Caroline Gilbert, Sophie De Winne and Luc Sels
Based on role theory, this paper seeks to investigate the impact of HR devolution characteristics (number of devolved HR tasks), characteristics of the HR devolution context…
Abstract
Purpose
Based on role theory, this paper seeks to investigate the impact of HR devolution characteristics (number of devolved HR tasks), characteristics of the HR devolution context (level of support from the HR department, and presence of institutionalised incentives to perform the allotted HR tasks well), and personal characteristics of the front‐line managers (HR competency) on front‐line managers' perceptions of two HR role stressors, i.e. HR role ambiguity and HR role overload.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a sample of 169 front‐line managers from 47 organisations. The results are based on two moderation regression analyses, taking into account the nested nature of the observations.
Findings
The results suggest that the execution of a high number of HR tasks does not lead to the occurrence of HR role stressors among front‐line managers. However, for the HR department it is important to create an appropriate environment in terms of giving HR support and advice to line managers, and training line managers regarding their HR competencies.
Research limitations/implications
This research opens up interesting lines of inquiry regarding the conditions under which the partnership between the HR department and line management can be successful.
Practical implications
The paper provides HR practitioners with insights into the conditions needed to avoid perceptions of HR role stressors among front‐line managers.
Originality/value
The paper applies role theory in a new context, i.e. the HR role of front‐line managers.
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Véra-Line Montreuil, Julie Dextras-Gauthier, Marie-Hélène Gilbert, Justine Dima, Maude Boulet and Caroline Biron
This paper examines the effect of information and communication technology (ICT) hassles on employee job performance and investigates the mediating effect of well-being and the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines the effect of information and communication technology (ICT) hassles on employee job performance and investigates the mediating effect of well-being and the moderating effect of psychosocial safety climate (PSC).
Design/methodology/approach
This study was conducted on a sample of 294 employees working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bootstrap regression and moderated mediation analyses were carried out using the macro PROCESS version 4.2.
Findings
The results suggest that ICT hassles negatively affect well-being, which, in turn, impacts job performance. This study also finds that this indirect relationship worsens when employees are in a weak psychosocial safety climate.
Practical implications
As organizations plan to pursue telecommuting on a massive scale in a post-pandemic world, these findings are crucial in informing organizations of the need to create a healthy work environment and to provide optimal virtual working conditions.
Originality/value
As one of the first studies to examine the relationship between ICT hassles and job performance in an unprecedented telecommuting environment, it emphasizes the importance of rebalancing the demands arising from the use of technologies and the resources available to employees.
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Since Bram Stoker’s tale of Count Dracula struck a chord with a sensation-hungry public, vampires have remained a popular part of horror in cinema. Since the turn of the…
Abstract
Since Bram Stoker’s tale of Count Dracula struck a chord with a sensation-hungry public, vampires have remained a popular part of horror in cinema. Since the turn of the millennium, vampires have now become a mainstay of horror TV. Programmes like True Blood (2008–2014) and The Vampire Diaries (2009–2017) have propelled the vampire into the home.
This chapter will investigate the problematic, but often sympathetic relationship between vampires and humans in The Vampire Diaries.
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The paper raises the question of a persisting masculine dominance in engineering disciplines and the reasons behind it. Rather than addressing gender‐specific socialisation as a…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper raises the question of a persisting masculine dominance in engineering disciplines and the reasons behind it. Rather than addressing gender‐specific socialisation as a cause of the under‐representation of women in engineering education, it aims to focus on the social and cultural practices of engineering itself, asking to what extent these practices are gendered and/or gendering.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in two departments at a technical university in Switzerland: mechanical engineering and materials science. An exemplary piece of field data is analysed in order to generate relevant concepts for characterising and contrasting cultures in engineering disciplines. Results are discussed in the framework of Bourdieu's theory of the scientific field.
Findings
Group culture in materials science values individuality and plurality, hence leaving more scope for gender diversity; group culture in mechanical engineering values the subordination of individual needs to group norms and tends to reproduce features of homosocial male worlds. The results support the hypothesis that disciplinary cultures in engineering are gendered and have a gendering effect of their own.
Research limitations/implications
Case studies in other disciplines and national contexts are needed to broaden the empirical basis of the argument.
Practical implications
Policies to achieve gender balance in higher education should not only aim at supporting women, but also at changing disciplinary cultures.
Originality/value
The paper presents a shift of focus from women's socialisation to gendering practices in engineering disciplines.
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Virginia A. Gilbert, Deborah Jakubs, Carol J. Veitch, Lane Page, Caroline J. Tibbetts, Bessie Carrington and Boyd Childress
South America, Central America and the Caribbean. 1st ed. 1986. $90. London: Europa Publications, Ltd., 1985. Available in North America from Gale Research Co. ISSN 0258‐0661…
Abstract
South America, Central America and the Caribbean. 1st ed. 1986. $90. London: Europa Publications, Ltd., 1985. Available in North America from Gale Research Co. ISSN 0258‐0661. ISBN 0‐946653‐11‐9. OCLC 12956657. This work is a welcome and overdue companion to the Europa volumes on other regions. It combines statistics, analysis, history, maps, directories, and bibliography in one reference tool.
This is paper is concerned with the learning outcomes associated with connectivity through online networks, open online exchange and wider changes associated with contemporary…
Abstract
Purpose
This is paper is concerned with the learning outcomes associated with connectivity through online networks, open online exchange and wider changes associated with contemporary information practices. The theme of connectivity is used here to capture both the detailed specificity of relations that define networks of learners and the ambient effect of wide accessibility to resources and people through open, online forums.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper follows the idea of a network from the ground up, outlining the social network perspective as a way to consider the foundational bases of learning and networks, as well as the effect of ambient influence. The paper addresses the ways learning may be viewed as a social network relation, an interpersonal relationship and an outcome of interaction and connectivity, and how network connectivity can be used as input for design for learning.
Findings
The paper presents a range of perspectives and studies that view learning from a social network and connectivity perspective, emphasizing both the person-to-person connectivity of a learning tie and the impact of contemporary data and information sharing through the dynamics of open contributory practice.
Practical implications
The outcome of connectivity in the service of learning is bound up with digital information practices, including individual practices of search, retrieval, participation, knowledge dissemination, knowledge construction and more. This paper provides a network perspective on learning relations that accommodates analysis in online and offline environments, but incorporates attention to the open, online retrieval and contributory practices that now influence learning practices and which may support design of new learning environments.
Originality/value
This paper offers insight into the way social networks and connectivity combine to show network relations, relationships, outcomes and design input at the actor, network and societal levels.
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Lydia Mähnert, Caroline Meyer, Ulrich R. Orth and Gregory M. Rose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how users on social media view brands with a heritage. Consumers commonly post opinions and accounts of their experiences with brands on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how users on social media view brands with a heritage. Consumers commonly post opinions and accounts of their experiences with brands on social media. Such consumer-generated content may or may not overlap with content desired by brand managers. Drawing from “The medium is the message” paradigm, this study text-mines user narratives on Twitter1 to shed light on the role of social media in shaping public images of brands with heritage through the lens of the stereotype content model.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a data set of almost 80,000 unique tweets on 12 brands across six categories, compares brands high versus low in heritage and combines dictionary-based content analysis with sentiment analysis.
Findings
The results indicate that both user-generated content and sentiment are significantly more positive for brands low rather than high in heritage. Regarding warmth, consumers use significantly more positive words on sociability and fewer negative words on morality for brands low rather than high in heritage. Regarding competence, tweets include more positive words on assertiveness and ability for low-heritage brands. Finally, overall sentiment is more positive for brands low rather than high in heritage.
Practical implications
Important from co-creation and integrated marketing communication perspectives, the findings provide brand managers with actionable insights on how to more effectively use social media.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is among the first to examine user-generated content in a brand heritage context. It demonstrates that heritage brands, with their longevity and strong links to the past, need to be aware of how contemporary social media can detract from their image.
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Caroline Winzenried and Jennifer Coburn
The purpose of this study was twofold: to explore the everyday experiences and interpretations of verbalised self-criticism in emergent adult males (ages 18–25) in social contexts…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was twofold: to explore the everyday experiences and interpretations of verbalised self-criticism in emergent adult males (ages 18–25) in social contexts and, secondly, to explore the utilisation of vignettes in phenomenological research exploring social processes.
Design/methodology/approach
Four Australian male participants participated in semi-structured interviews to share the participants' experiences and sense-making of self-criticism in social contexts. Vignettes of verbalised self-criticism were used to prompt attentive reflection. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyse the data.
Findings
Four superordinate themes emerged from participant responses: (1) searching for context, (2) self-improving or self-attacking, (3) self-criticism as a social tool, and (4) engaging and distancing responses.
Originality/value
This study provides useful insights into how verbalised self-criticism in social contexts was experienced by four emergent adult males. Furthermore, this study provides a working example of how vignettes can be used within an interpretative phenomenological analysis frame to prompt attentive reflection on sensitive, nuanced social phenomenon. Implications for future research are discussed. Further research could use this study's findings to explore female responses to verbalised self-criticism and potential causality between contextual factors and the nature of responses.
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Anne-Karen Hueske and Caroline Aggestam Pontoppidan
During the last two decades, there has been increasing emphasis on higher education institutions as agents promoting and advancing sustainability. This chapter addresses how…
Abstract
During the last two decades, there has been increasing emphasis on higher education institutions as agents promoting and advancing sustainability. This chapter addresses how sustainability is integrated into management education at higher education institutions. It is based on a systematic literature review that teases out governance, education, research, outreach and campus operations (GEROCO) as key elements for embedding sustainability in management education. In addition, it identifies the important role of having an overall governing strategic direction that serves to anchor sustainability. The chapter highlights that sustainability and responsible management education initiatives are interconnected and are complex to embed through the university system.