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1 – 10 of over 12000
Article
Publication date: 1 May 2000

Gary 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…

3892

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.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 38 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 June 2023

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…

1183

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.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 62 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 November 2021

Srinivasan Sekar

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.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. 29 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 January 2021

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…

1036

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.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 36 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 October 2010

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…

1239

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.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 30 no. 11/12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 October 2017

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…

2186

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.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. 13 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 July 2020

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.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 29 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 August 2021

Annamarie D. Sisson

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.

Details

International Journal of Event and Festival Management, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1758-2954

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 July 2021

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…

1076

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.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 37 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 June 2021

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.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. 18 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 12000