Jennifer R. Spoor, Rebecca L. Flower, Simon M. Bury and Darren Hedley
Although there is growing academic and business interest in autism employment programs, few studies have examined employee (manager and coworker) attitudes toward these programs…
Abstract
Purpose
Although there is growing academic and business interest in autism employment programs, few studies have examined employee (manager and coworker) attitudes toward these programs. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of workload changes (a job demand) and perceived supervisor support (a job resource) on commitment to the program and employee engagement more broadly.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 229 employees from two Australian public sector organizations completed a survey about the autism employment program in their organization.
Findings
Perceived workload increases were associated with lower affective commitment and higher continuance commitment to the program. Perceived supervisor support was associated with higher affective commitment to the program and employee engagement, but lower continuance commitment to the program. Perceived supervisor support moderated the effect of workload increase on employee engagement, but not in the expected direction.
Originality/value
This research helps to fill a gap in the autism employment literature by focusing on commitment toward autism employment programs among existing employees. The research helps to provide a more complete and nuanced view of these programs within their broader organizational context.
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John Rodwell, Julia Ellershaw and Rebecca Flower
The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of three components of the psychological contract (i.e. obligations, fulfillment and breach) and the individual characteristic…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of three components of the psychological contract (i.e. obligations, fulfillment and breach) and the individual characteristic negative affectivity (NA) onto three key outcomes, namely, job satisfaction, organizational identification and psychological distress.
Design/methodology/approach
Questionnaires were completed by 222 Australian nurses and midwives from a medium-sized metropolitan Australian hospital. The response rate for the study was 39 percent.
Findings
Structural equation modeling revealed that perceptions of psychological contract fulfillment were positively linked to organizational identification and job satisfaction, while psychological contract breach was negatively linked to these outcomes. NA was negatively linked to job satisfaction and positively linked to psychological distress. Psychological contract obligations were not associated with any of the employee outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
Psychological contract fulfillment is an important driver of employee satisfaction and organizational identification and the findings highlight the importance of including NA in psychological contract research. The occupation and context, being in-demand employees, appeared to neutralize the impact of one dimension of the psychological contract, employer promises and obligations.
Practical implications
Explicitly managing employees’ psychological contracts by focussing on fulfilling realistic promises will enable managers to improve employee outcomes and facilitate employees embracing their organization.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first to explore all three components of the psychological contract. These results may assist in the development of strategies to retain in-demand employees such as nurses, particularly highlighting the need to make and fulfill realistic promises.
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John Rodwell, Rebecca Flower and Defne Demir
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether occupational social contexts differentiate the processing of changes in the employment relationship, as represented by the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether occupational social contexts differentiate the processing of changes in the employment relationship, as represented by the psychological contract. Specifically, this study investigates the impact of the psychological contract and justice, with negative affectivity (NA), on medical practitioners or administrative staff in healthcare.
Design/methodology/approach
Samples of 54 medical practitioners (30 percent) and 122 administrative staff (59 percent), primarily providing public services, responded to a cross-sectional survey. Data were analyzed using multiple regression analyses.
Findings
Among medical staff, psychological contract obligations were associated with lower commitment and psychological distress, whereas fulfillment was associated with higher commitment and job satisfaction, yet higher distress. Distributive justice was associated with lower distress, and NA was associated with higher distress. Among administration staff, fulfillment was associated with commitment and job satisfaction, and NA was associated with lower job satisfaction and higher distress. Essentially, reforms are likely to have more impact on less powerful occupations.
Practical implications
Psychological contract fulfillment is a key predictor of hospital employees’ commitment and satisfaction, placing clinicians, particularly, under pressure. To retain employees, hospitals must keep their promises. Further, occupational power activates the role of obligations, with practitioners having negative outcomes and holding the organization to account until the obligations are fulfilled.
Originality/value
This study highlights the differential nature of the psychological contract among healthcare employee groups, with differences depending on occupational power.
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Rebecca Flower, Defne Demir, John McWilliams and Dianne Johnson
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between components of the psychological contract, organisational justice, and negative affectivity (NA), with key…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between components of the psychological contract, organisational justice, and negative affectivity (NA), with key employee outcomes (i.e. organisational commitment, job satisfaction, depression, and psychological distress) among allied health professionals.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 134 (response rate of 46 per cent) Australian allied health professional completed a questionnaire.
Findings
Multiple regressions revealed that higher NA was associated with lower organisational commitment, lower job satisfaction, and higher levels of depression. The psychological contract variable, breach, was associated with depression. Informational justice was associated with organisational commitment. Distributive justice was associated with job satisfaction.
Research limitations/implications
This research is limited by its cross-sectional design and that the data were self-reported. The results obtained suggest the potential utility of collecting longitudinal data to replicate and extend the results.
Practical implications
While NA may be beyond management control, it may be ameliorated by attention to improving communication of management decisions and by sensitivity to the elements implicit in psychological contracts. The negative consequences of contract breach may be offset by informational and distributive justice.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first to examine multiple measures of the psychological contract in addition to organisational justice and NA. Further, this study adds to the literature for allied health professionals, where little is known about factors contributing to their turnover.
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There are over fifty Faculty, Departmental, and Special Libraries in the University of Cambridge and, as may be imagined, the functions of these libraries vary greatly. There are…
Abstract
There are over fifty Faculty, Departmental, and Special Libraries in the University of Cambridge and, as may be imagined, the functions of these libraries vary greatly. There are roughly speaking three main types. The main purpose of the first group is to make books available to undergraduates who are reading for Tripos and other examinations, while that of the second group is to supply the needs of the teaching staff and of research. The third group of libraries caters for the needs of the teaching staff, of research students, and of examination students. It must be borne in mind that this grouping is purely arbitrary, and the reader will find that scientific libraries are in many cases seeking to cater for undergraduates as well as for those engaged in research.
“A Candidate, canvassing his district, met a Nurse wheeling a Baby in a carriage, and, stooping, imprinted a kiss upon the Baby's clammy muzzle. Rising, he saw a Man, who laughed.
Andrew Mason and Rebecca Scollen
This paper aims to discuss the role of a grassroots initiative in engaging local people in an innovative place-making fringe festival. Festivals such as the Carnival of Flowers…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to discuss the role of a grassroots initiative in engaging local people in an innovative place-making fringe festival. Festivals such as the Carnival of Flowers are a major tourism event for regional cities like Toowoomba and contribute to place-making through marketing and engagement. Within the professional management of such events, there exists space for innovation and genuine community involvement, which can assist in authentically reflecting place identity. Avant Garden (2007-2008) models a successful grassroots fringe festival, initiated by community members in response to the challenge of long-term drought. Avant Garden engaged locals and tourists in a positive re-imagining of place via site-specific public artworks generated by the community.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey of 504 visitors to Toowoomba’s public gardens during the first weekend of the 2007 Carnival of Flowers examined how Avant Garden was received by the community.
Findings
The paper suggests that fringe festivals can provide place-making capacity in broadening festivals as an expression of local identity. Fringe festivals can allow authentic community engagement within a mainstream festival and can indicate longer-term innovations to place branding.
Practical implications
The paper includes implications for festival managers about effective ways to engage community in grassroots initiatives which reflect innovation, authenticity and greater diversity.
Originality/value
The paper provides a study of a visual arts fringe festival in the context of place management. The project described allows a “bottom up” approach to engaging the local community which provides authenticity and broadens the scope of an existing mainstream garden festival.
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Using Lundy's model (2007), this chapter adopts a child-centred approach to discuss decision-making in relation to designing a study which aimed to amplify childhood voices of…
Abstract
Using Lundy's model (2007), this chapter adopts a child-centred approach to discuss decision-making in relation to designing a study which aimed to amplify childhood voices of parental separation (Kay-Flowers, 2019). It examines the role of young people in designing and co-producing the research tools, specifically designed to give voice to childhood experiences of parental separation and divorce. It explains how the research findings were shared with different audiences and reflects on the effectiveness of the approaches taken.
The chapter starts by outlining the four elements of ‘space’, ‘voice’, ‘audience’ and ‘influence’ in Lundy's model (2007) before going on to identify the gap in existing research on children's experience of parental separation and divorce, explaining why their voices need to be heard.
A focus group of young people were involved in designing the study. Finding current methods unsuitable for addressing the research question, they co-produced new research tools specifically designed for the study, alongside the researcher, in a process known as bricolage. The chapter explains the processes involved in creating the bricolage and describes the newly created research tools which were an online questionnaire and Prompt Simulation Video (PSV).
The last part of the chapter explains how ‘audience’ and ‘influence’ informed decision-making about how the study's findings could be presented to amplify childhood voices of parental separation and divorce, to ensure they were heard by different audiences of academics, practitioners, parents, public and children. It concludes with consideration of the effectiveness of this approach.
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Deepika Upadhyay, Pallavi Tyagi, Simon Grima and Balamurugan Balusamy
Rivers are very close to Indian culture and civilisation. Indians treat rivers as holy and connect them to their faith. Human-induced activities unintentionally pollute the water…
Abstract
Rivers are very close to Indian culture and civilisation. Indians treat rivers as holy and connect them to their faith. Human-induced activities unintentionally pollute the water bodies. The present case revolves around an innovative social enterprise – PHOOL, which deals with the recycling of flowers offered by devotees at temples. Thus, preventing thousands of kilograms of floral waste from being dumped into rivers daily and polluting them. The idea was conceived to save the most revered river – the Ganges. These flowers are mostly loaded with pesticides and insecticides, which further merge with river water making it even more toxic, endangering marine lives. PHOOL collects flowers from various places of worship and recycles them into handcrafted incense sticks and biodegradable Styrofoam. This unique venture has also been patented for its process and technology of floral waste recycling. Their mission is to save and preserve the river Ganges and empower marginalised women by providing employment opportunities while at the same time giving a livelihood and a future to Indian child and the generations to come. The child could now afford schooling, in hopes of a better economic future in a healthier environment while maintaining all societal traditions. It is essentially a case of social entrepreneurship that aims to help readers understand the intricacies of starting and surviving a social enterprise and ensuring continual sustainability. To create the case, an interview was carried out with Ms Ekta Jain (Associate, Marketing and Communications, PHOOL), as well as a literature review and data were collected on the social enterprise and significant events that take place in the Indian social entrepreneurship ecosystem. PHOOL is a case on ensuring a balanced approach between the economy, environment and society. It aims at protecting and creating a balance between the environment, the economy and the society, generating a new inflow to the economy, providing a purpose in life for those most in need of it and a livelihood free from pollution and deprivation, and making the world a better place to live in. It is creating a balance between societal needs, the environment that requires protection, the economy and ensuring continuity.
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Rebecca L. Gardner, Jeanne E. Boyle and Ellen Calhoun
Following enactment of the federal Endangered Species Act in 1973, a variety of organizations proceeded to establish lists of endangered, threatened, or rare species of wildlife…
Abstract
Following enactment of the federal Endangered Species Act in 1973, a variety of organizations proceeded to establish lists of endangered, threatened, or rare species of wildlife that they believed fell within their purview. State lists, as opposed to regional or national lists, are of particular importance because they form a rigorous record of the status of species in small, well‐defined geographic areas. State lists also indicate the development status of legal management efforts in the various states and are, therefore, predictors of how rigorously species variety will be maintained. Online searches of environment, legal, and government indexes (Enviroline, NTIS, Agricola, and others) demonstrated that there is no organized way to identify official state lists and that, in fact, few official lists are cited within the voluminous environment literature.