Deybbi Cuéllar-Molina, Antonia M. García-Cabrera, Ana M. Lucia-Casademunt and Francisco J. Gutiérrez-Pérez
Based on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this paper aims to explore how individual factors, organizational training practices and national values of masculinity and…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this paper aims to explore how individual factors, organizational training practices and national values of masculinity and uncertainty avoidance influence workers’ perceived employability.
Design/methodology/approach
A hierarchical linear model tested the proposed hypotheses among a sample of 26,555 workers from 29 European countries, obtained through the 6th European Work Conditions Survey.
Findings
Results show the influence of individual factors (i.e. level of education, work experience at the current organization, training paid for by employees, etc.), the organization’s training practices and national cultural values on the European workers’ perceived employability. Post hoc analysis also shows that current “person-job fit” moderates the influence of several individual factors, organizational practices and cultural values on perceived employability.
Research limitations/implications
It would be interesting to replicate this study in non-European countries to better understand the effect of national cultural values on perceived employability. Future research should also consider a longitudinal approach to better capture the dynamics of employability over time.
Practical implications
As a complex and increasingly interesting phenomenon in the academic literature on management, this study contributes a deeper understanding of how several factors influence perceived employability. Individuals and organizations should invest in training and development programs that enhance employability, considering individual and cultural factors. Additionally, this research provides insights for policymakers and practitioners aiming to strengthen workforce development and adaptability in Europe.
Originality/value
This study provides a comprehensive framework based on a multilevel approach (individual, organizational and national factors) to understand the antecedents of perceived employability among individuals already employed.
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Antonia Mercedes García-Cabrera, Ana Maria Lucía-Casademunt and Laura Padilla-Angulo
This paper examines how the institutional distance between immigrants' country of residence and country of origin, as well as the regulative and normative aspects of institutions…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines how the institutional distance between immigrants' country of residence and country of origin, as well as the regulative and normative aspects of institutions in immigrants' country of residence, social context variables and individual psycho-behavioural factors, condition immigrants' entrepreneurial motivation (i.e. mainly by necessity, by a combination of necessity and opportunity, or mainly by opportunity), which is in contrast to the previous literature on immigrant entrepreneurship that mainly focuses on micro-level factors.
Design/methodology/approach
By using hierarchical linear regression models to test our hypotheses, the authors analyse 468 first-generation immigrant entrepreneurs settled in 31 European countries using data from the European Working Conditions Survey (6th EWCS; Eurofound, 2015 database) combined with other datasets to derive the macro-level variables (i.e. the Doing Business Project; Hofstede et al., 2010).
Findings
The authors find that distance in the normative aspects of institutions harms entrepreneurial opportunity motivation. At the same time, however, opportunity motivation is likely to benefit from both the normative aspects of institutions that reduce locals' opportunity motivation and the distance in the regulative aspects of institutions.
Originality/value
This article analyses immigrant entrepreneurship in Europe, which has been under-examined in the extant literature, and takes into account the micro-, meso- and macro-level factors affecting the entrepreneurial motivation of immigrants in Europe. This analysis responds to the need already highlighted by previous research to include not only micro-level factors but also meso- and macro-level factors in the analysis of immigrant entrepreneurship (Aliaga-Isla and Rialp, 2013).
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Ana M. Lucia-Casademunt, Deybbi Cuéllar-Molina and Antonia M. García-Cabrera
Organisational change is increasingly important and interesting to study. Change may affect employees’ attitudes and impact on their well-being. In this regard, it is important to…
Abstract
Purpose
Organisational change is increasingly important and interesting to study. Change may affect employees’ attitudes and impact on their well-being. In this regard, it is important to examine how organisations enhance employees’ well-being when the competitive environment requires organisational changes whose implementation could cause well-being to deteriorate. Research suggests that human resource management practices (HRMPs) may have a positive impact on well-being. However, there is little research that analyses how the internal and external contexts of changing organisations may influence the outcome of HRMPs as regards well-being, which is of interest as it pertains to the application of suitable HRMPs in every setting. Thus, to address this research gap, the purpose of this paper is to analyse how employees’ perceptions of HRMPs and support from supervisors enhance well-being, taking into account the national cultural context of organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
Linear regression models tested the proposed hypotheses on a sample of 10,866 employees from 18 European countries who participated in the Fifth European Working Conditions Survey. Of the total sample, 5,646 respondents were involved in substantial restructuring and organisational change.
Findings
Results confirm the importance of national “uncertainty avoidance” values in the choice of the proper HRMPs to enhance employees’ well-being.
Originality/value
The literature highlights that HRMPs and supervisor support have a positive impact on well-being, and it also warns that national culture may condition the outcomes of human resource (HR) interventions. Based on this, the current study analyses how such HR interventions enhance well-being, taking into account national cultural context of organisations in both stable contexts and those involving change.
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Marta Valverde-Moreno, Mercedes Torres-Jimenez and Ana M. Lucia-Casademunt
There is a growing consensus among human resources researchers and professionals that a participative environment can enhance job satisfaction, commitment, employee motivation and…
Abstract
Purpose
There is a growing consensus among human resources researchers and professionals that a participative environment can enhance job satisfaction, commitment, employee motivation and productivity. Moreover, globalization has caused that organizations operate in a huge number of culturally diverse countries. Studies suggest that understanding national culture as a prerequisite to implementing management initiatives such as employee participation in decision-making (PDM) acquires special interest. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of cultural values on PDM in European organisations. The fulfilment of this purpose entails the following specific objectives: to measure the level of PDM in each European country; to examine the relationship between the six cultural dimensions proposed by Hofstede in 2010 (power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/feminity, long term/short term and indulgence) and the PDM level of the organisations studied; and to define the national cultural profile of organisations that promote PDM the most and those that do the least.
Design/methodology/approach
One factor analysis were applied to test the proposed hypotheses on a sample of almost 25,000 workers in 31 European countries (from the 6th European Working Conditions Survey) to identify direct employee PDM corresponding to each organisation included in the sample. Multiple linear regression was performed to test the hypotheses about the relationship between PDM and Hofstede culture values. Previously, a correlation analysis was performed between the independent variables of the regression model to examine the possibility of bias in coefficient significance tests because of multicollinearity. Finally, it presented a ranking of the analysed countries according to their PDM, including the value of their cultural dimensions. This information could be used to define the cultural profile of European participative countries.
Findings
The findings advance our understanding of how culture influencing on employee PDM in European organisations. Indulgence and masculinity are the most influent cultural dimensions. Moreover, results provide the cultural profile of those European countries that promote PDM the most and the least.
Research limitations/implications
The research is based only on the perceptions of workers about their PDM but does not consider the managers’ opinion. Moreover, the document analyses the national culture as a single value shared by all the inhabitants of a country without considering the subcultures existing in it. Furthermore, future research should be conducted to analyse the influence of other conditions (such as activity sector, company size and owner public or private) on PDM–culture relationship.
Practical implications
This study can be aid to managers in understanding the cultural profile of the country where their companies operate and the cultural differences between their employees. In this manner, they could implement the appropriate practices to promote the direct participation of employees in decision-making.
Originality/value
To broaden the knowledge, this is the first study investigating PDM across six cultural dimensions. The globalized and international business environment generates new challenges to multinational organizations that could pursue to increase direct PDM to get its benefits (a higher efficiency, performance, motivation, commitment and loyalty by the employee) in culturally diverse societies. The cultural values of the countries where organizations are located affect direct employee PDM. In particular, in this study, this occurs primarily with the variables masculinity, long-term orientation and indulgence. Moreover, this is a finding of high relevance because there is no empirical evidence in the effect of indulgence and long-term orientation on PDM because they were added later to Hofstede’s values.
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Ana María Lucia‐Casademunt, J. Antonio Ariza‐Montes and Alfonso Carlos Morales‐Gutiérrez†
Employee well‐being (WB) is a strategic reference of prime importance due to its impact on human capital, employee health and quality in working life, factors that are key to…
Abstract
Purpose
Employee well‐being (WB) is a strategic reference of prime importance due to its impact on human capital, employee health and quality in working life, factors that are key to achieving successful organisations. The purpose of the current study is to assess the WB of female managers in the European workplace. The research analyses three dimensions (job satisfaction, comfort and enthusiasm) and the effect of job‐related factors on each one of these.
Design/methodology/approach
The Mental Health and Vitamin models (Warr, 1987) were taken as the starting‐point of the research. An alternative econometric method – an artificial neural network known as extreme learning machine was applied to a sample of 99 female managers collected from the 5th European Working Conditions Survey‐2010
Findings
The results obtained confirm that this methodology is valid to efficiently classify European female managers into those who feel satisfied with their jobs, calm and relaxed, and cheerful and in good spirits, and those who do not. Furthermore, the resulting model identifies the strongest factors important in determining the varied dimensions of occupational WB achieved.
Originality/value
Even today, despite the important contribution women managers make to the management of organisations, they have to face many challenges and overcome serious barriers in achieving and staying in positions of leaderships when compared to their male counterparts.
Propósito
El bienestar laboral constituye un referente estratégico de primer orden por su impacto sobre el capital humano – salud y calidad de vida laboral de los empleados –, en aras de alcanzar organizaciones exitosas. El objetivo del presente artículo es analizar el bienestar laboral a partir de sus tres dimensiones (satisfacción, confort y entusiasmo) de las mujeres que ocupan puestos de dirección en Europa y el efecto de ciertos factores laborales.
Diseño/metodología/enfoque
Se adopta como punto de partida los modelos teóricos de salud mental y vitamínico (Warr, 1987), aplicando un método econométrico novedoso – redes neuronales artificiales –, a una muestra de 99 mujeres directivas extraída de la V Encuesta Europea de Condiciones de Trabajo (2010).
Resultados
Los resultados obtenidos confirman la validez de esta novedosa metodología para clasificar eficazmente a las mujeres directivas que presentan un elevado grado de bienestar laboral. Por otra parte, con el modelo resultante se identifican los factores más determinantes para el logro de cada una de las dimensiones que constituyen el bienestar laboral.
Originalidad
Las mujeres directivas, quienes a pesar de lo mucho que tienen que aportar en la gestión de las organizaciones, aún hoy encuentran que su acceso y permanencia en los puestos de dirección está colmado de desafíos y barreras difíciles de superar en comparación con sus homólogos masculinos.