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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 6 March 2023

Melanie Wiese and Liezl-Marié Van Der Westhuizen

This study aims to explore public coping strategies with government-imposed lockdown restrictions (i.e. forced compliance) due to a health crisis (i.e. COVID-19). This directly…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore public coping strategies with government-imposed lockdown restrictions (i.e. forced compliance) due to a health crisis (i.e. COVID-19). This directly impacts the public's power, as they may feel alienated from their environment and from others. Consequently, this study explores the relationships between the public's power, quality of life and crisis-coping strategies. This is important to help governments understand public discourse surrounding perceived government health crisis communication, which aids effective policy development.

Design/methodology/approach

An online questionnaire distributed via Qualtrics received 371 responses from the South African public and structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The results indicate the public's experience of powerlessness and resulting information-sharing, negative word-of-mouth and support-seeking as crisis coping strategies in response to government-imposed lockdown restrictions.

Originality/value

The public's perspective on health crisis communication used in this study sheds light on adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies that the public employs due to the alienation they feel during a health crisis with government-forced compliance. The findings add to the sparse research on crisis communication from the public perspective in a developing country context and provide insights for governments in developing health crisis communication strategies. The results give insight into developing policies related to community engagement and citizen participation during a pandemic.

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 28 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 March 2023

Anjana Nath, Sumita Rai, Jyotsna Bhatnagar and Cary L. Cooper

This study aims to explore how coping strategies (CS) mediate the relationship between job insecurity (JI) and subjective well-being (SWB) leading to presenteeism among…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore how coping strategies (CS) mediate the relationship between job insecurity (JI) and subjective well-being (SWB) leading to presenteeism among millennials. This study has been tested based on the conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll, 2001) and the transactional theory of stress and coping (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984). In India, employees in the information technology (IT) and business process management sectors have been facing increased job insecurity over the last couple of years. The advent of technology has increased job insecurity among millennials, specifically in the IT sector. The Indian IT and information technology–enabled service (ITES) sector witnessed mass retrenchments by companies in 2016–2017. Instead of reskilling, the companies decided to lay off their employees. During the pandemic, the IT and ITES industries witnessed a massive culture shift in terms of technology and work engagement. Postpandemic, the recession is looming large on these industries. In 2022, tech layoffs have witnessed 135,000 employees impacted globally and many may lose their job in the coming year. This study chose Indian millennials because they form a large part of the Indian workforce, especially in the IT and ITES sector.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, cross-sectional design is used where different individuals are part of the study at the same point in time. A sequential mixed method of research is adopted for this study, owing to the kind of research questions and the requirement to include critical realism. A qualitative study was carried out post the quantitative study, to corroborate the results from the quantitative study. Quantitative methodologies address questions about causality, generalizability or magnitude of outcome, whereas qualitative research methodologies explore why or how a phenomenon occurs, describe the nature of an individual’s experience during the study relevant to the context and/or develop a theory (Fetters et al., 2013). Because the study is about the millennial workforce in IT and the ITES sectors, the sample population comprised employees in Delhi and the national capital region (NCR) of Delhi in northern India. Out of a total of 374 ITES companies listed in the national association of software and service companies (2018), 103 are based out of Delhi/NCR; hence, companies from Delhi/NCR were chosen for the study. The other reason for opting for companies based in Delhi/NCR was that many millennials from second- and third-tier cities also are employed in these companies bringing in varied cultural perspectives. This study included 588 employees working in ITES organizations based in the National Capital Region of India. Mediation analysis for statistical verification was carried out with regression-based analysis in SPSS macro process (version 4).

Findings

The impact of job insecurity on the positive and negative affects of the subjective well-being of millennials was found to be substantial. Coping strategies moderated the relationship and it was seen that both engaged and disengaged strategies of coping had an impact on the positive affect of subjective well-being but did not have any impact on the negative affect of subjective well-being. The positive affect of subjective well-being was negatively related to presenteeism, and the negative affect of subjective well-being was positively related to presenteeism.

Research limitations/implications

This study is carried out only in the ITES industry and on millennials. With the advent of technology, other industries are going through challenges concerning layoffs even though the severity of the same might be less. In times to come, for strategizing employee engagement, it is necessary to understand how the workforce copes with various work-related stress factors. The positive affects and negative affects of well-being and responses have been studied from an employee perspective only. Further research should be conducted to explore responses from both employers and employees to establish presenteeism and the antecedents of presenteeism in conjunction with positive and negative affects of well-being. There is further scope to study the impact of job insecurity on adaptive presenteeism in older generations and various industries given the current job scenario and talent-reskilling issues.

Practical implications

This study brings forth original insights into the impact of constant job threats on millennials employed in the IT and/or IT service sectors. The key findings contribute to literature knowledge and help managers recognize the unfavorable consequences of continuous job threats on the well-being of employees. There is an immediate need for managers to recognize the problem and devise various policies and communication strategies to enable millennial employees to cope with the constant changes in the organization, owing to various technological, political and environmental factors. Organizations should be mindful of this impact, which can subsequently have serious consequences on the productivity of the employees, resulting in decreased overall performance and health of the organization.

Originality/value

This study of job insecurity as a job stressor, triggering coping strategies in Indian millennials working in the ITES and IT industry, presents original insights. This study explores and presents how the impact of job insecurity may increase presenteeism as a result of coping. This study brings value to practitioners and this study may help organizations improve the overall well-being of their employees, thus improving productivity. On the contrary, it also opens opportunities for exploring the impact of job insecurity as a challenge stressor.

Article
Publication date: 13 December 2023

Yuanyuan Guo, Chaoyou Wang and Xiaoting Chen

This study aims to examine the relative effectiveness of functional and financial remedies in influencing customers' negative coping responses in the event of a data breach. It…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the relative effectiveness of functional and financial remedies in influencing customers' negative coping responses in the event of a data breach. It also uncovers the different mediating roles played by customers' feelings of anger and fear in the process of data breach recovery. This study thus differs from the literature, which has primarily focused on the impact of financial compensation and apologies for service failures in face-to-face environments.

Design/methodology/approach

Two scenario-based experiments were conducted to empirically validate the model. The authors received 302 copies of the questionnaire, of which 269 were valid.

Findings

This study finds that functional remedies are more effective than financial remedies when sensitive information has been compromised, but there is no significant difference between the effectiveness of the two remedies when nonsensitive information has been compromised. In addition, functional remedies influence negative coping behaviors directly and indirectly; the indirect effect is achieved through the reduction of fear and anger. Contrary to the authors' expectation, financial remedies do not have a direct effect on negative coping behaviors; they can indirectly affect negative coping behaviors by reducing anger but do not affect negative coping behaviors by reducing fear.

Practical implications

This study provides key insights into how to manage customer reactions in the event of a data breach, suggesting the use of carefully designed recovery strategies. Companies must attend to customers' specific emotional responses to manage their negative coping behaviors.

Originality/value

This study extends the limited literature on data breach recovery actions by investigating the different effectiveness of functional and financial remedies in the event of a data breach. It also uncovers how functional and financial recovery strategies affect customers' negative coping behaviors by revealing the different mediating effects of fear and anger.

Details

Journal of Enterprise Information Management, vol. 37 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0398

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 29 February 2024

Susanna Alexius and Janet Vähämäki

Abstract

Details

Obsessive Measurement Disorder or Pragmatic Bureaucracy?
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80117-377-3

Article
Publication date: 19 May 2023

Amit Kumar, Bala Krishnamoorthy and Som Sekhar Bhattacharyya

This research study aims to inquire into the technostress phenomenon at an organizational level from machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) deployment. The authors…

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Abstract

Purpose

This research study aims to inquire into the technostress phenomenon at an organizational level from machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) deployment. The authors investigated the role of ML and AI automation-augmentation paradox and the socio-technical systems as coping mechanisms for technostress management amongst managers.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors applied an exploratory qualitative method and conducted in-depth interviews based on a semi-structured interview questionnaire. Data were collected from 26 subject matter experts. The data transcripts were analyzed using thematic content analysis.

Findings

The study results indicated that role ambiguity, job insecurity and the technology environment contributed to technostress because of ML and AI technologies deployment. Complexity, uncertainty, reliability and usefulness were primary technology environment-related stress. The novel integration of ML and AI automation-augmentation interdependence, along with socio-technical systems, could be effectively used for technostress management at the organizational level.

Research limitations/implications

This research study contributed to theoretical discourse regarding the technostress in organizations because of increased ML and AI technologies deployment. This study identified the main techno stressors and contributed critical and novel insights regarding the theorization of coping mechanisms for technostress management in organizations from ML and AI deployment.

Practical implications

The phenomenon of technostress because of ML and AI technologies could have restricting effects on organizational performance. Executives could follow the simultaneous deployment of ML and AI technologies-based automation-augmentation strategy along with socio-technical measures to cope with technostress. Managers could support the technical up-skilling of employees, the realization of ML and AI value, the implementation of technology-driven change management and strategic planning of ML and AI technologies deployment.

Originality/value

This research study was among the first few studies providing critical insights regarding the technostress at the organizational level because of ML and AI deployment. This research study integrated the novel theoretical paradigm of ML and AI automation-augmentation paradox and the socio-technical systems as coping mechanisms for technostress management.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 32 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 April 2023

Alexandre Léné

This study aims to examine the role of mental health disorders (anxiety and depression) underlying the relationship between bullying and absenteeism. Moreover, the author tested…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the role of mental health disorders (anxiety and depression) underlying the relationship between bullying and absenteeism. Moreover, the author tested the potentially moderating role that job autonomy, supervisor and colleagues’ support may play in the relationship between bullying and mental health disorders.

Design/methodology/approach

A moderated mediation analysis was conducted with a sample of French workers, controlling for their individual characteristics and their working conditions. The sample comprised 22,661 employees. This sample is representative of the French working population.

Findings

The results showed that the positive relationship between workplace bullying and absenteeism was partially mediated by anxiety and depression. In addition, job autonomy and supervisor support appear to be moderators of bullying effects. Regarding the moderating role of colleagues support, the study’s results are more nuanced.

Originality/value

Many studies show that exposure to workplace bullying increases the risk of developing mental health problems and sickness absence. This study extends previous studies by proposing a more comprehensive understanding of how and when bullying results in absenteeism. In particular, this study identified some moderators that can mitigate the harmful effects of workplace bullying on mental health and absenteeism. This study contributes to the literature on this subject by showing that organizations can reduce the potentially negative effects of workplace bullying. Organizational resources can help make individuals capable of coping with aggression. They thus contribute to their resilience.

Details

Evidence-based HRM: a Global Forum for Empirical Scholarship, vol. 12 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-3983

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 October 2023

Stephanie D. Founds

The goal of this review is to conduct an exploratory literature review on trauma-informed approaches in libraries to understand how librarians are discussing trauma-informed…

Abstract

Purpose

The goal of this review is to conduct an exploratory literature review on trauma-informed approaches in libraries to understand how librarians are discussing trauma-informed approaches and their integration into professional practice.

Design/methodology/approach

The author reviewed materials indexed in selected EBSCOHost databases. Included materials from selected EBSCOHost databases were available to the author in full text, in the English language and about trauma-informed approaches in libraries. Items were excluded from this review if they were a review of another work, a thesis or dissertation, or letters to or from the editor.

Findings

Twenty-five publications were included in this analysis. Publications included described approaches in school libraries, academic libraries and public libraries. Key topics are racial trauma-informed practices, trauma-informed teaching, resisting re-traumatization, social work and the effects of workplace trauma on the library workforce.

Practical implications

Trauma-informed approaches are gaining popularity in a variety of disciplines as the world copes with the turbulent events of recent years. The practical implications of this review are to explore the emergence of trauma-informed approaches in libraries to understand the current publishing landscape on this topic.

Originality/value

While librarians are writing about this approach and some are incorporating it into their practice, an analysis in the form of an exploratory literature review to summarize this work has not been done. Understanding how libraries are incorporating this trauma-awareness and trauma-informed principles into the work is crucial for identifying the future approach to library services.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 52 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 October 2023

Meng Tian and Chuan Hu

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influences of negative performance feedback on firms' cost behaviors including productive behaviors (i.e. R&D behaviors) and…

2765

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influences of negative performance feedback on firms' cost behaviors including productive behaviors (i.e. R&D behaviors) and non-productive behaviors (i.e. selling behaviors and business entertainment behaviors), as well as to investigate the roles of ownership types and marketization.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of Chinese manufacturing firms from 2007 to 2018 is analyzed employing multiple regression models.

Findings

The results show that negative performance feedback has a positive but not significant effect on R&D behaviors, while its effect on selling behaviors is significantly positive. Meanwhile, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between negative performance feedback and business entertainment behaviors. Furthermore, when facing a performance dilemma, state-owned enterprises tend to adjust selling behaviors, while nonstate-owned enterprises pay more attention to business entertainment behaviors. In terms of marketization, the firms in high-marketization regions are more likely to adjust their R&D, selling and business entertainment behaviors, while the firms in low-marketization regions are difficult to adjust these cost behaviors.

Practical implications

This study explores the role of negative performance feedback in firms' cost behaviors and provides empirical evidence about the differentiated influences regarding ownership types and marketization.

Originality/value

Integrating insights from existing studies and introducing the behavioral theory of the firm and prospect theory, this study proposes a more inclusive framework that addresses the impacts of negative performance feedback on firms' cost behaviors. This paper deepens the understanding of firms' decision behaviors in the dilemma of performance shortfall.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 61 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2023

Yu-Cheng Lai and Santanu Sarkar

The purpose of this paper is to understand the impending relationship between the impact of the US–China trade war on Taiwanese firms' spending on R&D and their offshore…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand the impending relationship between the impact of the US–China trade war on Taiwanese firms' spending on R&D and their offshore investment in technologically advanced countries (TAC), the authors examined if changes in these firms' R&D ratios and the growing presence of skilled workers in Taiwan's labour market during the trade war have affected their offshore investments in TAC.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a model built on pooled cross-sectional time-series data from 2012–2019, the authors examined whether a change in R&D ratios of domestic firms in Taiwan and the growing presence of skilled workers in Taiwan's labour market have affected the offshore investment by these firms during the trade war. Using data from the Manpower Utilisation Survey, the authors applied differences–in–differences–in–differences and differences–in–differences–in–differences–in–differences estimation methods and found that the trade war indeed gave a boost to Taiwan's job market, particularly for skilled workers.

Findings

From the estimation results, the authors noticed a rise in employment opportunities alongside a decline in the earnings of skilled workers in industries where more firms have spent on R&D as well as invested in offshore operations. However, firms in Taiwan that had not heavily spent on R&D from industries where investment in foreign operations was otherwise high have also attracted skilled workers during the trade war.

Practical implications

An in-depth analysis of the impact of the trade war on domestic firms' spending on R&D and their investment in offshore operations in TAC should be helpful to policymakers interested in understanding the effects of the trade war and subsequent changes in firms' spending on R&D on labour market outcomes. If changes in the R&D ratios and a steady supply of skilled workers influenced the outflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to TAC, this insight could be helpful for those devising policies and measures to curb the impact of the trade war on domestic spending on R&D.

Originality/value

The study findings not only provide broad lessons to policymakers in Taiwan, but the country case study can guide growing economies that are equally careful while perceiving trade war as a significant deterrent to domestic R&D spending and the outflow of FDI.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 March 2024

Umaira Tabassum, Xing Qiang, Jaffar Abbas, Amjad Islam Amjad and Khalid Ibrahim Al-Sulaiti

Positive psychology helps us understand the knowledge required to contribute to adolescents' societal development and adjustability. Adolescence is the crucial stage to work on…

Abstract

Purpose

Positive psychology helps us understand the knowledge required to contribute to adolescents' societal development and adjustability. Adolescence is the crucial stage to work on for a balanced personality. The present study concerned adolescents' self-strength, happiness, and help-seeking behaviour. The authors aimed to explore the relationship between adolescents' self-strength and happiness and investigate the mediational effect of adolescents' help-seeking behaviour on their self-strength and happiness.

Design/methodology/approach

The research design of the current quantitative study was correlational, and 809 adolescents from China and Pakistan participated in the present study. Data were personally collected from participants through self-developed scales.

Findings

We deployed Pearson correlation and simple mediation using SPSS software and found a linear, positive, strong (r = 0.654, n = 809, p = 0.000 < 0.01) and statistically significant correlation between adolescents' self-strength and happiness. The authors also found a significant indirect effect of help-seeking on adolescents' self-strength and happiness at (β = 0.373, t(907) = 7.01).

Research limitations/implications

Using self-reported scales to gather information was one of the study's limitations. Adolescents may have misunderstood the notion or construct narrated in words or responded biasedly despite the bilingual scales.

Practical implications

This study offers social and practical implications for educators, parents, and school administrators to address the development of adolescents' personalities using a positive psychology lens.

Originality/value

The findings are of significant importance for teachers working in the elementary schools. They may work on adolescents' self-strength, happiness, and help-seeking to develop balanced personalities.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

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