Tuija Muhonen, Sandra Jönsson and Martin Bäckström
The purpose of this paper is to explore health- and work-related outcomes of cyberbullying behaviour and the potential mediating role of social organisational climate, social…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore health- and work-related outcomes of cyberbullying behaviour and the potential mediating role of social organisational climate, social support from colleagues and social support from superiors.
Design/methodology/approach
Altogether 3,371 respondents participated in a questionnaire study.
Findings
The results of this study indicate that social organisational climate can have a mediating role in the relationship between cyberbullying behaviour and health, well-being, work engagement and intention to quit. Contrary to earlier face-to-face bullying research, the current study showed that cyberbullying behaviour had stronger indirect than direct relationships to health, well-being, work engagement and intention to quit.
Practical implications
Communication through digital devices in work life is becoming more prevalent, which in turn increases the risk for cyberbullying behaviour. Organisations need therefore to develop occupational health and safety policies concerning the use of digital communication and social media in order to prevent cyberbullying behaviour and its negative consequences.
Originality/value
Cyberbullying behaviour among working adults is a relatively unexplored phenomenon and therefore this study makes valuable contribution to the research field.
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Kristoffer Holm, Eva Torkelson and Martin Bäckström
The purpose of this paper is to explore how witnessing workplace incivility from coworkers and supervisors relates to instigating incivility toward others. A further aim was to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how witnessing workplace incivility from coworkers and supervisors relates to instigating incivility toward others. A further aim was to investigate if witnessed incivility is indirectly related to instigated incivility via perceived stress and low job satisfaction. An additional aim was to study if control, social support and job embeddedness moderate the relationships between witnessed and instigated incivility.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 978 individuals, sourced from a Swedish trade union, completed an online questionnaire.
Findings
The results showed that witnessed incivility, mainly from coworkers but also from supervisors, was related to instigated incivility. Although witnessed incivility was related to both perceived stress and low job satisfaction, witnessed incivility was not linked to instigated incivility via perceived stress or low job satisfaction. In addition, the results showed that participants who had witnessed coworker incivility and at the same time perceived high levels of control, social support (from coworkers) or job embeddedness on average reported higher levels of instigated incivility. Similarly, participants who had witnessed supervisor incivility and at the same time perceived high levels of control, social support (from coworkers and supervisors) or job embeddedness on average reported higher levels of instigated incivility.
Originality/value
The findings expand the literature on bystander workplace incivility and highlight the importance of including experienced psychosocial work factors in models of incivility.
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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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Three different pedagogical approaches grounded in three different definitional foundations of entrepreneurship have been compared in relation to their effects on students. They…
Abstract
Purpose
Three different pedagogical approaches grounded in three different definitional foundations of entrepreneurship have been compared in relation to their effects on students. They are: (1) “Idea and Artefact-Creation Pedagogy” (IACP), grounded in opportunity identification and creation, (2) “Value-Creation Pedagogy” (VaCP), grounded in value creation and (3) “Venture-Creation Pedagogy” (VeCP), grounded in organisation creation.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected at 35 different sites where education was deemed to be entrepreneurial and experiential. A quantitative, smartphone app-based data collection method was used alongside a qualitative interview approach. 10,953 short-survey responses were received from 1,048 participants. Responses were used to inform respondent selection and discussion topics, in 291 student and teacher interviews. Comparative analysis was then conducted.
Findings
The three approaches resulted in very different outcomes, both in magnitude and in kind. VaCP had strong effects on entrepreneurial competencies, on student motivation and on knowledge and skills acquisition. VeCP had weaker effects on knowledge and skills acquisition. IACP had weak effects on all outcomes probed for. Differences were attributed to variation in prevalence of certain emotional learning events and to variation in purpose as perceived by students.
Research limitations/implications
VaCP could serve as an escape from the potential dilemma faced by many teachers in entrepreneurial education, of being caught between two limiting courses of action; a marginal VeCP approach and a fuzzy IACP one. This could prompt policymakers to reconsider established policies. However, further research in other contexts is needed, to corroborate the extent of differences between these three approaches.
Originality/value
Most impact studies in experiential entrepreneurial education focus only on organisation-creation-based education. This study contributes by investigating entrepreneurial education that is also grounded in two other definitional foundations. Allowance has been made for novel comparative conclusions.
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Caterina Manfrini and Izabelle Bäckström
The purpose of this study is to scrutinize the connection between creativity and innovation in the context of public healthcare. This is achieved by applying the theoretical…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to scrutinize the connection between creativity and innovation in the context of public healthcare. This is achieved by applying the theoretical concept of employee-driven innovation (EDI) to explore employees’ perceptions of their creative engagement in innovation processes, as well as to capture the managerial implications of setting up such processes in the sector.
Design/methodology/approach
A critical discourse analysis (CDA) is applied as a methodological lens to capture the interaction between the macro-level production and meso-level distribution of innovation discourse (top-down), and the micro-level perception of, and response to, the same (bottom-up). This study is based on a qualitative approach and is set in the public healthcare system of the Autonomous Province of Trento, Northeast Italy. In total, 26 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 healthcare professionals. For triangulation purposes, observation and document analysis were also performed.
Findings
The findings of this study reveal that tensions are present between the macro-level discourses and the meso-level strategies around innovation, and the micro-level perceptions of employees’ creative engagement in innovation processes. Healthcare professionals’ creative efforts are not easily recognized and supported by top management, which in turn does not receive a framework of reference in policies acknowledging the importance of human skills and creativity in innovation processes.
Research limitations/implications
That this is a single case study implies a limitation on the generalizability of its results, but the results may nevertheless be transferable to similar empirical contexts. Therefore, a multiple case study design would be preferable in future studies in order to study EDI strategies and policies across various types of organizations in the public sector. Moreover, apart from CDA, other theoretical and methodological lenses can be applied to investigate the interaction between top-down organizing and bottom-up responses to innovation.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the EDI literature by providing a more integrative understanding of EDI in the public sector, demonstrating the importance of scrutinizing the interactions between employees and top-level management.
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Kristen Snyder, Pernilla Ingelsson and Ingela Bäckström
The purpose of this paper is to identify and synthesize approaches to studying Lean transformation to further develop a comprehensive approach that integrates organizational…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify and synthesize approaches to studying Lean transformation to further develop a comprehensive approach that integrates organizational culture analysis and performance measurement systems from a systems perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is conceptual in nature and based on a review of the literature in the areas of measuring Lean transformation and studying organizational culture. Three questions guide this conceptual analysis: “What approaches have been used to examine Lean transformation in business and public sector organizations?”; “Is there evidence of a focus on organizational culture in the measurement practices in Lean transformation and, if so, how?”; and “What can we learn from organizational cultural theorists about developing a more comprehensive framework to study Lean transformation?”. The analysis was conducted in two phases: In Phase 1, a database search was conducted using the key words Lean transformation, studying Lean, studying Lean transformation, studying organizational culture in Lean and measuring Lean, from which eight papers were selected. In Phase 2, the authors reviewed two models for studying organizational culture.
Findings
Findings indicated that the dominant approach to study and measure Lean transformation is based on the performance measurement model. Based on this approach, there was little evidence of a focus on organizational culture, and few integrated the human dimensions with the tools and practices. The authors also found evidence of a greater awareness of the need to develop a balanced performance measurement system that reflects both the subjective soft measures and the objective hard measures. Among the approaches studied, two models did reflect integration between hard and soft measures: Dahlgaard et al.’s (2011) 4Ps and Najem et al. ’s (2012) assessment model for studying organizational culture in Lean. Both of these methods provide a strong framework from which to further enhance the study of Lean transformation by incorporating elements from Bantz’s (1993) organizational communication culture method and Martin’s (1992) Matrix concept.
Originality/value
This paper furthers the academic dialogue on measuring Lean transformation through its unique analysis of studying organizational culture.
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Anna Mårtensson, Kristen Snyder, Pernilla Ingelsson and Ingela Bäckström
The purpose of this study is to explore the concept of long-term thinking in a non-business context to gain deeper insights into bridging the gap between the theory of long-term…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the concept of long-term thinking in a non-business context to gain deeper insights into bridging the gap between the theory of long-term thinking and its application as a management strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
To explore the concept of long-thinking further in a non-business setting, a grounded theory study was conducted with preschool leaders in a municipality in Sweden to examine how the leaders describe, define and apply the concept of long-term thinking in their schools. Interviews with school leaders, both written and oral, were used for data collection.
Findings
This study illustrates that the concept of long-term thinking can be twofold. First, the description can be as an anchor that reflects a mission. Second, the description can be a steering mechanism that guides decision-making. The findings also reinforce the importance of organisations developing an organisational culture that connect their vision and goals with the values and needs of their customers.
Research limitations/implications
This study was carried out in a single organisation and shows a snapshot of the organisation's status at the time the data were collected. Therefore, the findings are not generalisable to all organisational settings; rather the findings may be transferable to other settings.
Practical implications
The results can be used to help identify areas where preschools in a municipal context can engage with sustainable quality development in order to build systems that support work with quality in a more structured way.
Originality/value
Long-term thinking is seen, within both theory and organisations, as necessary to achieve success in terms of sustainable development and quality, and this study contributes with knowledge about the current gap between theories of long-term thinking and practice in organisations.
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Kristen Snyder, Pernilla Ingelsson and Ingela Bäckström
This paper aims to explore how leaders can develop value-based leadership for sustainable quality development in Lean manufacturing.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how leaders can develop value-based leadership for sustainable quality development in Lean manufacturing.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative meta-analysis was conducted using data from a three-year study of Lean manufacturing in Sweden using the Shingo business excellence model as an analytical framework.
Findings
This study demonstrates that leaders can develop value-based leadership to support Lean manufacturing by defining and articulating the organization’s values and accompanying behaviors that are needed to support the strategic direction; creating forums and time for leaders to identify the why behind decisions and reflect on their experiences to be able to lead a transformative process; and using storytelling to create a coaching culture to connect values and behaviors, to the processes and systems of work.
Research limitations/implications
This paper contributes insights for developing value-based leadership to support a systemic approach to sustainable quality development in lean manufacturing. Findings are based on a limited case sample size of three manufacturing companies in Sweden.
Originality/value
The findings were derived using a unique methodological approach combining storytelling, appreciative inquiry and coaching with traditional data collection methods including surveys and interviews to identify, define and shape value-based leadership in Lean manufacturing.
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Kristen Snyder, Christer Hedlund, Pernilla Ingelsson and Ingela Bäckström
The purpose of this paper is to identify constraints and possibilities to develop a value-based leadership in manufacturing using storytelling as a co-creative method and process.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify constraints and possibilities to develop a value-based leadership in manufacturing using storytelling as a co-creative method and process.
Design/methodology/approach
A multi-site case study was conducted in which storytelling was used as a data collection tool and co-creative process to explore dimensions in the company’s cultures that could provide a deeper understanding about the constraints and possibilities that exist for developing value-based leadership in manufacturing.
Findings
Storytelling has a positive impact on leadership and communication highlighting important aspects of the organizational culture to support sustainable development and innovation.
Originality/value
This study demonstrates how storytelling can be used by leaders in manufacturing to build cultures of innovation and sustainability. And identifies constrains and possibilities for developing value-based leadership.
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Jason Martin, Mattias Elg and Ida Gremyr
The purpose of this paper is to use competence theory to explore the fit between actual competencies of quality management (QM) practitioner and the perception of QM competence…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to use competence theory to explore the fit between actual competencies of quality management (QM) practitioner and the perception of QM competence needs in organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on a cross-case quantitative study design featuring a survey of QM practitioners (n =249) within eight large Swedish organisations. The research instrument was a questionnaire covering seven themes within QM. The analysis is based on descriptive statistics.
Findings
The results show that while the perception of formal QM competence may seem sufficient, the evolving nature of QM requires knowledge, skills and attitudes that are also apt for more external and explorative perspectives. There is a bias towards competence for exploitative QM rather than explorative QM. Organisational logics preserving and possibly reinforcing a perceived “competence lag” in organisations are identified and described.
Originality/value
Few empirical studies within QM explore the competencies required for QM practices. This paper contributes to QM research in providing arguments for adopting the competence theory as a foundation for organising current and future QM work.