Search results

However, while the benefits of adopting virtual work structures have been extensively discussed, ethical considerations have been largely ignored in the existing literature. To fill this gap, this study aims to investigate the key ethical issues associated with virtual workplaces. It also aimed to examine the various preventive measures that could be considered for effectively managing such challenges.

The study adopted an inductive research approach using qualitative methodology. Data was collected by executing the technique of dual moderator focus group discussion. By using the purposive sampling technique, the sample comprised 24 software professionals from emerging economies such as India. All sessions were transcribed, and the data were analysed using the content analysis method.

The study reports some interesting results related to various ethical issues and the preventive measures to handle such issues in virtual workplaces. The themes that emerged related to ethical issues have been categorised into three broad categories, i.e. People, Technology and Culture. In contrast, preventive measures have been reported in both contexts, i.e. pre-preventive and post-preventive measures. Furthermore, few recommendations have been made to improve virtual work experiences for remote work professionals. The identified themes and categories were classified and arranged in “Network View”, a feature embedded in Atlas.ti7 software, to analyse the conceptual relationships.

The findings may help managers regarding various ethical issues in virtual work settings. It may also provide an insight to the managers about the benefits of adopting preventive measures for handling ethical dilemmas in virtual workplaces in an emerging economy like India.

The study may be seen as one of the earliest attempts to consider the lingering debate on ethics in virtual workplaces. The findings of the study have implications for further theoretical research on the topic.

This study sought to test two competing sets of hypotheses derived from two different theoretical perspectives regarding (1) the effects of leader–follower similarity and dissimilarity in psychological resilience on the follower's absenteeism in times of organizational crisis and (2) the moderating effect of relational demography (gender and age similarity) in these relationships.

Polynomial regression and response surface analysis were performed using data from 510 followers and 149 supervisors in a financial firm in Canada.

The results overall support the similarity–attraction perspective, but not the resource complementarity perspective. Dissimilarity in resilience was predictive of followers' absenteeism, and similarity in surface-level conditions (gender and age) attenuates the relational burdens triggered by resilience discrepancy.

The findings reiterate the importance of developing employees' resilience, while shedding light on the importance for managers of being aware of their potential misalignment with subordinates resilience.

The results (1) suggest that it is the actual (di)similarity with the leader, rather than leader's degree of resilience, that shapes followers' absenteeism and (2) add nuance to the resilience literature.