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1 – 10 of over 3000Katarzyna Piwowar-Sulej and Dominika Bąk-Grabowska
The aim of this study is to analyze the differences between non-standard forms of employment (FoE) (i.e. dependent self-employment/business-to-business/B2B contract and contract…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to analyze the differences between non-standard forms of employment (FoE) (i.e. dependent self-employment/business-to-business/B2B contract and contract of mandate) in terms of investing in the development of future competencies by employees and employers. This study also examined additional factors which influence these investments.
Design/methodology/approach
To collect data, the computer-assisted telephone interview technique was used. 200 employees from different companies located in Poland participated in this study, wherein each of the above-mentioned FoEs (i.e. dependent self-employment and contract of mandate) was represented by 100 people. The Chi-Square test and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used in the statistical analyses.
Findings
In the case of only 2 out of 14 competencies, there were statistically significant differences between the two groups of respondents: the employers financed training courses for B2B employees more frequently than for mandate contract workers. Moreover, in only one case there was a statistically significant difference: the self-employed financed training courses themselves more often than mandate contract workers. This study revealed an important impact of other variables such as respondents’ age, education level, parental status and industry on the training activities undertaken by employers and employees.
Originality/value
Although the issue of developing future competencies is important, there is little research examining this problem in the context of people who work in non-standard FoE. Moreover, previous research primarily focused on identifying differences between people working under employment contracts and the self-employed. This article fills these research gaps as well as shows that more factors should be considered in the research models to get a deeper insight into the problem of non-standard FoEs.
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I historically compare changes in institutional frameworks creating academic positions linked to temporary employment by analyzing university employment statistics in Chile…
Abstract
I historically compare changes in institutional frameworks creating academic positions linked to temporary employment by analyzing university employment statistics in Chile, Colombia, Germany, and the USA. I find that temporary academic positions were institutionalized through the creation of previously inexistent academic categories called a contrata in Chile, de cátedra in Colombia, “junior professor” without tenure in Germany and “postdoc” in the USA; used in higher education and employment laws since 1989, 1992, 2002, and 1974, respectively. Under institutional frameworks demanding the maximization of students and research, universities have increasingly contracted academics through temporary contracts under rationales that differ between regions. In Colombia and Chile, public university leaders and owners of private universities contract such teaching positions to expand student numbers through lowering costs. In Germany and the USA, employment insecurity is mostly driven by temporary scientific positions under a main rationale of scientific expansion. The share of temporary positions has increased exponentially in Colombia and Germany in recent decades, whereas in the USA there has only been an increase since 2012. Moreover, in Chile, the share of permanent positions has decreased since 2012. The common trend is one of isomorphism of vertical academic structures sharing a pyramidal form, with a wide base of academics working under conditions of contractual insecurity. Such trends follow a rationale for maximization of student numbers as well as administration, and scientific production that is in tension with prioritizing wellbeing and improvement of academics’ working conditions. Yet, in these environments, the institution of tenure in the USA and recent Chilean regulations on accreditation represent mechanisms counteracting precarious employment.
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Wenzhu Lu, Xiaolang Liu, Shanshi Liu, Haibo Wu, Chuanyan Qin and Bing Ma
Despite mounting evidence that job insecurity triggers counterproductive work behavior (CWB), the underlying mechanism within the association in hybrid employment remains unknown…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite mounting evidence that job insecurity triggers counterproductive work behavior (CWB), the underlying mechanism within the association in hybrid employment remains unknown. This study aims to investigate turnover intention as a mediator in the association between job insecurity and CWB, as well as the differences between permanent and contract workers concerning the effect of job insecurity on employees’ CWB.
Design/methodology/approach
Dyadic data were collected from 213 workers (103 contract and 110 permanent workers) and their supervisors, who were employed in one of the three branches of a Chinese state-owned enterprise, respectively, located in Hunan, Shenyang and Xinjiang.
Findings
This study found that job insecurity was positively related to CWB, in which turnover intention acted as a partial mediator. Employment status acted as a moderator between job insecurity and CWB.
Originality/value
First, this study extends the theoretical knowledge concerning how job insecurity activates CWB by identifying turnover intention as a mediating mechanism. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore the mediating role of turnover intention in terms of job insecurity and CWB. Second, this research expands the understanding of the relation between job insecurity and CWB by investigating this link in the case of contract workers versus permanent workers. Finally, this paper aims to provide an understanding of why contract workers and permanent workers may differ in their reactions to job insecurity.
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Gina Gaio Santos, José Carlos Pinho, Ana Paula Ferreira and Márcia Vieira
Drawing on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study aims to assess the moderating effect of the psychological contract (PC) type (relational, transactional and…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study aims to assess the moderating effect of the psychological contract (PC) type (relational, transactional and balanced) on the relationship between psychological contract breach (PCB) and organizational citizenship behaviours (OCBs).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors administered a survey to a sample of 159 nurses working in a large public hospital. To analyse the survey data, the authors used partial least squares with SmartPLS v.3.3, a variance-based structural equation modelling technique that combines principal component analysis, path analysis and regression analysis.
Findings
This study shows that nurses counteract the loss of resources following a PCB by investing more in stronger interpersonal relationships with co-workers and patients as a way to recuperate from resource loss and gain social resources. In addition, the moderating effect of the PC type reinforces the relationship between a PCB and OCB in a way that relational and balanced PC types support OCB-I positively but negatively OCB-O. Furthermore, the transactional PC does not reinforce negatively the link between PCB and OCB-I, and the negative interacting effect on the PCB and OCB-O link is only partially supported.
Research limitations/implications
The study findings are grounded on a cross-sectional research design and a convenience sampling strategy.
Practical implications
The results highlight the relevance of human resources management practices centred on employee involvement and participatory supervision styles for ensuring OCB display at the workplace.
Originality/value
The results add new evidence to COR theory by highlighting the importance of social resources as a mitigator in the relationship between nurses’ PCB and OCB towards co-workers and patients (OCB-I). Hence, the OCB-I display will vary in function of the target and the moderating effect of PC type (relational, balanced or transactional).
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Bertrand Audrin and Catherine Audrin
Self-service technologies (SST) have become more and more pervasive in retail to facilitate autonomous checkout. In this context, customers play an active role and, as such, can…
Abstract
Purpose
Self-service technologies (SST) have become more and more pervasive in retail to facilitate autonomous checkout. In this context, customers play an active role and, as such, can be considered as “partial employees.” Partial employees have to perform a wide range of tasks, get rewarded for their work and need to understand the terms of the exchange, all without being subject to a formalized contract. In this research, the authors suggest that partial employees go through a process of organizational socialization that allows them to define the psychological contract they hold with the organization.
Design/methodology/approach
In order to investigate the psychological contracts of partial employees, 324 Canadian customers using SST completed an online questionnaire, in which their SST use, psychological contract fulfillment and organizational socialization were measured.
Findings
Descriptive analyses highlight that customers as partial employees build a psychological contract with their most frequent retailer, as they perceive not only retailer inducements but also their own contributions. Multiple linear regressions suggest that organizational socialization favors psychological contract fulfillment, but that specific dimensions of organizational socialization are important for employer inducements vs. employee contributions. Moreover, results suggest that the frequency of use of SST as well as the patronage positively predicts psychological contract fulfillment.
Originality/value
This research investigates a specific situation of unconventional employment – that of customers as partial employees with organizations. It contributes to the literature on the psychological contract by broadening its application to new relations and to the literature on customer management by reemphasizing the relevance of the psychological contract in this domain.
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Kabiru Oyetunde, Rea Prouska and Aidan McKearney
This paper examines the circumstantial state of mediated work to develop a conceptual framework exemplifying the determinants of voice of workers in triangular employment…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines the circumstantial state of mediated work to develop a conceptual framework exemplifying the determinants of voice of workers in triangular employment relationships. These workers are in work context involving two or more firms – agency/platform and clients/client firms.
Design/methodology/approach
Paralleling employee voice research in the triangular employment relationship context, the authors theorised the influencing forces at four levels to propose 12 distinct antecedents of triangular workers' voice. External level (2) – legal employer ambiguity and legal regulation and protection; employment context level (3) – availability and presence, assignment duration and autonomy; firm level (3) – institutional complexity, cost and control and governance structure conflicts; individual level (4) – perceived relative equity, voice skill, self-identity and transition opportunity.
Findings
The triangular workers' voice determinants framework provides a comprehensive outlook on how the external, employment context, firm and individual forces influence voice of workers in triangular employment relationships.
Research limitations/implications
Emanating from the framework are propositions that can be empirically tested for validation. Hence, as with conceptual papers, this paper is limited by non-empirical testing.
Practical implications
Managers of workers in these employment relationships should be cognizant of the different levels of forces that can influence their voice.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the employee voice literature by presenting a four-level framework that demonstrate a holistic view of how triangular workers' voice is influenced.
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Nicolae Stef and Anthony Terriau
We investigate how firing notification procedures influence wage growth. Using a sample of 33 countries over the period 2006–2015, we show that administrative requirements in…
Abstract
We investigate how firing notification procedures influence wage growth. Using a sample of 33 countries over the period 2006–2015, we show that administrative requirements in cases of dismissal have a positive and significant effect on wage growth. The result is robust even after controlling for the endogeneity of the firing notification restrictions, the involvement of third parties in the wage bargaining process, the minimum wage, the firms' training policy, and the composition of employment. These findings suggest that firing notification procedures foster the growth of wages by increasing the bargaining power of incumbent workers.
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Kenta Ikeuchi, Kyoji Fukao and Cristiano Perugini
The authors' work aims to identify the employer-specific drivers of the college (or university) wage gap, which has been identified as one of the major determinants of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors' work aims to identify the employer-specific drivers of the college (or university) wage gap, which has been identified as one of the major determinants of the dynamics of overall wage and income inequality in the past decades. The authors focus on three employer-level features that can be associated with asymmetries in the employment relation orientation adopted for college and non-college-educated employees: (1) size, (2) the share of standard employment and (3) the pervasiveness of incentive pay schemes.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors' establishment-level analysis (data from the Basic Survey on Wage Structure (BSWS), 2005–2018) focusses on Japan, an economy characterised by many unique economic and institutional features relevant to the aims of the authors' analysis. The authors use an adjusted measure of firm-specific college wage premium, which is not biased by confounding individual and establishment-level factors and reflects unobservable characteristics of employees that determine the payment of a premium. The authors' empirical methods account for the complexity of the relationships they investigate, and the authors test their baseline outcomes with econometric approaches (propensity score methods) able to address crucial identification issues related to endogeneity and reverse causality.
Findings
The authors' findings indicate that larger establishment size, a larger share of regular workers and more pervasive implementation of IPSs for college workers tend to increase the college wage gap once all observable workers, job and establishment characteristics are controlled for. This evidence corroborates the authors' hypotheses that a larger establishment size, a higher share of regular workers and a more developed set-up of performance pay schemes for college workers are associated with a better capacity of employers to attract and keep highly educated employees with unobservable characteristics that justify a wage premium above average market levels. The authors provide empirical evidence on how three relevant establishment-level characteristics shape the heterogeneity of the (adjusted) college wage observed across organisations.
Originality/value
The authors' contribution to the existing knowledge is threefold. First, the authors combine the economics and management/organisation literature to develop new insights that underpin the authors' testable empirical hypotheses. This enables the authors to shed light on employer-level drivers of wage differentials (size, workforce composition, implementation of performance-pay schemes) related to many structural, institutional and strategic dimensions. The second contribution lies in the authors' measure of the “adjusted” college wage gap, which is calculated on the component of individual wages that differs between observationally identical workers in the same establishment. As such, the metric captures unobservable workers' characteristics that can generate a wage premium/penalty. Third, the authors provide empirical evidence on how three relevant establishment-level characteristics shape the heterogeneity of the (adjusted) college wage observed across organisations.
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The purpose of the article is to outline the insights provided by Alan Fox in Man Mismanagement in relation to the rise of the New Right political economy and the spread of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the article is to outline the insights provided by Alan Fox in Man Mismanagement in relation to the rise of the New Right political economy and the spread of unitarist managerialism. The article assesses the contemporary work and employment relations implications of mismanagement arising from a “second wave” of the New Right ideology from 2010 in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
Responding to the Special Issue on Alan Fox, the article focuses on Alan Fox's book Man Mismanagement, considering industrial relations developments arising between the 1st (1974b) and 2nd (1985) editions relating to the political rise of the New Right. It reviews various literature that illustrates the contemporary IR relevance of the book and Fox's insights.
Findings
The New Right’s ideology has further fragmented work, disjointed labour rights and undermined collective industrial relations institutions, and macho mismanagement praxis is even more commonplace, compared to when Fox wrote Man Mismanagement. The stripping away of the institutional architecture of IR renders the renewal of pluralist praxis, like collective bargaining and other forms of joint regulation of work, a formidable task.
Originality/value
The value of the article relates to the identification of dramatic historical industrial relations events and change in the UK in Alan Fox's book Man Mismanagement, most notably relating to the rise to power of the Thatcherite New Right in 1979. Originality is evidenced by the authors’ drawing on Fox's ideas and assessing the implications of the “second wave” of the New Right in the contemporary industrial relations (IR) context of the 2020s under the conceptual themes of fragmented work, disjointed labour rights and undermined collectivism.
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Emmanuele Pavolini, Giovanna Fullin and Gemma Scalise
This article contributes to the debate on how social policies and labour market regulation have been used to limit the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic by focusing on…
Abstract
Purpose
This article contributes to the debate on how social policies and labour market regulation have been used to limit the socio-economic consequences of the pandemic by focusing on one specific economic segment of European labour markets: private consumption services, such as trade, tourism, catering and other support services.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis combines mixed methods and a variety of sources. First, we built a set of indicators from the EU-LFS microdata for 2019 and the 2018 Eurostat “Structure of earnings survey” and performed a cluster analysis (k-means) on the dimensions and indicators considered. Second, we elaborated EU-LFS data covering 2019 and 2020 (by quarter) and OECD 2020 data, and finally we traced Covid-related policy reforms for the period March 2020–December 2021 and analysed documents and information collected in different policy repositories.
Findings
The paper shows the relevance and characteristics of private consumption services in different countries, demonstrating that so-called labour market “outsiders” are highly represented in this sector and illustrates the policies adopted to respond to the pandemic in different European countries. The paper asks whether this emergency has been a window of opportunity to redefine regulation in this sector, making it more inclusive. It demonstrates, however, that the common approach in Europe has been dominated by temporary, short-term and one-off measures, which do not represent major changes to the social security schemes that were in place before the pandemic.
Originality/value
This article builds on the literature on labour market dualization, but approaches the concept from a different perspective – one not centred on the nature of employment relations (stable/unstable) but on economic sectors/branches. This article does not, therefore, discuss in general terms what happened to labour market outsiders during the pandemic, but rather focus attention on a specific group of workers who are highly exposed to risks stemming from dualization: those employed in the private consumption services. The economic sector perspective is an integrative way of framing dualization which is still under-researched.
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