Annie Haver, Espen Olsen and Kristin Akerjordet
This study aims to test a theoretical research model specifying how two emerging job stressors, i.e. centralized authority and reporting requirements, influence hotel managers’…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to test a theoretical research model specifying how two emerging job stressors, i.e. centralized authority and reporting requirements, influence hotel managers’ well-being. A mediated model through reappraisal is hypothesized.
Design/methodology/approach
The model was tested on 600 Norwegian and Swedish hotel managers using a questionnaire survey (72 per cent response rate). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analyses, correlation and structural equation modeling, which included bootstrapping.
Findings
Job stressors were negatively related to well-being, whereas reappraisal had a positive influence on well-being. A positive relationship was found between reporting requirements and reappraisal, while the opposite appeared for centralized authority. A negative mediating role of reappraisal existed in the relationship between centralized authority and well-being, while there was a positive one in the relationship between reporting requirements and well-being.
Practical implications
The findings will have important implications for management practices, as they illuminate how job stressors reduce well-being on the one hand and how reappraisal positively influences well-being on the other. This knowledge indicates that reappraisal is important for well-being when faced with stressful environments. The findings illustrate the importance of controlling stress in the managerial environment, and for hotel managers to maintain the ability to reappraise.
Originality/value
The study advances the knowledge of the managerial role, as well as the importance of reappraisal and well-being. This is the first empirical study among hotel managers testing a research model that illustrates how job stressors and reappraisal influence well-being.
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Gunhild Bjaalid, Espen Olsen, Kjersti Melberg and Aslaug Mikkelsen
The purpose of this study was to investigate if institutional stress is related to job performance among hospital employees, and if institutional stress is fully or partly…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to investigate if institutional stress is related to job performance among hospital employees, and if institutional stress is fully or partly mediated by motivational resources with regards to the relation with job performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A self-completion survey was distributed to four public hospitals in Norway, and had a response rate of 40% (N = 9,162). Structural equation modelling was conducted on two groups of hospital employees with (N = 795) and without (N = 8,367) managerial responsibilities.
Findings
Institutional stress was negatively related to job performance for hospital employees without managerial responsibilities. The motivational resources autonomy, competence development and social support partly mediated the relationship between institutional stress and job performance in the group of employees without managerial responsibilities. In the leader group, the motivational resources fully mediated the relationship between institutional stress and job performance. Social support from leaders had a non-significant influence on job performance in both groups.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation with this study is its cross-sectional design.
Originality/value
The study enables us to extend how work-related stress is related to job performance and the mediating role of the job resources autonomy, competence development and social support. The focus on productivity, and top management’s wish to improve hospital performance, may have unintended consequences, leading to a gap between managerial and clinical worldviews and understanding of goals, policies, values and prioritizing. This can lead to institutional stress. The findings of this study suggest that institutional stress has negative effects on hospital employees’ work motivation and job performance.
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Hospital systems are expected to influence patient safety outcomes. The purpose of this study is to explore organisational factors influencing patient safety and safety behaviour…
Abstract
Purpose
Hospital systems are expected to influence patient safety outcomes. The purpose of this study is to explore organisational factors influencing patient safety and safety behaviour among nurses and other hospital staff.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a theoretical model, six dimensions were selected from the hospital survey on patient safety culture. Moreover, one standardized dimension measuring safety behaviour was included. The data were collected from 1,703 hospital workers completing a cross-sectional survey.
Findings
Confirmatory factor analysis and supplementary statistics supported the use of measurement concepts applied in the study. A two-step statistical approach using structural equation modelling resulted in a satisfactory final model illustrating direct and indirect influence of the explanatory factors used.
Research limitations/implications
The limitation of this study is the use of a cross-sectional survey design.
Practical implications
The study illustrates how organisational factors are interconnected. The theoretical model developed and tested can be applied to improve safety behaviour and patient safety in hospital settings.
Social implications
The social implications of this study include the social relationships within the hospital setting, illustrating how organisational factors influence both safety behaviour and perception of patient safety levels.
Originality/value
A new theoretical model is developed and tested among hospital staff. The paper adds a new perspective on how organisational factors influence perceived safety outcomes in hospital settings.
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Aslaug Mikkelsen and Espen Olsen
The purpose of this paper is to examine the mechanisms through which change-oriented leadership in hospitals influences job performance and employee job satisfaction. The authors…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the mechanisms through which change-oriented leadership in hospitals influences job performance and employee job satisfaction. The authors examine the direct and the mediating effects of perceived learning demands and job involvement.
Design/methodology/approach
This cross-sectional study is based on a survey of four public hospitals in a regional health authority in Norway.
Findings
The findings illustrate how change-oriented leadership directly and indirectly influences work performance and job satisfaction. Learning demands and job involvement play mediating roles. Higher levels of change-oriented leadership decrease learning demands and increase job involvement, work performance and job satisfaction. Learning demands have a negative influence on work performance and job satisfaction. Job involvement has a positive influence on work performance and job satisfaction. The strongest relationship in the structural modelling is between change-oriented leadership and job involvement.
Research limitations/implications
This study is based on cross-sectional data. Future studies should therefore explore this further using a longitudinal design.
Practical implications
The practical implication of the study is to show how leaders by change-oriented behaviour can influence work performance and job satisfaction by reducing learning demands and increasing job involvement.
Social implications
This study illustrates different paths towards influencing job performance and job satisfaction from change-oriented leadership. It is important to use the potential of reducing learning demands and increasing job involvement, to improve job performance and job satisfaction.
Originality/value
The authors have developed and validated a new theoretical mediational model explaining variance in job performance and job satisfaction, and how this is related to change-oriented leadership, job involvement and learning demands. This knowledge can be used to increase the probability of successful change initiatives.
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Olaug Øygarden, Espen Olsen and Aslaug Mikkelsen
This paper aims to fill gaps in one’s knowledge of the impact of organizational change on two outcomes relevant to hospital service quality (performance obstacles and physician…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to fill gaps in one’s knowledge of the impact of organizational change on two outcomes relevant to hospital service quality (performance obstacles and physician job satisfaction) and in one’s knowledge of the role of middle manager change-oriented leadership in relation to the same outcomes. Further, the authors aim to identify how physician participation in decision-making is impacted by organizational change and change-oriented leadership, as well as how it mediates the relationships between these two variables, performance obstacles and job satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted a cross-sectional survey design including data from Norwegian hospital physicians (N = 556). A hypothetical model was developed based on existing theory, confirmatory factor analysis was carried out in order to ensure the validity of measurement concepts, and the structural model was estimated using structural equation modelling.
Findings
The organizational changes in question were positively related to performance obstacles both directly and indirectly through participation in decision-making. Organizational change was also negatively related to job satisfaction, both directly and indirectly. Change-oriented leadership was negatively related to performance obstacles, but only indirectly through participation in decision-making, whereas it was positively related to job satisfaction both directly and indirectly.
Originality/value
The authors developed a theoretical model based on existing theory, but to their knowledge no other studies have tested these exact relationships within one model. These findings offer insights relevant to current and ongoing developments in the healthcare field and to the question of how hospitals may deal with continuous changes in ways that could contribute positively towards outcomes relevant to service quality.
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This article explores how Norwegian public libraries negotiate neutrality and activism in response to national policy implementing the United Nations (UN) goals for sustainable…
Abstract
Purpose
This article explores how Norwegian public libraries negotiate neutrality and activism in response to national policy implementing the United Nations (UN) goals for sustainable development.
Design/methodology/approach
Informed by the ongoing academic debate on library neutrality and activism, this article presents an analysis of 30 qualitative interviews with librarians and directors in four public libraries. Through comparative case study design, the analysis explores the negotiations of neutrality and activism in the organisational response to the sustainable development goals (SDGs), in public events connected with environmental sustainability and in the engagement of librarians with various higher education backgrounds and competencies.
Findings
The neutrality of Norwegian public libraries is tied to the libraries’ function as a social meeting place and arena for public debate. While the agenda for sustainable development is perceived as neutral by many of the interview participants, there are ongoing negotiations on how politically charged initiatives should be and whether public conversations on environmental and climate issues need to represent a balance of opinions. The case libraries have developed different strategies, and while non-traditional collections and events centred on sustainability may provide a middle ground, the negotiations of neutrality and activism are influenced both by competencies and personal engagement.
Originality/value
This article shows how neutrality is negotiated in public libraries, with the strategies to build a sustainable society through both conventional means and activism.
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Kerstin Sahlin and Ulla Eriksson-Zetterquist
Over the past few decades, university reforms in line with management and enterprise ideals have been well documented. Changes in the ideals underlying the missions of…
Abstract
Over the past few decades, university reforms in line with management and enterprise ideals have been well documented. Changes in the ideals underlying the missions of universities have led to changes in their modes of governing and organizing, which in turn drive further transformation of their missions. One set of reforms in Swedish higher education has been the dissolution of collegial bodies and procedures. At the same time, in recent years, we have witnessed an increased interest in collegiality and a reintroduction of collegial bodies and procedures. New translations of collegiality appear not only in how universities are organized, but also in other core aspects of research and higher education. We review examples of peer reviewing, research assessment, and direct recruitment of professors and ask: Can these new translations of collegiality be understood as a revitalization of collegiality, or is it – to draw a parallel with greenwashing – rather a matter of collegiality-washing?
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Happyness Amani Kisighii, Jofrey Raymond and Musa Chacha
The lack of food-based dietary guidelines for managing cancer among hospitalized patients has led to an increasing economic burden on the government and families in low- and…
Abstract
Purpose
The lack of food-based dietary guidelines for managing cancer among hospitalized patients has led to an increasing economic burden on the government and families in low- and middle-economy countries. There have been increasing medical costs due to delayed recovery, readmission and mortality. The purpose of this study is to contribute in reducing these effects by developing context-specific food-based dietary guidelines to assist health-care professionals and caregivers in planning diets for cancer patients.
Design/methodology/approach
For seven days, the dietary intakes of 100 cancer patients in the hospital were recorded using weighed food records. Data on the costs of commonly consumed foods during hospitalization were obtained from hospital requisition books as well as nearby markets and shops. The information gathered was used to create optimal food-based dietary guidelines for cancer patients.
Findings
Most patients did not meet the recommended food group and micronutrient intake according to their weighed food records. Sugar intake from processed foods was (51 ± 19.8 g), (13% ± 2%), and calories (2585 ± 544 g) exceeded recommendations. Optimized models generated three menus that met the World Cancer Research Fund 2018 cancer prevention recommendation at a minimum cost of 2,700 Tanzanian Shillings (TSH), 3500TSH, and 4550TSH per day. The optimal dietary pattern includes nutrient-dense foods from all food groups in recommended portions and within calorie limits.
Originality/value
Findings show that optimal dietary guidelines that are context-specific for managing cancer in hospitalized patients can be formulated using culturally acceptable food ingredients at minimum cost.