Etlyn J. Kenny and Rob B. Briner
The purpose of this paper is to explore how ethnicity remains relevant to the workplace experience of minority ethnic graduate employees in contemporary British organizations.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how ethnicity remains relevant to the workplace experience of minority ethnic graduate employees in contemporary British organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative interviews were conducted with 30 British Black Caribbean graduate employees drawn from a range of public and private‐sector organizations to examine the ways in which they felt their ethnicity impacted on how they experienced their places of work. Template analysis was used to analyse the data.
Findings
The paper finds that racial discrimination, social class and ethnic identity were key elements of the way in which ethnicity was experienced by these minority ethnic graduate employees. The paper discusses the differing ways racial discrimination is experienced and conceptualized in contemporary British organizations; and highlights the ways in which social class may play a role in how a group of (largely) working class minority ethnic graduates progress their careers in (largely) middle class organizational environments. Presented for the first time is a theory on the key facets of the ways ethnic identity might be experienced at work.
Research limitations/implications
Further research would be required to see if the findings are replicated with graduates from other minority ethnic groups.
Practical implications
The paper provides insights into ways in which majority and minority ethnic employees may experience organizations differently.
Originality/value
This paper provides some new insights into the role of ethnicity at work. It also attempts to address some of the issues with organizational psychological research on ethnicity at work identified by Kenny and Briner.
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A critical evaluation of the organizational psychology research on the experience of emotion at work was undertaken by examining the extent to which research has characteristics…
Abstract
A critical evaluation of the organizational psychology research on the experience of emotion at work was undertaken by examining the extent to which research has characteristics appropriate to basic psychological approaches to emotion. Five characteristics were identified covering definitions, use of theory, design, and methods. A range of edited books and peer-reviewed journals were searched to identify relevant research, which was then examined for the expected characteristics. The results revealed relatively few empirical studies about experience of emotion at work and, in most cases, the expected characteristics were found in only around half of the studies. The implications of this for future research are discussed.
Lisa Maertens, Ellen Daniëls, Annie Hondeghem and Wouter Vandenabeele
Notwithstanding that evidence-based human resource management (EBHRM) is gaining more ground in governmental institutions, it is still lacking a clear and research-driven…
Abstract
Purpose
Notwithstanding that evidence-based human resource management (EBHRM) is gaining more ground in governmental institutions, it is still lacking a clear and research-driven conceptualisation (Marler and Fisher, 2013). Therefore, this study seeks to establish a fundamental clarifying concept of EBHRM by using a systematic literature review.
Design/methodology/approach
This method builds on an intensive scanning of 2,584 (interdisciplinary) articles, collected from Web of Science and Scopus. Eventually, 50 articles met the predetermined inclusion criteria and were analysed. The most recent conceptualisation of evidence-based management in the literature has served as a guideline to compare the review results and further scrutinise the differences and similarities (Barends et al., 2014; Barends and Rousseau, 2018; Rynes and Bartunek, 2017).
Findings
This has enabled us to elaborate a comprehensive conceptualisation. The articles were divided into two groups, one group (n = 31) has Rousseau et al. as a reference, the other (n = 19) did not, and used various definitions. Three themes were identified: evidence-based research methods (n = 30), specific skills (n = 36) necessary to apply an evidence-based strategy and a link with the academic-practice gap (n = 25).
Practical implications
Based on the results, we recommend adding two dimensions to strengthen the current conceptualisation: a first dimension referring to how evidence-based management can be established (i.e. which methods and skills are necessary) and a second dimension referring to the why of evidence-based management in an organisation (reducing the academic-practice gap).
Originality/value
This paper starts from a systematic review approach unlike previous research in the field to contribute to the further conceptualisation of EBHRM (Rynes and Bartunek, 2017).
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Henriette Lundgren, Brigitte Kroon and Rob F. Poell
The purpose of this paper is to explore how and why personality tests are used in workplace training. This research paper is guided by three research questions that inquire about…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how and why personality tests are used in workplace training. This research paper is guided by three research questions that inquire about the role of external and internal stakeholders, the value of psychometric and practical considerations in test selection, and the purpose of personality test use in workplace training.
Design/methodology/approach
This research paper uses multiple-case study analysis. Interviews, test reports, product flyers and email correspondence were collected and analyzed from publishers, associations, psychologists and human resource development (HRD) practitioners in Germany, the UK and The Netherlands between 2012 and 2016.
Findings
Themes emerge around industry tensions among practitioners and professional associations, psychologists and non-psychologists. Ease of use is a more important factor than psychometrics in the decision-making process. Also, practitioners welcome publishers that offer free coaching support. In the process of using tests for development rather than assessment, re-labeling takes place when practitioners and publishers use positive terms for personality tests as tools for personal stocktaking and development.
Research limitations/implications
Despite extensive data collection and analysis efforts, this study is limited by its focus on a relatively small number of country cases and stakeholders per case.
Practical implications
By combining scientific evidence with practical application, stakeholders can take first steps toward more evidence-based HRD practice around personality testing in workplace training.
Originality/value
Little academic literature exists on the use of personality testing in workplace training. Without a clear understanding of the use of personality testing outside personnel selection, the current practice of personality tests for developmental purposes could raise ethical concerns about the rights and responsibilities of test takers.
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The psychological contract is defined as a perceived exchange agreement of promissory obligations between employee and organization. Most approaches to this concept ignore the…
Abstract
Purpose
The psychological contract is defined as a perceived exchange agreement of promissory obligations between employee and organization. Most approaches to this concept ignore the role of context in shaping its features. However, others have pointed out the need to evaluate the features of the construct within the context in which it is studied. Three salient features of the construct include the use of the term “promises” versus “obligations”, its implicit nature and reference to the “other” party, and the exchange content. Rousseau and Schalk suggest that these features are weighted and interpreted differently across different countries. The purpose of this paper is to test this proposition in the island state of Malta, a European Union micro‐state.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi‐structured interviews are used. Three questions are addressed: do employment obligations vary from promises in this context? Are employment obligations in this context necessarily explicited? Who is considered the employer in this context?.
Findings
The results show that some findings are similar to those found in other settings (e.g. acknowledgement of an exchange relationship in employment), others are more context‐bound (e.g. the meaning of obligations as predicting future reciprocal behaviours compared to promises). The paper also shows that many of these understandings are related to and construed by the way the employment relationship is construed in a country like Malta.
Originality/value
These findings strengthen the need to incorporate the contextual realities in which the features of the construct are employed as this has implications for both the generalizability of results and theory building.
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Xander D. Lub, Rob J. Blomme and P. Matthijs Bal
This research aims to shed light on organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) of different generations of hospitality workers in relation to their psychological contract. The…
Abstract
This research aims to shed light on organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) of different generations of hospitality workers in relation to their psychological contract. The psychological contract, which describes employees' implicit expectations of their employer, is related to a range of work-related outcomes such as commitment, turnover intention and OCB. Yet, virtually no studies have explored the psychological contract or OCB in a hospitality setting. These topics were approached from a generational context as a new generation of employees is entering the workplace with a reportedly different approach to work. Data were collected through face-to-face surveys on site from a sample (N=111) in 7 hotels of an international hotel chain. Findings provide evidence of generational differences in the content of the psychological contract, as well as the process through which the psychological contract impacts OCB. In particular, findings indicate that hospitality managers will increasingly have to consider motivating their staff through satisfaction of intrinsic needs for development, job content, and a pleasant working atmosphere. This was found to be particularly true for Generation Y, the youngest generation of workers.
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Xinyuan (Roy) Zhao, Jiale Wang, Rob Law and Xinping Fan
This study aims to illustrate how organizational support can reduce work-family conflict (WFC) and improve job/life satisfaction by synthesizing the empirical findings among…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to illustrate how organizational support can reduce work-family conflict (WFC) and improve job/life satisfaction by synthesizing the empirical findings among hospitality employees.
Design/methodology/approach
Previous empirical papers were searched through tourism and hospitality journals and 54 studies were ultimately selected. The correlation coefficients were coded and examined through meta-analysis, after which they were used to test the hypothesized model via meta-analytic structural equation modeling.
Findings
Findings demonstrated that organizational support plays a critical role in helping employees release WFC and improve life satisfaction but not job satisfaction. The number of children is a salient factor at the individual level on predicting WFC, whereas gender relates only to life satisfaction. The asymmetric permeable roles of WFC dimensions among work, family and life domains were also shown.
Practical implications
The findings can help hospitality managers be aware of the critical roles of organizational support in assisting employees to handle WFC and improve job and life satisfaction.
Originality/value
The relationships among organizational support, WFC and job/life satisfaction of frontline employees have been examined for the first time via meta-analytic SEM. In this manner, previous consistent and inconsistent findings can be synthesized for future theoretical development.
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Rob Law, Daniel Leung and Irene Cheng Chu Chan
This study aims to present a state-of-the art review on information and communication technology (ICT) research in hospitality and tourism published between 2014 and 2017.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to present a state-of-the art review on information and communication technology (ICT) research in hospitality and tourism published between 2014 and 2017.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 288 full-length articles from eight top-tier hospitality and tourism journals were gathered by harnessing a systematic literature search approach. Subsequently, the authors used a qualitative content analysis to review, analyse and assign all included articles into a framework with six consumer-related and five supplier-related research streams.
Findings
In terms of volume (i.e. the amounts and ratios of ICT research in top-tier journals by publication year) and variety (i.e. the diversity of research topics), a significant progression of ICT research in hospitality and tourism is observed. However, some old and new knowledge gaps are still inadequately addressed, thus requiring scholars and practitioners to conduct additional research in the future.
Practical implications
The accumulation of knowledge and actionable clues in this study is expected to keep practitioners updated with the overwhelming volume of ICT research.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by accelerating the accumulation of knowledge on research topics and setting forth an agenda for future research. The findings also complement prior literature reviews by providing an overview of how knowledge on ICT research in hospitality and tourism has progressed since 2014.