bias.
Practical implications
The paper shows that, by creating a greater sense of empowerment, leaders could have a higher positive effect on employee’s levels of IWB. Moreover, empowerment acts as one of the most important and effective processes within the transformational leadership framework in fostering innovation among followers.
Originality/value
This study extends the empirical research on transformational leadership and its influence on employees’ work attitudes. Given the scant research on the role of the psychological empowerment, the results of this study confirm not only its mediating role but also the need for further studies in this direction.
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Alexandra L. Ferrentino, Meghan L. Maliga, Richard A. Bernardi and Susan M. Bosco
This research provides accounting-ethics authors and administrators with a benchmark for accounting-ethics research. While Bernardi and Bean (2010) considered publications in…
Abstract
This research provides accounting-ethics authors and administrators with a benchmark for accounting-ethics research. While Bernardi and Bean (2010) considered publications in business-ethics and accounting’s top-40 journals this study considers research in eight accounting-ethics and public-interest journals, as well as, 34 business-ethics journals. We analyzed the contents of our 42 journals for the 25-year period between 1991 through 2015. This research documents the continued growth (Bernardi & Bean, 2007) of accounting-ethics research in both accounting-ethics and business-ethics journals. We provide data on the top-10 ethics authors in each doctoral year group, the top-50 ethics authors over the most recent 10, 20, and 25 years, and a distribution among ethics scholars for these periods. For the 25-year timeframe, our data indicate that only 665 (274) of the 5,125 accounting PhDs/DBAs (13.0% and 5.4% respectively) in Canada and the United States had authored or co-authored one (more than one) ethics article.
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Adam T. Schmidt, Jacquelynn Duron, Becca K. Bergquist, Alexandra C. Bammel, Kelsey A. Maloney, Abigail Williams-Butler and Gerri R. Hanten
Though prosocial attributes are linked to positive outcomes among justice-involved adolescents and are a mainstay of numerous interventions, few measures have been specifically…
Abstract
Purpose
Though prosocial attributes are linked to positive outcomes among justice-involved adolescents and are a mainstay of numerous interventions, few measures have been specifically designed to evaluate prosocial functioning within this population. Although multiple instruments measuring aspects of prosocial behavior exist, these instruments were not designed to measure prosocial behaviors among youth in juvenile justice settings. This study aims to provide a preliminary validation of a new measure of prosocial attributes (the Prosocial Status Inventory – PSI), which was designed to comprehensively evaluate in greater depth the prosocial functioning of urban, justice-involved youth.
Design/methodology/approach
Youth (n = 51) were recruited as part of a larger study and were participants in a community-based mentoring program in a large, urban county in the Southern USA. Youth completed the PSI at baseline prior to their participation in the community-based mentoring program. The authors obtained follow-up data on recidivism from the county juvenile justice department.
Findings
PSI scores were positively related to a lower rate of recidivism and a decrease in offending frequency over a 12-month follow-up period.
Originality/value
The current findings complement previous work, suggesting that prosocial attributes are measurable and related to important outcomes among justice-involved youth and support the utility of strengths-based treatment approaches. Moreover, it provides preliminary evidence of the utility of a new self-report measure to assess these traits within a juvenile justice population.
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Donald C. Barnes, Jessica Mesmer-Magnus, Lisa L. Scribner, Alexandra Krallman and Rebecca M. Guidice
The unprecedented dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced firms to re-envision the customer experience and find new ways to ensure positive service encounters. This context…
Abstract
Purpose
The unprecedented dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced firms to re-envision the customer experience and find new ways to ensure positive service encounters. This context has underscored the reality that drivers of customer delight in a “traditional” context are not the same in a crisis context. While research has tended to identify hedonic need fulfillment as key to customer well-being and, ultimately, to invoking customer delight, the majority of studies were conducted in inherently positive contexts, which may limit generalizability to more challenging contexts. Through the combined lens of transformative service research (TSR) and psychological theory on hedonic and eudaimonic human needs, we evaluate the extent to which need fulfillment is the root of customer well-being and that meeting well-being needs ultimately promotes delight. We argue that in crisis contexts, the salience of needs shifts from hedonic to eudaimonic and the extent to which service experiences fulfill eudaimonic needs determines the experience and meaning of delight.
Design/methodology/approach
Utilizing the critical incident technique, this research surveyed 240 respondents who were asked to explain in detail a time they experienced customer delight during the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed their responses according to whether these incidents reflected the salience of hedonic versus eudaimonic need fulfillment.
Findings
The results support the notion that the salience of eudaimonic needs become more pronounced during times of crisis and that service providers are more likely to elicit perceptions of delight when they leverage meeting eudaimonic needs over the hedonic needs that are typically emphasized in traditional service encounters.
Originality/value
We discuss the implications of these findings for integrating the TSR and customer delight literatures to better understand how service experiences that meet salient needs produce customer well-being and delight. Ultimately, we find customer delight can benefit well-being across individual, collective and societal levels.
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Alexandra C. Y. Leung, Rachel W. Y. Yee and Eric S. C. Lo
Fashion consciousness is an important consumers' attribute affecting their purchase of luxury products. The existing research mainly focuses on certain factors of fashion…
Abstract
Fashion consciousness is an important consumers' attribute affecting their purchase of luxury products. The existing research mainly focuses on certain factors of fashion consciousness in fashion markets. This research investigates the psychological and social factors of fashion consciousness in the luxury fashion market. Specifically, we analyse how these factors affect fashion consciousness and purchase behaviour among consumers in three age groups of 18-23, 24-29 and 30-35. We find that self-monitoring and self-concept affect fashion consciousness among consumers of the age group of 18-23. We also show that media exposure has a positive effect on fashion consciousness in the age groups of 24-29 and 30-35. Accordingly, we suggest that retailers come up with proper advertising messages to influence the self-monitoring and self-concept of young consumers around the twenties. We also recommend selecting appropriate channels to enhance the exposure of luxury fashion information to consumers in their mid-twenties to mid-thirties.
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Alexandra-Codruţa Bîzoi and Cristian-Gabriel Bîzoi
Purpose: This study critically explores the phenomenon of corporate greenwashing within global supply chains, aiming to dissect the ethical dilemmas corporations face when their…
Abstract
Purpose: This study critically explores the phenomenon of corporate greenwashing within global supply chains, aiming to dissect the ethical dilemmas corporations face when their environmental claims do not match their practices. It seeks to understand how corporations navigate the tension between appearing environmentally responsible and implementing sustainable practices.
Design/Methodology/Approach: Employing a qualitative analysis framework, the study analyses notable instances of corporate greenwashing case studies. It applies ethical theories such as Utilitarianism, Deontological Ethics, Corporate Responsibility (CR), Global Economic Inequality, stakeholder and shareholder theories, short-term gains versus long-term sustainability, Ethical sourcing, and Economic Realism to evaluate the decisions and behaviours of corporations. This approach allows for a comprehensive examination of greenwashing practices’ motives, strategies, and outcomes.
Findings: The research uncovers that greenwashing is often a result of the complex interplay between market pressures for environmental responsibility and the challenges of genuinely implementing sustainable practices. Corporations frequently use greenwashing to meet consumer expectations without substantially changing their operations.
Research Limitations/Implications: The study acknowledges limitations, primarily due to the selection of case studies and the subjective interpretation of ethical theories. Future research could expand the range of case studies and explore additional ethical frameworks for a more nuanced understanding of greenwashing.
Practical Implications: The findings highlight the need for stricter regulatory frameworks and transparent reporting standards to discourage greenwashing. It suggests that corporations adopt a more integrated approach to sustainability, aligning their environmental claims with actual practices.
Social Implications: By shedding light on the discrepancy between corporate environmental claims and actions, the study calls for greater corporate accountability. It emphasises the role of informed consumer advocacy in demanding transparency and genuine sustainability efforts from corporations.
Originality/Value: This paper contributes to the business ethics literature by providing a detailed analysis of greenwashing within global supply chains through ethical theories. It offers a novel perspective on the ethical considerations involved in corporate environmental claims, enhancing our understanding of corporate sustainability challenges.
Plain Language Summary: This research analyses companies that make themselves seem more environmentally friendly than they are – a practice known as greenwashing. By examining real-life examples and using ethical principles, the study reveals why companies do this and how it can mislead consumers. It suggests that to stop greenwashing, there should be stricter rules and more transparent reporting about companies’ environmental actions. The research also encourages people to demand truthfulness from companies about their environmental efforts, highlighting the importance of genuine sustainability over mere appearances.
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Caitlin E. McClurg, Jaimie L. Chen, Alexandra Petruzzelli and Amanda L. Thayer
This chapter reviews the challenges associated with measuring and studying cohesion over time and provides guidance for addressing these issues in future research.
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter reviews the challenges associated with measuring and studying cohesion over time and provides guidance for addressing these issues in future research.
Methodology/approach
We reviewed the team cohesion and team development literatures, including definitions and conceptualizations of cohesion as well as the seminal team development taxonomies. We then integrated these literatures to identify the challenges and potential solutions for studying team cohesion as a dynamic construct.
Findings
We identified five key challenges – theoretical and practical in nature – that researchers and organizations often face in capturing and studying team cohesion emergence: problems with self-report measures; measuring multiple dimensions of cohesion at appropriate times; failure to combine multilevel and temporal frameworks; and tracking of team and organizational events. In response, we provide actions that researchers can take in addressing these challenges: using indirect/unobtrusive measures; using social network analysis; studying “swift cohesion”; adopting an event system theory framework; and applying agent-based modeling.
Research implications
This comprehensive chapter provides recommendations for studying team cohesion as a dynamic, emergent process rather than as a static state. We discuss the challenges pertaining to study design and measurement when capturing team cohesion emergence, and provide theoretical and practical ideas to guide researchers in overcoming these issues in future research.
Practical implications
This chapter suggests tools and data collection techniques that organizations and practitioners can use for measuring and improving team cohesion, such as using unobtrusive measures and timing measurement according to team and organizational events.