Kimberly W. O'Connor, Michelle Drouin and Laci Johnson
In this paper, we examine the use of court cases as learning tools for organizations, drawing upon a case involving a workplace wellness program. The study measures employee…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, we examine the use of court cases as learning tools for organizations, drawing upon a case involving a workplace wellness program. The study measures employee perceptions and provides an insight into employee beliefs about wellness plan programming. Practical insights for organizations wanting to incorporate court cases into organizational learning are provided.
Design/methodology/approach
This exploratory study was conducted via Amazon Mechanical Turk survey data (n= 396). We asked participants about their levels of trust in employer-sponsored wellness programs, their understanding of wellness program parameters and limitations, and their perceptions of liability by utilizing the 2017 Whitman v. Interactive Health Solutions court case.
Findings
The results of this study show that, although employees may not fully understand their employer-sponsored wellness programs, they have a high degree of trust in their employers. Additionally, employees have strong beliefs about potential employer and third-party vendor liability when unintended consequences related to wellness plan programming occur.
Originality/value
This study adds to the small, but growing body of research focused on wellness programming in the workplace. Additionally, by measuring employee perceptions of this court case, we discovered a unique approach to problem-based learning.
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Brandon T. McDaniel, Kimberly O'Connor and Michelle Drouin
The purpose of this study is to examine whether work-related technology use outside of work and around family members could produce technoference or phubbing, where time spent…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine whether work-related technology use outside of work and around family members could produce technoference or phubbing, where time spent with family members is interrupted by or intruded upon by technology use. The authors also examined its impact on work-to-family spillover, feelings of overload, life satisfaction and job satisfaction for workers.
Design/methodology/approach
Via an online survey, the authors assessed the frequency of technoference due to work, work-to-family spillover, feelings of overload, life satisfaction and job satisfaction. The authors’ analytic sample included US parents (95 fathers and 88 mothers) who worked for pay and experienced technoference in their relationships, which was at least sometimes due to work.
Findings
Results reveal possible impacts of technoference related to work on employee feelings of work-to-family spillover, greater feelings of overload, lower life satisfaction and lower job satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications
Data are from a cross-sectional online survey, and results are correlational. Although the authors have theoretical/conceptual evidence for the impacts of technoference, it is possible that the direction of effects could be reversed or even bidirectional. Experimental/intervention work could further examine whether changes in technology use at home due to work improve employee well-being.
Practical implications
The authors’ findings suggest that organizational policies which promote healthy boundaries and work-life balance are likely fundamental to employee well-being and that employers should be mindful of employees' work-related technology use at home.
Originality/value
This study examines technoference and phubbing due to work while at home, as opposed to focusing on the at-work context.
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Katya Karathanos-Aguilar and Lara Ervin-Kassab
A growing body of research has pointed to the potential benefits of a co-teaching clinical residency model in preservice education. Preservice co-teaching research has focused…
Abstract
Purpose
A growing body of research has pointed to the potential benefits of a co-teaching clinical residency model in preservice education. Preservice co-teaching research has focused primarily on conditions necessary for effective co-teaching to occur, factors that inhibit successful co-teaching implementation, and teacher candidate development. Researchers have called for further exploration into potential benefits of preservice co-teaching models for the mentor teacher. In this study, the authors explored ways in which mentor teachers who participated in a co-teaching pre-service program experienced professional growth.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to gain insights into the perspectives of mentor teachers and ways in which they experienced professional growth through their experiences in the co-teaching program, the authors used a qualitative, descriptive approach. The authors’ primary data source included interviews conducted with 42 mentor teachers from five content-areas. Researcher communication and interactions with co-teachers over time, along with artifacts including field notes, co-teacher reflections on practice, and program documents, served as peripheral data sources.
Findings
Results indicated that co-teachers experienced meaningful professional growth in areas represented by the following themes: (1) critical reflection, (2) pedagogical renewal, (3) in situ feedback and refining practice and (4) application of learning to leadership roles.
Originality/value
This study, which is one of only a few studies focusing explicitly on mentor co-teacher professional growth, provided new insights into learning opportunities afforded to mentor teachers through a participation in a blended model of co-teaching and communities of practice.
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Ofer Zwikael, Michelle Salmona, Jack Meredith and Seyed Ashkan Zarghami
Although the literature is clear on what comprises effective project stakeholder management, communication between key stakeholders and project managers is often ineffective…
Abstract
Purpose
Although the literature is clear on what comprises effective project stakeholder management, communication between key stakeholders and project managers is often ineffective. Research is silent on stakeholders' insufficient knowledge of project management terminology, which is a barrier for such effective communication. This paper aims to identify the project management concepts that key stakeholders should understand to improve effective communication.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper employs a three-step research design. In the first step, based on threshold concept theory, the authors identify the key project management concepts through interviews with 20 project management practitioners, trainers and trainees. In the second step, the authors confirm the findings from the first step and identify effective approaches to enhance project stakeholders' communication through seven additional interviews with project stakeholders. In the third step, the authors construct a functional model of the research findings by employing a system-level modeling tool.
Findings
This research identifies five project management threshold concepts (TC) that are challenging for project stakeholders to understand (1) project benefits, (2) the iron triangle, (3) the critical path, (4) uncertainty and (5) project leadership. Following these knowledge barriers, the paper proposes unique approaches to develop effective project stakeholder communication.
Originality/value
This paper advances project stakeholder management research by identifying knowledge barriers and providing project managers with more effective approaches to better engage with their stakeholders.
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Muhammad Ayat, Malikah, Azmat Ullah and Changwook Kang
This study examines scholarly communications in the International Journal of Managing Projects in Business (IJMPB) and identifies the journal's leading trends from 2008 to 2019.
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines scholarly communications in the International Journal of Managing Projects in Business (IJMPB) and identifies the journal's leading trends from 2008 to 2019.
Design/methodology/approach
This study analyzed a sample of 522 articles published in the IJMPB since its inception in 2008 until 2019. A set of bibliometric measures was used in the study to identify publication trends, citation structures, leading authors, institutions and countries. Additionally, analysis of research methodologies, industrial sectors and research themes of the articles was carried out through a rigorous content analysis. To examine the changes in journal expansion over time, the duration of publications (from 2008 to 2019) was divided into three subperiods.
Findings
The study findings show that 793 authors from 370 institutions and 58 countries contributed to the journal during this period. In terms of contributions, Australia and the Scandinavian countries are at the top, while Asian and African countries occupy a lower position. Moreover, among authors, Derek H.T. Walker was found to be the most prolific, with the highest weighting score and number of articles. Similarly, RMIT University of Australia emerged as the most productive institution. The articles were predominantly case studies followed by mixed methods (i.e. both surveys and interviews are used for data collection). Most of the articles in the sample were related to project management in general. However, several articles reported on construction, information technology (IT) and manufacturing projects.
Practical implications
This study is useful for the researcher community to understand the journal's scientific productivity. Further, it will also help identify dominant topics in the field of project management.
Originality/value
This is the first comprehensive review article presenting a general overview of the journal's leading trends and researchers since its inception in 2008.
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Sean Sands, Colin L. Campbell, Kirk Plangger and Carla Ferraro
This paper aims to examine how consumers respond to social media influencers that are created through artificial intelligence (AI) and compares effects to traditional (human…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine how consumers respond to social media influencers that are created through artificial intelligence (AI) and compares effects to traditional (human) influencers.
Design/methodology/approach
Across two empirical studies, the authors examine the efficacy of AI social media influencers. With Study 1, the authors establish baseline effects for AI influencers and investigate how social-psychological distance impacts consumer perceptions. The authors also investigate the role of an influencer’s agency – being autonomous or externally managed – to test the boundaries of the results and determine the interactive effects between influencer type and influencer agency. Study 2 acts as an extension and validation of Study 1, whereby the authors provide generalisability and overlay the role of need for uniqueness as a moderated mediator.
Findings
The authors show that there are similarities and differences in the ways in which consumers view AI and human influencers. Importantly, the authors find no difference in terms of intention to follow or personalisation. This suggests that consumers are equally open to follow an AI or human influencer, and they perceive the level of personalisation provided by either influencer type as similar. Furthermore, while an AI influencer is generally perceived as having lower source trust, they are more likely to evoke word-of-mouth intentions. In understanding these effects, the authors show that social distance mediates the relationship between influencer type and the outcomes the authors investigate. Results also show that AI influencers can have a greater effect on consumers who have a high need for uniqueness. Finally, the authors find that a lack of influencer agency has a detrimental effect.
Research limitations/implications
The studies investigate consumers’ general response to AI influencers within the context of Instagram, however, future research might examine consumers’ response to posts promoting specific products across a variety of category contexts and within different social media platforms.
Practical implications
The authors find that in some ways, an AI influencer can be as effective as a human influencer. Indeed, the authors suggest that there may be a spill-over effect from consumer experiences with other AI recommendation systems, meaning that consumers are open to AI influencer recommendations. However, the authors find consistent evidence that AI influencers are trusted less than traditional influencers, hence the authors caution brands from rushing to replace human influencers with their AI counterparts.
Originality/value
This paper offers novel insight into the increasingly prominent phenomenon of the AI influencer. Specifically, it takes initial steps towards developing understanding as to how consumers respond to AI influencers and contrast these effects with human influencers.
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Eric John Darling and Stephen Jonathan Whitty
The purpose of this paper is to describe the relationship between project work and stress. It examines how the conditions of project work negatively impact on an individual’s…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the relationship between project work and stress. It examines how the conditions of project work negatively impact on an individual’s mental and physical state of well-being, consequentially reducing organisational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors systematically review the project management literature for sources of stress or stressors as it relates to Cooper and Marshall’s (1976) model of stress at work. The authors perform a thematic analysis on these stressors to reveal the “sub-stressor” conditions of project work.
Findings
A “model of projects as a source of stress at work” is developed. It shows the relationship between the sub-stressors of project work and the ill effects they have on mental and physical well-being of the project workforce.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this study are constrained by the limits of a literature review process. This study has implications for research on stress in project work, as studies can benefit from the “model of projects as a source of stress at work”, which can be continually advanced to gain insights on the minimisation of physical and mental distress.
Practical implications
Many sectors including health, education, policing, aviation and military provide scenario-based training. In project management, a greater understanding of stressful scenarios and counter measures would improve health outcomes for project staff, human relations and project outcomes.
Originality/value
The study presents a comprehensive model of projects as a source of stress at work. It draws attention to the burden and cost of anxiety and stress placed on the project workforce. It makes the case for organisations and employees to take responsibility for the well-being of project staff.