Kelly Chermack, Erin L. Kelly, Phyllis Moen and Samantha K. Ammons
The purpose of this chapter was to examine the implementation of a flexible work initiative that attempted to challenge two institutionalized precepts of contemporary white-collar…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this chapter was to examine the implementation of a flexible work initiative that attempted to challenge two institutionalized precepts of contemporary white-collar workplaces: the gendered ideal worker norm, with its expectation of the primacy of paid work over family and personal life, and the assumption of managerial control over employees’ schedules and work location.
Methodology/approach
Using ethnographic and interview data, how the Results Only Work Environment (ROWE) was experienced by employees in four different teams within the Best Buy, Co., Inc. corporate headquarters was explored.
Findings
Comparing more and less successful implementation across teams, results suggested that collective institutional work is required for the emergence of new norms, expectations, and legitimated practices. Findings indicated that managers’ task-specific knowledge – their deep experience with the tasks that the team is charged with completing – is a structural condition that facilitates managers’ trust in employees and encourages team experimentation with new practices.
Research limitations
Data for this study was limited to one organization and four teams. Future research should include similar organizational change efforts in other organizations and in larger teams.
Practical/social implications
These findings may promote a better understanding, among researchers and practitioners, of the importance of manager knowledge and background and how this appears to be key to achieving institutional change.
Originality/value
This research is an example of an innovative approach to workplace flexibility and applies an institutional theory lens to investigate variation in the implementation of organizational change.
Details
Keywords
Phyllis Moen, Anne Kaduk, Ellen Ernst Kossek, Leslie Hammer, Orfeu M. Buxton, Emily O’Donnell, David Almeida, Kimberly Fox, Eric Tranby, J. Michael Oakes and Lynne Casper
Most research on the work conditions and family responsibilities associated with work-family conflict and other measures of mental health uses the individual employee as the unit…
Abstract
Purpose
Most research on the work conditions and family responsibilities associated with work-family conflict and other measures of mental health uses the individual employee as the unit of analysis. We argue that work conditions are both individual psychosocial assessments and objective characteristics of the proximal work environment, necessitating multilevel analyses of both individual- and team-level work conditions on mental health.
Methodology/approach
This study uses multilevel data on 748 high-tech professionals in 120 teams to investigate relationships between team- and individual-level job conditions, work-family conflict, and four mental health outcomes (job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion, perceived stress, and psychological distress).
Findings
We find that work-to-family conflict is socially patterned across teams, as are job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion. Team-level job conditions predict team-level outcomes, while individuals’ perceptions of their job conditions are better predictors of individuals’ work-to-family conflict and mental health. Work-to-family conflict operates as a partial mediator between job demands and mental health outcomes.
Practical implications
Our findings suggest that organizational leaders concerned about presenteeism, sickness absences, and productivity would do well to focus on changing job conditions in ways that reduce job demands and work-to-family conflict in order to promote employees’ mental health.
Originality/value of the chapter
We show that both work-to-family conflict and job conditions can be fruitfully framed as team characteristics, shared appraisals held in common by team members. This challenges the framing of work-to-family conflict as a “private trouble” and provides support for work-to-family conflict as a structural mismatch grounded in the social and temporal organization of work.
Details
Keywords
Pawan Budhwar, Andy Crane, Annette Davies, Rick Delbridge, Tim Edwards, Mahmoud Ezzamel, Lloyd Harris, Emmanuel Ogbonna and Robyn Thomas
Wonders whether companies actually have employees best interests at heart across physical, mental and spiritual spheres. Posits that most organizations ignore their workforce �…
Abstract
Wonders whether companies actually have employees best interests at heart across physical, mental and spiritual spheres. Posits that most organizations ignore their workforce – not even, in many cases, describing workers as assets! Describes many studies to back up this claim in theis work based on the 2002 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference, in Cardiff, Wales.
Details
Keywords
Michael R. Langlais, Edward R. Anderson and Shannon M. Greene
The goal of this chapter is to examine (1) how children’s rapport with dating partners predicts mothers’ dating stability; (2) how characteristics of dating partners are…
Abstract
Purpose
The goal of this chapter is to examine (1) how children’s rapport with dating partners predicts mothers’ dating stability; (2) how characteristics of dating partners are associated with children’s problem behaviors; and (3) how mothers’ lingering attachment to the former spouse predicts relationship quality of dating relationships.
Methodology/approach
Data comes from a multimethod, multi-informant longitudinal study of postdivorce dating relationships (N = 319 mothers, n = 178 children, n = 153 dating partners). Hierarchical linear modeling techniques were used to test consequences of breakup of mothers’ dating relationships for children’s behaviors, children’s rapport with dating partners for mothers’ dating relationship stability, and mothers’ lingering attachment for quality of dating relationships.
Findings
We found that children’s rapport with dating partners was positively associated with dating breakup; more antisocial traits and drunkenness of mothers’ dating partners was positively associated with children’s problem behaviors at breakup; and lingering attachment was positively associated with poorer relationship quality with dating partners.
Research limitations/implications
Because the focus of this chapter is divorced mothers with children, future studies are recommended to examine fathers’ postdivorce dating relationships. Future research should delineate dating, cohabiting, and remarried relationships after divorce.
Originality/value
This chapter presents empirical data examining the influence children have on mothers’ dating relationships, the influence of mothers’ dating relationships on children’s behaviors, and the effects of mothers’ lingering attachment to the former spouse on quality of mothers’ dating relationships. Information from this research is crucial for researchers and practitioners to assist mother’s and children’s postdivorce adjustment.
Details
Keywords
Ankit Sharma, Suresh Kumar Jakhar, Ilias Vlachos and Satish Kumar
Over the past two decades, the hub location domain has witnessed remarkable growth, yet no prior study reviewed and synthesised problem formulation and solution methodologies to…
Abstract
Purpose
Over the past two decades, the hub location domain has witnessed remarkable growth, yet no prior study reviewed and synthesised problem formulation and solution methodologies to address real-life challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
The current study conducts a comprehensive bibliometric literature review to develop a thematic framework that describes and presents hub location problems. The work employs cluster, bibliometric, and social network analyses to delve into the essential themes.
Findings
Key themes include cooperation, coopetition, sustainability, reshoring, and dynamic demand, contributing to the complex challenges in today’s hub location problems. As the first work in this field, the study serves as a valuable single-source reference, providing scholars and industry practitioners with key insights into the evolution of hub location research, prominent research clusters, influential authors, leading countries, and crucial keywords.
Research limitations/implications
Findings have significant implications since they highlight the current state of hub location research and set the stage for future endeavours. Specifically, by identifying prominent research clusters, scholars can explore promising directions to push the boundaries of knowledge in this area.
Originality/value
This work is a valuable resource for scholars in this domain and offers practical insights for industry practitioners seeking to understand the hub location problems. Overall, the study’s holistic approach provides a solid foundation for advancing future research work in the hub location field.
Details
Keywords
In January 2005, Stephen Kelly, BT Global Services’ president of people and organizational change, began leading a major global transformation program ‐ “Connected World”. Here…
Abstract
In January 2005, Stephen Kelly, BT Global Services’ president of people and organizational change, began leading a major global transformation program ‐ “Connected World”. Here, Kelly shares his experiences during his secondment to the program and describes what lessons HR can learn.