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Uncivil customer behaviour is a concern for service providers and can result in increasing vulnerability for them or their customers. This paper aimed to investigate the interactional link between customer incivility and service provider retaliation and job outcomes. Furthermore, power distance orientation and gender were investigated as potential moderators between customer and retaliation incivilities.

Five hypotheses were examined empirically through structural equation modelling. Overall, 679 (356 males and 323 females) service providers recruited across three countries, namely Australia (N = 233), Singapore (N = 199) and the Philippines (N = 247), were surveyed online.

The results indicated that incivility caused work exhaustion, which negatively impacted job satisfaction. Power distance orientation moderated the association between customer and retaliatory incivilities, leading to exhaustion and dissatisfaction with one's job. Importantly, the results also revealed that the female service providers with a higher power distance tend to instigate incivility compared to their male counterparts.

By incorporating both conservation of resource and negative spiral incivility theories, this study provided an integrated and cohesive explanation for both the direct and interaction effects between customer incivility, retaliatory incivility and work outcomes. In addition, the finding that emotional exhaustion promoted job dissatisfaction highlighted the importance of examining the former's role especially among the female service providers with a higher power distance as they may be less able to restrain their retaliatory behaviours during uncivil incidents. Several practical solutions aimed at reducing the vulnerability encountered by the mistreated service providers were proposed.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of burnout as a mediator in the relationship between workplace incivility (WI) and instigated WI.

A survey of 303 white collar employees from small- to medium-size industries in Australia was conducted. Self-reported measures were used to obtain data on WI, burnout, and instigated WI. Mediation analyses with bootstrap via PROCESS was used ascertain the proposed relationship.

Results indicated that WI was positively linked to instigated WI. Importantly, results indicated that burnout fully mediated the relationship between WI and instigated WI.

The correlational and self-report nature of the study exclude inference about causality between variables and may be more prone to bias. However, despite these limitations, pre- and post-cautionary steps were taken to ensure that these biases were kept at bay as much as is possible.

The study highlights that burnout may be an important underlying mechanism responsible for target’s and perpetrator’s uncivil relationships toward each other. Management should be cognizant of possible burnout among employees who experienced WI and to take appropriate training as preventive measures for WI.

This study responded to the call for more empirical investigation of WI. This study also integrated conservation of resources and the spiral of incivility theories to develop a theoretical model which linked WI to instigated WI.

This study explored whether women could “have it all,” both at home and in the workplace. Using neoliberal feminism, mental load theory and intergenerational perspective as theoretical frameworks, this study explored how neoliberal ideologies which emphasized individual agency, economic empowerment and self-responsibility interact with persistent gendered expectations/norms to influence women’s experiences in navigating familial commitments and career aspirations.

Around 140 (N = 140) women living in Australia were recruited to participate in a qualitative, open-ended questionnaire that aimed to explore their: (1) perceptions and (2) expectations about (a) how gender roles evolved for them from youth to adulthood in various contexts, (b) how their family structures and dynamics, such as attitudes toward marriage, caregiving and/or household responsibilities, have changed and (c) what has/have influenced their career aspirations and family choices.

Results revealed a trend of women who worked hard at home and professionally. Unlike women who in the past lived more traditional lives, women in our cohort focused on their career as an important part of their identity and self-fulfillment. However, many women did report heightened mental load, stress and a lack of physical exercise in their daily lives.

This study revealed complex interplay between societal norms, intergenerational influences and the cognitive burdens associated with managing multiple roles. By examining these dynamics and using an integrated theoretical framework, the article aimed to holistically explain the challenges women in Australia encounter as they try to balance familial obligations with career ambitions within changing socioeconomic contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to test a moderated mediation model that links the experience of cyberbullying, perceived stress and job satisfaction among Australian employees.

A survey of 254 white collar Australian employees was conducted from a wide variety of business corporations to investigate the role of workplace cyberbullying and job outcomes. A moderated mediation analysis was conducted.

Results indicated that workplace cyberbullying resulted in perceived stress, which in turn predicted employee’s job dissatisfaction. The results further revealed that cyberbullied female employees as opposed to male employees were more likely to report greater perceived stress and to be dissatisfied in their job.

Overall, the results suggest that cyberbullying is a potential resource drain for employees and has detrimental implications in their organisational life. Importantly, male and female employees reacted to workplace cyberbullying differently suggesting the need to address the issue of workplace cyberbullying more gender sensitively.

This study provides empirical evidence that workplace cyberbullying can be a gendered phenomenon. Furthermore, COR theory and gender role theory is combined to reveal the differences between men and women in terms of their vulnerability towards different stressors.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of gender in the relationships between employee’s work experience and their chances of obtaining a job promotion.

Five hundred middle to lower management Pakistan employees from service industries were surveyed. Measures used to obtain data included work experience, job promotions and gender. Gender was dummy coded. Moderation analyses via SPSS was used to investigate the moderating effect of gender in the relationship between employee’s work experience and job promotions.

The results indicated that work experience was positively associated with job promotion. However, the results indicated that gender fully moderated the relationship between work experience and job promotion. Specifically, female employees were less likely to get promoted compared to male employees despite having similar work experiences.

Drawing together the human capital theory, social role theory and cultural factors, this study highlighted the socioeconomic/cultural barriers’ impact on Pakistani women’s career ascendance.

There is a lack of empirical evidence about career ascendance among Pakistani women. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to conduct and provide empirical evidence so that relevant agencies within Pakistan can develop more gender-equitable promotional policies and processes.

This study responded to the call for more empirical investigation of career ascendancy among women in developing countries. While this issue has been discussed in many developed western countries, there is a lack of empirical evidence in Muslim Pakistan.

The paper aims to explore the beliefs of doctors in leadership roles of the concept of “the dark side”, using data collected from interviews carried out with 45 doctors in medical leadership roles across Australia. The paper looks at the beliefs from the perspectives of doctors who are already in leadership roles themselves; to identify potential barriers they might have encountered and to arrive at better-informed strategies to engage more doctors in the leadership of the Australian health system. The research question is: “What are the beliefs of medical leaders that form the key themes or dimensions of the negative perception of the ‘dark side’?”.

The paper analysed data from two similar qualitative studies examining medical leadership and engagement in Australia by the same author, in collaboration with other researchers, which used in-depth semi-structured interviews with 45 purposively sampled senior medical leaders in leadership roles across Australia in health services, private and public hospitals, professional associations and health departments. The data were analysed using deductive and inductive approaches through a coding framework based on the interview data and literature review, with all sections of coded data grouped into themes.

Medical leaders had four key beliefs about the “dark side” as perceived through the eyes of their own past clinical experience and/or their clinical colleagues. These four beliefs or dimensions of the negative perception colloquially known as “the dark side” are the belief that they lack both managerial and clinical credibility, they have confused identities, they may be in conflict with clinicians, their clinical colleagues lack insight into the complexities of medical leadership and, as a result, doctors are actively discouraged from making the transition from clinical practice to medical leadership roles in the first place.

This research was conducted within the Western developed-nation setting of Australia and only involved interviews with doctors in medical leadership roles. The findings are therefore limited to the doctors’ own perceptions of themselves based on their past experiences and beliefs. Future research involving doctors who have not chosen to transition to leadership roles, or other health practitioners in other settings, may provide a broader perspective. Also, this research was exploratory and descriptive in nature using qualitative methods, and quantitative research can be carried out in the future to extend this research for statistical generalisation.

The paper includes implications for health organisations, training providers, medical employers and health departments and describes a multi-prong strategy to address this important issue.

This paper fulfils an identified need to study the concept of “moving to the dark side” as a negative perception of medical leadership and contributes to the evidence in this under-researched area. This paper has used data from two similar studies, combined together for the first time, with new analysis and coding, looking at the concept of the “dark side” to discover new emergent findings.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of culture in the relationship between boundary permeability and cooperation and work group identification. In addition, the levels of boundary permeability of Australians and Singaporeans are compared.

Survey questionnaires were administered to 134 employees (87 Singaporeans and 47 Australians) working in multinational corporations in both Australia and Singapore. Hierarchical moderated regression was used to test whether culture moderated the relationship between boundary permeability and cooperation and workgroup identification.

Results indicated that workplace boundary permeability was marginally and positively related to cooperation but not to workgroup identification. Further analysis revealed that culture moderated the relationships between workplace boundary permeability and cooperation and workgroup identification. Specifically, a stronger positive relationship was found between boundary permeability and these outcomes for Singaporeans as opposed to Australians.

Limitations include the relatively small sample size of both cultural groups; the behavioral measure used to assess cooperation; and the self‐reported nature of the data.

The findings of this study have important practical implications for managers working in multinational corporations who seek to promote cooperation and workgroup identification among culturally diverse employees.

Guided by social identity and cross‐cultural theories, this study highlights the role of culture in predicting the attitudinal consequences of boundary permeability.

This paper seeks to explore the nature of intercultural experiences of Australians and Singaporeans working in multinational organizations. Cultural differences are expected to influence how boundaries and boundary permeability are constructed which in turn affect how Australians and Singaporeans interact and communicate with each other.

Qualitative interviews were conducted with 23 employees (ten Australians, 13 Singaporeans) working in multinational organizations in both Australia and Singapore. Grounded theory methodology was used to analyze interviewees’ intercultural experiences to determine the nature and composition of relevant boundary categories and permeability.

Seven workplace boundary categories of varying degrees of permeability were identified. Singaporeans were perceived to create more impermeable boundaries than Australians. Impermeable boundaries were found to also restrict intercultural interactions.

The qualitative nature of the study, small sample size and interviewer's ethnicity could limit the generalizability of the results. Another limitation is that the data were based on self‐reports and participants may have reported socially desirable responses.

The findings of this study have important practical implications for managers who seek to promote the value of shared group membership and group identity.

This study integrates social identity theory with cross‐cultural theories and extends its application into a collectivist culture (e.g. Singapore) to provide an in‐depth understanding of the nature of workplace boundaries and boundary permeability between Australians and Singaporeans.

There is a vast array of literature which investigates the concept and impact of workplace incivility. Evidence suggests that compared to male employees, female employees tend to experience and put up more with workplace incivility. However, there is limited research on how this affects female employee’s willingness to complete work-related tasks. The purpose of this paper is to set out to examine whether gender moderates the role between tolerance for workplace incivility and those behaviours characterised by work withdrawal.

In total, 317 employees from a range of business industries and governmental agencies completed a quantitative survey of measures relating to their work withdrawal behaviour and their perception of their workplaces’ tolerance for uncivil behaviours.

Results revealed that when females perceived high levels of tolerance for workplace incivility, they decreased their work withdrawal behaviour. No relationship between tolerance for workplace incivility and work withdrawal was found for males.

The homogeneity of the sample, that is, the sample comprised predominantly of white-collar, White Australian workers.

Improve managers and organisations’ knowledge and understanding about deviant workplace behaviours – especially between male and female employees.

The paper adds to the work in the workplace incivility, diversity-gender and equity research area. Specifically, it highlights how male and female employees react when they perceive that their workplace tolerates deviant behaviours. This knowledge will inform managers and their organisations of a more effective way of managing conflict.

Purpose: The study elaborates the contextual conditions of the academic workplace in which gender, age, and nationality considerably influence the likelihood of self-categorization as being affected by workplace bullying. Furthermore, the intersectionality of these sociodemographic characteristics is examined.

Basic Design: The hypotheses underlying the study were mainly derived from the social role, social identity, and cultural distance theory, as well as from role congruity and relative deprivation theory. A survey data set of a large German research organization, the Max Planck Society, was used. A total of 3,272 cases of researchers and 2,995 cases of non-scientific employees were included in the analyses performed. For both groups of employees, binary logistic regression equations were constructed. the outcome of each equation is the estimated percentage of individuals who reported themselves as having experienced bullying at work occasionally or more frequently in the 12 months prior to the survey. The predictors are the demographic and organization-specific characteristics (hierarchical position, scientific field, administrative unit) of the respondents and selected interaction terms. Using regression equations, hypothetically relevant conditional marginal means and differences in regression parameters were calculated and compared by means of t-tests.

Results: In particular, the gender-related hypotheses of the study could be completely or conditionally verified. Accordingly, female scientific and non-scientific employees showed a higher bullying vulnerability in (almost) all contexts of the academic workplace. An increased bullying vulnerability was also found for foreign researchers. However, the patterns found here contradicted those that were hypothesized. Concerning the effect of age analyzed for non-scientific personnel, especially the age group 45–59 years showed a higher bullying probability, with the gender gap in bullying vulnerability being greatest for the youngest and oldest age groups in the sample.

Interpre4tation and Relevance: The results of the study especially support the social identity theory regarding gender. In the sample studied, women in minority positions have a higher vulnerability to bullying in their work fields, which is not the case for men. However, the influence of nationality on bullying vulnerability is more complex. The study points to the further development of cultural distance theory, whose hypotheses are only partly able to explain the results. The evidence for social role theory is primarily seen in the interaction of gender with age and hierarchical level. Accordingly, female early career researchers and young women (and women in the oldest age group) on the non-scientific staff presumably experience a masculine workplace. Thus, the results of the study contradict the role congruity theory.