Diep T.N. Nguyen and Stephen T.T. Teo
Human resource (HR) philosophy and an organization’s commitment to employees (OCE) are important components of a human resource management (HRM) system, yet the influences of…
Abstract
Purpose
Human resource (HR) philosophy and an organization’s commitment to employees (OCE) are important components of a human resource management (HRM) system, yet the influences of these variables on the effectiveness of HRM implementation has been less evident. Similarly, few studies have examined the effect of intended and implemented HR practices on line managers’ perceptions of HR department effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to examine how these factors could result in a positive evaluation of HR department effectiveness in Vietnam.
Design/methodology/approach
Study 1 consisted of 405 line managers and the authors used this sample to test the proposed research model. Study 2, comprising 192 line managers, was used to validate the findings from Study 1.
Findings
The authors found empirical evidence of how HR managers should leverage their relationships with line managers to enhance HR department effectiveness in a developing economy such as Vietnam.
Research limitations/implications
As data were from line managers in one point in time, this study could be affected by common method bias. However, the authors conducted three common method variance checks and the analyses showed that this issue was not a major concern. Future studies could extend the sample of respondents by collecting information from CEOs, employees, and HR managers.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the extant literature empirical evidence of determinants of HR department effectiveness. First, the study shows the simultaneous impacts of HR philosophy and OCE on the actual implementation of HR practices. Second, the authors provide an understanding of line managers’ evaluation of HR department effectiveness through their experience with implemented HR practices.
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Diep T.N. Nguyen, Stephen T.T. Teo, Helen De Cieri and Marcus Ho
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether formal authority of the HR department has any impact on line managers’ evaluations of HR department effectiveness.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether formal authority of the HR department has any impact on line managers’ evaluations of HR department effectiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
Two studies were conducted in Vietnam. Study 1 comprised a survey of 405 line managers to test the hypothesized model. Study 2 comprised a survey conducted with 155 line managers validated the findings from Study 1. Structural equation modeling and PROCESS macro were used to analyze the data.
Findings
Line managers’ perceptions of the HR department’s formal authority had a positive and indirect impact on HR department effectiveness through the HR department’s strategic involvement and influence. Public sector line managers tended to perceive their HR departments as possessing a higher level of formal authority than did their private sector counterparts.
Research limitations/implications
This study extends the theory of political influence as it applies to the HR department. Specifically, the study provides empirical evidence of the influences of an organization’s political conditions on the perceptions of HR department effectiveness. This study also contributes to the extant literature on HRM in Vietnam by showing how Vietnam’s HR departments can utilize power and influence in accordance with specific ownership types.
Practical implications
Public sector HR managers could establish their formal authority among stakeholders as a way to enhance the recognition of HR department effectiveness. This can be done by relying on the presence of the traditional bureaucratic characteristics of the public sector which confer the HR department with formal authority.
Originality/value
The study contributes an understanding of the determinants of HR department effectiveness in the context of Vietnam. Research findings show that highly formal authority practices in the public sector affect the way line managers perceive the strategic involvement of the HR department. The more formal the authority, the more the public sector HR department is perceived to be involved in the strategic management process. Thus, formal authority is a prerequisite that public sector HR departments need to signal its importance among line managers. To have a long-term influencing role in the organization, the HR department in the public sector needs to develop its political and influencing skills. In contrast to this, the private sector HR department needs to develop a strategic partnership with line managers in order to increase its influence and perceived effectiveness.
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Philip S. Rose, Stephen T.T. Teo, Diep Nguyen and Nguyen Phong Nguyen
Internships are utilized globally to recruit graduate employees. However, there is a limited understanding of the process by which interns convert into regular employees…
Abstract
Purpose
Internships are utilized globally to recruit graduate employees. However, there is a limited understanding of the process by which interns convert into regular employees, particularly in non-Western research contexts. Integrating attraction–selection–attrition (ASA) theory and proactive career behaviors, this study identifies the mechanisms influencing interns' intentions to convert into regular employment in host organizations in Vietnam.
Design/methodology/approach
Time lagged, questionnaire data were collected from 669 final-year undergraduate business and economics students who participated in internship programs in a large metropolitan city in Vietnam.
Findings
The results indicate that the interns who exhibit proactive career behaviors are more likely to foster high-quality reciprocal relationships with their supervisors and work colleagues during internships. These positive relations magnify interns' intentions to become regular employees via their perceived person–organization fit.
Practical implications
This study has implications for higher education institutions and host organizations when designing internship programs to maximize employment outcomes via conversion of interns into regular employees.
Originality/value
Previous studies have not tested the critical aspect of ASA theory regarding the personalities of the interns when building work-related relationships that result in the person–organization fit before accepting job offers from host organizations.
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Stephen T.T. Teo, Diep Nguyen, Azadeh Shafaei and Tim Bentley
Drawing from the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) framework and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, the authors’ study examines the impact of high commitment HR management (HCHRM…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing from the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) framework and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, the authors’ study examines the impact of high commitment HR management (HCHRM) practices and psychological capital (PsyCap) on job autonomy and job demands in predicting burnout in frontline food service employees.
Design/methodology/approach
A moderated mediation model was developed and tested on 257 Australian workers employed in the food service industry. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling.
Findings
There was support for the mediation effect of HCHRM on burnout, via two sequential mediators: job autonomy and job demands. PsyCap was found to buffer (moderation) the effect of job demands on burnout. Frontline employees also perceived HCHRM to be a “negative signal” that was implemented for the good of management.
Research limitations/implications
The authors are aware of the potential of common method variance due to the cross-sectional research design. Future research should adopt a longitudinal research design or collect data from several sources of informants. As the authors did not find support for the optimistic perspective hypothesis, despite its theoretical and empirical relevance under JD-R and COR perspectives, they call for further research exploring the link between HRM, job design and psychological conditions in promoting employee wellbeing.
Practical implications
Burnout is one of the most common and critical health issues faced by frontline food service employees. Food service organizations have to strategize their management practices to reduce employees' experience with burnout by implementing high commitment enhancing HR practices and developing employees' PsyCap.
Originality/value
This study provided a better understanding of how (macro) HCHRM practices as an organizational resource reduce burnout of frontline food service employees via two (micro) mediators: job autonomy and job demands. PsyCap is an important personal resource that lessens burnout, consistent with the COR theory. These findings contribute to the literature on strategic HRM and its relationship to employee wellbeing.
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Diep T. N. Nguyen, Huu-Ngoc Nguyen, Stephen T. T. Teo, Nhung Thi Hong Nguyen and Tran Ha Minh Quan
Incorporating conservation of resources theory into the sustainable career framework, this study empirically examines how social support at work, harmonious passion and strengths…
Abstract
Purpose
Incorporating conservation of resources theory into the sustainable career framework, this study empirically examines how social support at work, harmonious passion and strengths use interact to bolster work–home enrichment.
Design/methodology/approach
This study tested hypotheses through a two-wave research design with a final sample of 357 academic respondents from public universities in Vietnam.
Findings
We found positive relationships between social support, harmonious passion and work–home enrichment. Strengths use significantly moderated these relationships.
Practical implications
Organizations should cultivate a supportive environment and opportunities to help individuals utilize social support and exert their strengths to be more passionate and enrich their work–home activities.
Originality/value
This study addresses the knowledge gap regarding the crucial interdependence and interactions between contextual and personal resources in promoting work–home enrichment, an underexplored aspect in sustainable career literature. It highlights how social support and harmonious passion enhance work–home enrichment. Using strengths is a fundamental boundary condition for these associations. The findings offer invaluable implications for leveraging work-related resources and personal qualities to enrich work and home domains for a sustainable career.
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Dianne Gardner, Maree Roche, Tim Bentley, Helena Cooper-Thomas, Bevan Catley, Stephen Teo and Linda Trenberth
Workplace bullying involves a power imbalance, and despite laws in New Zealand which prohibit discrimination on the grounds of gender, women remain under-represented in top-level…
Abstract
Purpose
Workplace bullying involves a power imbalance, and despite laws in New Zealand which prohibit discrimination on the grounds of gender, women remain under-represented in top-level roles. The aim of the study was to examine whether gender and role (managerial/non-managerial) were related to the bullying experienced by women and men.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey collected data from 991 (41%) men and 1,421 (59%) women. The survey provided a definition of bullying and asked participants whether they had been bullied at work. If they replied yes, then follow-up questions asked for the gender and role of the perpetrator.
Findings
Women were more likely than men to self-identify as having been bullied. Male employers, senior managers, middle managers, supervisor and peers bullied men and women about equally, whereas women bullied women far more than they bullied men. The largest group of bullies of women were female peers, who rarely bullied male peers, while male peers bullied both genders about equally. Female clients bullied female staff but almost never male staff; male clients bullied both men and women but the numbers were small.
Research limitations/implications
These data relied on self-report, and people may be reluctant to identify themselves as targets or may not recognize that the negative behaviours they have been facing amount to bullying. Qualitative data can help explore these issues from societal, organizational and policy perspectives.
Practical implications
While men and women may differ in how often they recognize or admit to having been bullied, the gendered nature of power in the workplace is well established and reinforced in the findings here. It is clear that organizational leaders, both male and female, need to understand gender and power imbalance and act as role models. Currently, the authors’ findings show that the behaviour of at least some of those at the top of New Zealand organizations needs to improve.
Social implications
The problem of bullying at work will not be easy to solve. The solutions lie, not with “fixing” individuals via training, stress management and well-being programmes but with effective systems, procedures, policies and leadership that recognize the power dynamics at work.
Originality/value
Little is known at present about the relationships between gender and bullying behaviour. The paper focusses on who bullies whom in the workplace and finds that men tend to bully both men and women while women tend to bully women. Importantly, the authors’ works suggest that instead of structural and organizational measures to manage bullying, greater initiatives to manage bullying need to consider how gender and power dynamics interact at work.
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Timothy Andrew Bentley, Stephen T. Teo, Bevan Catley, Kate Blackwood, Maree Roche and Michael P. O’Driscoll
The engagement and retention of older workers is a major concern for organisations and has been an increasing focus for human resource scholars internationally. Drawing on social…
Abstract
Purpose
The engagement and retention of older workers is a major concern for organisations and has been an increasing focus for human resource scholars internationally. Drawing on social exchange theory (SET), the purpose of this paper is to examine the conditions under which retention and engagement of older workers could be enhanced, together with the potential for perceptions of age discrimination to negatively influence these outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
The study surveyed a large sample of New Zealand workers aged 55 years and over from across 28 New Zealand organisations of varying size and from a wide range of industrial sectors. A moderated-mediation model was proposed to examine the relationship between perceived organisational support (POS) and intention to leave, the mediating effect of job engagement in this relationship, and the moderating influence of perceived age discrimination on this mediation.
Findings
While POS was negatively related to workers’ intention to quit, job engagement partially mediated this relationship. Age discrimination moderated this mediation. As perceived age discrimination increased, the mediation of job engagement was weakened as POS had less influence on the job engagement of older workers.
Research limitations/implications
Implications for human resource management practice include the importance of providing organisational support for older workers along with protections from age bias and discrimination.
Originality/value
The study is one of the first to apply SET to the context of older workers, and has extended the SET literature through its examination of the role of employee engagement as a mediator of this relationship, and how perceived age discrimination, as a negative aspect of the work environment, can negatively impact these relationships.
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Geoff Plimmer, Jane Bryson and Stephen T.T. Teo
The purpose of this paper is to explore how HIWS may shape organisational capabilities, in particular organisational ambidexterity (OA) – the ability to be both adaptable to the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how HIWS may shape organisational capabilities, in particular organisational ambidexterity (OA) – the ability to be both adaptable to the wider world, and internally aligned so that existing resources are used well. Given the demands on public agencies to manage conflicting objectives, and to do more with less in increasingly complex environments, this paper improves our understanding of how HIWS can contribute to public sector performance. The paper sheds light inside the black box of the HIWS/organisational performance link.
Design/methodology/approach
This multi-level quantitative study is based on a survey of 2,123 supervisory staff, and 9,496 non-supervisory employees in 56 government organisations.
Findings
The study identifies two paths to organisational performance. The first is a direct HIWS performance link. The second is a double mediation model from HIWS to organisational systems, to OA and then performance.
Practical implications
A focus on developing HIWS provides an alternative means to public sector performance, than restructuring or other performative activities.
Originality/value
This is one of the few studies that explore how HIWS can develop collective as well as individual capabilities. Studies in the public sector are particularly rare.
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Steven L. Grover, Stephen T.T. Teo, David Pick, Maree Roche and Cameron J. Newton
The purpose of this paper is to demystify the role of the personal resource of psychological capital (PsyCap) in the job demands-resources model. The theory suggests that personal…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demystify the role of the personal resource of psychological capital (PsyCap) in the job demands-resources model. The theory suggests that personal resources directly influence perceptions of job demands, job resources, and outcomes. Alternatively, personal resources may moderate the impact of job demands and job resources on outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey of 401 nurses working in the Australian healthcare sector explores the relations among PsyCap, job demands and resources, and psychological well-being and work engagement.
Findings
The results suggest that PsyCap directly influences perceptions of job demands and resources and that it directly influences the outcomes of well-being and engagement. Furthermore, job demands and job resources mediate the relation of PsyCap with well-being and engagement, respectively.
Research limitations/implications
The moderation effect of PsyCap was not supported, which suggests that PsyCap relates to perceptions as opposed to being a coping mechanism. This finding therefore narrows the scope of personal resources in this important model.
Originality/value
The importance of this study lies in its exploration of various ways that personal resources can influence this dominant model and in analyzing the global construct of PsyCap as opposed to some of its constituent parts.
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Yvonne Brunetto, Stephen T.T. Teo, Rodney Farr-Wharton, Kate Shacklock and Art Shriberg
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether management supports police officers adequately, or whether police have to rely on their individual attributes, specifically…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether management supports police officers adequately, or whether police have to rely on their individual attributes, specifically psychological capital (PsyCap), to cope with red tape and stress. Work outcomes/consequences examined were discretionary power, affective commitment and turnover intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional design using a survey-based, self-report strategy was used to collect data from 588 police officers from USA, who are most engaged with the public. The data were analysed using AMOS and a structural model to undertake structural equation modelling.
Findings
Two significant paths were identified Path 1: management support to red tape to discretionary power to affective commitment and turnover intentions; and Path 2: supervisor relationships to PsyCap to stress to affective commitment and turnover intentions. Further, management support predicted PsyCap, red tape and police stressors. Red tape increased police stressors and turnover intentions.
Research limitations/implications
The use of self-report surveys is a limitation, causing common methods bias. Using Harmon’s one-factor post hoc test, the authors were able to provide some assurance that common method bias was of no major concern.
Originality/value
As far as is known, this study is the first to examine, for police officers, how PsyCap impacts upon negative factors (stress and red tape) and enhances positive drivers for employees. Examining the impact of an individual attribute – PsyCap – provides an important piece of the organizational puzzle in explaining the commitment and turnover intentions of police officers. By examining the impact of both organizational and individual factors, there is now more knowledge about the antecedents of police outcomes.