M. Darío Rodríguez and F. René Ríos
Paternalism in labour relationships is characteristic of Chilean and Latin American firms. Despite its empirical and practical relevance it lacks adequate conceptual elaboration…
Abstract
Purpose
Paternalism in labour relationships is characteristic of Chilean and Latin American firms. Despite its empirical and practical relevance it lacks adequate conceptual elaboration so that it remains an opaque real drive that cannot be managed. This paper seeks to propose some conceptual distinctions to help clarify its meaning.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the social systems theory of Niklas Luhmann, paternalism is analysed as semantics which makes three main aspects visible: interests, autonomous decisions and responsibility that are seen as different sources of risk and danger for the workers. Paternalism is allegedly a protective device.
Findings
Paternalism is reinforced and reproduced by distrust in the workers' capacities to make decisions on their own and it becomes a justification to keep wages low, hinder delegation and becomes an ideology that justifies gaps between productivity and compensation.
Research limitations/implications
Paternalism is difficult to operationalize in order to make empirical observations, but through qualitative analysis we were able to characterize it with two examples. This will help empirical research to continue on a more appropriate conceptual basis.
Practical implications
HRM practices should consider that paternalism is present as an expectation and that management should know that it can also pervade administration despite its modernized appearance.
Originality/value
Since paternalism pervades expectations in opaque ways, it sets limits to management's capacities to administer human resources in a modern way. Awareness of this fact allows its comprehension and the ability to properly deal with it.
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Labor contracts are built on the basis of different latent premises about expectations of the organizations and the workers. Paternalism is widespread in Latin America, and its…
Abstract
Purpose
Labor contracts are built on the basis of different latent premises about expectations of the organizations and the workers. Paternalism is widespread in Latin America, and its diverse forms should be taken into account in the design of HR policies and management practices. The paper seeks to compare two Chilean banks and show that different forms of paternalism exist. As long as the organization is consistent with the premises it works with, productivity is not hindered by either form.
Design/methodology/approach
By means of a case study two banks's contractual premises are compared. Each one represents a different set of cultural expectations for the labor contracts.
Findings
Paternalistic and non paternalistic premises for labor contracts differ widely, but as long as the organization is coherent with them in its human resources policies and practices, productivity can be achieved indistinctively.
Research limitations/implications
The cases are representative of main types of organization's labor contracts, but not statistically representative. Generalizations are possible insofar as other organizations show similar cultural pre‐contractual premises.
Practical implications
Human resource management policies and practices need to be consistent with the premises underlying the labor contract and the social bond in order to allow for productivity increases.
Originality/value
Paternalism is still present in Latin American organizations, instead of dismissing it as traditional or premodern, acknowledging it will allow for organizations to act more realistically towards its labor force.
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The paper shows how two banks – Bank of Credit and Investments (BCI) and ABN Amro – have taken the paternalism widespread in Latin America into account in designing their HR…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper shows how two banks – Bank of Credit and Investments (BCI) and ABN Amro – have taken the paternalism widespread in Latin America into account in designing their HR policies and management practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reveals, through case studies of the two banks, how different contractual premises represent different sets of cultural expectations.
Findings
The paper emonstrates that the two approaches differ widely, but neither bank has compromised on performance.
Practical implications
The author contends that HR policies and practices need to be consistent with the premises underlying the labour contract and social bond in order to allow for productivity increases.
Originality/value
The pape advises organizations not to work against the paternalism that continues to exist in business in Latin America, but to acknowledge and accommodate it.
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Sajjad Nazir, Amina Shafi, Muhammad Ali Asadullah, Wang Qun and Sahar Khadim
This study examines the serial mediation mechanism between paternalistic leadership and innovative work behavior through the leader–member exchange (LMX) and employee voice…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the serial mediation mechanism between paternalistic leadership and innovative work behavior through the leader–member exchange (LMX) and employee voice behavior. Particularly, this study utilized the social exchange theory to investigate the indirect effect of three distinct dimensions of paternalistic leadership style on innovative work behavior through LMX and employee voice behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
Self-reported questionnaires were used to collect data from 397 employees in Pakistan. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM).
Findings
The two dimensions of paternalistic leadership were significantly related to LMX. LMX had a significant effect on employee voice behavior that was further related to innovative work behavior. The findings also support the mediating role of LMX between authoritarian and moral leadership and employee voice. Further, LMX and employee voice boosted the indirect relationship between moral leadership and innovative behavior. However, authoritarian leadership demonstrated a significant but negative indirect effect on innovative behavior through LMX and employee voice.
Practical implications
The organizational members need to encourage a high LMX and voice behavior to enhance the positive effects of benevolent and moral leadership styles on innovative employee behaviors. Contrarily, they need to discourage authoritarian leadership if they want to enhance innovative work behavior through LMX and employee voice. Furthermore, when leaders provide a safe environment to employees at the workplace, then they may feel secure to take risks and exhibit innovative work behavior, which ultimately contributes to increasing employee and organizational performance.
Originality/value
This study extended the existing literature on paternalistic leadership in two important ways. First, this study examined a serial mediation mechanism to test the effect of paternalistic leadership on innovative work behavior through LMX and voice behavior. Second, this is a key study to investigate which dimension of paternalistic leadership is effective to boost employees' innovative work behavior at the individual level in the Pakistani organizational context.
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Alejandro Rodriguez-Andara, Rosa María Río-Belver, Marisela Rodríguez-Salvador and René Lezama-Nicolás
The purpose of this paper is to deliver a roadmap that displays pathways to develop sustainability skills in the engineering curricula.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to deliver a roadmap that displays pathways to develop sustainability skills in the engineering curricula.
Design/methodology/approach
The selected approach to enrich engineering students with sustainability skills was active learning methodologies. First, a survey was carried out on a sample of 189 students to test the current sustainability literacy and determine the roadmap starting point. Next, a scientometric study regarding active learning methodologies was executed. A total of 2,885 articles and conference proceedings from the period 2013-2016 were retrieved from the Web of Science database. The records were then imported into text mining software to undergo a term clumping process. Annual knowledge clusters based on key terms were outputted. Finally, a roadmap was created by experts based on the annual knowledge clusters.
Findings
Four annual pathways were created along the roadmap to develop sustainability skills during the four-year college course in engineering. The first consisted on promoting a recycling campaign through a circular economy. The second aimed at creating educational videos regarding sustainability. The third reinforced reasoning and argumentative skills by preparing a debate on environmental issues. The last path assumed that the student is working in internship programs and prepared him/her to apply environmental management models to solve sustainability issues within the company.
Research limitations/implications
Roadmaps should be updated approximately every two years to reflect novelty. The proposed methodology shows an easy way to create them.
Practical implications
Results from this paper, as well as the proposed methodology, can be applied to any organization forming individuals: from primary school education to employee training programs in organizations.
Social implications
The development of sustainability skills has a direct, positive impact on professional decision-making and, ultimately, on the environment.
Originality/value
This paper presents a roadmapping process to develop sustainability competences throughout engineering college education.
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This study based on qualitative data aims to highlight emerging journalistic practices. It analyzes entrepreneurship in Brazilian journalism in order to determine to what extent…
Abstract
This study based on qualitative data aims to highlight emerging journalistic practices. It analyzes entrepreneurship in Brazilian journalism in order to determine to what extent this development can be regarded as a form of organizational innovation. Over 30 case studies of Brazilian journalistic startups are examined.
The method adopted in this analysis consists of four complementary stages. In the first stage we identify Brazilian media’s political and economic standing and the impacts of digitization on journalism. Then we assess journalistic startup experiences in Brazil through innovation and entrepreneurialism and map the cases. Finally, the fourth and final stage involves interviews of journalists responsible for such startups.
In the past, startups were associated with oppositional forms of journalism aimed at producing alternative views. We find that these startups represent a hybrid of innovation and conservation in news production. On the one hand, they create the potential for journalism’s independence, a crucial asset for the democratic societies utilizing various forms of news production. On the other hand, they remain tied to political and economic interests springing from the neoliberalism that characterize the global media industry.
This chapter focuses on journalistic startups in Brazil and identifies five relevant characteristics of these entrepreneurial organizations. These innovative forms of news production open up spaces for a plurality of social actors and productive sectors. They also offer alternative approaches to covering many relevant issues in Brazilian society, such as legal and judicial topics.
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This chapter examines the professional identities of Brazilian journalists. It does so through an analysis of the growing professional autonomy of journalism from 1950 to 1990…
Abstract
This chapter examines the professional identities of Brazilian journalists. It does so through an analysis of the growing professional autonomy of journalism from 1950 to 1990 through the life stories of 10 intellectual-journalists, individuals whose journalistic activities have crossed over into other intellectual fields.
This study applies a symbolic interactionist framework to understand how these actors managed their reputations and careers within the intellectual world. The narratives were taken from qualitative semi-structured interviews, and supported by additional research such as interviews, biographies, and articles which have been published about their lives.
The life stories were compared to the extensive structural changes affecting the world of journalism and the world of intellectuals in Brazil. This comparison revealed gaps between these two spheres of practice, within which the ambivalent form of journalists’ identities have been constructed.
This chapter offers two contributions to the study of Brazilian journalists. From a theoretical and methodological viewpoint, it advances beyond other studies that focus more on the prevailing representations of journalists’ professional identities and their role in society. From an empirical standpoint, it describes the complex negotiations between the worlds of journalism, culture and politics. This chapter also reexamines the current dominant explanation for the changes in Brazilian journalism. It shows that building careers and new levels of interpersonal cooperation for intellectuals and journalists has been a slow process. Ultimately, this development has left some behind, especially those actors stretched between multiple professional identities such as those who self-identify as intellectual-journalists.
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René Nolio Santa Cruz, Hugo Vaz Sampaio, Carlos Becker Westphall, Maximiliano Dutra de Camargo and Daniela Couto Carvalho Barra
The objectives of the proposed model are: aiding nursing staff in documentation tasks, which can be onerous and stressful; and helping management by offering an estimate of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The objectives of the proposed model are: aiding nursing staff in documentation tasks, which can be onerous and stressful; and helping management by offering an estimate of the nursing workload, which can be considered for administrative purposes, such as staff scheduling.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory-descriptive study was conducted in order to identify, investigate, and describe the problem of documenting nursing activities and workload estimation in an intensive care unit. Technological solutions were explored, and models were proposed to address these issues.
Findings
Cross-dataset experiments were performed, and the model was able to offer an adequate estimate of the nursing workload. The results suggest that continuous retraining is essential for maintaining high accuracy. While the proposed model was considered in the context of an adult ICU, it can be adapted to other contexts, such as elderly care.
Research limitations/implications
While the proposed solution seems promising, further research is required, such as deploying this system in an ICU and facing challenges in the areas of computer security, medical ethics, and patient data privacy. More patients’ variables could also be collected to improve the workload estimates.
Originality/value
Nursing workload assessment is critical to improve the cost-benefit ratio in health care, offer high-quality patient care, and reduce unnecessary expenses, and this process is usually manual. An automated device can automatically document the amount of time spent in patient care activities in a more transparent, efficient, and accurate manner, freeing staff for more urgent activities and keeping management better informed about day-to-day nursing operations.
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Environmental management and planning is now considered as a new fieldof professional expertise. There are even associations groupinginterested professionals. So far, urban…
Abstract
Environmental management and planning is now considered as a new field of professional expertise. There are even associations grouping interested professionals. So far, urban environmental management has only been considered as part of environmental management. But, since the Rio Conference in 1992 and along with the new focus of urban management on environmental problems, urban environmental management can be looked at as a new professional field. Traces the emergence of the field and tries to identify the new skills required. Raises the question of formal training, in higher education, for a new type of professional. Refers to an initiative taken by the Asian Institute of Technology (Bangkok) to propose and offer a new graduate programme in this field.