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The purpose of this paper is to examine two important family roles, financial and caregiver, and their impact on four relevant outcome variables: absenteeism, partial absences, employee performance, and life satisfaction; they also explore the intervening impact of core self-evaluations (CSE) among these relationships.

Data are collected using a questionnaire and actual employee performance data. Hypotheses were assessed in a structural model using LISREL.

The results demonstrate the impact of family roles on important outcomes, such as absenteeism and life satisfaction, as well as limited support of the moderating impact of CSE. Further, life satisfaction was significantly impacted by family roles and influenced job performance.

Although the measures were self-reported, actual job performance data were collected from company records; such a design should limit the risk of common method variance (Podsakoff et al., 2003).

Two family roles were shown to impact life satisfaction and these were positively moderated by CSE. Therefore, organization can develop family-friendly programs and policies to support employee’s multiple family roles in an effort to increase employee’s levels of life satisfaction and job performance. Incorporating CSE in the hiring process or providing employees with the skills and abilities to enhance their level of CSE should impact job performance.

The study contributes by assessing family roles using gender-neutral measures that assess level of role engagement. It also incorporates a dispositional variable, CSE, and its relation to family roles and job performance.

Organisations spend a lot of money, time and resources on enterprise system (ES) implementation and often they do not realise the expected benefits from these complex systems. There is a gap in the literature in providing sufficient insight into the implementation process or how an ES might influence or contribute to a culture change. The purpose of this paper is to address the gap in the ES literature around culture by exploring the implementation that was undertaken within a large UK university.

This paper contributes to the higher education (HE) and ES literature through an in-depth study of an ES, Strategic Information Technology Services (SITS) implementation within a university in the UK. The study was undertaken over a three-year period where one of the authors was embedded within the organisation.

Using a cultural analysis framework, the extensive rich data were analysed and the outcomes indicate that SITS has had a huge influence on the culture of the university; the technology’s rigid structure has imposed many changes that had not been anticipated.

ES have recently emerged in the HE sector where they are intended to support the management of student data and provide strategic management information. Although there are many studies which have explored important aspects of the implementation of ES, one area that appears to have been under-researched is how these systems are implicated in culture change within organisations. The results of this study will enable managers as well as IT specialists to gain rich insights into an ES implementation in the HE sector and to use this knowledge for future implementations.

Call center is a large and growing sector worldwide and is facing important human resource management (HRM) and service challenges. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of structural empowerment (SE) and psychological empowerment (PE) on customer satisfaction (CS) through employee job satisfaction (JS) at a call center in Portugal.

Data were collected by means of a survey handed over personally to 267 employees at the call center of a telecommunication company. This was then linked to their respective net promoter score (CS) provided by the call center. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used as analytical tools.

SE affects PE, and both have a positive impact on JS. Empowerment impacts CS: SE positively affects CS mediated by PE; and PE affects CS mediated by JS.

This study emphasizes the importance of the use of organizational practices of SE in call centers to achieve two important organizational outcomes: employee JS and CS.

This study tests a process model involving two domains, HRM (employee side) and service delivery (customer side), which are traditionally dealt with separately in the context of call centers. This helps to understand how HRM polices are connected to CS. Although some of these relationships have been studied separately in different contexts, the research offers a strong methodological design by linking employee perceptions of empowerment with data provided by the firm on CS.

O setor dos call centers é grande e está em crescimento em todo o mundo, enfrentando importantes desafios de Gestão de Recursos Humanos (GRH) e de Serviços. O objetivo principal deste estudo é analisar o impacto do empoderamento estrutural (EE) e do empoderamento psicológico (EP) na satisfação do cliente (SC) através da satisfação no trabalho (ST) dos colaboradores de um call center em Portugal.

Os dados foram recolhidos por meio de um questionário entregue pessoalmente a 267 funcionários do call center de uma empresa de telecomunicações. Esses dados foram ligados aos dados fornecidos pela empresa em relação à satisfação do cliente para cada colaborador, utilizando o net promoter score. A análise fatorial confirmatória e a modelagem de equações estruturais foram utilizadas como ferramentas analíticas.

O EE afeta o EP e ambos têm um impacto positivo na ST. O empoderamento impacta a SC: i) o EE afeta positivamente a SC mediada por o EP; ii) o EP afeta a SC mediado pela ST.

Este estudo enfatiza a importância do uso de práticas organizacionais de EE em call centers para atingir dois resultados organizacionais importantes: a ST do funcionário e a SC.

Este estudo testa um modelo processual envolvendo dois domínios, a gestão de recursos humanos (lado do funcionário) e a entrega de serviços (lado do cliente) no contexto de call centers, que tradicionalmente são tratados separadamente. O estudo ajuda a entender como as políticas de GRH estão conectadas à SC. Embora algumas dessas relações tenham sido estudadas separadamente em diferentes contextos, a pesquisa oferece um forte desenho metodológico ao vincular as perceções dos funcionários sobre o empoderamento com os dados fornecidos pela empresa sobre a satisfação do cliente.

El sector de los centros de llamadas es grande y está creciendo en todo el mundo, y se enfrenta a importantes desafíos de gestión de recursos humanos y servicios. El objetivo principal de este estudio es analizar el impacto del empoderamiento estructural (EE) y el empoderamiento psicológico (EP) en la satisfacción del cliente (SC) a través de la satisfacción laboral (SL) de los empleados de un centro de llamadas en Portugal.

Los datos fueron recolectados mediante una encuesta entregada personalmente a 267 empleados en el centro de llamadas de una empresa de telecomunicaciones. Estos datos se vincularon a los datos proporcionados por la empresa en relación con la satisfacción del cliente de cada empleado, utilizando el net promotor score. El análisis factorial confirmatoria y el modelado de ecuaciones estructurales se utilizaron como herramientas analíticas.

El EE afecta el EP y ambas tienen un impacto positivo en la SL. El empoderamiento impacta el SC: i) EE afecta positivamente el SC mediado por el EP; ii) El EP afecta a la SC mediada por la SL.

Este estudio enfatiza la importancia de utilizar prácticas organizacionales de EE en los centros de llamadas para lograr dos importantes resultados organizacionales: la SL del empleado y la SC.

Este estudio prueba un modelo de proceso que involucra dos dominios, la gestión de recursos humanos (lado del empleado) y la prestación de servicios (lado del cliente) en el contexto de los centros de llamadas, que tradicionalmente se tratan por separado. El estudio ayuda a comprender cómo las políticas de recursos humanos están conectadas a SC. Aunque algunas de estas relaciones se han estudiado por separado en diferentes contextos, la investigación ofrece un sólido diseño metodológico al vincular las percepciones de empoderamiento de los empleados con los datos proporcionados por la empresa sobre la satisfacción del cliente.

Business politics and social and economic policies in the past decades brought us to the inevitability of change. Foreign direct investment (FDI) plays a vital role in this change as it is a tool for international business management in a global world. The relationship between FDI and sustainability in sub-Saharan countries with lower incomes has not yet been sufficiently studied, so this study aims to bring some more conclusions to the discussion. Thus, the main objective is to understand if FDI effectively influences the so-called triple bottom line (TBL) pillars of sustainability.

With data from the World Bank regarding 20 sub-Saharan countries gathered between 2010 and 2018, this study analysed 34 indicators composing 11 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Afterwards, the authors grouped them by the TBL pillars and evaluated the influence of FDI inflows on their scores using panel data models.

The results show a positive and significant correlation between the TBL pillars, with the highest correlation being between the environmental and economic pillars. On the other hand, FDI has no significant influence on the TBL pillars.

This study could improve foreign investment legislation/regulation in sub-Saharan African countries, potentially impacting the sustainability these investments should generate.

This study contributes to understanding how FDI implies sustainability. The results suggest that governments, non-governmental organisations and other competent entities need to adjust their actions in these countries so that foreign companies sustainably exploit the resources.

This study brings to the current arena an emerging theme: FDI and sustainability in African countries, particularly in sub-Saharan countries. This subject in developing countries is still under-researched.

Although most research considers organizational learning as an antecedent of innovation, the relationship is complex and could be reciprocal. Therefore, more research is needed on the profit gained from the learning and organization acquires from its innovation activities. Using the concept of fit, this paper aims to investigate whether organizational learning increases when an organization’s technical innovation level exceeds that of its competitors (positive misfit), theorizing the curvilinear effect of positive technical innovation misfit on organizational learning.

This paper uses regression analysis with survey data gathered from 202 European firms.

The findings support the argument that positive technical innovation misfit has an inverted-U shaped effect on organizational learning.

The findings obtained should orient firm managers to developing a work environment that enables optimal levels of technical innovation and learning – levels at which the technical innovation developed drives learning among the organization’s members but avoids becoming trapped in the organizational complexity involved in very high levels of positive technical innovation misfit.

This study resolves conflicting views of the relationship between organizational learning and technical innovation and adds to the existing literature that indicates that proactive innovative firms can fail when becoming learners.

Undertaking feminist inquiry calls for scholars to challenge the powerful hegemonic, masculinist, taken for granted values and gender injustices that continue to underpin institutional life (Wickstrom et al., 2021). A root cause of gender injustice is misogynistic and neoliberal institutional practices. Gender injustices range from micro-aggressions to workplace bullying (Mavin and Yusupova, 2021), as well as the perpetuation of sexualized and gender-based violence (GBV). The purpose of this paper is to consider the challenges with policy implementation of GBV policies. Specifically, the authors discuss the barriers three senior women leaders at one Canadian university face in their efforts to change institutional culture, with the intention of minimizing GBV on campus. By attending to the lived experiences of women leaders involved in trying to effect institutional change, the authors learn that GBV is not an unusual event. Rather, it is an everyday occurrence perpetuated by hierarchical cultures that resist those women leaders who think and act differently. Put simply, trying to lead differently is not without risk, especially for those women courageous enough to speak out against gender injustices in the workplace. The risks associated with speaking out are at the individual level (personal identity) and interactional level (social ties) (Khan et al., 2018). Furthermore, these findings suggest women leaders willing to speak out may experience isolation. Over time, this isolation can lead to a lack of support and burnout (Zumaeta, 2018).

Building upon the work of Ahmed (2014; 2015; 2017; 2019; 2021), this paper seeks to explicate the interconnections between gender and structural inequities in the neoliberal academy. The authors use a theoretical and methodological approach that draws upon Ahmed’s (2014) notion of “practical phenomenology.” This approach can highlight valuable insights from the experiences of those involved in the act of “doing,” which, in this case, refers to three women leaders engaged in the implementation of a GBV policy. Using this approach helps to weave theory and praxis together to comprehend the difficulties women leaders experience in putting policy into practice to enact institutional change to eradicate gender inequities.

The findings of this paper indicate the challenges women leaders in academia have in putting policy into practice. Four interconnected themes emerge: the insidious institutional roots of GBV; naming or lack thereof; pockets of resistance; and balancing contradictions. These findings also indicate that leading this type of institutional policy change requires determination and courageous action to combat organizational sexism (Ahmed, 2021). This action is not without challenges to the careers of those willing to speak out against gender injustice in the workplace.

Research limitations are that this is a small study undertaken at one university in Canada. As such, these findings cannot be generalized. That said, learning from women leaders' practical experiences can help feminist scholars understand the difficulties in effecting institutional change, especially in regards to turning GBV policy into practice. In turn, this learning adds value to the gender and management literature.

This paper’s originality is twofold. First, this paper lies in the practical phenomenological approach the authors engage in to consider gender inequities relating to the difficulties of effecting institutional change in higher education institutions. Engaging in this critical approach helps to learn from the experiences of “expert knowers,” which, in this case, refers to those senior women leaders at the forefront of trying to effect institutional change by putting GBV policies into practice. Second, this paper adds to the literature critiquing how masculinist structures in higher education operate to shore up institutional sexism.

This paper aims to describe the different locations of campuses developed to stimulate innovation. The paper aims at supporting strategic decisions in the development of new and existing campuses and similar innovation-driven areas. Additionally, it aims to outline the key role of location for urban and regional competitiveness in the knowledge economy.

This paper tests an existing planning tool that proposes location and connectivity as key aspects to stimulate innovation in campus development. This tool is used to analyse and compare 39 campuses with different locations characteristics worldwide.

Findings describe five types of location characteristics in existing campuses developed to stimulate innovation. These characteristics are dynamic, and exhibit differences in connectivity aspects enabling more or less efficient access to amenities and knowledge networks.

Empirical findings were used to revise and improve the planning tool. Further research exploring the relation between connectivity aspects and innovation processes is recommended.

This paper supports decision-makers of new and existing campuses struggling with location decisions, by outlining that campus’ connectivity is crucial regardless of whether the campus is in an inner-city or a peripheral setting. Improving campus connectivity may be an efficient way to spend the many public and private resources invested on campus development to stimulate innovation.

This paper provides a unique comparison of cases that can be useful to planners of existing campuses to benchmark their current locations in relation to their ambitions on innovation.

Scholars recognize that international marketing effectiveness requires adapting to cultural values, and at the same time, paradoxically, acknowledge the possibility of cultural convergence. The purpose of this paper is to take the context of Puerto Rico as a US territory to reconcile these two propositions by analyzing culture and gender’s influence on apparel purchase.

Via multiple regression analysis, the study considers seasonality as a factor of apparel purchase patterns, developing a consumer behavior model for the apparel industry.

Results confirm that culture influences purchase behavior, an influence moderated by gender. Additionally, they show that seasons and special occasions are strong predictors of apparel purchase patterns.

The findings assert the claims of cultural convergence, yet preserve the notion that cultural values are reflected in patterns of consumer behavior in the case of apparel.

The study develops highly explanatory models indicating that Puerto Rico expenditure reflects cultural patterns of special occasions, but overshoots expectations for its US counterpart.

The results show that Puerto Rico has appropriated several US cultural aspects (e.g. special holidays), which are expressed differently as reflected by apparel purchase behavior, supporting the notion that Puerto Rico should be treated as an international market. The study demonstrates that cross-cultural studies may be robust in absence of available Hofstede’s dimensions for a country.

Muslim refugee migrants are a growing ethno-religious disadvantaged minority group in several Western societies, and host-country language proficiency and employment are essential factors in reducing this disadvantage. This paper thus explores the efficacy of English training programs in facilitating the settlement and employment of a group of male Muslim refugees in Australia.

This study is qualitative in nature, with data collected using semi-structured, in-depth interviews with the eight participants in the study. Analysis was conducted using Bourdieu's concepts of field, capital and habitus.

English training programs offered to Australian Muslim men are problematic in their aim of linking them to employment. Areas of concern are identified in respect to the training hours offered, their learning environment, their content and pedagogy, their lack of focus on employment and their failure to recognise the existing work skills of the migrants.

The study is conducted with a small sample of male Muslim migrants: while the findings may be similar for other refugee groups, further research is necessary to confirm this.

There is a need to restructure the current English training programs offered to refugee migrants in Australia, Muslim or otherwise. This study identifies several areas where such restructuring might occur, both at the policy and pedagogical levels.

Few studies focus on Australian male Muslim migrants. This study enhances understanding of this under-researched group and their struggles to learn English, find employment and rise above their disadvantaged societal position.