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Article
Publication date: 6 May 2014

Tanyu Zhang, Gayle C. Avery, Harald Bergsteiner and Elizabeth More

This study investigated whether the direct supervisor's leadership style affects employee engagement using Avery's classical, transactional, visionary, and organic leadership…

5861

Abstract

Purpose

This study investigated whether the direct supervisor's leadership style affects employee engagement using Avery's classical, transactional, visionary, and organic leadership paradigms as the theoretical framework. The study also investigated how many and which components of employee engagement (“say”, “stay” and “strive”) contribute to the construct. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 439 retail sales assistants in Sydney, Australia, responded to a mixed-mode questionnaire survey. Factor analysis, independent t-tests, analysis of variance and structural regression models were used in the data analysis.

Findings

Both research questions were supported. Results showed that the visionary and organic paradigms are likely to enhance employee engagement, whereas classical and transactional styles negatively affect employee engagement. Furthermore, the data confirmed that the three behavioral-outcome factors all do contribute to the employee engagement construct.

Research limitations/implications

One implication for researchers is that an employee engagement measure with demonstrably high reliability and validity, and known components has been developed. This study could be replicated in different national and occupational contexts, the leadership measures reconfirmed and expanded, follower characteristics included as moderating variables, and links to organizational performance investigated.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that direct supervisors should be encouraged to use visionary and/or organic leadership wherever possible to drive employee engagement.

Originality/value

This paper is original in several ways. It resolves an ongoing dispute in the literature about the components of employee engagement, namely whether all three components contribute to the concept. In answering this question, a valid and reliable questionnaire was developed. Using four leadership paradigms, including classical and organic leadership that are rarely investigated, this study demonstrates that employee perceptions of the leadership style used by their direct supervisor are linked to employee engagement.

Details

Journal of Global Responsibility, vol. 5 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2041-2568

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 February 2017

Zinta Byrne, Lumina Albert, Steven Manning and Rosemond Desir

Researchers have explored contextual antecedents influencing engagement at work; yet, theory and empirical evidence suggest some individuals are more or less engaged than others…

3303

Abstract

Purpose

Researchers have explored contextual antecedents influencing engagement at work; yet, theory and empirical evidence suggest some individuals are more or less engaged than others. Using a relational framework based on attachment theory, the purpose of this paper is to suggest that relational models influence engagement through their influence on psychological availability and psychological safety. Study 1 examined whether attachment influences variability in engagement. Study 2 examined whether these effects could be replicated, and whether attachment influences engagement via individuals’ psychological availability and safety.

Design/methodology/approach

Two field studies using online self-report surveys (Study 1 n=203; Study 2 n=709).

Findings

Attachment-avoidance and attachment-anxiety were independently associated with lower levels of engagement, and psychological conditions mediated these relationships.

Research limitations/implications

Relational models explain predictable variability in engagement. Employees’ ability to engage may be constrained or facilitated by their stable relational models of attachment.

Originality/value

The study is one of the few examining individual differences in engagement.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 32 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 13 October 2014

Jennifer S. Reinke and Catherine A. Solheim

Using Andersen’s (1968) behavioral model of health services use as a guiding conceptual framework, this study examined how receipt of family-centered care relates to the perceived…

Abstract

Purpose

Using Andersen’s (1968) behavioral model of health services use as a guiding conceptual framework, this study examined how receipt of family-centered care relates to the perceived family challenges for families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Design

Data from the 2009–2010 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NS-CSHCN) were analyzed for 812 parents of children with ASD.

Findings

Multiple regression analyses provided substantive statistical evidence that a child’s race, the adequacy of a family’s insurance, and the stability of child’s health care needs significantly contributed to predicting his or her receipt of family-centered care. Further results suggested a relationship between receipt of family-centered care and the perception of challenge for these families; families receiving family-centered care perceive fewer challenges and feel less unmet need for child health services.

Value

Family-centered professionals provide critical voices in the development of policies and programs geared toward improving the health outcomes of children with ASD and their families.

Details

Family Relationships and Familial Responses to Health Issues
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-015-5

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 13 October 2014

SunWoo Kang and Nadine F. Marks

Guided by a life course theoretical perspective, this study aimed to examine associations between providing caregiving for a young or adult son or daughter with special needs and…

Abstract

Purpose

Guided by a life course theoretical perspective, this study aimed to examine associations between providing caregiving for a young or adult son or daughter with special needs and multiple dimensions of physical health status among married midlife and older adults, as well as moderation of these associations by gender and marital quality (i.e., marital strain).

Method

Regression models were estimated using data from 1,058 married adults aged 33–83 (National Survey of Midlife in the U.S. (MIDUS), 2005).

Findings

Parental caregiving for a young or adult child with special needs (in contrast to no caregiving) was linked to poorer global health and more physical symptoms among both fathers and mothers. Father caregivers reported slightly more chronic conditions than noncaregiving men, regardless of marital quality. By contrast, mother caregivers reported a much higher number of chronic conditions when they also reported a high level of marital strain, but not when they reported a low level of marital strain.

Originality/value

Overall, results provide evidence from a national sample that midlife and older parents providing caregiving for a child with special needs are at risk for poorer health outcomes, and further tentatively suggest that greater marital strain may exacerbate health risks, particularly among married mother caregivers.

Details

Family Relationships and Familial Responses to Health Issues
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-015-5

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1996

Barry Myers

It says something of the current state of public discourse that the inclusion of a paper on the social teachings of an organized religion as part of a Conference on…

Abstract

It says something of the current state of public discourse that the inclusion of a paper on the social teachings of an organized religion as part of a Conference on Ethico‐Economics must be explained. Theology and Religion, once at the center of any discourse on public policy, has become marginalized in such discussions. There are those who associate the decline of theology with the era of the Cold War. That conclusion is at least debatable. “Economic Man”, in the context of the post‐war period, was very much a social being for whom government and public institutions, a pro‐Keynesian economics, were essential allies. Adam Smith, accepted as the founder of classical Economics, wrote his seminal work, The Wealth of Nations, when he was Professor of Moral Philosophy. Smith's concept of markets was framed as a social and ethical instrument. The Reagan and Thatcher regimes did succeed in undermining economic policy as a social instrument to the extent that most industrial nations and the important international organizations now give pre‐eminence to the balanced budget as the vehicle for corporate interests. The elimination of deficits and the efficacy of financial markets are seen in some quarters not only as ends in themselves but also as means to facilitate each other. The critics of these policies are presently weak and unpopular but they are not silent. This disparate group between them embrace a range of social, cultural, and ethical values. They seek to establish that some ends and some means must be rejected as being ethically unacceptable. It is this context that this paper seeks to position the social teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

Details

Humanomics, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0828-8666

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 27 January 2022

Huub Ruël

Abstract

Details

Business Diplomacy by Multinational Corporations
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-682-8

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 17 August 2022

Theodore S. Ransaw, Michael Lachney and Kevin K. Green

Research suggests there are at least three challenges to Black male interest and success in STEM careers: increasing access to STEM resources and curriculum, increasing Black and…

Abstract

Research suggests there are at least three challenges to Black male interest and success in STEM careers: increasing access to STEM resources and curriculum, increasing Black and male inclusiveness in STEM initiatives, and increasing cultural and technical competency in STEM fields. African American schools typically do not have equitable STEM resources or instruction. In addition, there is limited research on supporting Black males' success in STEM in the culturally responsive computing (CRC) literature. Most STEM initiatives prioritize increasing the number of girls in STEM fields. STEM field employers are not active recruiters of Black male hires and have little experience with diversity and cultural inclusiveness. Research also suggests that Black students may not be interested working in White corporate America that undervalues their unique cultural perspectives and are more concerned with schooling that improves their communities. This chapter utilized CRC as a lens to examine the complexity of engaging Black males in STEM. As a result, the authors suggest adopting an equity ethic to help teachers help Black males connect themselves and their communities to STEM technology by utilizing smartphones and smartphone technology to engage Black males who may not have access to computers. We end with an example of CRC called barbershop computing, which combines computing, engineering, and innovation as a method to attract and retain Black males in STEM classes and help them persist in STEM careers.

Details

Young, Gifted and Missing
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-731-3

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 19 September 2022

Angella Napakol, Samuel Kazibwe, Ann Mugunga, Elizabeth Kitego, Osborn Ahimbisibwe and Joseph Kiva

In the midst of a public health crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic, journalists play an important role of sharing information of consequence with the public. As first responders to…

Abstract

In the midst of a public health crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic, journalists play an important role of sharing information of consequence with the public. As first responders to precarious events, they work in close proximity to the threat they are reporting on yet at the same time struggle with other personal and professional responsibilities which are strenuous on their mental health. This chapter qualitatively interrogated journalists in order to understand their experiences with mental health during COVID-19 and how they worked through personal and social acceptability, biases and stigma as well as diagnosis. Of importance as well was to understand how they disclose, if they disclose at all, mental health issues and the different copying mechanisms. Findings show that journalists have a textbook but not applicable understanding of mental health, declaring that they many of them have experienced mental disorders without knowing. The consequences of COVID-19 measures such as layoffs, increased workload, inconsiderate media houses, brutality from law enforcement agencies were key contributors to mental health stresses. Journalists with supportive families seemed to have coped better while some buried themselves in multiple jobs to circumvent the stress that comes with financial privation.

Details

COVID-19 and the Media in Sub-Saharan Africa: Media Viability, Framing and Health Communication
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-272-3

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1946

By the beginning of the war, Germany's over‐all self‐sufficiency in food had reached a level of approximately 83 per cent., on the peace‐time basis of 2,200—2,400 calories per…

Abstract

By the beginning of the war, Germany's over‐all self‐sufficiency in food had reached a level of approximately 83 per cent., on the peace‐time basis of 2,200—2,400 calories per person per day. In respect to some types of food, however, the situation was not satisfactory. For example, before the war she produced approximately 73 per cent. of fish requirements, 12 per cent. of corn, 50 per cent. of legumes, and 60 per cent. of fat within her own boundaries. The country could be fed at a reduced level by the produce raised within its own boundaries if food were perfectly controlled and evenly distributed. However, in practice, individual provinces were much less favourably situated in this respect. Western Germany, an area of relatively small and diversified farms, was critically dependent on the eastern provinces for its flour, grain, and potato supplies. It is clear that all German civilians could be fed at a uniform level of adequacy during a war only by control of the country's food supply at the national level and by the continued operation of the new transportation network of the country. For this reason the bombing of rail and inland water transportation facilities became such a serious threat to national uniformity in food distribution. Of the many kinds of centralised food processing industries known in the United States, only a few played an important role in the food supply of German civilians. The principal examples of these were grain milling, sugar production and refining, and the large bakeries of urban areas. The damage or destruction of these facilities, incidental to air attack on other industrial targets, seriously decreased their production capacity. Bombing destroyed the mills for processing 9 per cent. of the German rye output and 35 per cent. of the wheat output. Of the sugar refineries four plants producing 300,000 tons annually, were destroyed. This represents a 38 per cent. decrease in production of sugar. Similarly bombing of chemical plants was largely responsible for the decrease in the supply for fertiliser nitrogen. In 1939, 718,000 tons of fertiliser nitrogen were available, but by 1945 this had decreased to 140,000 tons. The significance of this destruction of facilities vital to the feeding of a country already on a border‐line diet is ominous. Reliable estimates indicate that aerial bombings destroyed 35 per cent. of Germany's total (approximately 460,000 square metres) cold storage capacity. The increased use of cold storage intensified their dependence on transportation and on the continuity of the power supply. Aerial attack, as a result, not only decreased usable cold storage space, but also seriously interfered with the operation of the remaining space by impeding shipments and interrupting sources of power. It was the constantly reiterated opinion of all food officials that the bomb destruction of the transportation network was the largest single factor contributing to the disruption of the food supply. Bulk shipments which had been carried on inland waterways were seriously impeded by the bombing of canals. Aerial attack against railway lines, bridges and terminal facilities caused widespread interruptions in service and destroyed rolling stock, freight en route and handling facilities at terminals. It is not possible at this time to state exactly in what measure the curtailment of the national diet contributed to the ultimate defeat of Germany. The evidence available indicates, however, that it was an important factor. There is in any case no doubt that strategic bombing is the major element contributing to the present shortage of food in Germany. It was not apparent that the Germans considered the vitamin and mineral content of food in determining the ration allowances of the people. Immediately with the beginning of the war, all the principal foods were rationed, so that the lack of recognition of the importance of the vitamin and mineral content of this ration actually was an additional point of vulnerability for the German diet. With a food economy so vulnerable it is not surprising to have found that the basic food rationing programme was abandoned early in 1945 when the destruction of transport and communications by the strategic air offensive attained major proportions. This necessitated falling back on the inadequate system of regional self‐supply. The destruction of large food stocks, processing plants and cold storage plants by bombing also contributed to the general deterioration of the German food supply. There is ample evidence for the conclusion that as a result of the strategic air offensive the nutritional demands for the continued health of the German people could not be met.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 48 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Article
Publication date: 6 June 2016

Stephen A Stumpf, Walter G. Tymon, Jr., Robert J. Ehr and Nick H. M. van Dam

The purpose of this paper is to identify leader behaviors that foster intrinsic rewards (IRs) in technical professionals, sustain their felt and behavioral engagement, and relate…

1903

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify leader behaviors that foster intrinsic rewards (IRs) in technical professionals, sustain their felt and behavioral engagement, and relate the career outcomes of performance, satisfaction with the organization, and retention.

Design/methodology/approach

Employing an action research approach, four studies were undertaken to: first, identify what intrinsically motivates professionals in a large R & D organization; second, create a survey of the leader behaviors that foster a sense of IR and engagement; and third, use the survey with two samples (Canada, Europe) to examine the relationships of engagement with three desired career outcomes.

Findings

Leader behaviors can foster a sense of IRs which are related to performance, satisfaction with the organization, and retention. These relationships were partially mediated by felt and behavioral engagement, with felt engagement more strongly associated with satisfaction and retention, and behavioral engagement with performance.

Research limitations/implications

Leaders play a significant role in fostering a sense of IR in technical professionals, which helps to sustain their engagement. Important distinctions among IRs, felt engagement, and behavioral engagement are made that contribute to a better understanding of how these constructs affect the careers of professionals.

Originality/value

Professionals and other knowledge workers are often thought to be self-motivated, or motivated by the tasks they perform. Leaders can greatly enhance this motivation and important career outcomes of satisfaction, performance, and intent to stay.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 37 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

11 – 20 of 120