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1 – 10 of over 12000Gary D. Geroy, Philip C. Wright and Laura Jacoby
The purpose of the research is to provide HR managers with some guidance, as they develop employee volunteer programs to meet specific workforce needs. Structured interviews were…
Abstract
The purpose of the research is to provide HR managers with some guidance, as they develop employee volunteer programs to meet specific workforce needs. Structured interviews were conducted with eight employees. The data suggest that employees who volunteer time believe that such experiences benefit them personally and improve their ability to perform their work duties. There were slight differences in program type, with those employees involved in programs characterized by high management support and commitment tending to perceive that they reap high overall rewards for their volunteer activities. The perceived impact of volunteer activities on employees included: an improved ability to cope with job challenges; the development of contacts and skills that can be used on the job; improved self‐esteem and a sense of pride. These factors can increase employees’ ability to be proactive problem solvers on the job.
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Akram Hatami, Jan Hermes, Anne Keränen and Pauliina Ulkuniemi
To respond to recent calls for better understanding of the complexities related to happiness management, especially from the employees' perspective, this study examines how…
Abstract
Purpose
To respond to recent calls for better understanding of the complexities related to happiness management, especially from the employees' perspective, this study examines how corporate volunteering (CV), as one form of corporate social responsibility (CSR), creates sustainable happiness in business organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
Theoretical knowledge of CSR and CV as well as the literature on happiness management was examined to form a preliminary understanding of the phenomenon. The empirical section includes a qualitative multiple case study including two company cases of CV in Finland. The data were collected through qualitative interviews. Empirical analysis was made using thematical coding based on existing theory but also by allowing themes to emerge inductively from the data as well.
Findings
The study found that CV enables the emergence of sustainable happiness by allowing individual employee volunteers to transition from individual and rational mindsets to collective and emotional mindsets. A third transition was also identified, a process of change in the volunteers' approach in life that the authors describe as “from actual to potential”.
Originality/value
The study provides a theoretical contribution to the existing literature on happiness management by identifying the third dimension, from actual to potential, and depicting the way this allows employees to move from a state of being to becoming and thus the emergence of sustainable happiness. The study also contributes to existing literature on CV and CSR by revealing the way CV, as a form of practical CSR activity, generates happiness. This study concludes that companies' strategic activities that engage with society can create sustainable happiness for employees who participate. In order to achieve this, volunteering employees should have the chance to reflect on their experience and constant support from managers.
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This study assesses the relevance of both individual and contextual factors as an antecedent to employee participation in corporate volunteering (CV) activities and affective…
Abstract
Purpose
This study assesses the relevance of both individual and contextual factors as an antecedent to employee participation in corporate volunteering (CV) activities and affective organizational commitment and inter-role conflict as an outcome of employee volunteering. This study draws from the functional theory of motivation, social exchange theory and role strain perspective to explain hypothesized relationship of the study constructs.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire survey was administered with 461 employee volunteers who had participated in company-sponsored volunteering programs. The authors adopted structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the study hypotheses.
Findings
The findings from the survey suggest that altruistic motives and organization CV capability will impact employee's participation in CV. The results highlight that employee participation in CV enhances affective organizational commitment, indicating that employee volunteering creates inter-role conflict.
Research limitations/implications
Though the study has identified inter-role conflict as a potentially unfavorable outcome, exploring when and how employee volunteering will create a negative effect will add significant value to organizations to protect the interest of their employees.
Practical implications
This study provides insights to understand the relative effects of self- and other-oriented motives. The results suggest that organizations have more directed and carefully designed employee volunteering activities to enable more favorable benefits to employees.
Originality/value
This study contributes to expanding the knowledge on the phenomenon of employee volunteering by introducing and empirically validating an integrated framework of antecedents and consequences of employee volunteering.
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Paweł Brzustewicz, Iwona Escher, Jan Hermes and Pauliina Ulkuniemi
This paper aims to examine corporate volunteering as a form of social responsibility carried out by companies in relationships with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Applying…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine corporate volunteering as a form of social responsibility carried out by companies in relationships with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Applying the value creation concept, the success of such relationships is based on value created between the focal company, its employees engaging in the volunteer work and the collaborating NGO actors representing the beneficiaries of the volunteer work. However, how to meaningfully engage employees and strategically manage company–NGO relationships in corporate volunteering has received less scholarly attention. The study hence asks the question: How is mutual value created in corporate volunteering collaborations between business organizations and NGOs?
Design/methodology/approach
Two qualitative case studies of company–NGO relationships involved in corporate volunteer programs for social benefit in Poland and Finland are analyzed.
Findings
Corporate volunteering offers value creation opportunities for each of the three actors in the relationships, namely, the company, the NGO and the employees who participate in the volunteer work. Particularly, employment and volunteering relationships appear to be catalysts for the creation of mutual value in the organizational relationship between a company and NGO.
Originality/value
The present study contributes to the current understanding of company–NGO relationships by emphasizing the role of individual employee volunteers in creating relationship-level value. The study adds also to existing research on corporate volunteering by identifying the way value is created in company–NGO relationships within corporate volunteering.
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Colin W. Morgan and Jon Burchell
This paper seeks to understand the views of employees in a UK company on an employee vounteering (ESV) scheme. It further seeks to advance theory in this area by integrating…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to understand the views of employees in a UK company on an employee vounteering (ESV) scheme. It further seeks to advance theory in this area by integrating organisational identity (OI) and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB). The paper moves forward the scholarly work on ESV by interviewing employees who do and do not volunteer within ESV schemes.
Design/methodology/approach
A purpose sample of 31 (n = 31) interviewees was drawn from all levels of the studied organisation. The method follows a qualitative approach using NVIVO as the analysis tool. The interview was triangulated using a focus group.
Findings
Employees have a range of emotions and responses to a company operating an ESV scheme. The study is particularly interesting in that it studies employees of a gambling organisation that bring in further rich employee views on the scheme. Much of the sparse literature on ESV does not pick up on UK‐based organisations and this study is therefore revealing.
Research limitations/implications
Managers of corporate responsibility (CR) in organisations should be concerned with how they implement their CR programmes – especially with respect to how they establish and communicate ESV programmes. Academics will find value in viewing ESV through a conjunction of OCB and OI theories. The research could be replicated in other large UK organisations with similiar ESV programmes to test whether the experiences of employees are widespread in other organisations.
Practical implications
The paper tacitly questions the impact of ESV programmes on the employee stakeholder group and suggests that, unless ESV programmes are well run and well communicated – and given a good budget, employees may in fact view the programme negatively. It demonstrates that CR is not simply a “nice to have” that can be simply bolted on.
Social implications
Organisations, especially those in the third sector that work with corporates, need to understand the role of ESV schemes in their partner companies and consider the views of employees and the strategic logic of the companies before embarking on working together.
Originality/value
This is an original piece of work in a relatively under‐researched area. This is the first study to consider volunteers and non‐volunteers in an ESV scheme in a UK‐based company – the added dimension of interest and value is that the studied organisation was a gambling business.
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Srinivasan Sekar and Lata Dyaram
The purpose of this paper is to examine how some of the key aspects of employee motivation and their perception of volunteering programs impact their participation in corporate…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how some of the key aspects of employee motivation and their perception of volunteering programs impact their participation in corporate volunteering. Specifically, this study argues that employee’s self-oriented motives to significantly influence employee participation than other-oriented motives. Similarly, this study also hypothesized that the corporate volunteering program characteristics to significantly relate to employee participation in corporate volunteering.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected from 461 employee volunteers representing various industries across four different locations in India. A self-reported method was used to collect the data by administering the questionnaires.
Findings
The structural equation modeling results indicate that other-oriented motives (altruistic) and characteristics of corporate volunteering programs to significantly predict employee participation in corporate volunteering and self-oriented motives did not show significance in predicting employee participation.
Research limitations/implications
Results suggest that employee participation in volunteering is a function of not merely employee motivation but also how the volunteering programs are conceptualized and implemented.
Originality/value
This research study moves beyond mere role of employee motives analysis and considered the role of characteristics of corporate volunteering programs to impact employee volunteering behavior. Further, it highlights there is a differential impact of self- and other-oriented motives in predicting employee participation.
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Srinivasan Sekar and Lata Dyaram
The purpose of this paper is to identify some of the critical organizational support factors and efforts that facilitate better employee participation in corporate volunteering…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify some of the critical organizational support factors and efforts that facilitate better employee participation in corporate volunteering (CV) programs. There is a growing interest to understand the role of organization in enhancing better employee participation in volunteering programs.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted an empirical investigation with (n = 461) employee volunteers, who participated in company sponsored volunteering programs. The authors tested the hypothesized relationship using structural equation modelling (SEM).
Findings
The SEM results indicate that cultural fit, organizational CV communication and implementation of CV programmes facilitate better employee participation.
Research limitations/implications
This study provides insights for organizations in terms of increased internal communication and alignment of organizational values with CV programmes to attract better employee participation in volunteering programmes.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature on the phenomenon of employee volunteering by examining various organizational efforts that facilitate better employee participation in volunteering programmes.
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The relationship between leadership style and employee outcomes is well established. However, organizational management research lacks an understanding of the dyadic relationship…
Abstract
Purpose
The relationship between leadership style and employee outcomes is well established. However, organizational management research lacks an understanding of the dyadic relationship between supervisors and employees and volunteers at music festivals. This study examines a mediation model in which leader–member exchange (LMX) affects leadership style and organizational citizenship behavior. Additionally, the study examines a moderating model in which dependence on the leader moderates relationships between leadership style and leader–member exchange.
Design/methodology/approach
Confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling and conditional process analysis were employed to test the model using data collected from 97 supervisors, volunteers and employees who worked at an annual large-scale music festival staged in Costa Rica.
Findings
Results reveal that leadership style relates positively to LMX and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Simultaneously, the mediating effect of LMX and moderating effect of dependence on the leader was not significant on the leadership style and OCB.
Research limitations/implications
Given the small sample size and accessibility to one music festival, caution should be taken in drawing causal conclusions from the results.
Practical implications
The study contributes to the knowledge of event and festival management with recommendations for leadership training initiatives for supervisors and employees/volunteers.
Originality/value
This study is among the first to examine the mediating role of LMX between leadership style and OCB, moderating the role of dependence on leadership style and LMX with music festival supervisors and employees/volunteers.
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Matt C. Howard and Emory Serviss
The authors argue that many core findings are not as established as often assumed in the study of corporate volunteering programs, and they assess this possibility by reporting a…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors argue that many core findings are not as established as often assumed in the study of corporate volunteering programs, and they assess this possibility by reporting a meta-analysis of both organizational and employee participation that includes relations with antecedents and outcomes at both organizational and employee levels.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors perform a meta-analysis of 57 sources, including 30 peer-reviewed articles, 16 theses/dissertations, 8 unpublished manuscripts, 2 conference presentations and 1 book chapter.
Findings
Of the antecedents, organizational size only had a small relation with organizational participation, but the effect of corporate social responsibility orientation was very large on organizational participation. Demographic characteristics as well as personality traits had a small relation with employee participation, whereas the effect of volunteering attitudes was large on employee participation. Of the outcomes, organizational participation did not significantly relate to customer perceptions. Employee participation had nonsignificant or small relations with well-being, commitment, job satisfaction and positive behaviors; however, organizational participation also significantly related to all employee-level outcomes, and the effect was significantly stronger than employee participation for two of four outcomes.
Practical implications
Organizations can better understand the true influence of corporate volunteering programs, aiding their bottom line and employee well-being.
Originality/value
Several commonly assumed antecedents and outcomes do not relate to corporate volunteering participation, and future research should be redirected to more influential effects. The authors’ discussion highlights theories that may be particularly beneficial for the study of corporate volunteering, including social identity theory and role expansion theory.
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Aldona Glińska-Neweś, Akram Hatami, Jan Hermes, Anne Keränen and Pauliina Ulkuniemi
The purpose of this study is to examine how employee competences can be developed through corporate volunteering (CV). Specifically, this study focuses on diversity of volunteering…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine how employee competences can be developed through corporate volunteering (CV). Specifically, this study focuses on diversity of volunteering studies categorized according to the type of beneficiaries and intensity of volunteer contact with them. The study examines how the beneficiary-employee relation influences the development of employee competences in CV projects.
Design/methodology/approach
In this qualitative empirical study, interview data collected in Poland about the perceived effects of CV projects on employee competences was used.
Findings
The findings suggest that to understand the competences generated in CV, attention needs to be paid to the nature of the volunteering study itself. The study proposes four different logics of competence development in CV, based on the type of the beneficiary and contact with them.
Research limitations/implications
The study builds on managers’ perceptions of competence development. For a holistic understanding, future research should include employees’ perceptions of the process. Also, more research is needed regarding national and organizational settings as factors in competence development through CV.
Practical implications
The study suggests how companies could best engage in volunteering programs and improve existing ones to make them more beneficial for all parties involved.
Social implications
The findings build the better business case for CV and other corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, i.e. they deliver rationales for business engagement in this regard.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the conceptual understanding of CSR activities by presenting four logics of competence development in CV.
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