Fanny Pettersson, Josef Siljebo, Simon Wolming and Magnus Ferry
In the so-called digital age, there is a basic assumption that digitalization entails rapid and dramatic change in schools, education and society. However, a challenge for…
Abstract
Purpose
In the so-called digital age, there is a basic assumption that digitalization entails rapid and dramatic change in schools, education and society. However, a challenge for educational research is to clarify what digitalization precisely means. This paper aims to develop, test, and validate a digital transformation scale (DTS). More specifically, the aim is to validate digitization, digitalization and digital transformation as hierarchical levels of sociocultural learning in school and education by using cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) as a framework.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory factor analysis (EFA), with principal-axis factoring as an extraction method, was used to examine the number of factors underlying the data.
Findings
Results show that the three dimensions in the DTS questionnaire explain 68% of the variance and that all dimensions show high internal consistency (a >0.87). This means that the internal structure of the DTS corresponded to the internal structure of the theory.
Research limitations/implications
The results show that the internal structure of the DTS corresponded to the internal structure of the theory and may be used quantitatively to analyze digital transformation in school organizations. However, further research is needed in other contexts and larger samples with the use of confirmatory factor analysis to develop knowledge in this area and the use of DTS.
Practical implications
This tool and theoretical construction could be used to discuss digital transformation in school and education, both local and in general. Seeing digitalization from a sociocultural perspective makes possible to conceptualize and discuss this as a process ranging from small technology investments on an individual level to digitalization as strategic and organizational development.
Originality/value
This DTS can be used quantitatively to study and analyze digital transformation in educational contexts and provides educational researchers with additional tools to articulate what they mean by digitalization.
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Magnus Danbolt and Dominique Fischer
During April-July 2013 the sailing cargo vessel Okeanos conducted a transport research project in Fiji. The vessel sailed regularly between Gau, Suva and Kadavu where transport…
Abstract
Purpose
During April-July 2013 the sailing cargo vessel Okeanos conducted a transport research project in Fiji. The vessel sailed regularly between Gau, Suva and Kadavu where transport data were collected. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the transport need in the islands and how a smaller, cheap sailing vessel would perform and meet that need and if it can be economically sustainable.
Design/methodology/approach
Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji and the Ministry of Public Utilities, Transport and Works, issued a temporary safety certificate and verbally agreed on Okeanos working in a non-commercial capacity for four months. The preparations allowed for 31 days continuous traffic in Kadavu and Lomaiviti area.
Findings
–Okeanos carried 22 tons cargo and 55 passengers during 31 days. The trial shows that sailing time affects the running costs and make route planning essential for a sailing vessel. The results indicate that a sailing operation can be economically sustainable for routes that allow at least two return sails a week. To expand the operation to tourist-passengers willing to pay higher fees would be a more sustainable alternative. Simulations in the appendix with fictive values for transporting goods and passengers illustrate the feasibility of various options.
Research limitations/implications
Limited permits and licenses allowed only for a short trial. Permits also prohibited the trial to engage in full commercial capacity.
Originality/value
The study provides a transport trial with measurable outcomes. It can justify further and more extensive trials with alternative transport methods to remote islands and villages.
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Esther Gracia and Neal M. Ashkanasy
In this chapter, we develop and present the Multi-Perspective Multilevel Model of emotional labor in organizations. This model is based on three perspectives: (1) a service…
Abstract
In this chapter, we develop and present the Multi-Perspective Multilevel Model of emotional labor in organizations. This model is based on three perspectives: (1) a service requirement, (2) an intra-psychic process, and (3) an emotional display, each involving five levels of analysis: within-person, between persons, in interpersonal exchanges, in groups, and across the organization as a whole. Our model is differentiated from earlier characterizations of emotional labor in that we propose that the phenomenon begins with energy generation instead of energy depletion; and is neither a one-way nor a one-by-one service episode. We further proffer that the intra-psychic processes embedded in emotional labor represent a form of social self-regulation that impacts across multiple levels within service organizations. We conclude by discussing the implications and limitations of our model for emotional labor research.
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Pedro Marques-Quinteiro, Sjir Uitdewilligen, Patricia Costa and Ana Margarida Passos
This paper aims to test if team reflexivity is a countermeasure to the detrimental effect of team virtuality on team performance improvement, in decision-making teams.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to test if team reflexivity is a countermeasure to the detrimental effect of team virtuality on team performance improvement, in decision-making teams.
Design/methodology/approach
Study 1 regarded 210 individuals (N = 44 teams) executing five decision-making tasks. Study 2 regarded 60 individuals (N = 20 teams) executing four decision-making tasks. Study 1 was longitudinal, with no experimental manipulation. Study 2 had an experimental longitudinal design comprising two between-team manipulations: medium of communication and team reflexivity; the outcome was team performance improvement.
Findings
Study 1’s results show that team reflexivity positively moderates the effect of virtuality on team performance improvement over time. Study 2’s results shows that a reflexivity manipulation benefits face-to-face teams more so than virtual teams, probably because team reflexivity is more effective when media richness is high.
Originality/value
The implications of reflexivity’s lack of effect in low virtuality (Study 1) and high virtuality (Study 2) teams are discussed. This study contributes to the team learning and virtual teams’ literatures by expanding current knowledge on how team reflexivity can facilitate team learning under face-to-face versus virtual communication conditions.
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Robert Holmberg, Magnus Larsson and Martin Bäckström
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a leadership program in a way that captures leadership self-efficacy, political skills (PS) and resilience in the form of indicators of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a leadership program in a way that captures leadership self-efficacy, political skills (PS) and resilience in the form of indicators of health and well-being that would have relevance for leadership roles in turbulent organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
The design was quasi-experimental with pre- and post-measurement with unequal controls. Measurement was made through a mail survey before and after the leadership development program. n=107.
Findings
Program participants differed from the control group in the post-measurement in that they reported higher levels on leadership self-efficacy and had better health compared to a year earlier.
Research limitations/implications
Concepts like leadership self-efficacy, PS and measures of health and well-being can be used to operationalize and measure broad and contextually relevant outcomes of leadership development.
Practical implications
Evaluation of leadership development can benefit from including these more psychologically relevant and generic outcomes.
Originality/value
The study illustrates how psychologically based concepts can help to elucidate key outcomes of leadership development that can be critical for meeting the challenges in the turbulent and fluid work situation managers currently meet.
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In recent years, preparations for the transition from the Post-industrial society to Community 5.0 have been continuing at full speed. The change in this process necessitates…
Abstract
In recent years, preparations for the transition from the Post-industrial society to Community 5.0 have been continuing at full speed. The change in this process necessitates changes in the roles and structure of the labour force in societies. While work and family living spaces of the individual change the dimensions of his/her interaction, they increase the importance of work–family life balance gradually. The basis of conflicts (imbalances) in roles in work and family life is based on three pillars: time, tension and behaviour. The conflicts in the work and family life spaces take place in two sub-dimensions, namely ‘work-family conflict’ which is directed from work to family and ‘family-work conflict’ which is directed from family to work. The conflict between work and family life leads to individual, organisational and familial consequences. Effective communication with the social support of the organisation and the members of family is of great importance for individuals not to experience a work–family conflict.
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Pulse plating gives improved copper distribution for PCB's. JCT Controls report that application of their latest PDM pulse plating controller in electroplating acid copper on…
Abstract
Pulse plating gives improved copper distribution for PCB's. JCT Controls report that application of their latest PDM pulse plating controller in electroplating acid copper on printed circuit boards with 11:1 aspect ratio holes has given substantial benefits in plating performance.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home (WFH) has become the norm for many employees and their families in Germany. Although WFH has been suggested as a form of flexible…
Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home (WFH) has become the norm for many employees and their families in Germany. Although WFH has been suggested as a form of flexible work to foster work–life integration (especially for workers with greater care responsibilities), studies have also pointed to its risks when the boundaries between these two life spheres become blurred. To help disentangle these inconsistent findings in relation to work–family conflict, this study focuses on two main concerns: the relevance of additional forms of flexibility for those who work from home (i.e., temporal flexibility, job autonomy, fixed rules about availability) and the implications of WFH for employees’ social relationships with co-workers and supervisors. Based on linked employer–employee data collected in the spring of 2021, the study examined work-to-family conflict (WFC) and family-to-work conflict (FWC) among a sample of 885 employees who worked from home. The results indicate that three factors – temporal flexibility, job autonomy, and fixed rules about availability as a way to set boundaries between work and family life – are important predictors of fewer work–family conflict. This equally applies to employees with caring obligations who overall experience more work–family conflicts while WFH. For those who cared for relatives, autonomy contributed even to fewer work–family conflicts. Supportive relationships with supervisors and co-workers are certainly directly beneficial when it comes to avoiding conflict, but they also reinforce the positive implications of flexible work, whereas poor relationships counteract the benefits of such flexibility. Thus, employers need to provide additional forms of flexibility to employees who work from home and should pay attention to social relationships among their employees as a way to support families and other individuals.
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Pushpendra Priyadarshi and Rajesh Premchandran
Navigating the labyrinthine connections between people, process, technology and infrastructure is a key skill for employees in agile organisations. Political skill is imperative…
Abstract
Purpose
Navigating the labyrinthine connections between people, process, technology and infrastructure is a key skill for employees in agile organisations. Political skill is imperative amongst millennials who in a continuously changing environment need to stretch their minds to accumulate and disseminate new knowledge and develop core competencies while responding to new business triggers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate a mediation model in which the effect of emotional intelligence (EI) and core self-evaluation (CSE) on knowledge-sharing intention is mediated by levels of political skill amongst millennials.
Design/methodology/approach
Hypotheses, on mediation, were tested with data collected from prospective employees graduating from a premier management institute in Northern India. Structural equation modelling was used to test hypotheses with bootstrapping to test mediation effects.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that the relationship between EI, CSE and knowledge-sharing intention is mediated by political skill. Theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research are followed.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature on knowledge sharing by providing a basis for understanding the mediating mechanism through which EI and CSE influence knowledge sharing. This is the first attempt examining the role of political skill as a mediator in the study of knowledge sharing, a critical lever for agile organisations to flourish. By investigating the underlying mechanisms through which individual differences impact knowledge-sharing behaviour, this study significantly supplements current research on knowledge management.