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1 – 10 of over 27000Mastura Ab. Wahab and Deborah Blackman
As the literature reveals contrasting arguments regarding the positive effect of a proactive personality on well-being, this paper aims to investigate the negative consequences of…
Abstract
Purpose
As the literature reveals contrasting arguments regarding the positive effect of a proactive personality on well-being, this paper aims to investigate the negative consequences of a proactive personality on employee well-being. The paper tests the relationships between a proactive personality, trait competitiveness and well-being. It also examines the mediating effect of job burnout on these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected from 213 employees working in the retail sector across Malaysia. AMOS’s structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses of the study.
Findings
Overall, the findings showed that a proactive personality negatively affected employee well-being. Job burnout had a partially mediating effect on this relationship. However, the effect of trait competitiveness on employee well-being was insignificant and the mediating effect of job burnout on this relationship also found no support.
Originality/value
The main contributions of this study are twofold. First, this study shows that a proactive personality can have negative repercussions for employee well-being. In contrast to many previous findings on the proactive personality, this study tests and verifies the possibility of an adverse impact of being proactive. Second, this study reveals that job burnout can play a vital role in mediating the adverse effect of a proactive personality on well-being. This suggests that depending on the context, being proactive will not always result in desirable outcomes, especially if job burnout is present. Therefore, organizations need to prepare contingency plans to offset the negative effects of such burnout.
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Anirudh Agrawal, Payal Kumar and Ashish Tyagi
While traditional Industry 4.0 is studied in the context of smart factories, the authors study it as a metaphor that represents the spill-over effects of digitalisation…
Abstract
While traditional Industry 4.0 is studied in the context of smart factories, the authors study it as a metaphor that represents the spill-over effects of digitalisation, high-speed internet, cloud-based super-computing on industry, countries, human resource development and national competitiveness. This chapter analyses the Industry 4.0 steps taken by the United States, Germany, South Korea and India. It compares strategic actions taken by these countries using a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT) analysis to understand the position of each country. The authors use Max Weber’s ideal types as a positivist frame of analysis for the country-level data and from this draws policy recommendations. Based on the current status of India and other countries, the chapter concludes by suggesting short-term, mid-term and long-term strategies to transform India into a highly competitive industrialised economy in the context of the fourth industrial revolution.
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Kate Neequaye and A. Kobina Armoo
While colleges have perceived the importance and growth within the tourism and hospitality industry, students in the industry have mixed feelings about career options that are…
Abstract
Purpose
While colleges have perceived the importance and growth within the tourism and hospitality industry, students in the industry have mixed feelings about career options that are available to them. The purpose of this paper is to discuss factors that underpin students ' perception of career options in the tourism and hospitality industry and to make recommendations for other developing countries.
Design/methodology/approach
A 21-variable structured questionnaire was used to solicit response from 260 Ghanaian tourism and hospitality students. The data was coded and keyed into MINITAB and SPSS statistical processing software. Various multivariate techniques such as Eigen-analysis, correlation analysis and factor analysis were used to analyze the data. Secondary data was also obtained for student records.
Findings
The study revealed that, industry-person congeniality, social benefit factors, opportunity for professional development, and job competitiveness, were crucial in determining students ' choice of career options. Other factors include, career opportunities in tourism and hospitality industry were more easily attainable than in many other sectors of the economy; remuneration in the industry is grossly inadequate.
Research limitations/implications
A limitation of the study is the use of HTM students of one university. Therefore, replication of this study in other tourism and hospitality institutions of higher in other developing countries is strongly recommended to harmonize the findings of this study.
Practical implications
Several implications were found including: getting students to be made aware of the career and career development opportunities available in each sector; educational institutions should partner with industry to provide internship and employment opportunities, that would encourage students to have a better perception of the industry; curb the escalating trend of “brain drain” away for the industry, while the industry should reorganize itself to correct the negative perception of low wages and high turnover.
Originality/value
The study was an original primary study that surveyed students at two tertiary level institutions to determine their perception of the career options available to them. The lessons are of value to stakeholders of Ghana ' s tourism and hospitality industry and relevance to those in other developing countries.
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This paper aims to explore Chinese female international students’ construction of global citizenship identity by examining their accumulation of cultural capital in different…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore Chinese female international students’ construction of global citizenship identity by examining their accumulation of cultural capital in different forms from transnational higher education in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach
Participant observations and in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with Chinese female international students at a British university to explore their experiences with transnational higher education, cultural identities, the construction of global citizenship and perceived future job opportunities.
Findings
In this research, participants revealed that accessing a global elite university helps them accumulate institutionalised cultural capital. Embodied cultural cultivation acquired from transnational higher education is justified by students’ experiences in the context of transnational higher education. Rising confidence is shown by the participants’ narration and global-oriented awareness, which is their ability to understand and respect people from diverse cultural backgrounds, which was developed during their studies in the UK. However, they still realise the potentially difficult conversion of cultural capital to real job competitiveness. Recognition of global citizenship identity may be complicated if students plan to return home after studying.
Research limitations/implications
This study provides further insight into the single-child generation of globally mobile Chinese female international students. Participants were aware of the positive accumulation of cultural capital in its embodied and institutionalised forms obtained from the UK higher education system and its contribution to the construction of global citizenship identity. However, the newly constructed global citizenship identity remains complex. Participants question the extent to which the new identity fits into the Chinese social context if they decide to return home.
Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge, the originality of the paper lies in expanding the global citizenship framework with the specific application of Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital to show Chinese female international students’ study experiences in UK transnational higher education, rather than addressing the Chinese international student experience in general.
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President William Jefferson Clinton
Investing in technology is investing in America's future: a growing economy with more high‐skill, high‐wage jobs for American workers; a cleaner environment where energy…
Abstract
Investing in technology is investing in America's future: a growing economy with more high‐skill, high‐wage jobs for American workers; a cleaner environment where energy efficiency increases profits and reduces pollution; a stronger, more competitive private sector able to maintain U.S. leadership in critical world markets; an educational system where every student is challenged; and an inspired scientific and technological research community focused on ensuring not just our national security but our very quality of life. American technology must move in a new direction to build economic strength and spur economic growth. The traditional federal role in technology development has been limited to support of basic science and mission‐oriented research in the Defense Department NASA, and other agencies. This strategy was appropriate for a previous generation but not for today's profound challenges. We cannot rely on the serendipitous application of defense technology to the private sector. We must aim directly at these new challenges and focus our efforts on the new opportunities before us, recognizing that government can play a key role helping private firms develop and profit from innovations.
Elena Bonfiglioli, Lance Moir and Véronique Ambrosini
The purpose of this paper is to describe Microsoft's activities in encouraging employability and to show how these activities provide strategic advantage
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe Microsoft's activities in encouraging employability and to show how these activities provide strategic advantage
Design/methodology/approach
Two of Microsoft's corporate responsibility initiatives linked to the development of employment in Europe are described and it is shown how these activities have created sustainable competitive advantage for Microsoft through an analysis of industrial organisation economics and the resource‐based view of the firm. Reflects on the characteristics of these involvements and points to aspects which may have wider applicability.
Findings
Involvement in societal projects can contribute intangible assets to the firm whilst delivering social value. However these projects are part of wider coordinated activities with other organisations and with government.
Research limitations
These are reflections on participation in business and hence the conclusions are not representative and the analysis is unstructured.
Practical implications
These case studies will show other businesses how to think about their corporate social responsibility activities from a strategic viewpoint and will allow academics to see how business develops such strategies.
Originality/value
These are rare descriptions of such projects, which are becoming more common in business.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of workfare programme participation on self-efficacy, because many studies suggest that sufficient self-efficacy is essential…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of workfare programme participation on self-efficacy, because many studies suggest that sufficient self-efficacy is essential for successful job search in modern labour markets.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper analyses an exemplary German workfare programme’ the so-called “One-Euro-Jobs” programme and examines whether participation in this programme improved the self-efficacy of participants. The analyses are based on survey data (Panel Study Labour Market and Social Security) that were combined with administrative records of the Statistics Department of the German Federal Employment Agency to obtain more reliable information on programme participation. To detect causal effects of participation, the authors apply propensity score matching.
Findings
The findings show that participants’ self-efficacy, on average, was not improved by programme participation. Also, no well-determined positive effects of programme participation were found when controlling for the individual baseline level of self-efficacy.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that workfare programme participation did not fulfil several of the psychological functions of work necessary to enhance participants’ self-efficacy. The authors suggest a two-step approach to enhancing individuals’ self-efficacy and their job-search abilities: in the first step, workfare participation aims to improve employability; in the second step, participants can learn the extent to which they have become ready to work in a regular subsidised job.
Originality/value
Various studies examine the effect of workfare programme participation on employment prospects, well-being, health or social participation. Within the discourse on active labour market policy, this paper is the first to study the effect of workfare programme participation on self-efficacy.
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Diane Christine Fernandez and Jaya Ganesan
The aim of this research is to explore the relationship between green job positions and descriptions, green performance management, green employee relations with job pursuit…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this research is to explore the relationship between green job positions and descriptions, green performance management, green employee relations with job pursuit intentions and the role of employers’ prestige as the mediator.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey research design with a sample of 216 undergraduate specialising in the business fields from Malaysian private higher education institutions responded to the questionnaire, while purposive sampling and snowball sampling techniques were used in order to determine the research sample. Data for the research were collected from the target participants via questionnaires and Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), while partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) via Smart-PLS was utilized to test the developed hypotheses of the research.
Findings
The results showed that only green employee relations has a significant relationship with job pursuit intentions out of the three direct hypotheses. As a result of assessing the mediating hypotheses, employers’ prestige mediates the effect of green job positions and descriptions and green employee relations on job pursuit intentions. Conversely, green performance management did not support the mediating association.
Practical implications
This research recommended practitioners to adopt green HRM fundamentals to enhance EP, which results in JPI. Also, the research aids managers and practitioners by providing the outlook of green HRM from a job seeker’s perspective, which can embolden the managers and practitioners in planning a systematic human resource.
Originality/value
The study contributes by enriching the literature concerning the dimensions of green HRM, which is an emergent topic in the human resource field. Furthermore, the study advances by proposing GER in the research framework.
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Maria Unuigbe and Sambo Lyson Zulu
The UK Government has committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, being the first major nation to do so. While laudable, it raises the question, “are future built…
Abstract
Purpose
The UK Government has committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, being the first major nation to do so. While laudable, it raises the question, “are future built environment professionals (BEPs) equipped for this?” Although studies related to students’ perspectives exist, they broadly focus on sustainability-related pedagogical aspects, with limited studies conducted in the built environment (BE). This study makes the case that it is timely to investigate this from an emerging perspective using the term “low-carbon future” (LCF), given that it is germane to achieving net-zero emissions and is at the forefront of academic and practice discourse. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the knowledge level of UK BE students’ in higher education institutions (HEIs) specific to the term LCF.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a systematic scoping study review of published papers related to sustainability in BE curricula in the UK HEI context.
Findings
The findings reveal that LCF remains at a nascent stage, with no study specifically addressing it. It indicates a knowledge gap that could impact the grounding students require to address current and future sustainability challenges.
Research limitations/implications
The review focused on a specific term, which, while relevant, is very niche. A review of other emerging terms, considering LCF as a theme, and/or empirical data from diverse stakeholders in UK HEIs could enrich the results.
Practical implications
This study provides significant insight into the status of sustainability inclusion in the BE curriculum. It would serve as a reference for stakeholders involved in equipping future BEPs with the requisite knowledge and skills to deal with sustainability challenges that will be consequential beyond the UK context. It would also inform future research.
Social implications
Sustainability-informed and equipped BEPs will be influential in shaping their immediate surroundings and how people engage with them, which will contribute to developing a more equitable and sustainable society.
Originality/value
Beyond contributing to the discourse on sustainability literacy in UK HEI from an emerging concept perspective, this study would be useful as possibly the first of its kind. Therefore, it fills the theoretical gap and proffers recommendations that would be beneficial for curriculum development.
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