Emilie Raymond, Christophe Tremblay and Jean-Guy Lebel
This paper aims to share a practical evaluation tool intended to guide and support the participation of older people in PAR projects. Participatory action research (PAR) studies…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to share a practical evaluation tool intended to guide and support the participation of older people in PAR projects. Participatory action research (PAR) studies with older adults have been increasing over the past ten years. Scientific evidence provides key principles for PAR projects to achieve meaningful participation by older people; however, respecting the ideals of PAR is not always straightforward.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents a case study that evaluated the involvement of nonacademic researchers in a PAR project using an evaluation tool derived from a literature review of PAR undertaken with this population (Corrado et al., 2020). The study goals were first to assess the assets and limits of the older co-researchers’ participation within the PAR project, and second to provide a revised version of the evaluation tool to support future PAR with older people. First, the authors designed an evaluation tool for nonacademic participation in PAR studies by older people that covers three main themes: older people positioned as prominent research partners; symmetrical power relations between academic and nonacademic researchers; and commitment regarding inclusiveness and long-term collaboration. Second, the authors performed an evaluation using this tool within the Active Aging with Dignity PAR Project.
Findings
Third, the authors used the results of this experiment to suggest improvements for an enhanced version of the evaluation tool aiming at supporting fuller involvement of older nonacademic researchers in PAR studies.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge, this evaluative tool is a methodological innovation in gerontology.
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Grégory Jemine, François Pichault and Christophe Dubois
While more and more organizations commit to transformation projects with the aim of redesigning simultaneously their workspaces, work organization, and technologies, the design…
Abstract
Purpose
While more and more organizations commit to transformation projects with the aim of redesigning simultaneously their workspaces, work organization, and technologies, the design process supporting such projects remains largely understudied. This paper examines the political tensions that occur when such processes unfold as well as their implications for project management. By doing so, the paper counterbalances the prescriptive and normative literature on “New Ways of Working” which largely overlooks the political complexity of such projects.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a qualitative study of a triple design process in a media company. Data collection mainly consists of a nine-month process of non-participant observation of weekly meetings held by the strategic group in charge of the project. Semi-structured interviews with members of the executive committee have also been conducted.
Findings
The analysis illustrates how space, organization and technology are gradually designed and structured. Four interconnected and often concealed mechanisms that support triple design processes are identified: political tensions, unexpected twists, conflicting temporalities and arbitration measures.
Originality/value
The originality of the paper lies in breaking down the concept of design in three separate objects – organization, space and technology – and examining how these objects were conjointly problematized by an organization in transformation, whereas existing studies often investigate organization design, space design or technology design in isolation.
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Alexandre J.S. Morin, Christian Vandenberghe, Marie‐Josée Turmel, Isabelle Madore and Christophe Maïano
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possibility of curvilinear patterns of relationships between workplace affective commitment and in‐role performance, organizational…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possibility of curvilinear patterns of relationships between workplace affective commitment and in‐role performance, organizational citizenship behaviors and burnout. As most commitment theories assume strictly linear relations with these outcomes, demonstrating that these positive associations do not hold above some ceiling point in the commitment continuum is potentially important for research and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The possibility of nonlinear relations was examined in a sample of 273 hospital employees.
Findings
The results yielded strong support for the authors' hypotheses. Indeed, most of the relations observed (ten of 15) between affective commitment foci and work outcomes were curvilinear, revealing a ceiling to the positive association between commitment and outcomes. Although these results vary in strength across work outcomes and commitment targets, they reveal that affective commitment has negative associations with employee productivity and psychological health at extreme levels.
Originality/value
Methodologically, these results illustrate the need to systematically explore the true nature of relations among constructs, even in areas where it is assumed to be well known. Practically, these results suggest that, ultimately, moderate levels of commitment may be more beneficial than extremely high levels.
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Monique Aubry and Sylvain Lenfle
The purpose of this paper is to revisit Christophe Midler's contribution through L'auto qui n'existait pas (The car that did not exist), first published in 1993. The paper…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to revisit Christophe Midler's contribution through L'auto qui n'existait pas (The car that did not exist), first published in 1993. The paper summarizes and examines the main themes of the book based on current knowledge and ends with suggestions for future research opportunities.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is grounded in an in‐depth analysis of Midler's book and a one‐hour interview with him.
Findings
Midler argues that projectification is not a temporary managerial fashion; quite the contrary. At Renault, he witnessed a profound industrial transformation founded on collective learning. Central to this transformation was the establishment of project management as an engine of renewal within the permanent organisation.
Practical implications
Revisiting Midler's work on projectification generates new insights into understanding the current situation confronting organisations in all industries as they evolve in their approach to creativity and innovation.
Originality/value
Two original facets of Midler's seminal work still influence the field of project management. First, he provided a global understanding of the creative organisation. He described, analysed and explained how an organisation reinvents itself, not only in terms of project management, but more globally, from a permanent organisation perspective. Recent research developments focus on project‐oriented organisations, program and portfolio management, organisational project management, and others. Midler's work should be more widely known and referenced for its capacity to conceptualise what simultaneously happens in multiple, concurrent, organisational terms as a project is carried out (e.g. financial, commercial, technological and career development). Second, Midler conducted a study from within an organisation for four years. In this respect, he could be seen as a precursor of recent project management research practices.
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Zeyad H. Almutawa, Nuttawuth Muenjohn and Jiaying Zhang
Service quality (SQ) is considered an organizational performance indicator that largely depends on employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
Service quality (SQ) is considered an organizational performance indicator that largely depends on employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of employees’ citizenship behavior (OCB) on the relationship between affective commitment (AC) and SQ.
Design/methodology/approach
The current study has relied on two questionnaire surveys to gather cross-sectional data from 800 employees and 400 customers of telecommunications companies in Kuwait. Structural equation modeling via AMOS22 was used to build and test the hypothesized model.
Findings
The results show that OCB significantly and positively affects SQ dimensions except empathy which demonstrates insignificant association. Also, AC was found to be a strong predictor of OCB. More interestingly, the results show that AC does not show any effect on either responsiveness or empathy, while a partial mediation was found between AC and tangibles, reliability, and assurance.
Practical implications
The findings of the current study provide managers and practitioners with empirically validated model of how SQ can be achieved. The model indicates that managers need to increase the level of citizenship behavior through leveraging their employees’ AC, which in turn can result in a positive perception of SQ.
Originality/value
This study is considered among the first to investigate the causal effect of both OCB and AC on achieving high SQ. Also, the findings of this study further support the indirect relationship of AC and SQ. Moreover, this study is unique in its attempt to link both AC and OCB to the dimensions of SQ. Finally, this study is considered the first empirical investigation of SQ in the telecommunication sector in Kuwait.
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Wolfgang Buchholz, Richard Cornes and Dirk Rübbelke
In this paper we show how the Kolm triangle method, which is a standard tool for visualizing allocations in a public good economy, can also be used to provide a diagrammatical…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper we show how the Kolm triangle method, which is a standard tool for visualizing allocations in a public good economy, can also be used to provide a diagrammatical exposition of matching mechanisms and their effects on public good supply and welfare. In particular, we describe, on the one hand, for which income distributions interior matching equilibria result, and on the other hand, for which income distributions the agents voluntarily participate in a matching mechanism. As a novel result, we especially show that the “participation zone” is larger than the “interiority zone”
Design/methodology/approach
We employ the Kolm triangle approach, which has – compared to most other graphical methods for representing allocations in a public good economy – the advantage that it allows for showing the aggregate budget constraint, the levels of considered agents' private consumption, and the level of public good supply directly in the same diagram.
Findings
The Kolm triangle method can be used to visualize important effects of matching in an elegant way, so basically the increase of public good supply through matching. The interiority of matching depends on the income distribution and especially, on how the “interiority zone” is shrinking when the matching rate increases. Moreover, we were able to delimit the “participation zone” in the Kolm triangle. An important and novel insight is that the participation zone is larger than the interiority zone, which means that also corner matching equilibria in which only one agent makes a positive flat contribution to the public good may make both considered agents better off.
Research limitations/implications
Corner matching equilibria in which only one agent makes a positive flat contribution to the public good may improve all considered agents' welfare. How this welfare effect can be generalized to the case of different utility functions and matching rates will be an issue of future research.
Practical implications
The examined matching mechanism finds application in many policy fields where public good undersupply is pending. International climate policy is one of these fields of application, for example.
Originality/value
The Kolm triangle method has been particularly helpful to describe the Nash equilibrium in the case of non-cooperative public good provision and to compare this outcome with Pareto efficient public good allocations. Furthermore, the Kolm triangle approach facilitates the analysis of mechanisms for attaining an efficient public good allocation like the Lindahl equilibrium as well as the study of preconditions and limitations faced by such mechanisms. An important and novel insight of our study is that the participation zone is larger than the interiority zone.