Meghan Comstock, Jonathan Supovitz and Maya Kaul
This study examines the relational dynamics between teachers and formal teacher leaders (TLs). We examine the association between relationship structure and leader-member exchange…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the relational dynamics between teachers and formal teacher leaders (TLs). We examine the association between relationship structure and leader-member exchange (LMX) quality and the extent to which LMX mediates the relationship between social network (SN) measures of dyadic relationships and TL influence.
Design/methodology/approach
Using survey data from 1,895 teacher-TL relationships, we employ path mediation analysis using hierarchical linear modeling.
Findings
Our results indicate that voluntary advice-seeking and multiplex ties are associated with stronger exchange quality between teachers and TLs. In addition, LMX partially mediates the relationship between voluntary ties and TL influence.
Originality/value
SN and LMX theories offer two complementary lenses for studying relational dynamics in organizations, though they seldom are used together, especially in education. This study bridges SN and LMX theories and measures to bolster studies of relational dynamics in organizations and highlights that in the case of formal teacher leadership, there is a need for school structures that enable teachers and TLs to seek out one another informally and develop strong social exchanges.
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Maya Kaul, Jonathan Supovitz and Meghan Comstock
This study investigates the reasons teachers seek instructional assistance from their colleagues. By examining both the reasons why teachers seek assistance and considering which…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the reasons teachers seek instructional assistance from their colleagues. By examining both the reasons why teachers seek assistance and considering which reasons for seeking assistance predict shifts in teaching practice, this analysis provides new insights into how schools can leverage teachers' social networks for organizational change.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on interview and survey data from a sample of 52 schools across seven districts in the United States, we first qualitatively explore the reasons teachers seek instructional assistance, based on patterns in teachers' self-reported descriptions of their instructional advice-seeking. Then, we apply hierarchical linear models to predict which individual characteristics and organizational features influence the reasons' teachers seek assistance and which reasons for seeking assistance influence their subsequent shifts in teaching practice.
Findings
Teachers' positions in their social networks, their experience levels and their organizational contexts predict the reasons for which they seek instructional assistance. In addition, teachers seeking advice based on perceptions of their peers' experience or resource access predicts positive shifts in teaching practice; however, fewer than half of teachers' instructional-advice seeking ties reported in our sample were motivated by either of these two reasons.
Practical implications
The findings highlight the potential for school leaders and policymakers to improve teaching practice by making educators' experience and resources more accessible within schools and creating structures that enable collaboration.
Originality/value
This paper addresses a gap in social network literature by moving beyond a structuralist analysis of teachers' collegial networks to investigate teachers' motivations for pursuing advice-seeking ties.
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Sonya D. Hayes, Erin Anderson and Bradley W. Carpenter
This study centers the reflections of principals across the USA as they navigated the overwhelming stress of closing and reopening schools during a global pandemic. Specifically…
Abstract
Purpose
This study centers the reflections of principals across the USA as they navigated the overwhelming stress of closing and reopening schools during a global pandemic. Specifically, the authors explored how school principals addressed self-care and their own well-being during the pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
This research study is part of a broader qualitative study conducted by 20 scholars from across the USA in Spring 2020 and organized by the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE). This national research team conducted 120 qualitative interviews with public school principals in 19 different states and 100 districts. As part of this team, the authors coded and analyzed all 120 transcripts in NVivo using a self-care framework.
Findings
The responses from the participants capture some of the complexity of self-care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors found evidence of both negative and positive sentiments towards self-care that will be described in five major themes. For the tensions with self-care, the authors developed two primary themes: leaders eat last and keep from falling off the cliff. For the demonstrations of self-care, the authors also developed three primary themes: release the endorphins, people need people and unplug from work.
Originality/value
Although researchers have identified the stressors and reactions of principals during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, little is known on how principals engaged in self-care practices. This study aims to identify these self-care practices and offer recommendations for principals.
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Uta Juettner, Katharina Windler, André Podleisek, Maya Gander and Sandrina Meldau
In a time where stakeholders increasingly demand social, environmental, and economic sustainability, mismanaging suppliers can impose substantial sustainability risks for a…
Abstract
Purpose
In a time where stakeholders increasingly demand social, environmental, and economic sustainability, mismanaging suppliers can impose substantial sustainability risks for a company and harm its reputation and business severely. This research explores the implementation of a corporate sustainable supplier strategy designed to cope with such risks from an agency theory perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study of a multinational enterprise, a provider of leading mobility solutions in the realm of escalators, moving walkways and elevators, is conducted. Data is collected from multiple sources of evidence, including strategy documents, a focus group and semi-structured interviews.
Findings
The study identifies several implementation challenges and coping mechanisms in firstly, the agency relationships between the headquarter and the regional subsidiary units and secondly, the relationships between the regional subsidiary units and their suppliers.
Research limitations/implications
A framework conceptualising the implementation of sustainable supplier strategies is proposed. The framework positions the topic at the interface between supply chain sustainability risk, supplier quality management as well as agency relationships and identifies avenues for further research. The key limitations refer to the single case study methodology and the exclusion of suppliers in the data collection approach.
Practical implications
The proposed framework can support multinational enterprises in developing corporate sustainability strategies and in implementing them in the supplier network.
Originality/value
The originality of the framework lies in the integrated approach combining supply chain sustainability risk, supplier quality management and triadic agency relationships.
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Kleanthis K. Katsaros, Athanasios N. Tsirikas and Christos S. Nicolaidis
The aim of the research is to investigate how managers' personal traits, emotions and attitudes shape their tolerance of ambiguity (TOA); and consequently, the influence of…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the research is to investigate how managers' personal traits, emotions and attitudes shape their tolerance of ambiguity (TOA); and consequently, the influence of managers' ambiguity tolerance in organizations' financial performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data were collected from 54 Greek banks. A total of 412 senor-level managers completed questionnaires examining TOA, personal traits, emotions and attitudes in the workplace. Principal components analysis and ordinary least-squares regressions were used to explore the hypotheses of the paper.
Findings
Three factors characterize managers' emotions in the workplace, namely pleasure, arousal and dominance; and, respectively, two factors their involvement, namely importance and interest. Further, locus of control, importance, job satisfaction, pleasure and organizational commitment critically affect managers' TOA, which, in turn, seems to influence positively organizations' profitability.
Research limitations/implications
Further research is required in Greek banking industry regarding the influence of managers' emotional and cognitive attributes in organizations' financial performance. Likewise, this research should be expanded to other industries.
Practical implications
The findings provide further support on the significance of emotional and cognitive attitudes in the workplace; the paper suggests policies to enhance managers' TOA, and thus, organizations' profitability.
Originality/value
The originality of this study lies in the finding that emotional and cognitive characteristics affect managers' TOA, which, in turn, influences significantly organizations' profitability. Another significant contributing factor is that the study is carried out in Greece, where few studies have been conducted in this area.
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Heba Mohamed Adel, Ghada Aly Zeinhom and Raghda Abulsaoud Ahmed Younis
The purpose of this study is to investigate conceptually and empirically the direct and indirect relationships between university social responsibility (USR), university social…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate conceptually and empirically the direct and indirect relationships between university social responsibility (USR), university social innovation strategy (USIS) in terms of social awareness (SA), intention for social innovation (ISI), organisational structure for social innovation (SSI) and innovativeness in social value creation (ISVC) and gaining a sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) at quality-accredited faculties of an emerging market.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual model was presented and a mixed-methods approach was exploited to fill a research gap detected in strategic corporate social innovation literature. The authors formed a data collection team that contacted all the quality-accredited public and private/international faculties, of which 109 faculties in 11 Egyptian governorates responded and their quality units filled questionnaires that were analysed by structural equation modelling. For comprehensive understanding, qualitative interviews were set to gather data from managers/leaders and teaching staff working at those faculties in quality management and community engagement practices as well as students.
Findings
Results demonstrated that USR positively and significantly influenced SCA and USIS. Further, USIS (in terms of ISI, SSI and ISVC) positively and significantly influenced SCA. However, USIS (in terms of SA) had a positive yet insignificant influence on SCA. Indirectly, USIS was found to be partially mediating USR–SCA relationship.
Practical implications
University leaders/staff can gain insights on how to adopt differentiation strategies, which enable their institutions to shift from being just socially responsible to becoming socially innovative by presenting solutions to social, economic, cultural, environmental and health-care problems/challenges within their communities in general and during pandemics. This can be sustained through developing innovative quality-based processes/programmes/services related to education, research and community outreach that better serve social needs to be quality-accredited and unique over their rivals.
Social implications
Satisfying social needs through promoting innovative processes/services can reinforce a favourable social change.
Originality/value
From a cross-disciplinary perspective, the authors interwove conceptually sparse literature of strategic, operations, knowledge capacity and innovation management that studied university social innovation research area. Also, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research that examined empirically USR–USIS–SCA relationships of quality-accredited faculties in an emerging economy during Covid-19 pandemic.