Désirée Füllemann, Annemarie Fridrich, Gregor James Jenny, Rebecca Brauchli, Alice Inauen and Georg Friedrich Bauer
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether intervention participants’ process appraisals relate to change in well-being and lean outcomes of entire teams. For this…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether intervention participants’ process appraisals relate to change in well-being and lean outcomes of entire teams. For this purpose, the study focussed on two main characteristics of a lean implementation process – workshop quality and outcome expectancy – and their interaction with the participation rate, and examined their association with leaner work processes and affective well-being in nursing teams.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from a lean implementation project within 29 nursing wards of a university hospital. Employee surveys covering lean work processes and affective well-being at work were conducted before the implementation of four-day lean workshops in each nursing ward and six months after. The participating employee representatives evaluated the workshop quality and outcome expectancy of the workshops.
Findings
Multilevel analyses indicated that workshop quality did not relate to leaner work processes, but was associated with enhanced affective well-being after six months. By contrast, outcome expectancy was associated with leaner work processes, but did not relate to well-being. No moderation effects with participation rate were found.
Practical implications
The study shows the importance of monitoring process indicators in the early stages of implementation and optimising workshop contents and formats accordingly to ensure positive outcomes for entire teams.
Originality/value
The present study considers intervention participants’ process appraisals of workshop quality and outcome expectancy as good indicators of future change in lean work processes and the well-being of entire teams.
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Verena Friedrich, Susanne Hoffmann and Georg Bauer
A growing body of literature provides evidence for the efficacy of workplace health promotion (WHP). However, little is known about effective dissemination strategies for WHP…
Abstract
Purpose
A growing body of literature provides evidence for the efficacy of workplace health promotion (WHP). However, little is known about effective dissemination strategies for WHP interventions. The purpose of this paper is to describe how a WHP agency in Zurich, Switzerland, used bulk mailings, information events, telephone marketing and free initial consultations for the large-scale geographic marketing of WHP services, with a focus on tobacco prevention (TP).
Design/methodology/approach
To analyze the number of companies responding positively to solicitation, examine the predictors of positive responses and explore the reasons for negative responses, the authors used both quantitative (e.g. a standardized questionnaire) and qualitative (telephone interviews) methods.
Findings
The results show that except for telephone marketing (69 percent), the success rates of dissemination activities were very low (3-9 percent). Predictors for a positive response were institutionalization of WHP, the representative’s personal concern about TP, and problems with environmental tobacco smoke within the company. The most prominent reason for a negative response was that the companies had already implemented TP measures by themselves and needed no further external support.
Practical implications
It is suggested that TP was the wrong emphasis for a WHP program to be disseminated at that particular time, because a law on protection from passive smoking was introduced in Switzerland shortly afterwards.
Originality/value
The study examines dissemination strategies under real-life consulting conditions. It builds on on a large sample of companies and uses both quantitative and qualitative research methods. It reports specific numbers and success rates of marketing activities and thereby contributes to the knowledge about an important issue for intervention planning in the field of WHP.
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Frithjof Mueller, Gregor J. Jenny and Georg F. Bauer
A key prerequisite for successful change in organizations is to understand and develop the readiness for change of employees and of their organization. In order to appropriately…
Abstract
Purpose
A key prerequisite for successful change in organizations is to understand and develop the readiness for change of employees and of their organization. In order to appropriately manage occupational and organizational health interventions, this paper aims to develop a health‐specific survey‐based measure assessing individual‐ and organizational‐level health‐oriented readiness for change.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive longitudinal stress management intervention study in nine medium and large enterprises in Switzerland (n=3,703) formed the basis for subsequent validity and reliability analyses of the individual and organizational health‐oriented readiness for change measure.
Findings
The results show that health‐oriented readiness for change is a valid instrument for assessing the two subcomponents of current behavior and change commitment, both for the individual and organization as agents of change.
Originality/value
The change‐specific health‐oriented aspect, including the individual and the organization as agents of change seems to be plausible for a comprehensive assessment of employees’ readiness for change in health‐promoting change initiatives in organizations.
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The purpose of this paper is to propose a typology of enchantment approaches that are related to storytelling practices in organizations: enchantment by design and enchantment by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a typology of enchantment approaches that are related to storytelling practices in organizations: enchantment by design and enchantment by emergence.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors explore this enchantment framework in a storytelling drawing on examples of living storied spaces and narratives from hospital studies.
Findings
This essay asserts three aspects about enchantment: that mainstream organizational narrative, rooted in classical structuralism and modernity, seems intent on disenchanting life within them. Second, despite such narratives, organizations, such as hospitals the authors studied, were never disenchanted because enchantment resides in many living storied spaces. Finally, many forms of “enchantment” and “disenchantment” are taking place in organization action and its storytelling.
Practical implications
The paper equips managers with a deeper understanding of how storytelling in organizations can encourage enchantment or disenchantment within the organization and in its relations with their environments (community, nature, humanity).
Originality/value
The value of the paper lies in its theoretical contributions, integrating enchantment‐disenchantment perspectives with a theory of storytelling.
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Nobody concerned with political economy can neglect the history of economic doctrines. Structural changes in the economy and society influence economic thinking and, conversely…
Abstract
Nobody concerned with political economy can neglect the history of economic doctrines. Structural changes in the economy and society influence economic thinking and, conversely, innovative thought structures and attitudes have almost always forced economic institutions and modes of behaviour to adjust. We learn from the history of economic doctrines how a particular theory emerged and whether, and in which environment, it could take root. We can see how a school evolves out of a common methodological perception and similar techniques of analysis, and how it has to establish itself. The interaction between unresolved problems on the one hand, and the search for better solutions or explanations on the other, leads to a change in paradigma and to the formation of new lines of reasoning. As long as the real world is subject to progress and change scientific search for explanation must out of necessity continue.
Johannes Wegmann, Daniel Hermann and Oliver Musshoff
Urbanization is a main driver of the transformation from agricultural-based economies to service-based economies. At the same time, urbanization might also alter preferences and…
Abstract
Purpose
Urbanization is a main driver of the transformation from agricultural-based economies to service-based economies. At the same time, urbanization might also alter preferences and attitudes such as risk and time preferences that contribute to economic growth and foster this transition. To study the effect of urbanization, few studies have compared individual time or risk preferences in rural and urban settings, reporting mixed results. This study analyses how risk and time preferences alter along the rural–urban interface and assesses the correlation of socio-economic, socio-cultural and demographic characteristics with these preferences. Using such an approach provides insights how preferences are altered in areas of transition as the rural–urban interface mirrors different stages of urbanization.
Design/methodology/approach
Using experimental approaches, risk attitudes and time preferences of 1,117 agricultural and non-agricultural households were elicited along the rural–urban interface of the fast-developing Indian megacity Bengaluru in 2016/17. The study reports joint estimations of risk and time preferences and discusses the influence of urbanization on these preferences.
Findings
Results show that households are on average slightly risk-averse and highly impatient. The results also indicate a decline in discount rates towards rural areas while risk preferences do not considerably differ between those areas. This puzzling result may be explained by difference response of rural and urban areas to the Demonetization policy of the Indian government in 2016.
Originality/value
The research design compares jointly estimated risk and time preferences of agricultural and non-agricultural households of a rapidly urbanizing area in a low-medium income country.
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Carlos Antonio Padilla Bravo, Adriana Soto Rubio and Achim Spiller
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the combined effect of sensory variables, information and attitudinal constructs in the prediction of consumer behaviour towards homemade…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the combined effect of sensory variables, information and attitudinal constructs in the prediction of consumer behaviour towards homemade food.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative survey-based study was carried out in Lima, Peru, with subjects involved in making household food purchasing decisions. A sensory test was performed and respondents were asked about their degree of liking (DOL) and intention to buy (ITB) a specific homemade food product. Ordinary least squares was used to identify predictors of DOL and ITB.
Findings
Information about homemade characteristics affects neither the sensory evaluation of a homemade food product nor the dependent variables. The sensory attributes were the most important predictors of overall DOL, whereas buying intention was strongly influenced by the overall liking of the product. Attitude towards homemade food significantly predicted both dependent variables as well. While the importance given to extrinsic cues had a negative effect on overall DOL, food enjoyment positively affected ITB.
Research limitations/implications
Bias in some socio-demographic aspects and the fact that only one homemade product category was assessed in a specific location do not allow for generalisations. The use of negative-to-positive response scales might also have biased the results of this study.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors knowledge, this is the first research paper that analyse the combined effect of information, socio-demographic, psychographic and sensory variables in the prediction of consumer behaviour towards homemade food.
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Thomas Gegenhuber, Elke Schuessler, Georg Reischauer and Laura Thäter
Working conditions on many digital work platforms often contribute to the grand challenge of establishing decent work. While research has examined the public regulation of…
Abstract
Working conditions on many digital work platforms often contribute to the grand challenge of establishing decent work. While research has examined the public regulation of platform work and worker resistance, little is known about private regulatory models. In this paper, we document the development of the “Crowdwork Agreement” forged between platforms and a trade union in the relatively young German crowdworking field. We find that existing templates played an important role in the process of negotiating this new institutional infrastructure, despite the radically new work context. While the platforms drew on the corporate social responsibility template of voluntary self-regulation via a code of conduct focusing on procedural aspects of decent platform work (i.e., improving work conditions and processes), the union contributed a traditional social partnership template emphasizing accountability, parity and distributive matters. The trade union’s approach prevailed in terms of accountability and parity mechanisms, while the platforms were able to uphold the mostly procedural character of their template. This compromise is reflected in many formal and informal interactions, themselves characteristic of a social partnership approach. Our study contributes to research on institutional infrastructures in emerging fields and their role in addressing grand challenges.
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Vidmantas Tūtlys and Georg Spöttl
This paper aims to explore methodological and institutional challenges on application of the work-process analysis approach in the design and development of competence-based…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore methodological and institutional challenges on application of the work-process analysis approach in the design and development of competence-based occupational standards for Lithuania.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical analysis is based on the review of scientific literature and the analysis of documents and methodical instruments (curricula and occupational standards). Empirical research is based on the observation and analysis of the processes of designing work-process-based occupational standards for Lithuania, including the face-to-face interviews with involved work-process experts on the shop-floor and stakeholders.
Findings
The application of a work-process-based approach in designing sectoral occupational standards enhances comprehensive and systemic design of qualifications. Work-process analysis approach helps to focus on the holistic concept of competence by considering different dimensions of work-processes. However, design and implementation of work-process-based occupational standards for the transitional and predominantly school-based vocational education and training (VET) systems encounter multiple methodological and institutional challenges.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of research are based on the analysis and evaluation of the design of sectoral-occupational standards in the beginning and middle stages of this process. These findings can help to draw the assumptions about potential implications of implementation of these standards to the development of competence-based VET but are not sufficient to provide comprehensive and detailed forecasts.
Originality/value
The paper explores and evaluates an application of the innovative work process approach in the design and development of qualifications for the concrete country.
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Henryk Grossman was the first person to systematically explore Marx’s explanation of capitalist crises in terms of the tendency for the rate of profit to fall and to place it in…
Abstract
Henryk Grossman was the first person to systematically explore Marx’s explanation of capitalist crises in terms of the tendency for the rate of profit to fall and to place it in the context of the distinction between use and exchange value. His “The Law of Accumulation and Breakdown of the Capitalist System” remains an important reference point in the Marxist literature on economic crises. That literature has been plagued by distortions of Grossman’s position which derive from early hostile reviews of his book. These accused Grossman of a mechanical approach to the end of capitalism and of neglecting factors which boost profit rates. Grossman, in fact, contributed a complementary economic element to the recovery of Marxism undertaken by Lenin (particularly in the area of Marxist politics) and Lukács (in philosophy). In both published and unpublished work, Grossman also dealt with and even anticipated criticisms of his methodology and treatment of countertendencies to the tendency for the rate of profit to fall. Far from being mechanical, his economic analysis can still assist the struggle for working class self-emancipation.