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Seekers who visit professional virtual communities (PVCs) are usually motivated by knowledge-seeking, which is a complex cognitive process. How do seekers search for knowledge, and how is their search linked to prior knowledge or PVC situation factors? From the cognitive process and interactional psychology perspectives, this study investigated the three-way interactions between seekers’ expertise, task complexity, and perceptions of PVC features (i.e. knowledge quality and system quality) on knowledge-seeking strategies and resultant outcomes.

A field experiment was conducted with 119 seekers in a PVC using a 2 × 2 factorial design of seekers’ expertise (i.e. expert versus novice) and task complexity (i.e. low versus high).

The study reveals three significant insights: (1) For a high-complexity task, experts adopt an ask-directed searching strategy compared to novices, whereas novices adopt a browsing strategy; (2) For a high-complexity task, experts who perceive a high system quality are more likely than novices to adopt an ask-directed searching strategy; and (3) Task completion time and task quality are associated with the adoption of ask-directed searching strategies, whereas knowledge seekers’ satisfaction is more associated with the adoption of browsing strategy.

We draw on the perspectives of cognitive process and interactional psychology to explore potential two- and three-way interactions of seekers’ expertise, task complexity, and PVC features on the adoption of knowledge-seeking strategies in a PVC context. Our findings provide deep insights into seekers’ behavior in a PVC, given the popularity of the search for knowledge in PVCs.

Despite the detrimental effects of supervisor knowledge hiding on employees and organizations, little research has focused on how subordinates cope with it. Drawing on the impression management theory, this study proposes a mediated moderation model to explain who and how cope with supervisor knowledge hiding.

Using a sample of 340 full-time participants in various organizations and industries in China, the proposed model was tested using ordinary least squares regression with the PROCESS 3.5.

The results support the mediated moderation model, indicating that proactive subordinates are motivated to manage their impression towards supervisors and engage in upward ingratiation to cope with supervisor knowledge hiding. In contrast, subordinates with low level of proactive personality trait have less impression management motive and engage in fewer upward ingratiatory behaviors.

Based on the impression management theory, the current paper contributes to the literature on supervisor knowledge hiding by expanding the consequences of supervisor knowledge hiding, identifying a boundary condition of supervisor knowledge hiding on subordinate’s subsequent behaviors and enriching the mechanism underlying the effect of supervisor knowledge hiding with proactive personality.

In the knowledge management (KM) literature, there are umpteen discussions on knowledge sharing; however, the scholarly community still faces a dearth of literature on knowledge hiding behavior (KHB) and its determinants. The current study aims to examine the direct effect of dark triad (DT) personality dimensions (machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy) on KHB dimensions (rationalized hiding, evasive hiding and playing dumb). Drawing on social control theory, this study also explores the moderating effect of workplace spirituality (WS) on the direct relationship between DT and KHB.

Using purposive sampling, 281 matched-pair datasets from faculty members working with higher education institutions (HEI) in India have been obtained. The direct relationship has been tested through regression analysis and moderation analysis has been performed using the PROCESS macro for SPSS.

The study has successfully mapped DT dimensions with KHB dimensions, and it is observed that machiavellians mostly use evasive hiding, narcissists believe in rationalized hiding and paying dumb is mostly used by psychopaths. Workplace spirituality (WS) weakens the direct relationship between DT and KHB.

HEIs are advised to foster a climate conducive to WS by getting faculty to realize that their job is something larger than themselves through developing a sense of community among faculty members.

This empirical study extends the KM literature and expands the scope of bridging the gaps on KHB. It is one of the few studies to examine the impact of DT on KHB with WS as a moderator in HEIs.

Drawing upon psychological ownership theory, the aim of this study was to uncover the coexisting mediating effects of knowledge sharing and hiding on the relationship between employees’ organizational psychological ownership (OPO) and their innovative work behavior (IWB). The moderating role of organizational context in these mediating relationships was further examined to determine the moderated mediation paths.

This study mainly used a survey-based research method and collected data from 512 professionals from both public and private organizations in Pakistan to test our proposed hypotheses.

The results showed that coexisting knowledge sharing and hiding mediated the relationship between employees’ OPO and IWB. Furthermore, organizational context moderated the mediated relationships, providing support for the moderated mediation framework.

The results highlight the significance of fostering employees’ OPO to enhance their IWB by promoting knowledge sharing and preventing knowledge hiding. This study also urges managers to consider the contingency effect of organizational contexts when promoting employees’ IWB in emerging economies.

The results obtained in this study suggest that the knowledge behavior paradox occurs in organizations, and distinct organizational contexts play crucial but differential roles in intervening in the effect of employees’ OPO on their IWB. This study empirically validated this complex mechanism in an important emerging economy in Asia.

A limited number of empirical studies have indicated that individuals who experience workplace ostracism tend to engage in subtle and retaliatory behaviors as a means of seeking inner peace. However, research on organizational behavior and employee psychology in relation to ostracism is still in its nascent stages. Specifically, further investigation is warranted to explore how supervisor ostracism influences task procrastination (TP) through psychological processes such as self-efficacy, self-esteem and motivation. Notably, a significant gap exists in the ostracism literature, as it has yet to thoroughly examine employee behaviors related to knowledge hiding (KH) and TP in the context of individual or team-based work (Zhao et al., 2016; Brouwer and Jansen, 2019). Therefore, the present study aims to address this gap and expand the research stream within the education sector by introducing “threat to self-esteem” (TSE) as a mediating factor in the outcomes of ostracism.

The study employed a quantitative approach, using questionnaires to collect data and mainly focused on statistics and standards. The authors used SPSS and Smart-PLS to employ numerical values developed from questionnaire surveys. Likewise, we employed primary data collection tools, including mixed survey analysis (self-reported and peer-reported). The data were collected from middle-level managers working in three public sector universities. By using a three-wave research design with a two-week interval in each phase, we were able to separate the measurement of the predictor and moderator factor [supervisor ostracism (SO) and individual resilience (IR)], mediator (TSE) and outcome variables (KH and TP).

The study has discovered a substantial relationship between variables, and all hypotheses are accepted according to the data results and findings. The study measures the effects of supervisor ostracism on knowledge hiding and task procrastination through mediating effect of threat to self-esteem, which individual resilience moderates. This study adds a few contributions to the current literature, following the goals stated above. First, this attempts to highlight employee KH behavior and TP behavior by identifying SO as the primary predictor.

The organization should closely monitor the level of workplace ostracism. One strategy to accomplish this goal is to routinely gauge the extent of ostracism at work using targeted techniques like surveys and observation. The organization can also create an employee assistance program for the workers to assist them in coping with the mistreatment and better adjusting to the workplace culture. Furthermore, employee empowerment and collaborative decision-making can boost workers' self-esteem, eventually leading to diminishing knowledge-hiding and procrastination habits inside the organization.

There is a research gap regarding the barriers to KH from the perspective of team dynamics and interpersonal mistreatment at work because prior research has focused on knowledge sharing, organizational culture and organizational obstruction. Research on organizational behavior and employee psychology in relation to ostracism is still in its nascent stages. Specifically, further investigation is warranted to explore how SO influences TP through psychological processes such as self-efficacy, self-esteem and motivation. Notably, a significant gap exists in the ostracism literature, as it has yet to thoroughly examine employee behaviors related to KH and TP in individual or team-based work.

Refugees and asylum seekers worldwide face numerous barriers in accessing health systems. The evidence base regarding who and what helps refugees and asylum seekers facilitate access to and the navigation of the health system in the UK is small. This study aims to address this gap by analysing 14 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with refugees and asylum seekers of different countries of origin in the UK to identify where, when and how they came into contact with the health-care system and what the outcome of these interactions was.

Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were chosen as the key method for this study. In total, 14 individual interviews were conducted. A trauma-informed research approach was applied to reduce the risk of re-traumatising participants.

The paper identifies key obstacles as well as “facilitators” of refugees’ and asylum seekers’ health-care experience in the UK and suggests that host families, friends and third-party organisations all play an important role in ensuring refugees and asylum seekers receive the healthcare they need.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first qualitative study in the UK that looks at comprehensive health journeys of refugees from their first encounter with health services through to secondary care, highlighting the important role along the way of facilitators such as host families, friends and third-party organisations.

The purpose of this paper is to use Bourdieu’s Theory of Capital–Field–Habitus to explore how refugees, asylum seekers and migrants accumulate and mobilise social, cultural, symbolic and economic capital to find meaningful work in the Australian construction industry.

The paper reports the results of a survey of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants who have either successfully or unsuccessfully searched for employment in the Australian construction industry.

The findings dispel widely held negative stereotypes of about this group by describing a highly capable workforce which could address significant skills shortages in the industry, while concurrently diversifying the workforce. However, it is found that refugees, asylum seekers and migrants face considerable barriers to finding meaningful employment in the construction industry. In circumventing these barriers, education institutions, charities and community-based organisations play an especially important role, alongside friends and family networks. They do this by helping refugees, asylum seekers and migrants accumulate and deploy the necessary capital to secure meaningful work in the construction industry. Disappointingly, it is also found that the construction industry does little to help facilitate capital accumulation and deployment for this group, despite the urgent need to address diversity and critical skills shortages.

Employing Pierre Bourdieu’s Theory of Capital–Field–Habitus, the findings make a number of new theoretical and practical contributions to the limited body of international research relating to the employment of refugees, asylum seekers and migrant workers in the construction. The results are important because meaningful employment is widely accepted to be the single most factor in the successful integration of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants into a host society and the construction industry represents an important source of potential employment for them.

This research paper aims to delve into the perceptions of health susceptibility among Iranian, Afghan and Tajik individuals hailing from asylum-seeking or refused asylum-seeking backgrounds currently residing in Finland, Norway and Sweden.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted between May and October 2022 involving a sample size of 27 participants. An adapted framework based on the health belief model along with previous studies served as a guide for formulating interview questions.

Notably influenced by cultural background, religious beliefs, psychological states and past traumatic experiences during migration journeys – before arrival in these countries till settling down – subjects’ perception of health concerns emerged significantly shaped. Additionally impacting perspectives were social standing, occupational status, personal/family medical history, lifestyle choices and dietary preferences nurtured over time, leading to varying degrees of influence upon individuals’ interpretation about their own wellness or illness.

Insights garnered throughout the authors’ analysis hold paramount significance when it comes to developing targeted strategies catering culturally sensitive health-care provisions, alongside framing policies better aligned with primary care services tailored explicitly around singular demands posed by these specific communities dwelling within respective territories.

This investigation represents one among few pioneering initiatives assessing perceptions regarding both physical and mental well-being within minority groups under examination across Nordic nations, unveiling complexities arising through intersecting factors like individual attributes mingling intricately with socio-cultural environments, thereby forming unique viewpoints towards health-care belief systems prevalent among such population segments.

The purpose of this paper is to offer an accessible and interdisciplinary research strategy in organisational ethnography, called action ethnography, that acknowledges key concepts from action research and engaged and immersive ethnography. It aims to encourage methodological innovation and an impact turn in ethnographic practice.

A working definition of “action ethnography” is provided first. Then, to illustrate how an action ethnography can be designed by considering impact from the outset, the author draws on a study she is undertaking with a grassroots human rights monitoring group, based in England, and then discusses advantages and limitations to the approach.

The author suggests three main tenets to action ethnography that embrace synergies between action research and ethnography: researcher immersion, intervention leading to change and knowledge contributions that are useful to both practitioners and researchers.

This paper provides researchers who align with aspects of both action research and ethnography with an accessible research strategy to employ, and a better understanding of the interplay between the two approaches when justifying their research designs. It also offers an example of designing an action ethnography in practice.

Whereas “traditional” ethnography has emphasised a contribution to theoretical knowledge, less attention has been on a contribution to practice and to those who ethnographers engage with in the field. Action ethnography challenges researchers to consider the impact of their research from the outset during the research design, rather upon reflection after a study is completed.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused a slowdown of economic activity across the globe, which has resulted in high levels of disruption to labour markets. This study seeks to examine how the outbreak of COVID-19 has impacted the search strategies of students seeking for an internship, and whether these have changed since the start of the pandemic. The study utilises the strength of weak ties hypothesis, social capital theory and status attainment theory to explore the changes in securing a position since the outbreak of COVID-19.

This study draws on data from two cohorts of MBA students seeking to secure internships: one before the outbreak and one during. A multinomial regression is employed to examine how students have used network ties to secure internships and how this has changed since the outbreak of COVID-19.

The multinomial regression results indicate that there was little difference in the strategies employed by students before the crisis compared to those that secured them during, potentially indicating that students are unwilling to deviate from typical job search strategies, especially in times of uncertainty.

This study provides insights into how network ties are used by job seekers during a period of economic and environmental uncertainty.