Takumi Kato, Katsuya Hayami, Ryosuke Ikeda and Masaki Koizumi
Among the nonfinancial rewards for employees are career development opportunities, for which an important measure is department transfers. This is because departments are unevenly…
Abstract
Purpose
Among the nonfinancial rewards for employees are career development opportunities, for which an important measure is department transfers. This is because departments are unevenly popular, and assigning everyone to their desired department is difficult. However, research on department transfers is limited to improving the efficiency of human resources utilization from a management perspective, with employee perspectives being lacking. This study aims to fill this gap in the literature.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a randomized controlled trial in an online survey environment with 2,000 full-time employees in Japan. Through the lens of self-determination theory, the authors hypothesized that employees seek department transfers based on performance rather than department transfers based on luck (lottery).
Findings
The results supported the hypothesis. For performance-based department transfers, an acceptance probability of 30% was found to be appropriate. Furthermore, mid-career, male, staff-level employees, those with experience of changing jobs and those who are more satisfied with their current job were more likely to seek this system.
Practical implications
Corporate managers should note that employees emphasize self-determination regarding their careers, dislike relying based on luck and seek department transfers relying on merit-based performance.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to determine the desirable system design for department transfers from the employee’s perspective and extend self-determination theory.
Details
Keywords
Takumi Kato, Wakako Yoshimura, Yusuke Shinozaki, Katsuya Hayami, Ryosuke Ikeda and Masaki Koizumi
Despite growing knowledge about its benefits, the organic food market’s expansion has been limited. A problem with ethical consumption is the attitude–behavior gap. The simplest…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite growing knowledge about its benefits, the organic food market’s expansion has been limited. A problem with ethical consumption is the attitude–behavior gap. The simplest reason for this gap is that in survey settings, social desirability bias elicits positive attitudes; whereas in real settings, the ambiguity of direct benefits leads to negative behavior. By clinging to the excessive values of a beauty premium, consumers abandon essential health in favor of apparent health, increasing product prices and contributing to environmental degradation. Using organic food, this study aims to eliminate this gap in the consumption of organic foods.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a randomized controlled trial – the gold standard for estimating the causal effects of treatments – with 1,500 individuals aged 20–70 years in Japan. The authors consider appealing aspects other than product characteristics, such as health and environmental considerations, and focus on the negative effects of beauty premiums.
Findings
The above marketing communication significantly increased purchase intention. This effect was more pronounced among younger people, men, those with higher incomes and those who cook less frequently as compared to their counterparts. Health and environmental considerations had no effect on purchase intentions.
Originality/value
This study incorporated consumer values regarding health and environmental benefits in new marketing communications to address the “beauty premium” and resolve the conventional attitude–behavior gap concerning organic foods.