Lei Xie, Shaoping Qiu and Xinyi Bian
Building on social exchange theory and selection, optimization and compensation theory, this study aims to examine a moderated curvilinear relationship between servant leadership…
Abstract
Purpose
Building on social exchange theory and selection, optimization and compensation theory, this study aims to examine a moderated curvilinear relationship between servant leadership (SL) and work-family conflict (WFC).
Design/methodology/approach
Participants were 329 female workers recruited from a Chinese small business in the service Industry. A three-step hierarchical regression was conducted to examine the relationships among the variables and the incremental contribution of SL and age and the squared term of SL.
Findings
Study results confirmed a curvilinear relationship between SL and WFC and the moderating effect of age. When younger female employees perceived a moderate range of SL from their supervisors, they reported higher WFC compared to the low or high level of perceived SL. On the contrary, senior female employees reported a lower level of WFC when they perceived a moderate level of SL than when they perceived very low or high levels.
Originality/value
SL research has experienced a period of exponential growth in the past decade. This study advanced the field of leadership by arguing that SL perceived by female employees is curvilinearly related to WFC and the curvilinear relationship is moderated by age.
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Employment mismatch is a significant problem in many countries. However, little conceptualization research has been conducted on employment mismatch from a social justice…
Abstract
Purpose
Employment mismatch is a significant problem in many countries. However, little conceptualization research has been conducted on employment mismatch from a social justice perspective. The purpose of this study is to shed light on social justice issues that have been obscured in the human resource development (HRD) literature through the lens of the distributive justice theory.
Design/methodology/approach
This study first reviews the literature to identify the gaps in employment mismatch research by reviewing three relevant bodies of literature: education mismatch, immigrant mismatch and disability mismatch. It then provides a new conceptualization of employment mismatch by examining employment mismatch through the lens of Rawls’ (1971) distributive justice theory.
Findings
The author proposed a framework of healthy employment relations using the constructs of social system design, moral guidance, education reform and individual development. Implications were proposed for research and practice.
Originality/value
The new framework of healthy employment approaches employment mismatch from four aspects embraced by the distributive justice theory. This model can assist HRD professionals and policymakers in responding to the employment mismatch of different populations.
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Xinyi Bian and Jia Wang
The purpose of this integrative literature review was three-fold: to explore the phenomenon of women’s career interruptions as revealed by publications in the past two decades, to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this integrative literature review was three-fold: to explore the phenomenon of women’s career interruptions as revealed by publications in the past two decades, to propose a new career decision tree model (CDTM) and to outline an agenda for future research.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors adopted the integrative literature review approach proposed by Torraco (2005, 2016) and used a mind mapping application called MindMeister to synthesize 64 identified articles.
Findings
The proposed CDTM can assist those who are interested in exploring individuals’ career decisions to think systematically about career influencers at different levels.
Originality/value
The CDTM is significantly different from existing career models and theories in that it explains women’s career interruptions in a context-sensitive manner. This model can assist human resource development professionals in analyzing the influencers of women’s career decisions and tackling individual problems level by level.
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Lei Xie, Guangping Li and Xinyi Bian
The study specifically focused on ethical leadership and help seeking during innovation and tested the moderating effect of happiness on the path from help seeking to innovation.
Abstract
Purpose
The study specifically focused on ethical leadership and help seeking during innovation and tested the moderating effect of happiness on the path from help seeking to innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
In this longitudinal study, 472 employees from an HR outsourcing company in China participated in the first survey. However, only 184 employees completed two surveys (1 month apart). We used path analysis to test all hypotheses through Mplus.
Findings
We found that ethical leadership, through help-seeking, is correlated to innovation. We also found that one’s happiness level is related to innovation, and when employees are chronically happy, the positive effect of help-seeking on innovation is stronger.
Originality/value
Working in an ethical environment, employees are comfortable acknowledging mistakes, hearing feedback and making corrections, which fosters continuous innovation. Conversely, without the influence from ethical leaders, employees may choose to remain silent and abandon continuous innovation due to the concern of losing “face” the context of China.
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The current review sought to bring light to the issue of an underexplored career phenomenon – career indecision. Career indecision is a significant developmental stage in one’s…
Abstract
Purpose
The current review sought to bring light to the issue of an underexplored career phenomenon – career indecision. Career indecision is a significant developmental stage in one’s career life and has been a prominent topic in vocational psychology research in the past decades. However, it has received scant scholarly attention in the human resource development (HRD) field. Besides, the career indecision literature, in general, is lacking theoretical refinement and analytical review. The present study aims to stimulate HRD scholars’ interests by providing an introductory context for understanding the richness and potentialities of researching career indecision in the HRD area.
Design/methodology/approach
To address the gap, the author conducted an integrative review (Torraco, 2005, 2016) of 60 peer-reviewed articles and synthesized the existing knowledge of career indecision. More importantly, antecedent and outcome factors associated with career indecision were identified and analyzed.
Findings
A nomological network about career indecision was provided. Besides, the results of the integrative review revealed several omissions in the career indecision literature. Building upon that, implications for HRD research and practice are presented and discussed.
Originality/value
As an initial attempt to synthesize career indecision literature, this study sought to stimulate HRD professionals’ interest in examining this underexplored career phenomenon.