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1 – 4 of 4Evaluates stress and its effect on the UK regarding time off, stating that one out of five people suffers from stress. States also that organizations now seem to be taking…
Abstract
Evaluates stress and its effect on the UK regarding time off, stating that one out of five people suffers from stress. States also that organizations now seem to be taking employee stress seriously ‐ but that does not necessarily mean a permanent solution is in sight. Proposes possible solutions using policies to deal with occupational issues.
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The purpose of this paper is to address a gap in the recent literature on employment of temporary workers by exploring the impact of temporary workers on the perceptions…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address a gap in the recent literature on employment of temporary workers by exploring the impact of temporary workers on the perceptions, attitudes and behaviour of permanent staff with particular reference to their implications for patient safety and service quality in hospital accident and emergency departments. The analysis is set in the context of the job demands-resources theory.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was undertaken using a case study approach with semi-structured interviews in two London hospitals. Participants included staff from the HR director level, clinical managers and permanent staff who all had an influence in the hiring and management of temporary staff in some way. Transcripts were analysed thematically using an adopted framework approach.
Findings
The results indicate that the effect of temporary staff on permanent staff depended on the quality of the “resource”. There was a “hierarchy of preference” for temporary staff based on their familiarity with the context. Those unfamiliar with the department served as a distraction to permanent staff due to the need to “manage” them in various ways. While this was rarely perceived to affect patient safety, it could have an impact on service quality by causing delays and interruptions. In line with previous research, the use of temporary staff also affected perceptions of fairness and the commitment of some permanent staff.
Practical implications
A model developing an approach for improved practice when managing temporary staff was developed to minimise the risks to patient safety and service quality, and improve permanent staff morale.
Social implications
The review highlights the difficulties that a limited amount of temporary staff integration can have on permanent staff and patient care, indicating that consideration must be placed on how temporary staff are inducted and clarifying expectations of roles for both temporary and permanent staff.
Originality/value
This paper studies the under-researched impact of temporary staff, and, distinctively, staff employed on a single shift, on the behaviour and attitudes of permanent staff. It highlights the need to consider carefully the qualitative nature of “resources” in the job demands-resources theory.
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Rodrigo Guesalaga and Dimitri Kapelianis
The purpose of this study is to develop and test a two-stage model of sales opportunity outcomes, and thus identify the factors that influence the likelihood of a salesperson…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to develop and test a two-stage model of sales opportunity outcomes, and thus identify the factors that influence the likelihood of a salesperson pursuing and winning a sales deal.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a longitudinal design, the authors collect data on 330 sales opportunities at two different time periods from two distinct sources and conduct data analysis using hierarchical linear modeling.
Findings
In the first stage, the authors find that the salesperson’s decision to pursue the opportunity is influenced by the strategic value of the client’s business and the concreteness of the opportunity. In the second stage, the authors find that the likelihood of winning the opportunity is influenced by the extent of the salesperson’s specialization, closeness to the buying center, company’s competitive position and fit with the client’s value orientation.
Research limitations/implications
The authors have examined discrete sales opportunities independent of ongoing business relationships; future research should explore transactions that are embedded within customer relationships.
Practical implications
The authors highlight the importance of evaluating sales opportunities at the beginning of the sales process and suggest some specific variables that relate to the selling context.
Originality/value
The authors analyze factors that influence the decision of the salesperson to pursue an opportunity or not, as well as factors that influence the likelihood of winning a deal or not.
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Dan Parrish C.S.C., Timothy S. Clark and Samuel S. Holloway
Since Weick’s (1993) seminal Mann Gulch paper articulated a collapse of sensemaking, scholars have repeatedly investigated sensemaking downstream of enactment. Motivated by…
Abstract
Purpose
Since Weick’s (1993) seminal Mann Gulch paper articulated a collapse of sensemaking, scholars have repeatedly investigated sensemaking downstream of enactment. Motivated by another wildland firefighting tragedy, the tragic loss of 19 firefighters in Arizona in 2013, this study aims to look at enactment itself and reveals that the endogenous creation and re-creation of the wildland fire caused a fatal feedback loop of “trigger traps” leading to perpetual enactment that short-circuited sensemaking. Wildland fires can have unpredictable consequences, which triggers in individual sensemakers a fatal and continuous return to the beginning of the sensemaking process.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper’s approach is a case study based on a textual analysis of sources investigating the 2013 Yarnell Hill fire. The authors also carefully compared the Yarnell Hill and Mann Gulch disasters in search of breakdowns in sensemaking that could help us understand why we continue to lose firefighters in the line of duty.
Findings
The simultaneously volatile and complex environment at Yarnell illustrates sensemaking antecedents to the study of enactment. The findings suggest ways that organizations – those fighting wildfire or those fighting a global pandemic – can avoid getting trapped in the early stages of enactment and can retain resilience in their sensemaking.
Originality/value
This paper introduces the concept of “trigger traps” to help explain the fatal feedback loop of repeated environmental triggers in the early stages of sensemaking in volatile environments.
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