Malgorzata Rozkwitalska, Michal Chmielecki, Sylwia Przytula, Lukasz Sulkowski and Beata Aleksandra Basinska
The purpose of this paper is to show how individuals perceive the quality of intercultural interactions at work in multinational subsidiaries and to address the question of what…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show how individuals perceive the quality of intercultural interactions at work in multinational subsidiaries and to address the question of what actually prevails in their accounts, i.e., “the dark side” or “the bright side.”
Design/methodology/approach
The authors report the findings from five subsidiaries located in Poland and interviews with 68 employees of these companies.
Findings
The “bright side” dominated the interviewees’ accounts. The phenomenon of high social identity complexity or common in-group identity can help explain the findings. The results also shed some new light on the associations between the context of subsidiaries and the perception of the quality of intercultural interactions.
Research limitations/implications
The paper contributes to the literature on cultural diversity and intercultural interactions in multinational subsidiaries. As the “bright side” of interactions was emphasized in the interviews, it particularly supports positive cross-cultural scholarship studies. Yet the explorative research does not allow for a broader generalization of the results.
Practical implications
Managers of multinational corporations (MNCs) should do the following: shape the context of MNCs to influence the dynamics of intercultural interactions and the way they are seen by their employees; emphasize common in-group identity to help their employees to adopt more favorable attitudes toward intercultural interactions; look for individuals with multicultural identity who display more positive approaches to intercultural contacts; place emphasis on recruiting individuals fluent in the MNC’s functional language; offer language training for the staff; and recruit employees with significant needs for development who will perceive more opportunities in intercultural contacts.
Social implications
The research demonstrates that the multicultural workplace of MNCs may be recognized by employees as activating the positive potential of the individuals and organizations that make up a society.
Originality/value
The accounts of intercultural interactions are analyzed to illuminate some significant foundations of how individuals perceive such interactions. The study provides a qualitative lens and highlights the positive approach to intercultural interactions. It may redress the imbalance in prior research and satisfy the need for positive cross-cultural scholarship.
Details
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Beata Aleksandra Basinska, Izabela Wiciak and Anna Maria Dåderman
The policing profession is associated with psychosocial hazard. Fatigue and burnout often affect police officers, and may impair the functioning of the organization and public…
Abstract
Purpose
The policing profession is associated with psychosocial hazard. Fatigue and burnout often affect police officers, and may impair the functioning of the organization and public safety. The relationship between fatigue and burnout may be modified by job-related emotions. While negative emotions have been extensively studied, the role of positive emotions at work is relatively less known. Additionally, there is insufficient knowledge about the role of the intensity of emotions. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of job-related emotions in the relationship between fatigue and burnout in police officers.
Design/methodology/approach
In all, 169 police officers (26 women) completed a test battery that assessed acute fatigue, burnout (Oldenburg Burnout Inventory: exhaustion and disengagement), and emotions (Job-related Affective Well-being Scale).
Findings
Acute fatigue was associated more strongly with exhaustion than with disengagement. Low-arousal negative emotions partially mediated the relationship between fatigue and exhaustion. High-arousal positive and negative emotions were partial mediators between fatigue and disengagement experienced by police officers.
Research limitations/implications
The results show that high-arousal emotions were associated with changes in work motivation, while low-arousal negative emotions reduced energetic ability to work.
Originality/value
This paper enhances understanding of burnout among police officers and the mediating role of emotions. The patterns of the relationships between fatigue, burnout and emotions are discussed in the context of the conservation of resources theory and the tripartite model of anxiety and depression.
Malgorzata Rozkwitalska and Beata Aleksandra Basinska
Since prior research into the effects of multiculturalism on job satisfaction in multinational corporations (MNCs) is rather scant and inconclusive, the purpose of this paper is…
Abstract
Purpose
Since prior research into the effects of multiculturalism on job satisfaction in multinational corporations (MNCs) is rather scant and inconclusive, the purpose of this paper is to review the literature and explain why these results are inconsistent as well as propose a new model aimed at responding to these irregularities.
Design/methodology/approach
In the narrative review of the prior research and the proposed model the authors discuss how multicultural settings influence job satisfaction. A Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS) lens is applied to the model.
Findings
The effect of multiculturalism on job satisfaction is inconsistent, i.e. the authors concluded that multiculturalism may be positively related to the cognitive component, yet it appears to be negatively associated with the affective one. By applying a POS lens, the proposed model broadens the view on job satisfaction and its links with multiculturalism.
Practical implications
The authors’ model suggests that managers in MNCs should both enhance employees’ positive attitudes towards their job as well as foster positive emotions at work. They should exhibit more concern for employees’ affective states and how they affect cross-cultural interactions. Managers of MNCs need to boost thriving as it benefits both employees themselves and their organizations.
Social implications
Since today’s societies are becoming more and more multicultural, there is a need to increase individuals’ awareness of plausible positive outcomes flowing from multiculturalism, exchange views and experience among diverse individuals and ensure the conditions in which individuals can thrive.
Originality/value
By applying a POS lens to the analysis, the authors attempt to intertwine the positives experienced at work that appear to be associated with MNCs’ multicultural settings, namely job satisfaction and emotional balance. The results may contribute to the literature on job satisfaction in MNCs with regard to multiculturalism.