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Article
Publication date: 29 June 2022

John W. Upson and Erich B. Bergiel

This study aims to investigate the potential for virtual study abroad (VSA) programs to exist in a post-pandemic world. VSAs quickly grew in popularity when the COVID-19 pandemic…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate the potential for virtual study abroad (VSA) programs to exist in a post-pandemic world. VSAs quickly grew in popularity when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancelation of traditional study abroad programs. Now that a return to travel appears imminent, it is uncertain whether VSAs hold sufficient value to continue as legitimate study abroad programs or whether they will be shelved until the next pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

This study compares VSAs to short-term study abroad (STSA) programs. Drawing on extant literature, an STSA profile, based on five best practices, sets the legitimacy standard to which VSAs must rise. Based on the authors’ experience, consultations with two additional study abroad leaders and one VSA firm, VSAs are defined, and a sample profile is developed. VSAs are compared and contrasted with STSAs. Program attributes in which VSAs fall short, meet and exceed those of STSAs are identified.

Findings

VSAs meet all five study abroad best practices. Although VSAs are incapable of providing benefits specifically related to travel, VSAs meet or exceed benefits provided by STSAs in all other areas. VSAs have advantages in cost, risk, flexibility and inclusion. VSAs are legitimate substitutions to STSAs for first-year students, students who cannot travel and student types currently under-represented in study abroad programs.

Practical implications

Practical advice on managing VSAs is offered through a sample VSA program profile. Target student types are identified, program positioning is discussed and implications to universities are offered.

Originality/value

Literature on VSA is essentially non-existent. This study introduces VSA programs as an option to gain not only academic knowledge but also many of the experiential benefits of typical study abroad programs.

Details

Journal of International Education in Business, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-469X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 January 2008

Blaise J. Bergiel, Erich B. Bergiel and Phillip W. Balsmeier

This paper aims to extend knowledge about virtual teams and their advantages and disadvantages in a global business environment.

41261

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to extend knowledge about virtual teams and their advantages and disadvantages in a global business environment.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a literature review and reported findings from interviews with experts and practitioners in the field, the paper has identified and discussed the advantages and problems associated with creating and managing virtual teams.

Findings

In today's competitive global economy, organizations capable of rapidly creating virtual teams of talented people can respond quickly to changing business environments. Capabilities of this type offer organizations a form of competitive advantage.

Originality/value

By identifying the advantages and problems associated with virtual teams, organizations will be better able to successfully establish and manage such teams.

Details

Management Research News, vol. 31 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0140-9174

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 October 2015

Erich B. Bergiel, Thomas W. Gainey and Blaise J. Bergiel

The purpose of this study is to test theoretically based hypotheses linking task and team-shared mental models (SMMs) with multiple dimensions of conflict and conflict asymmetry…

1048

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to test theoretically based hypotheses linking task and team-shared mental models (SMMs) with multiple dimensions of conflict and conflict asymmetry. SMMs are viewed as an underlying mechanism of team processes. While current research has begun to clarify their influence on functional team processes, their influence on dysfunctional processes is still unknown.

Design/methodology/approach

The survey was administered to 17 graduate business classes working on intense semester-long group projects. A total of 295 individual responses were received which comprised 90 (N = 90) teams.

Findings

Results suggest that team SMMs reduce all dimensions of conflict and relationship conflict asymmetry, while task SMMs increase all dimensions of conflict and relationship conflict asymmetry.

Research limitations/implications

This study captured the influence of SMMs on conflict at one stage of group development. Future research should examine the impact of SMMs on conflict at multiple stages of group development.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature on both mental models and conflict. In addition, based on our literature review, it was the first to empirically link SMMs and conflict asymmetry.

Details

Team Performance Management, vol. 21 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7592

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 March 2009

Erich B. Bergiel, Vinh Q. Nguyen, Beth F. Clenney and G. Stephen Taylor

The purpose of this paper is to test the whether job embeddedness is a mediator of the relationship between human resource practices and employees’ intention to quit. The study…

8841

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to test the whether job embeddedness is a mediator of the relationship between human resource practices and employees’ intention to quit. The study presented here used job embeddedness, a new construct, to investigate its mediation effect on the relationship between employees’ intentions to leave and four areas of human resource practices: compensation, supervisor support, growth opportunity and training.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire was given to employees at a state department of corrections asking their attitudes about their job, their place of employment, and the agency as a whole. The results of this questionnaire were analyzed utilizing the four‐step method for mediation analysis.

Findings

Job embeddedness fully mediated compensation and growth opportunity, partially mediated supervisor support, and did not mediate training in relation to employees’ intention to quit. Research limitations/implications –A self‐reported, cross‐sectional questionnaire was used to collect all measures. Additionally, this study used a single sample. Future research needs to obtain more diversified samples and continue to expand current research by examining additional areas of human resource practices.

Practical implications

Managers can utilize several strategies and tactics from a variety of human resource practices in order to build deeper links, make a better fit, and create greater potential sacrifices for employees should they decide to look for or pursue other employment opportunities.

Originality/value

This paper presents one of the first studies to examine how job embeddedness develops, and what factors cause employees embedded in their jobs to keep them from leaving the organization.

Details

Management Research News, vol. 32 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0140-9174

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 August 2017

Shweta Jaiswal Thakur and Jyotsna Bhatnagar

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating effect of job embeddedness on the relationship between work-life balance practices (WLBP), which include accessibility…

4283

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating effect of job embeddedness on the relationship between work-life balance practices (WLBP), which include accessibility (AWLBP), current utilisation (CWLBP) and perceived future use (FWLBP) of these practices, as well as employees’ intentions to stay (ITS). This research is based on conservation of resources theory.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a survey method and a structured questionnaire to collect data from people working in diverse industries. A regression analysis is used to measure the direct effects of the hypothesised relationships. The Sobel test and Baron and Kenny mediation analysis were used to measure the indirect effects of the hypothesised relationship.

Findings

AWLBP, CWLBP and FWLBP are found to foster job embeddedness and turnover intention. Job embeddedness fully mediates the relationship between AWLBP, CWLBP, FWLBP and ITS.

Practical implications

Human resources (HR) managers should introduce WLBP to create a web of contextual and perceptual forces that embed employees in the organisation and encourage them to stay. Factors that affect employee attraction and retention change with time, career and life stage; therefore, it is important to assess the future needs of employees to augment retention. HR managers should proactively attempt to enhance embeddedness by offering customised WLBP and by dealing with the signs of low embeddedness before it results in voluntary turnover.

Originality/value

This study attempts to integrate two streams of research (job embeddedness and WLBP), which, despite being similar in focus, have developed independently of each other. This is one of the first studies to incorporate access to, utilisation and perceived future use of these practices in a single study. It also adds to the literature by investigating antecedents of job embeddedness and analysing it as a mediator between WLBP and ITS, which has been highlighted as a gap in the literature.

Article
Publication date: 20 November 2017

Vinh Q. Nguyen, G. Stephen Taylor and Erich Bergiel

A recent major development in the turnover literature is the introduction of the job embeddedness (JE) construct. Although it has been shown to impact organizational outcomes such…

1548

Abstract

Purpose

A recent major development in the turnover literature is the introduction of the job embeddedness (JE) construct. Although it has been shown to impact organizational outcomes such as voluntary turnover, there is very limited research on how JE develops or its generalizability. In an effort to begin addressing this gap, this paper aims to investigate a range of presumed organizational antecedents of JE in the context of Vietnam.

Design/methodology/approach

A written survey questionnaire was used to collect data from employees in a state-owned company in Hanoi, Vietnam. Of the 473 survey questionnaires distributed to company employees, a total of 292 were determined usable surveys, producing an effective response rate of 61.7 per cent.

Findings

The results indicated that organizational rewards, growth opportunities and procedural justice directly influence JE. In addition, perceived organizational support was found to mediate the relationships between these organizational factors and JE.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature on both perceived organizational support and JE. In addition, this study is the first to empirically test the relationships among these two constructs and other organizational variables in the country of Vietnam.

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