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1 – 9 of 9Michael Klaus Ronny Klingenberg and Caroline Pelletier
Research on the processes by which universities select candidates for nursing courses has tended to focus on the development and application of standardised methods. This…
Abstract
Purpose
Research on the processes by which universities select candidates for nursing courses has tended to focus on the development and application of standardised methods. This methodological emphasis has extended to research on “values-based” selection in nursing, which is intended to sustain discrimination between applicants on the basis of their “personal values”. The purpose of this paper is to expand the range of methodological resources available for research on values-based selection, by examining how this is done in practice – by contrast to how it should be done. We analyse interactions between selectors, applicants and various materials deployed during the interview processes to show how values are made manifest, empirically. We conclude by discussing the implications of treating values as interactional achievements, rather than essentialised – i.e. purely “personal” – attributes.
Design/methodology/approach
We draw on methodological principles associated with actor network theory (ANT), which aims to describe how facts are produced through interactions between various actors. Data are presented from an ethnographic study of selection events at three UK universities. Our methods consisted of observation of selection events and interviews with academic staff, administrators and service users and carers, all of whom were involved in selecting candidates.
Findings
When selection is treated methodologically as a social practice and analysed empirically as an ongoing series of interactions, “personal values” can be seen as the effects of a negotiation during which connections are formed between different actors – i.e. elements involved in the selection process. Difference and same-ness in values become visible as the effects of “translation”, in the sense defined in the ANT literature, rather than as fixed attributes which precede selection.
Originality/value
This study makes an original contribution to research on values-based selection by analysing how this is done in practice.
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Caroline Cintas, YingFei Héliot and Pierre-Antoine Sprimont
This research aims to explain, in the secular French context, the intention of managers to accommodate religious expression at work (REW) when they are not obliged to do so. This…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to explain, in the secular French context, the intention of managers to accommodate religious expression at work (REW) when they are not obliged to do so. This paper seeks to understand the determinants of managerial positions on REW. Building on previous studies on how organisations and managers deal with religious expression, this research seeks to extend the evidence on this important aspect of managerial behaviour in relation to accommodating REW.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypotheses were tested using a structural equation model based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) in diversity management (N = 151 French managers). This method highlights attitudinal and organisational determinants favourable to the intent to accommodate.
Findings
The present research provides new insight by identifying two main direct factors affecting managers' accommodation, namely, organisational flexibility (flexible hours, autonomy) and perceived consequences (advantages, disadvantages) and one indirect factor, religiosity. In line with the contradictions within diversity management, the perceived consequences are ambivalent and highly context dependent. One issue to explore is that managers seek to deal with religious expression by making it invisible.
Research limitations/implications
In the French context, the explanatory social norm might not be “religiosity” but rather “perceived secularity”. The authors recommend that future studies use qualitative methods with interviews and photo elicitation to extend this first study. Indeed, the complexity of the managerial position requires an in-depth understanding of managers' attitudes and behaviours with regard to religion. How do managers apply a common ground strategy and create unity despite differences? Is the desire to make arrangements invisible with a view to inclusive neutrality specific to France, or can it be generalised to managers in other countries? Does the intention to accommodate not essentially depend on the manager-employee relationship dynamic? This research raises questions for scholars about the relationship with the other and ethical managerial conduct.
Practical implications
France is a secular country where a debate is emerging on cases of discrimination due to REW. The results contribute to approaches to drafting company guidelines for managers and may help organisations anticipate the risks associated with REW. The discussion of the results reveals the importance of social norms in the sense of hypernorms (religiosity) and undoubtedly of secularism, nondiscrimination and gender equality in the decision-making process on accommodation. These inclusive norms should therefore be handled with care in the various guidelines that have been developed.
Originality/value
REW is increasing but is a neglected dimension of diversity management. This study helps explore this new field by promoting an understanding of managers' intention to accommodate in a specific secular context.
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Caroline Biron, Jean‐Pierre Brun, Hans Ivers and Cary Cooper
Many studies have shown that an unfavourable psychosocial environment increases the risk of mental and physical illness, as well as absenteeism, or sickness absence. However, more…
Abstract
Many studies have shown that an unfavourable psychosocial environment increases the risk of mental and physical illness, as well as absenteeism, or sickness absence. However, more costly than absenteeism is presenteeism, where a person is present at work even though disabled by a mental or physical illness. We sought to identify factors explaining why workers would come to work even when their health is impaired. In a cross‐sectional design data were collected from 3825 employees of a Canadian organisation. The results show a high occurrence of presenteeism: workers went to work in spite of illness 50% of the time. Presenteeism propensity (the percentage of days worked while ill over total number of sick days) was higher for workers who were ill more often. Heavier workloads, higher skill discretion, harmonious relationships with colleagues, role conflict and precarious job status increased presenteeism, but decision authority did not. Workers reporting high psychological distress and more severe psychosomatic complaints were also more likely to report higher rates of presenteeism. These results suggest that stress research should not only include absenteeism as an outcome indicator, but also consider presenteeism.
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Caroline Fischer and Matthias Döring
This study aims to examine the impact of job-related knowledge sharing on information availability and job satisfaction for information-receiving employees in the public sector…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the impact of job-related knowledge sharing on information availability and job satisfaction for information-receiving employees in the public sector. Following self-determination theory, the study suggests that job satisfaction is only partly affected by knowledge sharing itself, but particularly through the availability of job-related information enabling the information receiver to work effectively.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypotheses are tested with data from the US Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey from 2018. Additionally, results are replicated with earlier waves of the survey.
Findings
Results show the positive impact of job-related knowledge sharing on job satisfaction, whereby the availability of job-relevant information mediates this relationship partially.
Practical implications
This study confirms that managers should provide room for social interactions when introducing knowledge management practices.
Originality/value
The results emphasize that knowledge sharing is a highly social process in which support and relatedness play a significant role in success in addition to the diffusion of information itself.
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Peter Hines, Chris Butterworth, Caroline Greenlee, Cheryl Jekiel and Darrin Taylor
The purpose of this paper is to extend the People Value Stream concept further by developing a view of what the world would look like through the eyes of a positive psychology…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to extend the People Value Stream concept further by developing a view of what the world would look like through the eyes of a positive psychology employee-centred lens. The authors hope to provide a frame for further discussion, research and practical application in this area.
Design/methodology/approach
In this conceptual paper, the authors draw on their collective 120 plus years of experience with Lean and Human Resource Management through leading, teaching, researching and consulting in the area.
Findings
The People Value Stream concept is extended here by ideating how the “Voice of the Employee” could be used to enhance the existing knowledge of Lean. Relying on a range of cognitive psychological theories, particularly Self-Determination Theory, the authors show how it might be possible to develop a highly engaged workforce primarily by unlocking their intrinsic motivation through a “Self-Development and Growth Cycle”. This cycle is the people-improvement version of the seminal Deming process-improvement PDCA cycle. It can be applied within a job crafting “Personal Cockpit”. The authors also highlight a range of outputs and wider implications that create a pull for team leaders and senior management wishing to move to a real Servant Leader model. It will also help those developing and supporting people-related policies and procedures both within organisations and in trade unions.
Originality/value
This paper turns the existing literature about people within Lean upside down. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, for the first time in an academic paper, it discusses what would be the implications for the Lean world if the authors truly started understanding and deploying the explicit “Voice of the Employee” rather than just the established Lean “Voice of the Owner”-led Hoshin Kanri approach. The authors show how a lack of knowledge in these areas by the Lean community is limiting Lean’s engagement of people and its sustainability.
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The purpose of this paper was to document the food-related environmental beliefs and behaviours of undergraduate university students. More specifically, this research was focussed…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper was to document the food-related environmental beliefs and behaviours of undergraduate university students. More specifically, this research was focussed on determining if environmental sustainability is a consideration in students’ food choices, identifying the specific choices and behaviours adopted to reduce their food-related environmental footprint, and documenting the role of gender and pro-environmental values in these food-related environmental beliefs and behaviours.
Design/methodology/approach
This research employed a mixed methods approach, i.e. focus group discussions and a survey, to document the food-related environmental beliefs and behaviours of undergraduate university students. The survey was informed by the results of the focus group discussions, and included standard measures of pro-environmental values and worldview.
Findings
Results from focus group discussions revealed a broad array of beliefs and behaviours related to the connection between food, food production and the environment. The survey confirmed these results, but indicated a preference for such actions as recycling and reducing food waste in contrast to such alternatives as reducing meat consumption or avoiding processed foods. These results suggest that educational campaigns could focus on strengthening beliefs about the food-environment connection, as well as help to empower students to take a greater variety of actions to reduce their food-related environmental footprint.
Originality/value
Relatively little attention has been focussed on individual beliefs and practices with respect to achieving more sustainable food consumption, particularly on university and college campuses. The research also represents a departure from previous work in that it utilizes both qualitative and quantitative methods, and takes a broad approach to the food-environment connection.
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The purpose of this study was to examine the factorial validity of the academic motivation scale (AMS), including mean structures and reliabilities across two culturally diverse…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine the factorial validity of the academic motivation scale (AMS), including mean structures and reliabilities across two culturally diverse samples. Thus, the study assesses the fit of the seven-factor conceptualization of AMS to a non-Western context.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey questionnaire was used to elicit responses from undergraduate business students from universities in the USA (267) and Ghana (262). The data were analyzed using the multi-group CFA technique in LISREL 8.7, to assess measurement equivalency and the fit of the AMS to the non-Western context.
Findings
After baseline models were established, a hierarchy of successively restrictive models were specified and estimated. Support was found for factorial, metric, and scalar invariance across the two samples, but different levels of psychometric soundness exist.
Research limitations/implications
In spite of the low reliabilities in the non-Western context, the AMS has the potential to measure the same traits in the same way across diverse groups.
Practical implications
Researchers, educators, and policy makers interested in this field of study may be confident in employing the AMS to investigate students' motives, including cross-cultural motivational studies. Organizations may also use the AMS as a pre-employment tool to understand college graduates motivational profile for better person-organization match.
Originality/value
The AMS has been developed and validated in the Western context, but its validity in non-Western contexts remains unexplored. This study provides a cross-cultural comparative test of the seven-factor conceptualization.
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Laurence Dessart and Cleopatra Veloutsou
In an era where companies shift a part of their marketing budget to support their social media presence, very little is known about the antecedents and effects of participant…
Abstract
Purpose
In an era where companies shift a part of their marketing budget to support their social media presence, very little is known about the antecedents and effects of participant identification in a social media community. This paper aims to examine the antecedents of community identification in a Facebook company-managed brand community, for inactive members, using the uses and gratification theory. Brand community identification is also expected to lead to higher levels of brand loyalty for these members.
Design/methodology/approach
This research reports the results of a quantitative with survey data from 389 members of a variety of different official Facebook pages.
Findings
The results reveal that inactive members of Facebook pages can be influenced to act in a way that is beneficial for a company. Perceived human and information value of the brand Facebook page lead members to identify with a brand community and identification is a strong predictor of loyalty to the brand.
Practical implications
This paper provides suggestions to managers on the development of brand community value that can increase brand community identification and loyalty of apparently inactive brand community members.
Originality/value
By showing that brand community identification and loyalty exist for users with low activity levels, this research challenges the widely accepted idea that only highly active members are valuable in online brand communities. Specifically, it reveals the most important motivations for these members to identify with the community and be loyal to the brand.
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