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Article
Publication date: 24 February 2022

Nilupulee Liyanagamage and Mario Fernando

How do females with multiple sources of identity deal with intersectional identity tensions and perceived lack of access to social power? The study focuses on how social…

Abstract

Purpose

How do females with multiple sources of identity deal with intersectional identity tensions and perceived lack of access to social power? The study focuses on how social relationships form and develop in masculinised settings between construction workers and a petite female researcher through perceived notions of equality and inequality. Through autoethnographic tales, the study examines how an academic home comer navigates between conflicting professional and cultural identities, in their native country.

Design/methodology/approach

Using collaborative autoethnography, the study examines how the intersections of being a young petite female and a “partial” insider in a male-dominated construction industry influences the researcher's identity work process and her quest for social power.

Findings

The findings suggest that to access referent social power, the researcher covers stigmatised intersectional attributes and reveals a more favourable identity. The fieldwork journey of the young petite female researcher highlights that identity work is a situational process that evolves with respondent relationships, respondent assigned roles, perceived notion of access to power and struggles of cultural versus professional identity. The reader is also taken through the collaborative autoethnographic journey of a female researcher and her doctoral studies supervisor.

Originality/value

This paper makes several contributions. First, it contributes to the academic literature on intersectionality of identity, especially concentrating on the intersectional attributes of petite physical stature, gender and perceived lack of access to social power. Second, this paper theorises identity work processes as an indirect strategy of social power in researcher-and-researched relationships. Last, through collaborative autoethnography of female researchers' fieldwork journey, this study contributes to the body of knowledge on academic home comers as “partial” insiders in their native country.

Details

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, vol. 17 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5648

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 February 2023

Nilupulee Liyanagamage and Mario Fernando

Socially responsible firms are known to improve competitive advantage and create workplaces that protect employees and the society in the long-term. Yet, the transitionary and…

Abstract

Purpose

Socially responsible firms are known to improve competitive advantage and create workplaces that protect employees and the society in the long-term. Yet, the transitionary and project-based nature of the construction industry makes it difficult to espouse socially responsible practices. This study aims to adopt a person-centric conceptualisation of social responsibility by drawing on processes of individual sensemaking to gain a deeper understanding of small-business social responsibility (SBSR).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 people from the construction industry in Sri Lanka to develop retrospective narratives.

Findings

The findings suggest that individuals in small-business construction firms rely on intraindividual, organisational and wider societal considerations to make sense of SBSR. What drives these interviewees to be responsible is determined not so much by profitability or reputation but by their own SBSR sensemaking process.

Originality/value

This study examines how individuals make sense of social responsibility in transitionary project-based small businesses in the construction industry.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. 19 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 June 2020

Amlan Haque, Mario Fernando and Peter Caputi

The increasing number of corporate scandals and averseness to employee commitment have brought the concept of responsible leadership (RL) to the forefront of organisational…

1802

Abstract

Purpose

The increasing number of corporate scandals and averseness to employee commitment have brought the concept of responsible leadership (RL) to the forefront of organisational studies. Many studies have found that leadership practice is an antecedent of employees' organisational commitment. However, little attention has been devoted to exploring the newly evolved RL for its impact on employee commitment. This study examines the influence of RL on the three-component model of organisational commitment.

Design/methodology/approach

Applying the Social Identity Theory of Leadership (SITL), this study investigates the relationships between RL and the three-component model of organisational commitment. In particular, this study is framed to apply RL as a value-based leadership approach to examine its relationship on employees’ three types of organisational commitment such as affective, continuance and normative commitment. A web-based self-administered survey was applied to collect data targeting a sample of 200 full-time Australian employees.

Findings

The study results show that RL significantly effects all three components of organisational commitment. Both affective and normative commitments were significantly associated by RL compared to employees' continuance commitment.

Originality/value

The paper extends the knowledge regarding newly evolved concept of RL which explains the significance of employee commitment and, further it provides empirical evidence from the perspective of SITL. The main contribution in this paper comes from new knowledge about the associations among RL and the three-component model of organisational commitment.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 70 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 March 2021

Mario Fernando, Shahriar Akter and Ruwan J. Bandara

How employees connect with their work organisation and how it may play a role in their moral courage and ethical behaviour remain under-explored. This study, using Psychological…

1370

Abstract

Purpose

How employees connect with their work organisation and how it may play a role in their moral courage and ethical behaviour remain under-explored. This study, using Psychological Contract Theory, aims to explore how employee–organisation connectedness influences employees' moral courage and ethical behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

The hypotheses were tested using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) on data collected through a questionnaire survey from 212 Australian healthcare professionals.

Findings

Employee connectedness with their work organisations showed a significant and direct impact on ethical behaviour. Along with moral courage, connectedness explained over half of the variance in ethical behaviour. Furthermore, moral courage partially mediated the effect of employee connectedness on ethical behaviour.

Research limitations/implications

The overall theoretical implication of this study is that psychological contracts between employees and their organisations operationalised through employee–organisation connectedness can explain the role of moral courage in ethical behaviour.

Practical implications

With increasing borderless management of organisations, organisational connectedness can be a critical factor in developing employees' moral courage and ethical behaviour within organisations. Socialisation interventions can be useful to promote employee–organisation connectedness.

Originality/value

The study developed a higher-order connectedness model and validated it with PLS-SEM. The study provides novel empirical evidence on the relationships between employee–organisation connectedness, moral courage and ethical behaviour.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 71 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 2020

Mario Fernando, Stephen Fox, Ruwan Bandara and Daniel Hartley

The purpose of this study is to examine the nature of interdisciplinary thinking and the conditions and processes that foster it among first-year undergraduate students.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the nature of interdisciplinary thinking and the conditions and processes that foster it among first-year undergraduate students.

Design/methodology/approach

This study with 510 Australian students drawn from 2 cohorts explored an initiative to promote interdisciplinary teaching in an undergraduate ethics-based subject. The study focused on a case-study-based reflective essay intervention to compare the teaching and learning outcomes in the two student cohorts.

Findings

The results show how a case-study-based reflective essay intervention impacted on interdisciplinary learning. Introducing the case-study-based reflective essay improved interdisciplinary thinking. Findings show that integral to engaging students in interdisciplinary learning is a need for more experiential and active approaches built into education itself.

Research limitations/implications

The study findings extend Spelt et al.’s (2009) model in the business education context to link student learning outcomes to the learning processes, learning environment and interdisciplinary thinking. A key limitation of this study is that the intervention is limited to only two student cohorts.

Practical implications

The study recommends the use of reflective practice in interdisciplinary subjects to support a variety of learning outcomes across disciplines including classroom-based and assignment-based reflective practices which influence interdisciplinary thinking and active learning.

Originality/value

There is limited understanding on how business schools should or could attempt to promote interdisciplinary teaching and the actual methods for doing so. This study highlights the significance of integrating reflective practice in undergraduate business education to promote students’ interdisciplinary thinking.

Details

Journal of International Education in Business, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-469X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 August 2020

Ruwan Bandara, Mario Fernando and Shahriar Akter

The purpose of this study is to examine privacy issues in the e-commerce context from a power-responsibility equilibrium theory (PRE) perspective.

3746

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine privacy issues in the e-commerce context from a power-responsibility equilibrium theory (PRE) perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

The data was collected using an online survey (n = 335) from online shopping consumers. This study used partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) techniques to empirically examine the proposed relationships.

Findings

A lack of corporate privacy responsibility and regulatory protection can deprive consumers of privacy empowerment and damage consumer trust to trigger privacy concerns and subsequent defensive responses. Also, the fsQCA revealed five causal configurations to explain high consumer defensive behaviours.

Research limitations/implications

This study identifies the importance of PRE theory in the privacy context. Consumer privacy concerns, privacy empowerment and trust are established as strong mediators between corporate/regulatory privacy protection efforts and consumer backlash. The application of fsQCA verified that consumer privacy behaviour can be better explained by different configurations of the same causal antecedents.

Practical implications

The findings highlight the importance of increasing trust and privacy empowerment as mechanisms to manage privacy concerns and consumer backlash through responsible organisational and regulatory privacy protections. The importance of balancing power and responsibility dynamics for maintaining a healthy information exchange environment is identified.

Originality/value

This study extends the PRE framework of privacy to include corporate privacy responsibility, privacy empowerment and trust. This is one of the first studies to explore both antecedents and outcomes of privacy empowerment. Also, the application of complexity theory and fsQCA to explain consumers’ defensive responses is novel to the literature.

Article
Publication date: 4 December 2018

Amlan Haque, Mario Fernando and Peter Caputi

Drawing on social learning theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the mediational effect of affective commitment on the relationship between responsible leadership and…

3296

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing on social learning theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the mediational effect of affective commitment on the relationship between responsible leadership and intention to quit.

Design/methodology/approach

This study applied a two-step process of the structural equation modelling technique to test the proposed hypothesised model. A web-based survey was administered to collect data targeting a sample of 200 full-time Australian employees.

Findings

The results suggest that responsible leadership significantly influences employees’ affective commitment and their intention to quit. As predicted, both responsible leadership and affective commitment negatively influenced intention to quit. Notably, the direct influence of responsible leadership on intention to quit was found to be partially mediated by employees’ affective commitment.

Practical implications

This study shows how leaders can expect to reduce employees’ intention to quit by leading responsibly through valuing employees’ affective commitment.

Originality/value

This study makes a unique contribution to responsible leadership literature by linking it with social learning theory. Moreover, there are only a handful of studies examining responsible leadership and its influence on employees’ behavioural outcomes. This study extends the limited understanding of responsible leadership and its relationship with affective commitment and intention to quit.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 40 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 October 2017

Carolyn Koh, Mario Fernando and Trevor Spedding

The purpose of this paper is to explore the western developed notion of responsible leadership (RL) from a Singapore context.

1244

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the western developed notion of responsible leadership (RL) from a Singapore context.

Design/methodology/approach

Following the qualitative research tradition, face-to-face interviews with 20 influential Singaporean leaders were developed into case studies. Grounded theory methodology was applied to identify similarities and differences within and across cases.

Findings

The findings reveal that the interviewed Singaporean leaders projected traits and values consistent with western definitions of responsible and effective leadership. Findings also suggest that contextual factors such as national culture and the ethos of the nation as well as leaders’ relational intelligence influence RL. These factors also help responsible leaders to better manage the tension between responsible and effective leadership.

Research limitations/implications

The small and geographically bound sample size makes it difficult to generalise the findings of this study. As in other ethics studies, interviewees’ desire to present a socially desirable image of themselves could be high in this study. Finally, the methods and analytical techniques applied may be biased and be influenced by the purposive selection of the participants.

Practical implications

Singaporean business leaders may need to consider the importance of retaining and developing the national culture and ethos of the nation, since these are the factors that have been identified in this study as key to influencing RL.

Originality/value

This study identifies the factors that influence RL from a Singapore context. It extends the understanding of the mostly western-based multi-level theory of RL.

Details

Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 39 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7739

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 May 2021

Amlan Haque, Mario Fernando and Peter Caputi

The dominant view of responsible leadership (RL) has so far lacked adequate testing for employees' motivational outcomes, including presenteeism. Presenteeism, or attending work…

2664

Abstract

Purpose

The dominant view of responsible leadership (RL) has so far lacked adequate testing for employees' motivational outcomes, including presenteeism. Presenteeism, or attending work while being ill and unable to work at full capacity, causes productivity loss and imposes a significant economic burden to businesses and national economies. Applying the social identity theory of leadership (SITL), this paper aims to offer a conceptual framework supporting the relationship between RL and presenteeism and incorporating the mediating roles of organisational commitment and employees' turnover intentions.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper conducts a systematic literature review using a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flowchart with the existing research on RL, presenteeism, organisational commitment and employee turnover intentions covering the main contributors to this research stream. The proposed model offers eight propositions to promote the examination of RL in more insightful ways.

Findings

A shift in focus to the aspect of value-based leadership and presenteeism allows this paper to explore probable employee motivational outcomes, especially with consideration of organisational commitment and turnover intentions. While extant studies about presenteeism have tended to identify negative consequences, this paper explores different contexts in which RL could be crucial and positive. Based on a PRISMA flowchart, this paper provides a conceptual framework and directions that scholars might use to guide organisations and evaluate future research studies in RL and presenteeism.

Research limitations/implications

The implications of this paper lie first in highlighting the demand for scholars to employ RL when conducting research reviews in organisational leadership and presenteeism. Beyond this broad purpose, this paper will help researchers to develop a holistic and pragmatic research approach more systematically and coherently. It is hoped that this conceptual framework can potentially lead to higher employee productivity and retention.

Originality/value

The systematic literature review offers a novel framework that will allow future researchers to conduct and explore empirical studies in organisational leadership. The suggested propositions will direct future scholars and practitioners to explore solutions in which presenteeism can be recognised at work and managed to achieve practical application of RL within organisational settings.

Details

Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Administration, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-4323

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 June 2019

Shamika Almeida, Mario Fernando, Albert Munoz and Susan Cartwright

The purpose of this paper is to identify key personal and organisational resources that influence the engagement, well-being and job satisfaction of healthcare professionals…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify key personal and organisational resources that influence the engagement, well-being and job satisfaction of healthcare professionals working in Australia.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the job demands–resources model, this study investigates how employee resources and organisation resources influence engagement, well-being and job satisfaction of health professionals in Australian hospitals. The authors collected survey data from a sample of healthcare professionals (n=217) working in three hospitals in New South Wales, Australia.

Findings

The results confirm the importance of the emotional health of employees on their well-being. The results concur with existing research that employees with higher levels of emotional health have more positive emotional and social interactions, and thus exhibit higher levels of well-being at work. The study also uncovers certain aspects of emotional health that can influence a range of employee outcomes.

Practical implications

The findings link human resource management practices to unique motivators of healthcare professionals which, in turn, are likely to improve engagement, well-being and job satisfaction.

Originality/value

The study highlights specific resources that support greater levels of well-being, engagement and job satisfaction in Australian hospitals.

Details

Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2051-6614

Keywords

1 – 10 of 80