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1 – 10 of 17Shamima Haque and Debadrita Panda
The purpose of this study is to investigate how gamification can be utilized to promote Employee Green Behavior (EGB) within organizations thereby enhancing corporate…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate how gamification can be utilized to promote Employee Green Behavior (EGB) within organizations thereby enhancing corporate sustainability. The research aims to propose a structured gamification framework that can effectively motivate and engage employees in sustainability initiatives.
Design/methodology/approach
The viewpoint reviews existing literature on gamification, and its impact on EGB. The authors propose a conceptual model that highlights critical components for Octalysis framework and map this against various player types for various phases of a gamified system.
Findings
The Octalysis framework, with its eight core drives, is found to be an effective tool for fostering EGB by leveraging both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. The viewpoint demonstrates that categorizing employees into distinct player types and tailoring gamification strategies accordingly can overcome motivational barriers and encourage sustained engagement in green practices.
Originality/value
This study introduces a novel approach to corporate sustainability by integrating gamification into EGB initiatives. This innovative approach enhances the understanding of EGB and provides practical insights for implementing effective gamification strategies in corporate sustainability efforts.
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Shravana Bardhan and Shamima Haque
This study investigates employee engagement within private healthcare settings, with a particular emphasis on the connection between occupational self-efficacy and organizational…
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates employee engagement within private healthcare settings, with a particular emphasis on the connection between occupational self-efficacy and organizational citizenship behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed-methods approach was utilized for this research. Interviews were conducted with employees across different managerial levels to identify various employee engagement strategies implemented in eight private hospitals in West Bengal. Subsequently, a survey of 414 healthcare employees from these institutions was conducted using a structured questionnaire. The study employed Confirmatory Factor Analysis, linear regression, and mediation analysis using the Sobel test to explore the relationships between variables.
Findings
The study revealed a significant positive correlation among all variables. Employee engagement was identified as a mediating factor between occupational self-efficacy and organizational citizenship behavior.
Research limitations/implications
This research is focused exclusively on the healthcare sector, with no data collected from other sectors, which may limit the generalizability of the findings. The sample size and geographic scope were restricted, which may not capture the full diversity of perspectives within the healthcare sector.
Practical implications
This research indicates that OSE promotes OCB, with this effect amplified when mediated by EE. Thus, fostering EE can significantly contribute to achieving OCB, a crucial factor in the healthcare sector. Given these insights, public healthcare institutions, which often serve a larger and more diverse patient population, could benefit from adopting similar engagement-enhancing practices. In these high-pressure environments, where employees frequently need to exceed their formal role definitions, cultivating a culture of engagement becomes paramount. By implementing targeted EE initiatives, government hospitals can potentially improve OCB among their staff, leading to enhanced patient care and operational efficiency. Government healthcare HR professionals can enhance OSE through training, coaching, and talent recognition programs. Empowering employees via skill development and participative decision-making can boost OSE and its positive impact on OCB.
Originality/value
This study offers novel insights that can inform practices in both private and public healthcare sectors, representing a pioneering effort in the Indian context. By examining these dynamics, the research aims to contribute to the development of strategies that enhance employee engagement, ultimately leading to improved patient care that goes beyond standard job descriptions.
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Nglaa Ahmad, Shamima Haque and Muhammad Azizul Islam
This article aims to examine how non-governmental organisations (NGOs)' narratives portray the vulnerability of workers in global clothing supply chains during the COVID-19 crisis.
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to examine how non-governmental organisations (NGOs)' narratives portray the vulnerability of workers in global clothing supply chains during the COVID-19 crisis.
Design/methodology/approach
The research analyses the rhetoric in global clothing retailers' and NGOs' counter-rhetoric during the first seven months of 2020.
Findings
During this period, retailers employed rhetorical strategies to legitimise irresponsible actions (corporate hegemony prevailed), while NGOs embraced forms of counter-rhetoric trying to delegitimise the retailers' logic, stressing the role of neoliberalism in worsening the situation.
Originality/value
The authors contribute to the literature by providing new insight into the consequences of COVID-19 for retailers' neoliberal practices and the livelihood of workers in global supply chains. Findings of this study extend authors’ knowledge about retailers' COVID-19 measures: These have contributed to the plights of workers working for their supply factories in the global South.
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Zhongtian Li, Shamima Haque and Larelle (Ellie) Chapple
The purpose of this paper is to analyse how an influential supplier of electronics manufacturing services (i.e. Foxconn) discloses its labour practices.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse how an influential supplier of electronics manufacturing services (i.e. Foxconn) discloses its labour practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis is conducted through the theoretical lens of legitimacy and impression management. This particular firm is selected as it provides a rich case on labour practice disclosures in a setting where significant labour malpractice incidents occurred from 2009 to 2011. The sample period covers 12 years of the firm's labour practice disclosures (2008–2019) to match with publicly available information that is used to construct expert comparative accounts on the disclosures. The authors corroborate the comparative accounts with sociological studies and responsibility reports from the major customer (i.e. Apple).
Findings
The authors found that the disclosures become more detailed over successive years. Occupational health and safety issues are predominantly reported, followed by issues relating to vocational guidance and training and then employment policy. Regarding impression management strategies, defensive strategies embedded in the disclosures are rarely detected and assertive strategies are persistently used from 2008 to 2019 to maintain legitimacy. The comparative accounts show the persistent use of one defensive strategy (i.e. omission) to maintain and regain legitimacy. In other words, as an economic strategy, material labour practice issues are persistently omitted in the disclosures. The incidents discernibly affect how Foxconn discloses labour practices.
Originality/value
The authors’ study contributes to the limited extant research on suppliers' labour practice disclosures from the perspective of legitimacy theory and impression management. The results will be of great interest to researchers, investors, assurers and other stakeholders.
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Arpita Ghosh and Shamima Haque
The study aims to conduct an empirical research to examine how green human resource management (GHRM) can influence sustainable organizational performance (SOP) in terms of…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to conduct an empirical research to examine how green human resource management (GHRM) can influence sustainable organizational performance (SOP) in terms of financial performance (FP) and operational performance (OpP), both directly and through employee green behavior (EGB), in the backdrop of the Indian information and communication technology (ICT) sector.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on primary data collected through a questionnaire survey from 387 employees engaged in the ICT sector. Confirmatory factor analysis validates the measurement model, while structural equation modeling (SEM) using the partial least squares (PLS) method examines the hypothesized relations.
Findings
Results confirm that GHRM significantly contributes to EGB, FP and OpP, with a theoretical underpinning concerning resource-based view (RBV) and ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) concepts. The study also confirms that connections of GHRM with both FP and OpP are significantly and positively mediated by EGB.
Practical implications
The study provides evidence-based implications of different GHRM practices toward EGB, FP and OpP, which are highly pertinent to strategists, policymakers, managers and supervisors in implementing GHRM for adding value to both operational and financial statements while protecting nature and natural resources through the green efforts of employees.
Originality/value
The study bridges a significant theoretical and practitioner gap by providing a deeper understanding of GHRM as a sustainable human resource management (HRM) model in the context of the Indian ICT sector. It empirically explores the connections between GHRM and OpP, which is a crucial dimension of SOP, and highlights noteworthy implications for promoting EGB, an individual micro-sustainability dimension directed toward the achievement of broader organizational goals, which are essentially oriented to macro-sustainability.
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Muhammad Azizul Islam, Shamima Haque, Sharon Henderson, Michael John Jones and Homaira Semeen
This study aims to investigate whether United Kingdom (UK)-based companies have changed their voluntary disclosures on curbing the bribery of foreign officials in response to the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate whether United Kingdom (UK)-based companies have changed their voluntary disclosures on curbing the bribery of foreign officials in response to the UK Bribery Act 2010, and if so whether and how such disclosure changes substantively reflected allegations of bribery of foreign officials by news media.
Design/methodology/approach
By using the notions of institutional pressure and decoupling and applying content and thematic analysis, the authors examined, in particular, disclosures on curbing bribery by the largest 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange in periods before and after the Bribery Act (2007–2012). News media reports covering incidents of bribery of foreign officials and related corporate disclosures before and after the Act were thoroughly examined to problematise corporate anti-bribery disclosure practices.
Findings
The study finds a significant change in disclosure on curbing bribery before and after the enactment of the UK Bribery Act, consistent with the notion of institutional coercive pressure. However, decoupling is also found: organisations' disclosures did not substantively reflect incidents of bribing foreign public officials, mostly from underprivileged developing nations.
Research limitations/implications
This study acknowledges a limitation stemming from using media reports that focus on bribery incidents in identifying actual cases or incidents of bribery. As some of the incidents identified from news media reports appeared to be allegations, not convictions for bribery, companies could have defensible reasons for not disclosing some aspects of them.
Practical implications
Regulators should think why new or more regulations without substantive requirement are not helpful to curb corporate decoupling and injustice. The regulators should address the crisis that multinational companies (MNCs) being suppliers of bribery are much more harmful for the underprivileged communities in developing nations. Accordingly, this paper provides practical insights into how stakeholders ought to critically interpret MNCs' accounts of their involvement in bribery.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the accounting literature by problematising MNCs' operations in underprivileged countries. The findings suggest that not only public officials in developing countries as creators of bribery but also Western-based MNCs as the suppliers of bribery contribute to perpetuating unethical practices and injustices to the underprivileged communities in developing countries. This research is imperative as this is one of the first known studies that provides evidence of the actions including disclosure-related actions companies have taken in response to the UK Bribery Act.
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Zhongtian Li, Shamima Haque and Ellie (Larelle) Chapple
This paper aims to examine changes of non-financial voluntary reporting practices over time in response to episodes of employee-related distress. It investigates employee-related…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine changes of non-financial voluntary reporting practices over time in response to episodes of employee-related distress. It investigates employee-related disclosures by the four largest electronic manufacturing services firms in China between 2008 and 2013 during a series of employment-related incidents, to investigate how the firms re-legitimate their reputation in response to the media coverage on those incidents.
Design/methodology/approach
A series of employee-related incidents that occurred in 2010-2012 is selected as the focus of this study, with total coverage of employee-related disclosures between 2008 and 2013. These incidents are directly linked to three of the four sample companies: Foxconn, Pegatron and Compal Electronics. Employee-related disclosures in corporate social responsibility (CSR) stand-alone reports are coded by a set of specifically designed instructions, and newspaper articles about employee-related incidents are coded for sentiment. Results are interpreted through two theoretical lenses: the media agenda setting theory and the legitimacy theory.
Findings
Newspapers reported the employee-related incidents in a way detrimental to the legitimacy of firms that directly involved in the selected industry. In the process of legitimation, firms switch between disclosing more employee-related information and reducing disclosures. The self-expectation on organizational legitimacy also affects how CSR reporting is used in legitimation. The employee-related disclosure analysed is closer to symbolic legitimation than substantive legitimation.
Originality/value
This study contributes to reporting practice by showing that employee-related disclosure is largely vacuous and to a greater extent is used as symbolic legitimation. The quality of disclosure requires significant improvement. This study contributes to the literature by using the legitimacy theory to interpret employee-related disclosure in China, addressing inadequate research efforts in the context of social and human rights dimensions of CSR reporting.
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Zhongtian Li and Shamima Haque
The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, it investigates whether and to what extent “linguistic hedging”, an impression management form of linguistic expression that conveys…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, it investigates whether and to what extent “linguistic hedging”, an impression management form of linguistic expression that conveys an ambiguous level of commitment, is used in corporate social responsibility (CSR) employment narratives; and second, it explores whether there is any difference in the use of linguistic hedging between written and spoken corporate forms of language. It mobilises these objectives by examining employee-related narratives made by electronic manufacturing services (EMS) providers domiciled in Taiwan, in the context of labour malpractice incidents.
Design/methodology/approach
Two groups of data are examined: corporate responsibility reports (written language) and interviews and speeches of corporate founders and senior executives (spoken language). The research sample is ten Taiwanese EMS firms, all of which attracted public criticism and scrutiny due to a series of employee-related incidents. The sample period is between 2009 and 2013. Linguistic hedging is measured quantitatively by the relative word frequency of hedges, using the concordance software ANTCONC, with findings interpreted through the lens of legitimacy theory and impression management.
Findings
The study found that hedging was evident in CSR narratives. The EMS providers in Taiwan appeared to use hedging in employee-related disclosures to manage legitimacy challenges due to employee-related incidents that had happened in their assembly plants. The adjustments in employee-related disclosures made by the EMS firms as a legitimation strategy can be seen as a rhetoric device of impression management or a form of symbolic legitimation to persuade society to restore their legitimacy status. Further, overall hedging was more frequently used in spoken than written language, which suggests that rhetorical hedging in written narratives is more likely to be a deliberate choice of tactics to influence stakeholder perceptions and thereby manage corporate legitimacy.
Originality/value
The study introduces a new analytical technique, linguistic hedging, into the CSR literature. This enriches research methods used in this field, providing more compelling insights into the relationship between the use of language and CSR narratives in the process of corporate legitimation of employee-related practices. This study thus provides a platform for future computational-linguistics studies in the field of CSR.
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Arpita Ghosh and Shamima Haque
The study aims to explore the relationship between the dimensions of green intellectual capital (GIC) and employee green behavior (EGB).
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to explore the relationship between the dimensions of green intellectual capital (GIC) and employee green behavior (EGB).
Design/methodology/approach
A survey has been conducted among a random representative population of employees working for the energy-sector organizations in India to collect data for this study. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for GIC supports the inclusion of the new dimension in its construct. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) validates the measurement model. Hypothesized relationships have been examined by applying structural equation modeling using partial least squares method.
Findings
Results corroborate that all the four dimensions of GIC have varying degrees of significant positive impact on EGB. The study contributes to the existing literature by extending the understanding of the concept of GIC and its connection with EGB using natural-resource based theory and social cognitive theory (SCT).
Originality/value
The study has empirically examined the relationship between GIC and EGB in the context of a developing country like India. Moreover, unlike the existing literature that have classified GIC into green human capital (GHC), green structural capital (GSC) and green relational capital (GRC), the study identifies green spiritual capital (GSpC) as another important dimension of GIC which is an intangible asset and highly relevant in influencing altruistic activities like green behavior. The study presents significant implications for managers and policy-makers for ensuring EGB by investing in GIC resources.
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Shamima Haque, Debadrita Panda and Arpita Ghosh
This paper aims to capture the challenges faced by large industrial firms in implementing employee green behaviour. It uses the gamification-based Octalysis framework for…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to capture the challenges faced by large industrial firms in implementing employee green behaviour. It uses the gamification-based Octalysis framework for identifying motivational drives and entwins it to self-efficacy theory seeking to motivate and engage the employees through game techniques.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses qualitative approach where semi-structured interviews were conducted through snowball sampling technique with managers in senior positions in power sector holding significant decision-making authority. The interviews were transcribed and were analysed thematically.
Findings
This study offers compelling evidence that industrial firms are grappling to inculcate pro-environmental behaviour largely losing on incentivising motivation. Gamification can provide an enjoyable framework balancing intrinsic and extrinsic motivational drives.
Practical implications
This study offers a framework applicable to organisations across sectors, addressing challenges in implementing green behaviour by leveraging four phases of game mechanics. It tackles issues related to motivation and demand for incentives by striking a balance between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations.
Originality/value
This research stands out by incorporating game mechanics, specifically designed through Octalysis, to boost self-efficacy and encourage green behaviour among employees. Furthermore, it is in harmony with Sustainable Development Goals and circular principles.
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