Search results

This paper aims to understand the antecedents and consequences of using the smartphone and/or tablet by professional accountants for business purposes outside of regular working hours. More specifically, this paper aims to test the direct relationships between, on the one hand, work intensification and the use of smartphone and/or tablet and work-family conflict (WFC) and on the other hand, the indirect effect of the use of smartphones and/or tablet between work intensification and WFC.

This research was based on a cross-sectional design and quantitative method. The structural equation method was used to test the direct effect of work intensification on smartphone and/or tablet use and WFC. As for the mediation effect of smartphone and/or tablet use between work intensification and WFC, it was tested by the method of indirect effects based on a bootstrap analysis. The statistical treatments were carried out with the AMOS software v.24.

The results of the study indicate that work intensification increases the use of smartphones and/or tablets outside of working hours and that this variable increases the intensification of WFC through a process of mediation.

This research does not take into account the moderating variables that can intervene in the model. For example, the duration of use of the smartphone, the origin of emails or messages (supervisors, customers and colleagues), the types of tasks performed outside working hours and the period of use (evening, weekend and holidays) could have significant effects on the different relationships tested in the model. Furthermore, we had all the positions held by the respondents (for example, chief financial officer, director, vice-president, partners, senior managers, management accountant, auditor, agents, analysts, accountants) grouped into one category and this may have an impact on results.

The results could be quite interesting for governments and organizations interested in advantage of the technology while reducing its disadvantages. In particular, it is important for accounting firms, which are big users of new technologies (e.g. Smart software and analytics). Indeed, both companies and professional accountants must clearly communicate their expectations regarding the use of technology for business purposes outside normal working hours.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine the effect of work intensification and the use of smartphones and/or tablets, on WFC.

The purpose of this paper is to examine a multidimensional mediating model of psychosocial safety climate (PSC) and work-family interference. More precisely, it tests the direct and indirect effects of PSC on work-family conflict (WFC)/family-work conflict (FWC)-time and WFC/FWC-strain via family-supportive supervisor behavior (FSSB).

The structural equation method was used to test the direct effect of PSC on WFC/FWC time and strain. As for the mediation effects, they were tested by the method of indirect effects based on a bootstrap analysis (Preacher and Hayes, 2004) based on 3,000 replications with a 95% confidence interval. The statistical treatments were carried out with the AMOS software V.22.

The results show that PSC is negatively and directly related to WFC-time, FWC-time, WFC-strain and FWC-strain. In addition, the bootstrap analyses indicate that PSC is related indirectly to WFC-time, FWC-time, WFC-strain and FWC-strain via FSSB.

WFC is a workplace issue that warrants intervention in order to reduce organizational costs and increase worker well-being and PSC should be considered as an appropriate target for intervention (Dollard et al., 2012). However, although this management tool can be useful to reduce FWC, it is more appropriate to decrease WFC. Employers and HR managers not only should understand from the findings the importance of PSC, but also that all employees do not have the same problems, depending on the level of responsibilities at home, for example. Hence, they should offer the appropriate resources according to the need of workers. Indeed, the implementation of a unique work-family measure may not be appropriate for all workers, and it is important that employers and HR managers understand the details of WFC and FWC, as well as the possible effects of a series of different variables, in order to design the best work-family programs.

This research examined the effects of two new and specific resources at work, which are PSC and FSSB on WFC and FWC (time and strain), as recommended by Kossek et al. (2011). In addition, this study tested a new multidimensional mediating model which examined the mediation role of FSSB between PSC and time- and strain-based WFC and FWC. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine these relations. Moreover, the test of the concepts of PSC in this study provides a support for the theory of conservation of resources and proposes an extension of this theory.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the factors that make Beirut a fashion hub by studying the characteristics of creativity and the role of the different stakeholders in setting an environment that encourages creativity in Beirut.

The methodology of this research is based on a literature review and information collected through semi-structured interviews with the different stakeholders of the sector.

The research reveals three results. First, this dynamic fashion design in Beirut is explained by the international success of some Lebanese fashion designers. Second, as there is an absence of any form of governmental intervention, the development of the sector is totally based on private business initiatives. Third, the research demonstrates the importance of the local culture, knowledge exchanges and lifestyle in shaping creativity and designers’ careers in Beirut.

These findings contribute to the clarification and critical analysis of the current state of fashion design in Beirut, which would have several policy implications.

Conducted with a staff of 562 persons working in the health sector in Quebec, mainly nurses, the purpose of this paper is to test the indirect effects of psychosocial safety climate (PSC) on workarounds through physical fatigue, cognitive weariness and emotional exhaustion as mediators.

The structural equation method, namely CFA, was used to test the structure of constructs, the reliability and validity of the measurement scales as well as model fit. To test the mediation effects, Hayes’s PROCESS (2013) macro and 95 percent confidence intervals were used and 5,000 bootstrapping re-samples were run. The statistical treatments were carried out with the AMOS software V.24 and SPSS v.22.

The results based on bootstrap analysis and Sobel’s test demonstrate that physical fatigue, cognitive weariness and emotional exhaustion mediate the relationship between PSC and safety workarounds.

The study has important practical implications in detecting blocks and obstacles in the work processes and decreasing the use of workaround behaviors, or in converting their negative consequences into positive contributions.

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the relationship between PSC, burnout and workaround behaviors. These results could contribute to a better understanding of this construct of workarounds and how to deal with it. Moreover, the test of the concepts of PSC in this study provides support for the theory of “conservation of resources” by proposing an extension of this theory.

As employed carers tend to experience work interruptions and conflict between work and care, especially women, this paper aims to assess the availability and accessibility of carer-friendly workplace policies (CFWPs) in Quebec workplaces.

An online survey was distributed to members of the Association of Human Resources Management Counsellors in Quebec. The authors used a validating quantitative data design. The data was collected between October 2019 and the end of February 2020 and the questionnaire yielded 122 valid responses.

Adult/elder care responsibilities remain systematically perceived less important than childcare or general work-life balance needs. The current distribution of CFWPs within Quebec workplaces is unlikely to ensure carers sufficient support to prevent or significantly mitigate negative repercussions. Notable differences were found between organization type and size.

There is a need for expanding CFWPs through increased support services, educational workshops, broader access to flexible work arrangements and manager training.

The results support recent research findings pointing that women with caring responsibilities face important opportunity costs and risk falling in precariousness. Carers should be able to maintain a social income from other sources to compensate a reduced activity on the labor market.

By investigating the availability of CFWPs in Quebec workplaces, this paper adds insights regarding the availability and access to CFWPs regionally and in small and medium size workplaces, rather than identifying best practice from workplaces across the globe. Workplace policies are analyzed for adult/elder care specifically.

The present study aims to investigate the mediating role of work–family conflict (WFC) and family–work conflict (FWC) on the effects of workload and the generic and specific work–family social support in job stress.

Using AMOS 20 through bootstrap analysis for indirect effect, the study assessed the abovementioned relationships based on data collected from 258 respondents in the hospitality industry in Quebec.

The findings indicate that workload increases job stress via WFC and FWC. Both generic and specific work–family social support decrease job stress through WFC and FWC. Organizational support for reconciling work and family life is more significant than generic supervisor support. Family support reduces job stress via WFC but not via FWC.

In future studies, it would be interesting to explore the effects of variables such as gender, marital status, hotel category and the job category, as well as cultural origin.

The results of this research should alert employers in the hospitality industry to engage in family-friendly policies that include not only practices such as working time arrangements, family leave and onsite child care services, but also to be committed to create a family-friendly culture and to adopt the best forms of supportive policies at work.

By emphasizing cross-domain effects, the present research contributes to the existing knowledge by testing the mediating role of WFC and FWC in the effects of workload and various resources of social support on job stress.

Based on the theory of conservation of resources (Hobfoll, 1989), the purpose of this paper is to propose job satisfaction as a mediator between the use of generativity and affective occupational commitment. The authors tested the mediating role of affective occupational commitment on the relationship between job satisfaction and retirement preparation.

A sequential mediation model was tested by the method of indirect effects based on a bootstrap analysis (Preacher and Hayes, 2004) based on 3,000 replications with a 95% confidence interval. The statistical treatments were carried out with the AMOS software V.22. Data were collected for a sample of 340 older workers (bridge and retirees) in Québec, Canada.

Results indicate that generativity was related positively to affective occupational commitment via job satisfaction. Moreover, job satisfaction was also related positively to retirement preparation through affective occupational commitment.

The results can be helpful to guide organizational efforts at retaining older workers, and also recruiting and selecting those who want to return to work after retiring. They provide an insight on the effect of one of the main human resources practices or strategies, that is, programs aiming to attract and retain older workers to stay in the workplace and to encourage retirees to return to work in the form of bridge employment for example.

The study adds to the existing literature by examining a sequential mediation model to understand the relationship between organizational resources, job attitudes and retirement planning. It thus answers the call for more research and a theoretical framework on these critical variables for the retirement decision-making process. The findings can also contribute to the field of knowledge retention and fulfill some gaps in the literature on this topic. Indeed, examining the use of generativity in the study can help researchers and practitioners to better understand the reasons that encourage older workers to continue working and retirees to return to work.

Paid parental leave for both mothers and fathers has fed countless debates. Four years after the implementation of a new parental leave policy in Quebec, this paper aims to assess how parental leave is perceived in the workplace.

Using data from employee surveys carried out in a municipal police service, the paper employs analysis of variance techniques to compare the perception of parental leave within two groups of respondents: those who had gone on parental leave and those who had not.

The findings highlight significant differences between the perceptions of parental leave entertained by the respondents who have taken it up and those who have not yet experienced parental leave.

Analysing these differences has produced extremely interesting findings: adopting a public policy is not sufficient; organisations need to make employees feel supported in taking parental leave if they really want the policy to achieve the targeted results.

Paid parental leave is relatively new in Europe and almost non‐existent in North America and few studies have been carried out to measure their perception in the workplace. This research shows how important it is to follow the use of the policy to make sure that it does not have negative impacts for those who use it.

This article presents a research on telework and deals with the following questions: Who are the teleworkers (sex, age, main socio‐occupational categories)? What are the impacts of telework on work organization and working conditions, particularly for women, and in terms of work‐family balance, since telework is sometimes presented as a solution to problems of reconciling work and family responsibilities? Finally, what is the level of satisfaction among teleworkers and why are they satisfied or dissatisfied with this system? Are there differences between various groups on this regard? We insist on the dimensions of working conditions and autonomy in telework and highlight the fact that there is a risk of polarization according to gender, women being more frequently in a situation where they have less autonomy than men in telework, although many also see telework in a positive way, as an “escape” from a bureaucratic work environment.