Christopher D.B. Burt and Stuart C. Carr
The guest editorial seeks to introduce the papers in this special issue, which focus on the contribution which industrial and organizational psychology can make towards poverty…
Abstract
Purpose
The guest editorial seeks to introduce the papers in this special issue, which focus on the contribution which industrial and organizational psychology can make towards poverty reduction. It also aims to suggest future research directions.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper begins by offering a broad conceptualization of how industrial and organizational psychology can frame an approach towards poverty reduction. The second part gives a brief outline of each paper in the special issue.
Findings
This special issue brings together studies which generally focus on aspects of the aid worker experience, addressing adjustment issues for international aid workers, relationships between workers, and the value of self‐organizing and social support.
Practical implications
Factors, which could hinder aid workers from achieving their goals, are a common theme across the papers. Variables, which need to be considered, scales, which could be adopted for measuring key issues, and policy issues, which aid organizations need to consider, are discussed.
Originality/value
The paper highlights how industrial and organizational psychology can contribute to poverty reduction.
Details
Keywords
Simon Kemp, Jessica Richardson and Christopher D.B. Burt
Some charitable organisations market third‐party gifts, in which some good, for example a goat, is given to a developing world beneficiary and at the same time is a present to a…
Abstract
Purpose
Some charitable organisations market third‐party gifts, in which some good, for example a goat, is given to a developing world beneficiary and at the same time is a present to a recipient in the developed world. Little is known about whether such gifts are successful as presents and whether these are a good charitable marketing device. This paper seeks to examine this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
Two studies investigated attitudes towards, and beliefs about, such gifts in possible and actual donors and recipients.
Findings
Third‐party gifts often make acceptable presents, depending on the recipient and occasion. Gifts of specific goods are preferred to gifts of money, particularly when the benefit to the developing world beneficiary is considered. Such gifts also inspire a reasonable degree of trust.
Research limitations/implications
It is not clear how much benefit beneficiaries receive from third‐party gifts or why donors prefer to give specific goods as gifts.
Practical implications
Third‐party gifts appear to be a successful marketing tool and a means by which poverty can be reduced.
Originality/value
This research extends and combines previous research on gifting to the third‐party gift‐giving process and offers charities some insights into how they might use this process to facilitate donations.
Details
Keywords
Christopher D.B. Burt, Alexandra Weststrate, Caroline Brown and Felicity Champion
The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrative model of time management, and in particular develop a scale to measure organizational variables which would facilitate and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrative model of time management, and in particular develop a scale to measure organizational variables which would facilitate and support time management practices. The research also examined whether the time management environment is related to turnover intentions and stress.
Design/methodology/approach
Three studies are reported. Study 1 sampled 262 employees from 20 organizations and these data were used for the initial factor analysis of the time management environment (TiME) scale. Study 2 sampled 205 employees from an aircraft maintenance organization, and these data were used to further refine the factor structure of the TiME scale, to conduct a CFA, examine the relationship between the TiME scale factors and turnover intentions, and to examine the test‐retest reliability of the TiME scale. Study 3 sampled 156 employees across eight organizations, and these data were used to examine the relationship between the TiME scale factors and stress.
Findings
The TiME scale has five factors, and each has acceptable internal consistency and test‐retest reliability. TiME scale factor scores were negatively correlated with both turnover intentions and stress.
Research limitations/implications
The research did not examine the convergent and discriminant validity of the TiME scale.
Practical implications
The TiME scale provides for the assessment of whether an organization's environment is facilitating and supporting its employees' attempts to engage in time management, and can also be used as a measure of transfer climate for time management training interventions.
Originality/value
The TiME scale addresses a gap in the time management literature. It has considerable applied value, and along with our integrative model should allow for the development of a more complex understanding of the time management process.
Details
Keywords
Annette Dunham and Christopher Burt
The aim of this study is to develop a psychometrically sound self-report scale of organizational memory. The scale is planned for use in future research to test the relationship…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to develop a psychometrically sound self-report scale of organizational memory. The scale is planned for use in future research to test the relationship between what employees know and their attitudes to passing on their knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 72 organizational memory scale items representing six hypothesised dimensions of organizational memory were developed and tested with 143 participants using exploratory factor analysis. The resulting five-factor model was tested with a further sample of 288 employees using structural equation modelling, and the test-retest reliability was examined.
Findings
Five factors of the organizational memory scale were identified. These were: socio-political knowledge, job knowledge, external network, history, and industry knowledge. The dimensions correlated with tenure variables often used as proxies for experience. Structural equation modelling confirmed the five-factor model and the scale achieved adequate test-retest reliability.
Research limitations/implications
The five organizational memory factors are not an exhaustive list. While the scale enables employees to evaluate their own organizational memory, it may not necessarily be an accurate indicator of their knowledge.
Practical implications
The scale can be used as a knowledge audit instrument for examining attitudes to mentoring and knowledge sharing, as well as for auditing knowledge that may potentially be lost when experienced employees leave organizations.
Originality/value
The scale is a valid and reliable self-report measure of organizational memory. It is an innovative tool for examining employee attitudes to knowledge sharing initiatives. The scale also recognises the contribution made to organizational memory by those with industry knowledge outside the organization.
Details
Keywords
Jaime Abad Vergara and Dianne Gardner
This study seeks to examine the relationships of stressors, appraisal and coping with psychological wellbeing in 75 local humanitarian personnel from a local non‐governmental…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to examine the relationships of stressors, appraisal and coping with psychological wellbeing in 75 local humanitarian personnel from a local non‐governmental organization from Medellin, Colombia.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants answered a pen and paper Spanish version of the Stress Profile.
Findings
Wellbeing was related to adaptive patterns of appraisal, coping, satisfaction with social support, and cognitive hardiness. Stressors were related to dissatisfaction with social support and decreased cognitive hardiness. Stressors were not associated with decreased psychological wellbeing, appraisal or coping.
Research limitations/implications
The effects of social support and cognitive hardiness on psychological wellbeing among aid workers deserves further examination. Further research should also examine the impact of other demographic and psychosocial variables such as experience in humanitarian work, workloads, anxiety and depression. Longitudinal studies are needed to examine changes over time.
Practical implications
It is important not to assume that humanitarian workers' psychological wellbeing is compromised. Humanitarian workers in field and administrative roles do not necessarily experience high stress and low wellbeing but support from family members and work colleagues is important.
Originality/value
Most research into aid work has been carried out on expatriate workers in countries other than their own, but the majority of aid personnel work in their own country. National aid workers are unable to leave demanding or dangerous situations and may require different support and coping strategies from international workers. This study adds to the information on local aid workers' mental health and opens up avenues for further research.
Details
Keywords
Annette H. Dunham and Christopher D.B. Burt
The aim of this paper is to test a model of the relationship between organizational memory and empowerment. The model posited that organizational memory would be related to…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to test a model of the relationship between organizational memory and empowerment. The model posited that organizational memory would be related to requests to share knowledge, psychological empowerment in the workplace (meaning, competence, self‐determination and impact), and organization‐based self‐esteem.
Design/methodology/approach
The model was tested with 134 employees representing six companies using hierarchical regression analysis.
Findings
Significant relationships were found between organizational memory and requests to share knowledge, empowerment, and organization‐based self‐esteem. Findings indicated that a positive stereotype may exist towards older workers and the frequency they are requested to share knowledge, and that a halo‐type effect may operate, where knowledge of an organization's history is generalized to other knowledge domains.
Research limitations/implications
Causal implications cannot be made as this was correlational research. Some of the research measures while achieving acceptable to good reliability were in an early development stage. The study utilized a convenience sample that may limit how the results can be generalized.
Practical implications
The paper indicates that organizations can emphasize positive outcomes for those who are knowledge repositories and mentors. It is also important to consider possible “positive stereotypes” which may be operating when organizational members evaluate older workers as knowledge repositories and mentors.
Originality/value
The paper addresses the assumptions in the human resources literature concerning the role of older workers as repositories of organizational memory and suitable mentors. The study introduces the “requests to share knowledge scale”.
Details
Keywords
Ishbel McWha and Malcolm MacLachlan
The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a measure of relationships and learning within the aid context.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a measure of relationships and learning within the aid context.
Design/methodology/approach
The Aid Relationships Quality Scale (ARQS) was administered to 1,290 local and expatriate workers across six countries in three regions (Africa: Malawi, Uganda; Asia: India, China; Oceania: PNG, Solomon Islands), as part of a larger study exploring remuneration differences. Data were factor‐analysed and explored using correlations. Individual and organisational level variance was partialed out in the analyses.
Findings
The ARQS showed a stable factor structure and acceptable reliability for each subscale: “relationship with expatriates”, “relationship with locals”, and “learning from expatriates and locals”. Construct validity was examined using a modification of the Multitrait‐Multimethod Matrix. For the sample as a whole, and at the individual level, both relationships subscales were positively correlated with each other, job satisfaction, and “learning from expatriates and locals”. At the organisational level “relationship with expatriates” correlated positively with pay justice, and international mobility, and negatively with de‐motivation, pay comparison and self‐assessed ability. “Relationships with locals” correlated positively with self‐assessed ability, turnover, and job satisfaction, and negatively with pay justice. The convergent and discriminant correlation patterning is largely in line with theory and thus supports the construct validity of the scale.
Originality/value
Relationships between aid workers are integral to the success of development assistance initiatives. This research has developed a new and brief instrument for measuring one aspect of aid relationships – that between expatriate and local workers.
Details
Keywords
Virginia E. Schein, Anthony J. Marsella, Esther Wiesenfeld, Euclides Sánchez, Mary O'Neill Berry and Walter Reichman
This paper aims to reflect on the work of Virginia E. Schein and her paper “The functions of work‐related group participation for poor women in developing countries: an…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to reflect on the work of Virginia E. Schein and her paper “The functions of work‐related group participation for poor women in developing countries: an exploratory look.”
Design/methodology/approach
Professor Schein traveled to Nicaragua, to lower‐income settings, where she observed and recorded the experiences of women working in self‐organized groups, and used those observations to argue to the profession generally that self‐organized groups of women, however marginal the work itself, can be instrumental in developing the key sense of agency, and self‐efficacy. These are basic capabilities; the stuff of the Millennium Development Goals.
Findings
For this special issue, therefore, the authors have made Schein's 2003 study a focal point. To set the context they asked Dr Schein to reiterate the rationale for the research, and provide a brief overview of the original observations. To help expand the debate on gender, work and poverty reduction, the authors have asked noted colleagues to provide a series of Commentaries on the original article.
Originality/value
Women, especially those raising children alone, are among the poorest of the poor in developing and more developed economies. Research that is applicable and relevant to their work‐related concerns can and should be a larger part of worldwide efforts to reduce poverty. Organizational psychology has much to contribute to those long‐overdue efforts.
Details
Keywords
Jennifer M. Manson and Stuart C. Carr
International development policy proposes that reducing poverty depends on alignment of international aid projects with local priorities, which would imply a role for local as…
Abstract
Purpose
International development policy proposes that reducing poverty depends on alignment of international aid projects with local priorities, which would imply a role for local as well as expatriate job experts in job selection processes. This paper aims to explore whether person‐job “fit” with both local and expatriate job specification relates to work performance indicators.
Design/methodology/approach
Mission organizations and their individual workers play an influential role in poverty reduction projects. In Study I, N=70 host nation missionaries, i.e. local job experts (n=22), expatriate mission leaders (n=25) and expatriate mission workers (n=23) provided mean panel ratings of the importance of SHL's Universal Competencies, alongside religious values, for mission jobs. In Study II, N=130 individual expatriate mission workers also provided ratings of the same set of competencies for mission jobs and rated themselves on these competencies. Each individual worker's profile was assessed for “fit” with competencies identified by the panels in Study I. Individuals were also measured on the criteria of job satisfaction, work engagement and satisfaction with life.
Findings
From Study I, we learned that local and expatriate ratings differed significantly, indicating different job criteria, as policy suggests. In Study II, degree of fit with local and expatriate priorities each predicted significant amounts of variance in job satisfaction, engagement and life satisfaction. Hence at an everyday behavioural level, alignment with local job experts' perspectives on required competencies played a role in aid worker motivation.
Originality/value
Whilst recognising the limits of self‐report, this paper applies fit theory to poverty reduction projects. Discussed are the findings' relevance for psychological theory, methods and interventions in poverty reduction work.