Roy K. Smollan and Rachel L. Morrison
The purpose of this paper is to compare different employee perceptions of the success of one change: a move to new offices and an open-plan design.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare different employee perceptions of the success of one change: a move to new offices and an open-plan design.
Design/methodology/approach
In sum, 25 interviews were carried out in a New Zealand law firm that six months earlier had moved to new premises.
Findings
Contrary to academic and practitioner reports that open-plan offices are disliked, participants appreciated the new office space. A well-planned and highly participative program of change management led to positive perceptions of aesthetic design, open communication, collegiality, egalitarianism and inclusiveness.
Research limitations/implications
Given the small sample used in one organization, the study highlights the need for more research into the processes and outcomes of office space changes.
Originality/value
The roles of communication and culture, in particular, collegiality and egalitarianism, were salient factors in a complex web of causes and consequences in this context of change.
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Rachel L. Morrison and Terry Nolan
The purpose this paper is to expand upon existing knowledge of this important topic by providing an expanded inventory of the causes and consequences of having enemies at work.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose this paper is to expand upon existing knowledge of this important topic by providing an expanded inventory of the causes and consequences of having enemies at work.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative data were collected from 412 respondents using an internet‐based questionnaire with respondents spanning a wide range of occupations, industries and nationalities. Using a structured methodology for handling a large data sample of qualitative responses, emergent thematic categories are identified and explained by means of verbatim text.
Findings
It was found that several aspects of the work environment directly exacerbated or created negative relationships which, in turn, negatively impacted respondents' experiences of work. Findings illustrate some strongly held employee expectations of behaviour and felt‐obligations defining both formal and informal organisational roles.
Research limitations/implications
The findings discussed here emanate only from data emphasising negative relationships at work. A study into other relational factors may provide interesting and important points of comparison as well as serving to overcome the inevitable bias towards the negative within this inquiry.
Practical implications
The conclusions present a number of important challenges to employers and managers for anticipating and dealing with negative co‐worker relationships. Employees seek an equitable and reciprocal relationship with their organisations. An important lesson for management is that workers expect and depend upon their managers to provide support and assistance in overcoming negative workplace relationships.
Originality/value
The data, discussions and conclusions are derived from specific questions which have not previously been expressed in the literatures.
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This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.
Findings
Employee response to any transition to open-plan offices can be hostile. Firms can guard against such negative reactions by involving all members in the change process and developing and sustaining an organizational culture that place strong value on communication, collegiality and inclusiveness.
Originality/value
The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.
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It is widely recognized by scholars that superhero stories tend to glorify vigilante justice; after all, these stories often maintain that extralegal acts of violence are…
Abstract
It is widely recognized by scholars that superhero stories tend to glorify vigilante justice; after all, these stories often maintain that extralegal acts of violence are necessary for combatting existential threats to personal and public safety. This scholarly common sense fosters a widespread dismissal of superhero stories as uncomplicated apologia for an authoritarian politics of law and order that is animated by hatred of unpopular people and ideas. However, some prominent contemporary Batman stories, including those told in the graphic novels of Grant Morrison and in the blockbuster movies of Christopher Nolan, are ambivalent: in their portraits of Batman and Joker as dark twins and secret colleagues, these stories both legitimize and challenge the countersubversive politics of American law and order.
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Rachel Lopes Morrison and Philip Stahlmann-Brown
to evaluate the experiences of knowledge workers who work in shared workspaces and those who moved from single-cell offices to shared workspaces.
Abstract
Purpose
to evaluate the experiences of knowledge workers who work in shared workspaces and those who moved from single-cell offices to shared workspaces.
Design/methodology/approach
Knowledge workers were surveyed before and after 34% moved from single-cell offices to shared workspaces. The authors exploit this panel design in the analysis.
Findings
Shared offices were rated as providing more distraction, less privacy and worsened indoor environment quality (IEQ) (p < 0.05). Perceptions of collaboration and networking also declined in shared workspaces. Distraction and a lack of privacy were negatively associated with self-reported productivity (p < 0.10). Neither IEQ nor collaboration nor networking was significantly associated with productivity. The perceptions of those who moved to shared workspaces and those who had worked in shared workspaces all along were statistically indistinguishable.
Research limitations/implications
The quasi-experimental control provides evidence that it is the office type, not the experience of moving, that accounts for the evaluative changes. There are limitations inherent in using a self-rating performance measure.
Practical implications
Organisations should be aware that the positive outcomes ascribed to shared spaces may not be apparent and that demands may outweigh benefits.
Originality/value
Knowledge workers are particularly impacted by distraction and interruptions to concentrated work. The quasi-experimental design controlled for the Hawthorne effect, demonstrating that it is the office type, not the move, that accounts for differences in perceptions.
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This chapter examines the historical development of different conceptions of health among environmental activists in the postwar United States.
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter examines the historical development of different conceptions of health among environmental activists in the postwar United States.
Methodology/approach
The historical analysis combines archival research with oral history interviews.
Findings
This study argues that applications of “health” to describe the environment are more diverse than generally acknowledged, and that environmental activists were at the forefront of connecting the two terms within broader public discourse.
Originality/value of chapter
This study provides a historical context for understanding the contemporary diversity of perspectives on the links between ecology and health. It illustrates the cross-fertilization between scientists, philosophers, and environmental activists in the 1970s that led to this contemporary diversity.
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Rachel M. Saef, Tine Köhler and Andrew Jebb
Using Hirschman's Exit–Voice–Loyalty–Neglect (EVLN) framework, this study examines the dual-moderating role of the big five personality traits in shaping workers' behavioral…
Abstract
Purpose
Using Hirschman's Exit–Voice–Loyalty–Neglect (EVLN) framework, this study examines the dual-moderating role of the big five personality traits in shaping workers' behavioral responses to psychological contract breach. Building from calls for research on individual differences in psychological contract dynamics, the current study applies the theory of purposeful work behavior to delineate how the higher-order goals prescribed by one's personality jointly guide interpretation processes in forming emotional and behavioral responses. In doing so, we map how certain big five traits shape felt violation and EVLN responses following breach events, while others seem to only moderate emotional or EVLN responses.
Design/methodology/approach
A scenario-based experimental study asked participants (N = 610) about their reactions to a breach event. We tested a dual moderated mediation model, in which agreeableness, extraversion, conscientiousness and neuroticism moderated the intensity of felt violation, and the likelihood of each EVLN behavior following from felt violation.
Findings
We found evidence for the dual moderating effect of agreeableness on voice responses to breach. Additionally, neuroticism strengthened felt violation following breach, and extraversion weakened endorsement of neglecting work to cope with felt violation. Our results suggest that certain traits are particularly important for individual differences in emotional responses to breach (e.g. neuroticism), while others are important for shaping differences in behavior (e.g. extraversion). Additionally, results shed light on the importance of taking a person-by-situation perspective in understanding work behavior, such that extraversion, while conceptualized as general emotional tendencies, does not significantly influence felt violation in breach contexts.
Originality/value
While previous research has looked at how personality traits moderate either the breach–felt violation relation or the breach–EVLN relation, research has yet to test the moderating effect of personality simultaneously. Excluding one or the other overlooks important individual differences in the process, as interpretation processes guiding emotional and behavioral responses happen concurrently. In doing so, we examine responses to a specific breach event (rather than general breach perceptions), as this better aligns with the conceptualizations of breach (as specific occasions of broken promises) and felt violation (as an emotional state).
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Rachel Sharples and Linda Briskman
When it comes to deterring and incarcerating people seeking asylum, there is a fusion between racialisation and politicisation. The bedrock is the colonisation of the nation now…
Abstract
When it comes to deterring and incarcerating people seeking asylum, there is a fusion between racialisation and politicisation. The bedrock is the colonisation of the nation now called Australia, where the dispossession of Indigenous peoples was a national project that later merged into the building of a state that lauded British heritage and the exclusion of migrants through the White Australia policy. This foundation of nationhood continues in a manner that challenges the myth of harmonious multiculturalism by determining who is deemed worthy and who is excluded. The centrepiece of racialised bordering is the immigration detention regime which is increasingly characterised by transporting people to offshore sites. This chapter argues through examples, how people seeking asylum have been racialised, dehumanised and criminalised, particularly through a national security lens.
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Maryana L. Arvan, Rachel C. Dreibelbis and Paul E. Spector
This chapter summarizes a meta-analysis of 72 studies (N= 20,701) that link customer mistreatment (abusive, nasty, and rude behavior of customers toward employees) to…
Abstract
This chapter summarizes a meta-analysis of 72 studies (N= 20,701) that link customer mistreatment (abusive, nasty, and rude behavior of customers toward employees) to psychological, attitudinal, and behavioral strains. Results showed that customer mistreatment related significantly to a variety of psychological and attitudinal strains (emotional exhaustion, emotional strain, job (dis)satisfaction, turnover intentions, perceived organizational support, and supervisor support) and behavioral strains (reduced customer service performance and counterproductive work behavior (CWB) directed toward organizations and customers). These results were similar to those found with general mistreatment, suggesting that mistreatment by organizational outsiders might have similar effects to mistreatment from organizational insiders. These results suggest a clear association of mistreatment with strains, but recent work is discussed that questions the typical assumption that mistreatment leads to CWB rather than the reverse.