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1 – 9 of 9Ashita Goswami, Prakash Nair, Terry Beehr and Michael Grossenbacher
The purpose of this paper is to examine affective events theory (AET) by testing the mediating effect of employees’ positive affect at work in the relationships of leaders’ use of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine affective events theory (AET) by testing the mediating effect of employees’ positive affect at work in the relationships of leaders’ use of positive humor with employees’ work engagement, job performance, and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs); and the moderating effect of transformational leadership style on the relationship between leaders’ use of positive humor and subordinate’s positive affect at work.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were obtained from 235 full-time employees working for a large information technology and business consulting corporation. Moderated mediation (Hayes, 2013) was performed to test the proposed model.
Findings
Leaders’ positive humor was related to creation of subordinates’ positive emotions at work and work engagement. Positive emotions at work did not mediate between leaders’ humor and performance or OCBs. In addition, leaders’ use of transformational leadership style made the relationship between leaders’ positive humor and employees’ positive emotions at work stronger.
Research limitations/implications
This study provides evidence of the positive relationship of leaders’ positive humor with employees’ positive emotions at work and work engagement. Such knowledge may help to inform the training workshops in humor employed by practitioners and potentially create a more enjoyable and fun workplace, which can lead to greater employee engagement.
Originality/value
AET helps explain effects of leader humor, but the effects of are complex. Leader’s use of even positive humor is most likely to have favorable effects mainly depending on their leadership style (transformational) and if their humor successfully leads to positive emotions among employees.
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Christopher Honts, Matthew Prewett, John Rahael and Michael Grossenbacher
The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent to which team processes vary between team types, as well as the relative importance of these processes for different team…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent to which team processes vary between team types, as well as the relative importance of these processes for different team types.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey study evaluated a sample of 316 members of various work teams that were classified as either intellectual (e.g. executive team) or physical (e.g. production team) teams. Independent samples t‐tests, paired samples t‐tests, and confirmatory factor analysis were used to evaluate hypotheses.
Findings
Confirmatory analysis indicated transition and action oriented process behaviors were distinct from one another. Intellectual teams were found to value transition processes (planning and strategizing) more highly than physical teams. Intellectual teams also valued transition processes (planning and strategizing), more than action processes (monitoring and coordinating).
Research limitations/implications
Research on team processes tends to focus upon a “one size fits all” approach to teamwork, but this approach has yielded inconsistent frameworks. This study provides evidence that these inconsistencies are due to the changing nature of teamwork. This study was limited in that only two broad types of teams and two types of process competencies were assessed.
Practical implications
Differences in the importance of certain processes for specific team types should be taken into account when implementing systems for team selection, performance appraisal, and training.
Originality/value
This paper provides empirical support for previous theoretical suppositions that different team types differ in the level of importance they place on certain processes.
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Roland W. Scholz, Daniel J. Lang, Arnim Wiek, Alexander I. Walter and Michael Stauffacher
This paper aims at presenting the theoretical concepts of the transdisciplinary case study approach (TCS), which is a research and teaching approach developed and elaborated at…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims at presenting the theoretical concepts of the transdisciplinary case study approach (TCS), which is a research and teaching approach developed and elaborated at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), as a means of transition support.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reveals the historical roots of case studies, transdisciplinarity and sustainable development as teaching and research paradigms. The TCS approach is presented, which has been developed at ETH for supporting transition management of regional, urban, and organizational systems. This approach is entrenched by an ontology that reveals the basic characteristics of ill‐defined transition problems, an epistemology that refers to Probabilistic Functionalism and distinguishes between multi‐layered systemic and normative epistemics, a methodology that includes a set of methods for case representation (including modelling and projection), assessment, and strategy building, and a project management model that refers to more than a dozen TCSs in the field of sustainable development. Problems of validity of TCSs as a research methodology are discussed.
Findings
Three major strengths of the TCS approach presented in the paper are: that it is based on three sound paradigms, which focus on different, relevant characteristics of complex, human‐environment systems; i.e. the case study approach, transdisciplinarity and sustainable development, that it is strictly organized according to an elaborated and consistent theoretical framework that includes ontological, epistemological, methodological, and organizational considerations, and that it is itself subject to an ongoing inquiry and adaptation process. All theoretical considerations of the paper are clarified be elaborated examples from the more than 10 years experience with TCS of the authors.
Practical implications
The paper gives a comprehensive overview of the theoretical foundation of TCS that might assist other scientists engaged in case study research and teaching to further develop their approaches. Additionally, relevant topics for further research in the field of TCS are presented which hopefully induce an inspiring discussion among case study researchers.
Originality/value
As far we know, this paper is one of the first that presents a comprehensive and theoretically sound overview of applying transdisciplinary case studies as means of sustainability learning. Thus, it can be seen as a first, crucial step for establishing the new research field of TCS research and a sound research community of complex, transdisciplinary problem solving towards sustainability learning.
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Noel Scott, Brent Moyle, Ana Cláudia Campos, Liubov Skavronskaya and Biqiang Liu
Ellen Choi, Nadège Levallet and Mehak Bharti
When evaluating the efficacy of mindfulness interventions, most studies take a linear approach to explore how an intervention impacts different outcomes for individuals, and…
Abstract
Purpose
When evaluating the efficacy of mindfulness interventions, most studies take a linear approach to explore how an intervention impacts different outcomes for individuals, and rarely is the role of intention examined. This research takes a configural approach to consider how various elements of a participant’s training expectations and their experience in the training condition combine to predict increases in psychological capital.
Design/methodology/approach
Employees from hospital settings were randomized into three conditions (mindfulness training, active control (Pilates), and wait-list control group) and completed surveys at three time points (baseline, post-training and three months post-training). A qualitative comparative analysis was applied to see what combinations of motivational elements were associated with increases in psychological capital.
Findings
We find that all three conditions can boost their psychological capital based on different configurations involving efficacy beliefs, baseline states of well-being (psychological capital and perceived stress) and changes in levels of mindfulness and perceived stress.
Research limitations/implications
Individual characteristics, like motivation, expectancy and baseline needs, are an important consideration in addition to the training condition itself when determining whether a training is efficacious.
Practical implications
It is of increasing importance that organizations find ways to support employee well-being. Offering a variety of psychological and physical interventions can improve psychological capital. Applying needs assessments that clarify the desires, needs and expectations employees hold may help with intervention efficacy.
Originality/value
The current study offers an innovative methodology through which realist evaluation approaches can consider multiple factors to predict outcomes.
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Cristiano Codagnone, Athina Karatzogianni and Jacob Matthews
Luis Diego Soto Kiewit and Bianca Vienni Baptista
This paper aims to analyse innovation models and interdisciplinarity in science, technology and innovation (STI) policy in Costa Rica between 2015 and 2021. The core focus is to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyse innovation models and interdisciplinarity in science, technology and innovation (STI) policy in Costa Rica between 2015 and 2021. The core focus is to evaluate the public policy in light of the groundwork that sustains the designed and proposed actions.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors applied a qualitative approach to build a set of dimensions and conducted content-analysis of selected documents. The analysis encompasses all current STI public policy documents in Costa Rica, including the planning instruments of the Central Government and the National Policy on STI.
Findings
The main findings show that STI policy in Costa Rica is based on different innovation models, but the projects and instruments themselves show the predominance of the reductionist model. Innovation receives a residual role. In turn, interdisciplinarity is based on the concept of convergence, which limits disciplinary collaboration to the natural, physical and engineering sciences, minimising contributions from other fields of knowledge to an instrumental role in innovation processes.
Practical implications
The authors conclude that the interlinkage between open innovation models, the participation of diverse societal actors and the inclusion of an interdisciplinary perspective leads to inclusive and more democratic public policy, allowing more sectors and organisations to benefit from innovation processes. This would imply a greater reach and impact of the policy, conditions that translate into innovation achievements and a better return on public investment.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to current discussions on STI policy by studying the implications of the link among policies, innovation models and interdisciplinarity.
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Transdisciplinarity was the core subject of a special issue of Futures in 2004 including numerous cases of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary architectural and urban research…
Abstract
Purpose
Transdisciplinarity was the core subject of a special issue of Futures in 2004 including numerous cases of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary architectural and urban research and professional practice in several countries. This paper takes stock of achievements during the last 20 years before presenting challenges about bridging persistent gaps between theory, research and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
The special issue of Futures is a benchmark for numerous publications about transdisciplinarity in and beyond the multidisciplinary and intersectoral field of built environments. This paper presents a narrative literature review of publications about transdisciplinarity in architecture, urban design and planning since the 1970s.
Findings
Transdisciplinarity is still being debated, is often contested, and is not mainstream in research or practice. Like design practice, transdisciplinary inquiry is a creative process involving border work by participants in collaborative projects. Transdisciplinary inquiry is broader in scope and purpose than public participation, participatory action research and team science.
Originality/value
This paper discusses challenges that should be addressed by those in the field of built environments who endorse transdisciplinarity. Based on a half century of contributions about design theory and methods, the paper differentiates inquiry from research as fundamental to transdisciplinary projects.
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