The current study investigated the impact of organisational trust on emotional well-being and performance of middle leaders during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Abstract
Purpose
The current study investigated the impact of organisational trust on emotional well-being and performance of middle leaders during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
A convenience sample of 265 middle leaders in kindergartens in China responded involving trust in schools (e.g. trust in principal and trust in colleagues), emotional well-being and job performance. Both confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM) were used in the investigation.
Findings
Three hypotheses on the relationships between the three constructs were verified. Trust in schools significantly influenced emotional well-being and job performance of middle leaders which correlated with each other. The interactive effects of trust in principal and trust in colleagues were discussed for improving the well-being and job performance of middle leaders. Relationships between the two kinds of trust and pride were also identified in the research.
Research limitations/implications
Further studies may put efforts towards improving these three outcomes synchronously.
Practical implications
Based on the evidence of the current study, future research may focus on how middle leaders act as a bridging role between different stakeholders such as principal and teachers, principal and parents, teachers and children, meanwhile how to boost the leaders' own well-being and performance in the early childhood education (ECE).
Originality/value
This study established the empirical linkages between school trusts, emotional well-being and job performance.
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Dongqing Yu, Junjun Chen and Masoumeh Kouhsari
This study aims to examine the roles of principal resilience (psychological, social and spiritual) and trust in colleagues in predicting the flourishing of school principals…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the roles of principal resilience (psychological, social and spiritual) and trust in colleagues in predicting the flourishing of school principals, considering different career stages.
Design/methodology/approach
Utilising multigroup structural equation modelling and mediation analysis, data were collected from a sample of 1,274 school principals in China. The study investigates the direct impact of resilience on flourishing and the mediating role of trust in colleagues, with a focus on variations across different career stages.
Findings
The findings reveal that all aspects of a principal’s resilience significantly impact their flourishing, with trust serving as a partial mediator. Notably, the influence of spiritual resilience on flourishing is significant only for principals in the later stages of their careers.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the expanding body of literature on educational leadership by highlighting the importance of resilience and trust in fostering principal flourishing. The insights gained offer valuable knowledge for developing support strategies to enhance the flourishing experiences of school principals throughout their careers.
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Junjun Chen, Mehmet Şükrü Bellibaş and Sedat Gümüş
The research aimed to examine the effects of school climate (school violence and community engagement) and resources (staff shortages and resource shortages) on job satisfaction…
Abstract
Purpose
The research aimed to examine the effects of school climate (school violence and community engagement) and resources (staff shortages and resource shortages) on job satisfaction mediated by the workload stress of school principals, using pooled data from 47 jurisdictions around the world.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employed a rigorous secondary analysis of principal job satisfaction using the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018 dataset. The mediation analysis of structural equation modeling (SEM) performed using STATA software established a structured model by controlling region-fixed effect, principal demographic and school contextual characteristics.
Findings
This study established a model detailing the associations between school climate and resources and principal job satisfaction mediated by workload stress.
Originality/value
Given the crucial role of a school principal in leading school survival and success, this study may provide one timely method to enhance job satisfaction and performance of principals during a period of constant change marked by increasing job demands.
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Junjun Chen, Allan David Walker and Philip Riley
Principals' well-being worldwide is under increasing threat due to the challenging and complex nature of their work and growing demands. This paper aimed at developing and…
Abstract
Purpose
Principals' well-being worldwide is under increasing threat due to the challenging and complex nature of their work and growing demands. This paper aimed at developing and validating a multidimensional Principal Well-being Inventory (PWI) and examining the state and consequences of principal well-being.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper involves four independent samples of principals working in schools from Hong Kong and Mainland China. The research design consisted of four phases with four sequential empirical studies. Phase 1 was to establish the content validity (literature review and Study 1); Phase 2 was to test the construct validity (Study 2 and Study 3); Phase 3 was to build the criterion validity (re-use the data from Study 3) and Phase 4 was to test the cross-validity of the PWI (Study 4).
Findings
Based on published literature and four successive empirical studies, a 24-item PWI was created via a theoretical-empirical approach of test construction. Validity was confirmed through construct-, content-, criterion- and cross-validity testing. The PWI covers the six important well-being dimensions – physical, cognitive, emotional, psychological, social and spiritual – to present a general picture of principals' occupational well-being associated with job nature, well-being literacy, leadership and context.
Research limitations/implications
The inventory will aid efforts to promote principal well-being as an essential component of schoolwide well-being, quality education and a wellness society.
Practical implications
During the post-COVID-19 period, this project is deemed both critical and timely so that quality education will not be sacrificed due to factors affecting principal well-being.
Originality/value
This theoretically and empirically validated inventory serves as a robust tool for comprehensively understanding principal well-being and a fuller exploration of their well-being literacy, drivers and outcomes.
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Mustafa Toprak, Mehmet Karakus and Junjun Chen
This study intends to systematically review empirical evidence on transformational school leadership (TSL) in a centralized educational context.
Abstract
Purpose
This study intends to systematically review empirical evidence on transformational school leadership (TSL) in a centralized educational context.
Design/methodology/approach
The study includes a topographical mapping and a narrative review of thirty-seven research articles published in Turkey between 2000 and 2021. The review strategy included systematically searching the Turkish Academic Network and Information Center (ULAKBIM) and Scopus. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flow diagram guided the review and reporting process.
Findings
Three key themes emerged: (1) perceptions, attitudes and behaviors; (2) psychological resources, learning and innovation and (3) school climate and culture. The results indicated that the research evidence on TSL in the review did not correspond well with the evidence on TSL in non-Western contexts. The authors also discussed the state of research narratively to provide an overview of the topical foci and methodological and conceptual trends.
Research limitations/implications
First, although the databases of the study are claimed to be regularly updated locally, these two search databases may inevitably have missed some journal articles relevant to the inclusion criteria. A possible solution is to include more databases like ERIC, PsycArticles, SAGE, ScienceDirect, PsycINFO, Web of Science and ProQuest. Second, the authors decided to limit the exploration of journal articles on transformative leadership to peer-reviewed journal articles. The authors might have missed a wider range of insights available in book chapters, books, research papers, dissertations and gray literature. Third, as there were many levels of research foci, the authors did the coding on research foci and methods. However, the approach may not allow authors to explore the relationships between research foci and method design. One possible solution is to do all coding in one file so that more complex analysis can follow. Finally, the authors agree that TSL is only one leadership style that is related to leadership effectiveness and that effective leadership is multi-faceted and requires a combination of leadership styles. Accordingly, the evidence in the study sheds light on only one dimension of leadership effectiveness.
Originality/value
Our review is part of an effort to demonstrate the importance of a culturally-situated understanding of TSL and to develop a globally validated knowledge base. It identifies and summarizes research in a non-Western school context defined by centrality, lack of autonomy and accountability.
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This chapter aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the ways in which emotions, emotional regulation and emotional labour are treated by various theoretical perspectives that…
Abstract
This chapter aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the ways in which emotions, emotional regulation and emotional labour are treated by various theoretical perspectives that influence the work of school-level leaders. Notions of professionalism and the scientific/rationalist roots of administrative theory (e.g., Taylor, 1911) relegated emotions and other subjective leadership qualities to the sidelines of the seminal debates in the educational administration field. That has changed since the turn of the twenty-first century as scholars have begun to acknowledge that the very nature of school-level leadership involves emotional components and success as a school-level leader demands effective emotional regulation. The chapter includes an evidence-based analysis of the role(s) that emotions, emotional regulation and emotional labour play in school-level leaders' work. I also discuss two broad categories of theoretical perspectives surrounding the emotional aspects of school-level leadership. The first primarily considers how school-level leaders personally experience emotional phenomenon in schools, while the second prioritizes how socio-contextual elements that influence their emotional experiences in the workplace. I conclude the chapter by discussing how school-level leaders manage emotions they experience as part of their job is an important piece missing from the models and frameworks.
Melissa Newberry and Phil Riley
Although the emotion work of teaching has been part of the conversation for more than 30 years, it remains a side conversation, as sort of an afterthought to academics and the…
Abstract
Although the emotion work of teaching has been part of the conversation for more than 30 years, it remains a side conversation, as sort of an afterthought to academics and the accepted mainstream point of teaching and learning. In this chapter, we reflect on what has occurred in the field in the decade since our book Emotion in school: Understanding how the hidden curriculum influences relationships, leadership, teaching and learning was published. We approach the topic through a lens of tensions that we perceive occurring in the field. Emotions in schools, for the most part, remain the hidden curriculum in that in many ways emotions are still downplayed in the classroom and have no space in teacher preparation programs. Teachers, students, administrators, and teacher educators alike are left to deal with the tensions that confront them that educational researchers have yet to resolve – tensions related to measurement (what are we measuring and why), related to how we define emotion and tensions related to practice. In this short chapter we do not have the space to address all tensions that might arise; we have chosen a few to provoke conversation and thoughts about where the field may go from here. Suggestions for beginning teachers and research for teacher preparation are offered.
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The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between big data and supply chain platform in China’s retail industry. With the emergence of big data resources and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between big data and supply chain platform in China’s retail industry. With the emergence of big data resources and technologies, the business pattern of new retail advocates the combination of online and offline channels. Supply chain platform plays a key role in the implementation of retail activities, which has gradually become a research hotspot in the cross field of operations management and information system.
Design/methodology/approach
Through the method of literature review and case study, this study empirically explores how big data shapes supply chain platform to support new forms of online retail by grounded theory.
Findings
The model framework is validated by reliability test and coding method to process survey materials. The results identify the overall antecedents of supply chain platform and reveal positive effects between big data and new retail. The findings help firm managers build a big data-driven supply chain to support new retail.
Originality/value
There are insufficient studies on theoretical frameworks and interaction relationships among big data, supply chain platform and new retail.
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Junjun Liu, Yuan Chen and Qinghua Zhu
This study aims to develop a comprehensive green supplier governance (GSG) concept and explore whether specific GSG approaches (green supplier assessment, green supplier…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to develop a comprehensive green supplier governance (GSG) concept and explore whether specific GSG approaches (green supplier assessment, green supplier assistance and green strategic partnership with suppliers (GSPS)) bring environmental and economic performance. Moreover, this study aims to reveal a synergistic effect of three GSG approaches on performance improvement.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data collected from 200 Chinese manufacturing firms, regression analysis was employed to reveal the relationship between specific GSG approaches and firm performance. Further, cluster analysis was used to identify groupings of firms regarding implementation levels of three GSG approaches and compare the performance of the firm groups.
Findings
Green supplier assessment (GSA) can bring environmental performance, but GSA is not associated with economic performance. Green supplier assistance is positively associated with economic performance, while green supplier assistance cannot improve environmental performance. Only GSPS leads to improvement for both environmental and economic performance. Furthermore, firms with high implementation levels of GSA and GSPS (whether with high or low implementation levels of GSAS) can achieve the best environmental and financial performance.
Practical implications
This study provides implications for firms to more strategically and comprehensively implement GSG approaches, which can be more effective in bringing environmental and economic performance.
Originality/value
The authors' study extends the GSG concept with two approaches by subdividing the collaborative approach into green supplier assistance and GSPS based on the collaboration levels. This study also sheds light on how to improve firm performance by different GSG approaches and reveals a synergistic effect of three GSG approaches on performance.