Nicole Torka, Peter Geurts, Karin Sanders and Maarten van Riemsdijk
The purpose of this paper is to explore antecedents of perceived intra‐ and extra‐organisational alternatives among employees in the Czech Republic, Poland and the Slovak Republic.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore antecedents of perceived intra‐ and extra‐organisational alternatives among employees in the Czech Republic, Poland and the Slovak Republic.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 9,068 low‐educated supermarket employees at 360 supermarkets. LISREL analysis was employed.
Findings
Age, job autonomy and organisation size predict both forms of perceived alternatives. Tenure appears to influence both forms of perceived alternatives positively. Job challenge and sex only predict perceived extra‐organisational alternatives. Unexpectedly, despite relatively high unemployment rates, the respondents perceive extra‐organisational alternatives.
Research limitations/implications
Some of the antecedents of perceived alternatives identified in research among workers in Western societies seem to have a different or no impact on the perceived alternatives of employees in these countries. The study comprises only cross‐sectional data. In order to test causality a longitudinal design is needed.
Practical implications
Managers should offer development and promotion opportunities in order to prevent turnover and to enhance internal flexibility as well as reflect on inducements for female and older workers.
Originality/value
This is one of the few studies exploring employee perceptions in Central European transition countries. Moreover, in general, research on the perceived alternatives of low‐educated employees is very scarce. Therefore, this research also contributes to knowledge about their labour market perceptions.
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Christin Mellner, Göran Kecklund, Michiel Kompier, Amir Sariaslan and Gunnar Aronsson
Employees have gained increased flexibility in organizing their work in time and space, that is boundaryless work. Managing the boundaries between work and personal life would…
Abstract
Employees have gained increased flexibility in organizing their work in time and space, that is boundaryless work. Managing the boundaries between work and personal life would seem to be crucial if one is to psychologically detach from work during leisure in order to unwind and get sufficient sleep. Drawing from a sample of Swedish professional workers (N = 3,846), a theoretical model was proposed testing the inter-relationships between boundaryless work in time and space, weekly work hours, psychological detachment, sleeping problems and sleep duration using a structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis. Findings showed that working boundlessly in time, that is spread out during the working day and week, was directly associated with both long weekly work hours and lack of psychological detachment. In contrast, working boundlessly in space, that is at several different places, was inversely associated with weekly work hours and had no association with psychological detachment. Psychological detachment, in turn, was directly associated with sleeping problems and inversely associated with sleep duration. Sleeping problems were inversely associated with sleep duration. Employees with long weekly work hours had a low degree of sleeping problems. There was also no association between long weekly work hours and sleep duration. These findings contradict earlier research, however, we interpret these findings as that if one works a great deal but is able to mentally detach from work-related feelings and thoughts during free time, then sleep will not be hampered because perseverative cognitions associated with prolonged biological activation will have been interrupted. As such, psychological detachment can be regarded as the mechanism that mediates the relationships between working ‘anytime’ and long weekly work hours, and sleep. It was concluded working boundlessly in time increases the likelihood for long weekly work hours and lack of psychological detachment. Hence, employees working ‘anytime – all the time’ run the risk of ‘always being on’ resulting in disturbed sleep.
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Evangelia Demerouti, Sabine A.E. Geurts and Michiel Kompier
This study conducted among 751 employees of the Dutch Postal Service examined (1) the prevalence of various types of work‐home interaction, (2) the relationships of (these various…
Abstract
This study conducted among 751 employees of the Dutch Postal Service examined (1) the prevalence of various types of work‐home interaction, (2) the relationships of (these various types of) work‐home interaction with selected work and home characteristics, and (3) the relationships of (these various types of) work‐home interaction with two health indicators (i.e., fatigue and health complaints). Results supported our assumption that workhome interaction is best characterized by a four‐dimensional structure crossing the distinction between the direction of influence (work → home influence (WHI) vs. Home → work influence (HWI)) and the quality of influence (negative vs. positive). The results further supported our hypotheses, derived from the Demand‐Control‐Support Model and the Effort‐Recovery Model: job demands were most strongly related to negative influence from work (negative WHI), and home demands were primarily (albeit weakly) related to negative influence from home (negative HWI). In accordance with our expectation, job control and particularly job support were associated with positive WHI. There was no support, however, for a similar facilitating process originating in the home situation: home control and home support were not related to any type of interaction. Furthermore, particularly negative WHI was associated with fatigue and health complaints. These findings add to the existing knowledge about possible antecedents and consequences of the interaction between work and private life.
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Anna Bos-Nehles, Beatrice Van der Heijden, Maarten Van Riemsdijk and Jan Kees Looise
Many HRM practices are never thoroughly implemented, or are implemented ineffectively. To better understand what line managers need to implement HRM practices effectively, the…
Abstract
Purpose
Many HRM practices are never thoroughly implemented, or are implemented ineffectively. To better understand what line managers need to implement HRM practices effectively, the authors have developed and validated a psychometrically sound measurement instrument dealing with line managers' attributions for effective HRM implementation. Based on the theory of causal attributions, the authors distinguish between internal and external attributions that determine how line managers implement HRM practices on the work floor.
Design/methodology/approach
A multidimensional approach has been used, and, after collecting data from 471 line managers, thorough scale development guidelines and validation procedures have been applied for instrument development.
Findings
The instrument's psychometric qualities have been assessed by calculating the reliability and validity of line managers' internal attributions – including its composing dimensions of desire and competences – and their external attributions – including the dimensions of support, capacity and policy and procedures. In particular, both convergent and discriminant validity as well as intra-class correlations have been established. The newly developed measures are found to be of good quality. The scales appear to discriminate well between the distinguished groups and show a good variation within groups.
Practical implications
The developed measurement instrument helps HRM professionals to better understand line managers' attributions to effectively implement HRM practices and to provide them with support and training for effective HRM implementation.
Originality/value
Previous research has already identified weaknesses in HRM implementation, but lacked addressing the causes of this. The study presents antecedents for HRM implementation effectiveness, based on the causal attribution theory, and a psychometrically validated instrument to measure these antecedents.
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Laura D. Robinson, Christopher A. Magee and Peter Caputi
The purpose of this paper is to identify work-to-family profiles in working mothers, test whether profiles differ between sole and partnered mothers, and examine whether the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify work-to-family profiles in working mothers, test whether profiles differ between sole and partnered mothers, and examine whether the work-to-family profiles are associated with burnout.
Design/methodology/approach
Data on work-to-family conflict (WFC), work-to-family enrichment (WFE), burnout, and relevant socio-demographic covariates were collected via a self-report online survey. Latent profile analysis on WFC and WFE items was used to identify profiles in 179-sole and 857-partnered mothers in paid employment. Regression analyses were performed to examine whether profiles were associated with burnout.
Findings
Five distinct work-to-family profiles were identified: Harmful, Negative Active, Active, Beneficial, and Fulfilled. Profile membership differed significantly between sole and partnered mothers, with sole mothers more likely to be in the harmful profile. The five profiles had differing implications for burnout.
Practical implications
WFC and WFE can co-occur, and have differing implications for health and well-being. It is important to consider both WFC and WFE when addressing employee burnout. Furthermore, sole mothers may need greater assistance in reducing WFC and increasing WFE in order to minimize burnout.
Originality/value
This study contributes to existing research by demonstrating differences in work-to-family profiles between sole and partnered mothers, and highlights the need for future research on diverse family types.
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Hans E. Roosendaal, Theo W.C. Huibers, Peter A.Th. M. Geurts and Paul E. van der Vet
The economic impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on the academic library and on the academic institution are discussed in terms of changes in the value chain…
Abstract
The economic impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on the academic library and on the academic institution are discussed in terms of changes in the value chain of scientific information induced by the use of ICT. Argues that ICT is a very strong engine for change as it has the potential not only to transform the research information system, but also the educational information system or even the education system at large. Academic institutions will have to create their own publishing and archiving environments using the same technology as in research publishing. These developments will have a profound impact on the value chain of scientific information as it leads academic institutions to assume entirely new roles in this chain and to develop new capabilities. As well as a digital collection strategy, academic libraries will develop strategies for supporting e‐learning and e‐publishing. This leads to changes in the economic conditions at the institutional and also industrial level. The developments will be discussed in general.
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Zinta S. Byrne, Steven G. Manning, James W. Weston and Wayne A. Hochwarter
Research on perceptions of organizational politics has mostly explored the negative aspects and detrimental outcomes for organizations and employees. Responding to recent calls in…
Abstract
Research on perceptions of organizational politics has mostly explored the negative aspects and detrimental outcomes for organizations and employees. Responding to recent calls in the literature for a more balanced treatment, we expand on how positive and negative organizational politics perceptions are perceived as stressors and affect employee outcomes through their influence on the social environment. We propose that employees appraise positive and negative organization politics perceptions as either challenge or hindrance stressors, to which they respond with engagement and disengagement as problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies. Specifically, employees who appraise the negative politics perceptions as a hindrance, use both problem- and emotion-focused coping, which entails one of three strategies: (1) decreasing their engagement, (2) narrowing the focus of their engagement, or (3) disengaging. Although these strategies result in negative outcomes for the organization, employees’ coping leads to their positive well-being. In contrast, employees appraising positive politics perceptions as a challenge stressor use problem-focused coping, which involves increasing their engagement to reap the perceived benefits of a positive political environment. Yet, positive politics perceptions may also be appraised as a hindrance stressor in certain situations, and, therefore lead employees to apply emotion-focused coping wherein they use a disengagement strategy. By disengaging, they deal with the negative effects of politics perceptions, resulting in positive well-being. Thus, our framework suggests an unexpected twist to the stress process of politics perceptions as a strain-provoking component of employee work environments.
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Jan De Leede and Jorien Kraijenbrink
The aim of the chapter is to understand the role of trust and social cohesion in the effects of New Ways of Working.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the chapter is to understand the role of trust and social cohesion in the effects of New Ways of Working.
Design
The study consists of a cross-sectional survey (N = 549) at a Dutch insurance company with four locations. NWW was introduced in one of the locations 15 years ago, the other locations only recently. We present and test a model in which trust and social cohesion are mediators between NWW and performance.
Findings
The implementation of NWW leads to better performance (Beta 0.16, p < 0.001). However, the main effect is explained completely by the mediating role of trust (between employees-managers and between colleagues) and social cohesion. The number of days working at home has no significant relationship to performance.
Research Implications
The theory and findings of this chapter call for further elaboration in research: more contextualization of these data is needed and more comprehensive theoretical models, such as the role of personality, task and function.
Practical Implications
If employees feel to be trusted by their supervisors and colleagues, the performance will increase, ‘even’ if they work at home or in flexible offices. The implementation of NWW will therefore only be beneficial if there are trustful relations and attention is paid to social cohesion of the group.
Originality
The study is among the first to prove the relationship between NWW and performance and more importantly, it is one of the first in explaining that relationship by pointing on the mediating role of trust and social cohesion.
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Linda Zuijderwijk and Jack Burgers
This chapter scrutinizes the role of ethnic categorizations in everyday-lived experiences in a diverse neighbourhood. It was found that ethnic categorizations do play an important…
Abstract
This chapter scrutinizes the role of ethnic categorizations in everyday-lived experiences in a diverse neighbourhood. It was found that ethnic categorizations do play an important part in use and perception in widely divergent ways. Users of public space categorize relevant others in terms of ethnicity in various situations and in relation to several activities. Ethnic categories provide meaningful frameworks both in the case of negative evaluations of behaviour and in understanding spatial segregation. Indigenous Dutch are ethnically categorized in terms of them avoiding public space. Established newcomers are aware of an ethnic hierarchy and feel abandoned by indigenous neighbours. On their part, these established newcomers consider more recently arrived new migrants as a sign of decay of the neighbourhood. Next to (perceived) ethnicity, language is taken in account as a separate important classifying principle.