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Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 August 2022

Ana Junça Silva, Patrícia Neves and António Caetano

This study draws on the affective events theory (AET) to understand how telework may influence workers' well-being. Hence this study aimed to (1) analyze the indirect relationship…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study draws on the affective events theory (AET) to understand how telework may influence workers' well-being. Hence this study aimed to (1) analyze the indirect relationship between telework and well-being via daily micro-events (DME), and (2) test whether procrastination would moderate this indirect effect.

Design/methodology/approach

To test the goals, data were gathered from a sample of teleworkers in the IT sector (N = 232). To analyze the data, a moderated mediation analysis was performed in SPSS with PROCESS macro.

Findings

The results showed that micro-daily events mediated the positive relationship between telework and well-being; however, this relation was conditional upon the levels of workers' levels of procrastination, that is, this link became weaker for those who were procrastinators.

Practical implications

By highlighting the importance of telework, DME and procrastination, this study offers managers distinct strategies for enhancing their employees' well-being.

Originality/value

Despite the existing research investigating the effect of telework on well-being, studies investigating the intervening mechanisms between these two constructs are scarce. Moreover, there is a lack of research investigating the moderating effect of procrastination in these relations. Hence, this study fills these gaps and advances knowledge on the process that explains how (via DME) and when (when procrastination is low) teleworking influences workers' well-being.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 45 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2024

Sundeep Sahay and Esther N. Landen

The purpose of this paper is to understand how digital interventions are mediating the identity work of community health workers (CHWs) in the context of two African countries.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand how digital interventions are mediating the identity work of community health workers (CHWs) in the context of two African countries.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper analyzes the everyday work of CHWs in two low- and middle-income country (LMIC) contexts (Uganda and Malawi) and seeks to understand changes in collective identity and the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in mediating this “identity work”. As CHWs conduct their everyday tasks of care giving, data reporting and maintaining social interactions, they play two primary roles. One is the care giving role oriented towards the community, and two, is reporting and administrative work by virtue of them being affiliated with the Ministry of Health, either in formal or voluntary capacity. The ambivalence which they experience as they move back and forth between these two worlds of work is significantly now mediated through ICTs. The paper analyzes these dynamics and identifies three key sets of ambivalence in identity work: (1) role embracing-institutional distancing; (2) conformist-resistant and (3) dramaturgical-transformative. The paper makes unique contributions to information systems (IS) and ICT for development (ICT4D) studies in that it focuses on a nonprofessional group, which plays a fundamental role in providing care to underserved populations and also conducts data work which provides the foundation of the national health information system. This contrasts with dominant research in the field which focuses on professional groups, largely based in Western business organizations.

Findings

The paper identifies identity related tensions that emerge with the mediation of digital technologies in the work world of CHWs. These include tensions of conformist-resistant; and (3) dramaturgical-transformative. These findings are relevant and unique to the field of IS and ICT4D studies in that it focuses on a nonprofessional group, which plays a fundamental role in providing care to underserved populations and also conducts data work which provides the foundation of the national health information system.

Research limitations/implications

While acknowledging identity construction and negotiation is a function of both work and social lives, in this paper we could only focus on the work lives.

Practical implications

As digital interventions in the health sector of low and middle income countries is becoming increasingly widespread, often the focus is more on the supply side (the supply of the technology) rather than on the demand side (users experiences and aspirations). Identity becomes a lens to understand these demand side dynamics, which helps provides practical guidance on implementation approaches to ensure that the technology adds value to user work processes and there is a seamless and not a disruptive transition.

Social implications

CHWs are the most neglected cadre in the health system of low and middle income countries, even though they provide the cutting edge in care provision work to the most marginalized populations, living in rural and underserved areas. By focusing on how technologies can be more effectively implemented to support these care processes, the paper provides important social implications both for practice and research.

Originality/value

Analysis of identity construction and negotiation of informal groups in the unorganized sector of low and middle income countries has not received adequate attention in IS research. The paper seeks to fill this important gap.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 February 2024

Mirela Cătălina Türkeş, Aurelia Felicia Stăncioiu, Mihai Cristian Orzan, Mariana Jugănaru, Roxana-Cristina Marinescu and Ion Dănuț Jugănaru

Almost four years after the COVID-19 pandemic, the changes in the labour market and legislation, but also in people's lives, do not stop. At the same time, employees' perceptions…

Abstract

Purpose

Almost four years after the COVID-19 pandemic, the changes in the labour market and legislation, but also in people's lives, do not stop. At the same time, employees' perceptions regarding the change in the legislative and contractual framework, as well as in the working conditions and the use of telework, also change. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to identify the perceptions of employees regarding the use of telework in the post-pandemic period.

Design/methodology/approach

The research was based on a survey carried out on 128 teleworkers in the post-pandemic period. The statistical hypotheses were tested using Kolmogorov–Smirnov and Kruskal–Wallis tests, multiple linear regression and pairwise comparison analysis.

Findings

The results of the study demonstrate that the modification of the legislative and contractual framework and of the working conditions, as well as of the way of using information and communication technology in the post-pandemic era, generates a positive and significant impact on the use of telework by employees. Some of the main advantages valued by teleworkers included the possibility of benefitting from a flexible work schedule and the possibility of reducing transport costs.

Originality/value

The study highlights the need to continuously develop and update labour policies and strategies in line with current and future labour market requirements, considering the implications of telework on the perceptions of employees, so that government organisations and managers who want to protect the rights and interests of teleworkers, aspects of their lives and organise an appropriate work environment manage to do so in order to achieve the expected results.

Details

Employee Relations: The International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 January 2024

Louise Suckley and Marko Orel

This paper aims to examine the learning gained from the evolving adjustment experiences of co-workers in moving to home-based working during the COVID-19 pandemic and the…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the learning gained from the evolving adjustment experiences of co-workers in moving to home-based working during the COVID-19 pandemic and the influence of these experiences on re-adjusting to return to co-working.

Design/methodology/approach

Results of a longitudinal qualitative study are reported where a group of co-workers were interviewed on three occasions between 2019 and 2022. Experiences are analysed alongside the adjustment to the remote work model using a boundary management lens.

Findings

The main adjustment experiences were in work location, temporal structures, professional and social interactions, and a new adjustment area was identified around family role commitment that emerged in the home-based setting. Boundary management practices were temporal, behavioural, spatial and object-related and evolved with the unfolding of adjustment experiences. A return to using co-working spaces was driven by the need for social interaction and spatial boundaries but affected by the requirement for increased privacy.

Practical implications

This paper will help workplace managers to understand adjustment experiences and develop facilities that will support a positive shared working environment not fulfilled through home-based working.

Originality/value

Although many workers abruptly transitioned to home-based working during the pandemic, this research considers those who would normally choose to work in a community-centred working environment rather than being home-based. As such, their experience of adjustment is of greater interest, particularly in terms of their expectations for shared working spaces.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 36 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 November 2022

Ana Junça Silva, Alexandra Almeida and Carla Rebelo

This study aims to develop a framework that explains how and when telework is related to emotional exhaustion and task performance, by conceiving work overload as a mediator and…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to develop a framework that explains how and when telework is related to emotional exhaustion and task performance, by conceiving work overload as a mediator and self-leadership as a moderator. For this purpose, two studies were conducted. Study 1 aims to understand whether telework would be related to emotional exhaustion and task performance and if work overload would mediate such relationships. Study 2 aims to analyze whether self-leadership was a significant moderator of the mediated relations found in Study 1.

Design/methodology/approach

The hypotheses were tested in a sample of 207 (in Study 1) and 272 (in Study 2) participants, which were exclusively teleworking. The results were analyzed using PROCESS macro in SPSS.

Findings

The results of Study 1 showed that telework dimensions were negatively related to work overload, which consequently decreased emotional exhaustion and increased task performance. In Study 2, self-leadership moderated the indirect effect of work overload on the relationship between telework and emotional exhaustion, such that the indirect effect was stronger for those who scored higher in self-leadership. However, it was not significant for task performance.

Originality/value

This paper adds to research on telework by focusing on the employee's mental health and performance, in the context of mandatory confinement. The authors identified telework dimensions that may act as resources to cope with the increased work overload inherent to telework, as well as the importance of personal resources in these relationships.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 45 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 March 2024

Weiyi Cong, Shoujian Zhang, Huakang Liang and Qingting Xiang

Job stressors have a considerable influence on workplace safety behaviors. However, the findings from previous studies regarding the effect of different types of job stressors…

Abstract

Purpose

Job stressors have a considerable influence on workplace safety behaviors. However, the findings from previous studies regarding the effect of different types of job stressors have been contradictory. This is attributable to, among other factors, the effectiveness of job stressors varying with occupations and contexts. This study examines the effects of challenge and hindrance stressors on construction workers' informal safety communication at different levels of coworker relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

A three-dimensional framework of informal safety communication is adopted, including self-needed, citizenship and participatory safety communication. Stepwise regression analysis is then performed using questionnaire survey data collected from 293 construction workers in the Chinese construction industry.

Findings

The results demonstrate that both challenge and hindrance stressors are negatively associated with self-needed and citizenship safety communication, whereas their relationships with participatory safety communication are not significant. Meanwhile, the mitigation effects of the coworker relationship (represented by trustworthiness and accessibility) on the above negative impacts vary with the communication forms. Higher trustworthiness and accessibility enable workers faced with challenge stressors to actively manage these challenges and engage in self-needed safety communication. Similarly, trustworthiness promotes workers' involvement in self-needed and citizenship safety communication in the face of hindrance stressors, but accessibility is only effective in facilitating self-needed safety communication.

Originality/value

By introducing the job demands-resources theory and distinguishing informal safety communication into three categories, this study explains the negative effects of challenge and hindrance job stressors in complex and variable construction contexts and provides additional clues to the current inconsistent findings regarding this framework. The diverse roles of challenge and hindrance job stressors also present strong evidence for the need to differentiate between the types of informal safe communication.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Understanding Intercultural Interaction: An Analysis of Key Concepts, 2nd Edition
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-438-8

Article
Publication date: 12 January 2023

Yuan Chen, Ziyue Yang, Bingsheng Liu, Dan Wang, Yan Xiao and Anmin Wang

This study aims to investigate the influence mechanism of expatriates' cultural intelligence (CQ) on expatriate effectiveness (task performance and premature return intention)…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the influence mechanism of expatriates' cultural intelligence (CQ) on expatriate effectiveness (task performance and premature return intention), identifying work engagement as a mediator and cultural distance as a boundary condition.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the conservation of resource theory and the person–environment fit (P–E fit) theory, a moderated mediation model is built. Working with a sample of 303 international construction expatriates collected by snowball sampling, the hypotheses are tested by using the structural equation model analysis.

Findings

Work engagement partially mediates the relationship between expatriates' CQ and task performance, as well as fully mediates the relationship between expatriates' CQ and premature return intention. Cultural distance moderates the positive relationship between CQ and work engagement, as well as moderates the mediating effects of work engagement.

Research limitations/implications

The impacts of potential moderators (e.g. work–family conflict and organizational culture) on the relationship between CQ and expatriate effectiveness have not been considered in this study.

Practical implications

This study is useful for international construction firms to optimize the allocation of human resources.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the expatriate literature by adding empirical evidence to explain the influence mechanism of expatriates' CQ on expatriate effectiveness.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 March 2024

Rishi Kappal and Dharmesh K. Mishra

Executive isolation, also known as workplace loneliness, its factors and impact are major issues for organizational development, future of work for leadership and learning…

Abstract

Purpose

Executive isolation, also known as workplace loneliness, its factors and impact are major issues for organizational development, future of work for leadership and learning culture. The purpose of this study is to examine the Executive isolation phenomenon where relationships between power distance, organizational culture and executive isolation of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) are analysed on how it is considered by their teams. The same is contextualized through the inputs received through interviews conducted with CEOs and employee surveys.

Design/methodology/approach

The qualitative in-depth interviews of five CEOs, and survey across 34 of the 50 employees, were undertaken over the course of two phases of this study. The investigation focused on identifying executive isolation of CEOs and perspectives of employees that can impact the leadership and learning progress of organizations based on work culture, power distance and decision-making; awareness and experience of executive isolation; workplace friendliness and rejection; and management development initiatives to minimize the impact of executive isolation. Qualitative data analysis was conducted using MAXQDA 2022 (Verbi Software, Berlin, Germany), which is a qualitative data analysis software.

Findings

The findings highlight and expose the significant gap between understanding and analysing of the factors due to which the CEOs undergo executive isolation. It also extends to providing details related to the lack of awareness of the teams’ actions contributing to the CEOs’ isolation. It further highlights the fact that the difference of perspectives between the CEOs and teams leads to the organization slowing in its learning activities due to the leaders’ own challenges of executive isolation The findings also provide immense need of developing knowledge assets and management development initiatives for learning interventions, to help understand, analyse and mitigate executive isolation, in the interest of the organizational learning and development.

Originality/value

Earlier research work have contextualized the executive isolation impact on CEOs ability to be a leader. This study extends it to include the implications of leadership and learning culture on the teams that are affected by organization culture, power distance, decision-making and analysing the gap between the understandings about executive isolation of the CEOs. Eventually, it interprets how CEOs courting the executive isolation impacts the overall developmental culture of the organization. This will help in asserting the serious need of new learning frameworks needed to minimize the impact of CEO-level executive isolation.

Details

The Learning Organization, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-6474

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 February 2024

Sherly de Yong, Murni Rachmawati and Ima Defiana

This paper aims to identify aspects of how work-life interaction has changed in the post-pandemic situations and propose strategies of the security concept for living-working…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to identify aspects of how work-life interaction has changed in the post-pandemic situations and propose strategies of the security concept for living-working patterns in the post-pandemic interior as future disease prevention.

Design/methodology/approach

We conducted a systematic literature search and review to select previous research systematically and relate concepts by coding the data and synthesising the data critically. The systematic literature search and review considered 90 papers (35 were studied).

Findings

The findings identify three strategies: hybrid activity patterns, new layout for hybrid and changing behaviour and culture. Each strategy demonstrates the connection between the hybrid living-working interior spaces in the post-pandemic period and security-pandemic variables. The results on security design factors focused on interior control, detection and deterrence; connection to nature creates a safer environment to prevent further variables; and hybrid activity requires more elements to govern users' behaviour and culture.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations of this study are as follows: excluded papers that are not written in English/Bahasa or do not have gold/green open access; some aspects were not discussed (such as social distancing); the articles included in this review are up to April 2023 (and there is the possibility of recent papers). Future studies can be developed to update building certification for post-pandemic interiors or research with psychological, social equity or family vitality issues.

Originality/value

The study offers strategies and the holistic relationship between the post-pandemic concept and security-pandemic design variables within the built environment, especially in the users' culture and behaviour context.

Details

International Journal of Workplace Health Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8351

Keywords

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