Search results

In a world that glorifies power, the lives of the powerless serve as context for testimonies of salvation that in their pretentiousness more often reinforce the reputation and self-esteem of the powerful hero than transform the lives of the oppressed. Whereas these types of popular human-interest stories may raise awareness of the conditions surrounding the powerless, they do little more than advance the notion that these individuals are without hope and must rely solely on the generosity, resources, and leadership of the powerful populations by which they are exploited. We seek to offer a contrasting perspective in this chapter. That is, we present a framework that challenges messianic notions of leaders of ineffectual populations and presses forth with the idea that powerlessness is a more common condition than feeling powerful and that only the powerless can alter their destiny.

As self-service technologies (SSTs) become more prevalent, service providers are actively encouraging customers’ involvement with these technologies, sometimes even forcing their customers to use SSTs. This paper aims to examine the influence of the SST-only (vs full-service) mode on customers’ negative attitude toward SST providers through the mediating mechanism of powerlessness and explores how SST familiarity and SST anthropomorphism moderate the impacts of the SST-only mode on powerlessness.

Three experiments were performed, study 1 tested the main and mediating effect and studies 2 and 3 verified the moderating effects.

The results suggest that customer perceived powerlessness mediates the relationship between SST-only (vs full-service) mode and negative attitude toward SST providers. When the levels of SST familiarity and SST anthropomorphism are high, the impacts of SST-only on powerlessness are attenuated. Alternative mediating mechanism of powerlessness is examined and ruled out.

Future research should investigate other moderators that may reduce the impacts of SST on customer powerlessness. These moderators could be service-operating procedures, SST interface design, types of service situations and customer characteristics. In addition, other consequences of powerlessness, other than the negative attitude toward SST providers and intention to switch investigated here, should be investigated as well.

This research provides guidelines helping service providers to improve their customers’ SST usage experience by showing both SST familiarity and SST anthropomorphism may alleviate the negative effects of SST-only mode on customer perceived powerlessness more effectively.

This research examines the role of customers’ psychological reactions toward the SST-only mode, particularly from the perspective of power and control.

The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' sense of powerlessness within two distinctive school organizational structures. The concept of teacher work values was employed as an intervening variable in the primary relationship. Definite patterns of teacher sense of powerlessness were uncovered within Authoritarian and within Collegial school bureaucratic structures. In addition, a majority of teachers in Authoritarian schools experienced a greater sense of powerlessness than did their peers in Collegial schools.

Organizational downsizing, right sizing, layoffs, and restructuring that attempt to reduce labour cost and increase competitiveness, have generated considerable feelings of job insecurity among today's employees. Conversely, the rapidity of change in the Middle Eastern region, coupled with the unpredictability of economic conditions, the inevitable need to survive and the ever‐lasting craving for organizational success merge to aggravate the adverse effects of job insecurity. The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between job insecurity and powerlessness, management trust, peer trust and job satisfaction within Lebanon.

Employees working within medium‐sized organizations in Lebanon were surveyed to measure their perceptions of job insecurity, job satisfaction, powerlessness, and interpersonal trust. Statistical analyses were performed using Pearson correlation matrix and linear regression tests.

The study identified significant positive relationship between job insecurity and powerlessness, and negative relationships between job insecurity and management trust and job satisfaction. No significant relationship was found between job insecurity and peer trust.

The study adds to the existing job insecurity literature by empirically testing the relationship between job insecurity and powerlessness, peer trust, management trust and job satisfaction within Lebanese organizations. The researchers hope that this study will assist managers in understanding the importance of earning their subordinates' trust and its implications on job insecurity which could also negatively affect job satisfaction. Also, the issue of powerlessness should be seriously considered by management since it triggers the feeling of job insecurity.

Western organizational behavior literature has given the topic of job insecurity significant attention. However, no scholarly research has yet examined the topic of job insecurity within the Middle East. This paper sheds light on important results regarding job insecurity and its consequences. Powerlessness predicts and aggravates job insecurity, and is affected by the nature of the job; trust in management has a negative effect on job insecurity, while peer trust has no influence. Also, job satisfaction is influenced by the perceptions of job insecurity.

This study explores how controlling leadership behaviors, such as authoritarian leadership and abusive supervision, affect police officers’ proactive behavior. Specifically, it examines how perceived powerlessness mediates the relationship between these leadership styles and officers’ proactive behavior.

We employed structural equation modeling with partial least squares analysis to test our hypotheses, utilizing a sample of police officers employed within a regional police institution in Indonesia.

The findings of this study indicate that both authoritarian leadership and abusive supervision have the potential to diminish or impede the proactive behavior of police officers by shaping their perception of powerlessness.

This study contributes to the broader understanding of how leader-controlling behaviors, such as authoritarian leadership and abusive supervision, impact the proactive behavior of police officers within the specific context of Indonesia.

The purpose of this paper is to explore senses of powerlessness and empowerment among Romani in Ukraine in relation to such social circles as the extended family, the Romani local community and the whole Ukrainian society. The main research interest is focused on situations and factors that make people feel powerless or empowered.

The study was conducted using a semi-structured interview method via telephone. Romani NGO experts approved the interview content. Trained Roma-facilitators were interviewers. Every interview was transcribed for further thematic analysis.

The most prominent empowerment factors for Romani people are located within their families and local communities, while the bigger society (Ukrainians themselves and Ukrainian public institutions) is a main source of powerlessness. At the same time, the rigid role of family and community expectations is seen as detrimental for both males and females.

The paper is original in terms of its topic (senses of powerlessness and empowerment among Romani in Ukraine as social determinants of mental well-being) and research strategy (engagement of Roma-facilitators as interviewers).

The purpose of this paper is to test whether procedural justice effects on organizational powerlessness and dehumanization are stronger for women than men and, consequently, mediated effects on turnover intention are conditional upon gender.

The authors recruited to a two-wave survey of workplace attitudes with flyers distributed at downtown subway exits. The authors controlled for and tested alternative models for distributive and interpersonal justice.

Gender moderated procedural justice effects on both mediators. The moderated mediation model held only for organizational dehumanization, even controlling for powerlessness. Models for distributive and interpersonal justice were not significant.

The authors used cross-sectional, self-report data but separated predictor and criterion variables in two surveys to counteract common method bias. Nevertheless, causal inferences are limited.

To retain personnel, managers, and organizations should be aware of the different needs of their employees and corresponding effects of justice. Likewise, women should be diligent in assessing justice and their response to being treated fairly.

The model is not predicated on an innate quality of gender but on endemic inequities in society. Procedural justice is associated with basic human needs, and effects that are conditional on gender may be socially constructed rather than based in supposed inherent gender differences.

Research and lay theories have emphasized that women value procedural justice because of inherently stronger relational needs. The findings suggest gendered effects are due to broader social conditions affecting women’s instrumental and existential needs.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between ethical leadership and the employee’s perception of job insecurity in the Egyptian public sector. It also investigates the mediating effect of work locus of control on the hypothesized relationship.

The study uses a questionnaire that consists of measures adopted from existing and tested scales. The hypothesized model has been tested using multiple regression analysis.

The findings reveal that the character of ethical leadership significantly reduces the employee’s perception of threats to job features and the powerlessness to counteract threats. However, the empowerment dimension of ethical leadership has adverse effects in the employee’s perception of powerlessness.

The adverse effects of the empowerment behavior dimension of ethical leadership may be attributed to East–West differences in the conceptualization of empowerment. The Arab style of management promotes the Islamic principle of Shura, which may slightly deviate from that of empowerment.

This study extends job insecurity research in the often untapped Egyptian culture and provides new insights into the perceived role of leadership character and empowerment in a non-western context.

This study aims to investigate how charitable advertising effectiveness in response to threat-based awe, an emotional response that typically arises in the presence of natural disasters, is likely to depend on the construal level.

Three experimental studies were conducted to examine the positive and negative effects of threat-based awe on charitable advertising effectiveness. Further, the moderating role of construal level was tested and the underlying mechanisms established.

Consumers who experience a high (vs low) level of threat-based awe donate more when evaluating a disaster-relief advertisement processed at a high construal level (e.g. when an advertisement is framed as a “why” message) but donate less when evaluating a disaster-relief advertisement processed at a low construal level (e.g. when an advertisement is framed as a “how” message). Further, the authors established two distinct mechanisms underlying these divergent effects. At a high construal level, consumers are driven by concern for others, whereas at a low construal level, consumers are driven by feelings of powerlessness.

The present research contributes to the literature on how emotions influence charitable advertising effectiveness by establishing the divergent effects of threat-based awe and the moderating role of construal level.

This paper offers managerial implications for nonprofits and charities in developing effective charitable advertising strategies in the context of natural disaster-relief campaigns.

The present research provides a novel perspective on when and why threat-based awe, a unique emotion arising in the case of natural disasters, can lead to positive or negative effects on charitable advertising effectiveness.