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Article
Publication date: 21 November 2016

Ronnie Jia, Blaize Horner Reich and Heather H. Jia

This study aims to extend service climate research from its existing focus on routine service for external clients into a knowledge-intensive, internal (KII) service setting. This…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to extend service climate research from its existing focus on routine service for external clients into a knowledge-intensive, internal (KII) service setting. This extension was important because internal knowledge workers may operate from a monopolistic perspective and not view themselves as service providers because of the technical/professional nature of their work.

Design/methodology/approach

Two surveys were distributed in participating organizations. One survey, completed by employees in information technology (IT) service units, contains measures of service climate, climate antecedents and technical competence. The second survey, filled out by members of their corporate customer units, taps their evaluations of service quality.

Findings

Service climate in IT service units significantly predicted service evaluations by their respective customer units. Importantly, service climate was more predictive than IT service employees’ technical competency. Role ambiguity, empowerment and work facilitation were also found to be significant service climate antecedents.

Research limitations/implications

These results provided strong empirical evidence supporting an extension of the existing service climate research to KII service settings. To the extent that front-line service employees rely on internal support to deliver quality service to external customers, managers should work to enhance the service climate in internal support units, which ultimately improves external service quality.

Originality/value

This is the first study that establishes the robustness of the service climate construct in KII service settings. It makes service climate a useful managerial tool for improving both internal and external service quality.

Details

International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, vol. 8 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-669X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 September 2023

Sérgio Antônio Pulzi Júnior, Claudia Affonso Silva Araujo and Mônica Ferreira da Silva

This paper aims to identify the kind of internal climate leaders should offer health-care professionals to promote a patient safety culture in public hospitals managed by social…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to identify the kind of internal climate leaders should offer health-care professionals to promote a patient safety culture in public hospitals managed by social health organizations in Brazil.

Design/methodology/approach

Two surveys were applied to health-care professionals working at three Brazilian public hospitals. The internal climate survey reached 1,013 respondents, and the patient safety culture survey reached 1,302 participants. Both factor and regression analyses were used to analyze the study model and determine how internal climate influences patient safety culture.

Findings

Results indicate that to promote a patient safety culture among health-care professionals, leaders should generate an internal climate based on trust to foster pride in working in the hospital. Possibly, the trust dimension is the most important one and must be developed to achieve job satisfaction and provide better services to patients.

Research limitations/implications

All the hospitals studied were managed by the same Organização Social de Saúde. Due to the limited responses concerning the respondents’ profiles, demographic variables were not analyzed.

Practical implications

This research reveals that the trust and pride dimensions can most strongly influence a positive patient safety culture, helping hospital leaders face this huge managerial challenge of consistently delivering high standards of patient safety.

Originality/value

This research studies the promotion of a patient safety culture in public hospitals managed by social health organizations, characterized by greater flexibility and autonomy in health-care management and by a greater need for accountability.

Details

Leadership in Health Services, vol. 37 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1879

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 May 2018

Hung Trong Hoang, Sally Rao Hill, Vinh Nhat Lu and Susan Freeman

Drawing on social exchange theory, the purpose of this paper is to develop and test an integrative model of internal and external factors determining employee perceptions of their…

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing on social exchange theory, the purpose of this paper is to develop and test an integrative model of internal and external factors determining employee perceptions of their organizational service climate.

Design/methodology/approach

Data are collected from a sample of 549 service employees in local and foreign-owned service firms in the emerging market of Vietnam. Structural equation modeling is used to test the hypothesized relationships.

Findings

Leadership commitment to service quality, internal processes and service standards, work facilitation resources and service-oriented human resource practices are positively associated with service climate. Internal customer service mediates the effects of these variables on service climate, with the exception of work facilitation resources. Furthermore, competitive intensity negatively moderates the impact of the internal drivers on service climate. The results also suggest that, depending on the ownership types (local vs foreign firms), the influences of the internal drivers of service climate might differ.

Originality/value

Despite the recognition of the role of organizational resources in fostering service climate, the integration and processes by which such resources influence service climate have not been fully examined. In particular, little is known about the external factors facilitating or hindering service climate, especially from an emerging market perspective. By examining both internal and external drivers of service climate under different ownership types, this paper enriches the existing knowledge on service climate and provides important implications for service firms operating in emerging markets.

Details

Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 32 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0887-6045

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 September 2021

Argyro Elisavet Manoli and Ian Richard Hodgkinson

Relative to the increasing focus on organisations’ outward communication consistency and coherency, the internal communication taking place between different organisational…

Abstract

Purpose

Relative to the increasing focus on organisations’ outward communication consistency and coherency, the internal communication taking place between different organisational functions is under-explored. The study aims to address the following two research questions: What form does cross-functional communication take within organisations? How do features of the communication work climate influence the form of cross-functional communication?

Design/methodology/approach

The study draws on qualitative data generated from semi-structured interviews with media and marketing managers from 33 professional football organisations operating in the English Premier League.

Findings

Thematic patterns between internal communication practices and different communication climates lead to the development of a new internal organisational communications typology, comprising: Type 1: collaborative symmetrical communication (cohesive climate); Type 2: unstructured informal communication (friendly climate); and Type 3: cross-functional silos (divisive climate).

Originality/value

Internal organisational communication practices are deemed fundamental to organisational success, yet there remains limited empirical evidence of the form such practices take or how they interact with features of an organisation’s communication climate. The study introduces a new internal organisational communications typology to develop and extend the theory and practice of internal marketing communications.

Article
Publication date: 1 December 1994

Huei Lee and Jack L. Howard

Attempts to illustrate how an internal climate survey can be used as ameasurement tool to assess the level of quality in the service sector.Internal climate should ideally be…

2827

Abstract

Attempts to illustrate how an internal climate survey can be used as a measurement tool to assess the level of quality in the service sector. Internal climate should ideally be determined by examining a cross‐section of an organization. In an empirical study of two public mental health and mental retardation (MHMR) agencies, middle managers were initially believed to be more resistant to the introduction of a quality improvement process than line workers. Two hypotheses regarding internal climate among different levels of employees were tested. Results from this study provided insight for top managers of both public agencies to facilitate their total quality management processes.

Details

Benchmarking for Quality Management & Technology, vol. 1 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1351-3036

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 April 2017

Hao Shen, Yu Gao and Xiuyun Yang

The purpose of this paper is to explore how organizational climate impacts the speed of strategic change (SSC) for firms in transitional economies and whether if the effects were…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how organizational climate impacts the speed of strategic change (SSC) for firms in transitional economies and whether if the effects were contingent on internal control mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach

A theoretical model including five constructs is developed. The questionnaire survey is deployed to scale main constructs, including organizational climate, such as open communication and hierarchical bureaucracy, internal controls such as strategic and financial control, and SSC. The moderation regression method in five steps is employed to test all hypotheses using the survey data from the 120 sampled Chinese firms.

Findings

The findings show that open communication has a positive effect on SCC, whereas hierarchical bureaucracy has a negative effect on SSC. Furthermore, strategic control positively moderates the relationship between open communication and SSC but negatively moderates the relationship between hierarchical bureaucracy and SSC; meanwhile, financial control negatively moderates the relationship between open communication and SSC but positively moderates the relationship between hierarchical bureaucracy and SSC.

Originality/value

This research integrates organizational climate and internal control mechanisms into the framework of strategic change to investigate how firms achieve fast strategic change through aligning organizational climate with proper organizational control mechanisms. The findings advance the authors’ understanding of the organizational climate, internal controls, and strategic change literature, and offer valuable managerial insights for managers in situations when strategic change is of central importance in the transitional economies.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 30 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 October 2009

Peer van der Helm, Marian Klapwijk, Geert Stams and Peter van der Laan

The Dutch juvenile justice system locks up an increasing number of adolescent boys and girls at a cost of approximately €250,000 for each inmate annually (Boone & Moerings, 2007;…

Abstract

The Dutch juvenile justice system locks up an increasing number of adolescent boys and girls at a cost of approximately €250,000 for each inmate annually (Boone & Moerings, 2007; Tonry, 2005). Questions have been raised, however, about the cost‐effectiveness of treatment in closed institutions. This study, with a sample of 49 adolescents residing in a Dutch youth prison, examined the role of group climate in establishing and maintaining treatment effects. Results show that an open group climate, with group workers paying more attention to the psychological needs of the adolescents and giving them ‘space’ to experiment, led to inmates feeling that they were ‘being understood by the group workers’. This perception of being understood was associated with greater treatment motivation and higher internal locus of control. Positive prison workers in the living group turned out to be a key factor in building an open group climate and subsequently higher internal locus of control and greater treatment motivation.

Details

Journal of Children's Services, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-6660

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 June 2021

Jorge Alejandro Silva Rodríguez de San Miguel, Esteban Martínez Díaz and Dulce María Monroy Becerril

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between climate change and internal migration in the Americas.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between climate change and internal migration in the Americas.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review type of research synthesize the state of knowledge; it was searched through the Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, among other databases, for articles that focused on climate migration, gender, water stress and models for predicting movement.

Findings

Decreased water availability and increased prevalence to water-related disasters causes internal migration. Also, male out migration is quite prevalent in South American nations with women being left to take care of the families.

Research limitations/implications

There is a need for further primary research to analyse what actions the Americas are taking to carve out a large policy-making space for themselves in climate change and internal migration.

Originality/value

The 32 papers explored in the discussion section present a novel insight into climate change, water usage, gender and internal migration. The papers also elucidate that cultural and ideological conflicts are bound to occur as the communities move with the receiving society finding it hard to accommodate the needs of the climate migrants.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. 32 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 January 2018

Claudia Affonso Silva Araujo and Kleber Fossati Figueiredo

This paper aims to identify the kind of work environment that should be offered by hospital leaders to their nursing staff in Brazil to generate job satisfaction, organizational…

1724

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to identify the kind of work environment that should be offered by hospital leaders to their nursing staff in Brazil to generate job satisfaction, organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behaviour within their field of expertise.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was applied to 171 nurses and 274 nursing technicians who work at five private hospitals in Brazil. Both factor analysis and regression analysis were used to analyse the study model.

Findings

The results indicate that to stimulate positive behaviours and attitudes among nursing staff, managers should mainly be concerned about establishing a clear and effective communication with their professionals to ensure role clarity, promote a good working environment and encourage relationships based on trust.

Research limitations/implications

The limitations of the study are absence of the researcher while the questionnaires were filled out and the fact that the sample comprised respondents who made themselves available to participate in the research.

Practical implications

This study contributes to elucidate the factors that can promote a good internal climate for nursing staff, assisting hospital leaders to face the huge managerial challenges of managing, retaining and advancing these professionals.

Originality/value

The findings contribute to the body of knowledge in leadership among nursing professionals in developing countries. Hospital leaders in Brazil should encourage trusting relationships with nursing professionals through clear, effective and respectful communications, besides investing in team development and promoting a good working environment.

Article
Publication date: 24 January 2023

Ha-Won Jang, Joanne Jung-Eun Yoo and Meehee Cho

Blockchain technology has created possibilities for environmental supply chain sustainability and climate protection. However, because of its early development stage, users tend…

Abstract

Purpose

Blockchain technology has created possibilities for environmental supply chain sustainability and climate protection. However, because of its early development stage, users tend to resist the adoption of this new technology. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of resistance on blockchain adoption intentions in the context of the foodservice industry. This study further explores if public pressures and climate change awareness could possibly weaken the negative relationships between blockchain resistance and adoption intentions.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from managers and full-time employees in the foodservice industry, using an online research panel survey. A structural equation model was developed and tested to examine the hypothesized relationships. Additionally, a multi-group analysis was performed to test the moderating roles of public pressures and climate change awareness.

Findings

The findings from this study confirmed that foodservice employees’ characteristics, including traditional barriers, and blockchain technology factors, like perceived risk, are both significant in forming resistance to blockchain. This study also demonstrated the significant roles of internal and external stakeholders in weakening the negative associations between blockchain resistance and adoption intentions.

Research limitations/implications

This study recommends that foodservice companies address how to reduce their employees’ negative perceptions about changes imposed by blockchain adoption. This study also suggests the joint consideration of the pressures from internal and external stakeholders to provide continued insights into developing environmental practices for the foodservice industry.

Originality/value

This study extends the theoretical underpinning of the innovation resistance theory by incorporating the stakeholder theory as a strong foundation for understanding how external pressures and internal awareness may influence foodservice employees’ responses to the implementation of blockchain technology to mitigate climate change.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 36 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

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