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Article
Publication date: 12 May 2022

JoAnne Yong-Kwan Lim

Organizations worldwide use virtual teams to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and capitalize on distributed members' unique expertise to accomplish essential tasks. A critical…

Abstract

Purpose

Organizations worldwide use virtual teams to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and capitalize on distributed members' unique expertise to accomplish essential tasks. A critical reason that inhibits virtual team members from leveraging each other’s knowledge is a lack of psychological safety. Specifically, individuals are unwilling to speak out for fear of negative repercussions, such as embarrassment to one’s image and rejection from others in their teams. The purpose of this study is to advance the importance of distinct awareness (task knowledge and presence) enabled by information technologies in developing the psychological safety of men and women in virtual teams.

Design/methodology/approach

This study tested the hypotheses using a survey study of 94 participants from 19 graduate student virtual teams.

Findings

This study found that task knowledge awareness predicted psychological safety for men, whereas it was presence awareness for women. By demonstrating the role of awareness in promoting psychological safety for men and women in virtual teams, this study also sheds light on reducing online gender inequitable issues.

Practical implications

First, organizational managers need to incorporate gender when deciding the awareness type to promote psychological safety in virtual teams. For men, it is task knowledge awareness, whereas for women, it is presence awareness. Second, as there is a wide range of information technologies (ITs) available, managers need to identify if the provided ITs enable virtual team members to develop the specific type of knowledge awareness critical for psychological safety development. Third, managers can incorporate rewards and apply interventions at regular temporal periods to encourage team members to increase their online presence as well as question and share task-related content.

Originality/value

It is imperative to identify ways to encourage men and women working in virtual teams to speak up so that the expertise held by the members can be better leveraged. This study represents an important step in this direction.

Details

Team Performance Management: An International Journal, vol. 28 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7592

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 September 2012

Tshinakaho Relebogile Seaba and Raymond Mompoloki Kekwaletswe

The purpose of this paper is to argue that an e‐collaboration environment, driven by awareness of social presence, may provide the just‐in‐time learning support needed by…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to argue that an e‐collaboration environment, driven by awareness of social presence, may provide the just‐in‐time learning support needed by postgraduate students. The academic challenges faced by students may be alleviated if a correct electronic platform is provided for them to be able to consult with each other or their instructors, regardless of time or their locations. Thus, the paper conceptualises how awareness of social presence may help address the challenges by facilitating e‐collaboration of postgraduate students.

Design/methodology/approach

The interpretive paradigm was followed in the study, where a university of technology, located in the city of Pretoria, South Africa, was used as a case study. Selective sampling, specifically purposive sampling was then used to select participants. This kind of sampling is suitable for qualitative case studies and focuses on sample selection based on relevance to the context and problem.

Findings

The limited and inconsistent learning support hinders a smooth learning experience, often leading to delayed or incomplete learning tasks, including research works. The alternative for students is then to seek support from knowledgeable peers, who are often dispersed in varied geographical locations. Thus, it is important that the framework for e‐collaboration amongst postgraduate students be developed cognizant of the social presence awareness indicators that would help students to establish sense of togetherness during e‐collaboration.

Originality/value

Social presence and e‐collaboration literature inadequately addresses both, with respect to graduate candidates. This paper looks at how awareness of social presence and context effects e‐collaboration.

Details

Interactive Technology and Smart Education, vol. 9 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-5659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2009

Xiaolei Zhang, Chun‐Fai Law, Cho‐Li Wang and Francis C.M. Lau

The purpose of this paper is to envision the benefits of applying the Instant Messaging (IM) paradigm in pervasive computing environments. With IM in such an environment, all…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to envision the benefits of applying the Instant Messaging (IM) paradigm in pervasive computing environments. With IM in such an environment, all smart entities, human or not, can interact using IM as the unified interface. To realize this vision, the design of a Smart Instant Messaging (SIM) system is proposed, which features context‐aware presence management, user‐centric resource configuration, and adaptive grouping.

Design/methodology/approach

Three prototype versions of a client have been implemented and their performance in terms of memory usage and response time evaluated.

Findings

The SIM system was found to transcend current IM products by having new features including context‐aware presence management, user‐centric resource configuration, and adaptive grouping support.

Originality/value

The system described here extends the Jabber‐based IM framework and relies on an ontology‐based supporting middleware to handle the chore of retrieving and interpreting contextual information.

Details

International Journal of Pervasive Computing and Communications, vol. 5 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-7371

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 October 2023

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

Design/methodology/approach

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Findings

Lack of psychological safety among members negatively impacts on the performance of virtual teams. In order to effectively address the problem, firms could utilize relevant information technologies to increase the task presence awareness and presence awareness which can accordingly help increase perceptions of psychological safety of men and women.

Originality/value

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Details

Human Resource Management International Digest , vol. 32 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0967-0734

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 May 2005

Yanna Vogiazou and Marc Eisenstadt

This paper discusses an exploratory case study of the design of games that facilitate spontaneous social interaction and group behaviours among distributed individuals, based…

Abstract

This paper discusses an exploratory case study of the design of games that facilitate spontaneous social interaction and group behaviours among distributed individuals, based largely on symbolic presence ‘state’ changes. We present the principles guiding the design of our game environment: presence as a symbolic phenomenon, the importance of good visualization and the potential for spontaneous self‐organization among groups of people. Our game environment, comprising a family of multiplayer ‘bumper‐car’ style games, is described, followed by a discussion of lessons learned from observing users of the environment. Finally, we reconsider and extend our design principles in light of our observations.

Details

Interactive Technology and Smart Education, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-5659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 November 2017

Pablo Muñoz

Under what conditions do entrepreneurs make the sustainable decisions they need to develop socially and environmentally responsible new businesses? Explanations of sustainable…

2039

Abstract

Purpose

Under what conditions do entrepreneurs make the sustainable decisions they need to develop socially and environmentally responsible new businesses? Explanations of sustainable decision-making have involved various cognitive features; however, it is not yet clear how they play a role in empirical terms and, moreover, how they combine to induce business decisions based on social, environmental and economic considerations. The purpose of this paper is to explore how five cognitive factors combine and causally connect to produce sustainable decision-making in entrepreneurship.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to examine the decision-making of 37 sustainable entrepreneurs. It focuses on a substantive conception of entrepreneurial behaviour to uncover the cognitive antecedents underlying entrepreneurial decisions that involve the explicit development and implementation of measures, targets and strategies aimed at improving its impact on people and the environment.

Findings

The configurational analysis reveals a typology comprising five combinations of cognitive factors constituting a comprehensive cognitive map of sustainable decision-making in entrepreneurship, namely: purpose-driven, determined; value-based, vacillating; value-based, unintended; single motive, single solution; and purpose-driven, hesitant.

Research limitations/implications

This study demonstrates that no single condition is necessary nor sufficient for triggering decision-making involving social and environmental concerns, revealing five mental models leading to sustainable decision-making. In doing so, this paper responds to recent calls that stress the need for studies capable of uncovering the complex constellation of cognitive factors underlying entrepreneurial sustainable behaviour. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Originality/value

This paper provides a systematic characterization of the cognitive underpinnings of sustainable decision-making and offers a basis for organizing the study of sustainable outcomes and configurations of cognitive antecedents. It reconciles prior efforts aimed at characterizing sustainability decisions in the context of SMEs and new enterprises, challenging current models based on awareness, experience and ethical normative frameworks.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 24 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 February 2022

Tsz-Wai Lui and Lakshmi Goel

Training is one of the key dimensions of internal marketing. Virtual reality (VR), a computer technology that replicates an environment (real or imagined) and simulates a user’s…

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Abstract

Purpose

Training is one of the key dimensions of internal marketing. Virtual reality (VR), a computer technology that replicates an environment (real or imagined) and simulates a user’s physical presence in that environment to allow for user interaction, offers unique opportunities from a training perspective, such as allowing users to improve their skills without the consequence of failing real customers or the need to be in the real environment physically. This study aims to focus on comparing the effectiveness of VR hospitality training with that of real-world hospitality training.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts situated cognition theory to empirically test the effect of the awareness of contextual variables (social interaction, location and task) on learning and compare learning outcomes between tourism training in VR and real-world experimental settings.

Findings

Results indicate that location and task awareness enhance cognitive absorption, but social awareness does not influence cognitive absorption. There is no significant difference between training in real-world and VR environments. Finally, cognitive absorption has a positive effect on mental model change (the learning outcome).

Originality/value

This result advances the theoretical understanding on the significance of learning context by applying situated cognition theory in hospitality training and has significant implications for training that aims for rigor and efficiency within cost, location and time constraints.

研究目的

培训是内部营销的关键维度之一。 虚拟现实 (VR), 一种复制某种环境(真实的或想象的)并模拟在该环境中实质性存在的用户的计算机技术并且允许用户交互, 从培训的角度来看提供独特的机会, 例如允许用户在没有培训的情况下提高他们的技能避免承担损失真实客户的后果或需要实际身处真实环境中。 本研究的重点是比较 VR 酒店培训与现实世界的招待培训的效果。

研究设计/方法/途径

本研究采用情境认知理论对情境变量(社交互动、位置和任务)的认识对学习和比较 VR 和现实世界实验环境中的旅游培训之间的学习成果进行实证检验。

研究发现

结果表明, 位置和任务意识增强了认知吸收, 但社会意识不影响认知吸收。 在现实世界和 VR 环境中的训练之间没有显着差异。 最后, 认知吸收对心理模式改变(学习结果)有显著积极作用。

研究原创性/价值

该结果通过在酒店培训中应用情境认知理论促进了对学习情境重要性的理论理解, 并对旨在成本、地点和时间限制内实现严谨和高效的培训具有重要意义。

Article
Publication date: 6 November 2009

Vivian B. Lord, Joseph B. Kuhns and Paul C. Friday

This paper aims to examine the impact of the implementation of community‐oriented policing and problem solving in a small city.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the impact of the implementation of community‐oriented policing and problem solving in a small city.

Design/methodology/approach

Citizen surveys that measure perceptions and activities of the police are completed before and three years after broader implementation of community policing. Because the existing literature supports the influence of a number of individual, neighborhood, and situational characteristics, several variables are included and controlled.

Findings

The results show that although the police invest a great deal of time building partnerships with and problem solving in neighborhoods, there are no significant differences over time in citizen satisfaction with police or in fear of crime. Personal contact with police mediates the influence of individual and neighborhood characteristics on citizen satisfaction. Police presence remains a common significant predictor of citizen satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

Ensuring anonymity of subjects requires different samples between data collection periods; however, the same stratified random sampling process is used both times. The pre/post research design allows for measuring changes over time, but the lack of a control city threatens internal and external validity.

Practical implications

Citizen satisfaction is an important concern for all police and local governmental administrators; therefore, the findings of this study are useful for smaller agencies that are implementing or planning to implement community‐oriented policing.

Originality/value

With its focus on a small city and the capability to survey citizens before department‐wide implementation, this article expands research conducted on citizen satisfaction with police in a small town.

Details

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, vol. 32 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-951X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 10 October 2006

Ronald M. Epstein

One way of defining the character of clinicians is to examine their moment-to-moment actions during the course of clinical care. These small actions, cumulatively, describe the…

Abstract

One way of defining the character of clinicians is to examine their moment-to-moment actions during the course of clinical care. These small actions, cumulatively, describe the clinician as a practitioner and moral agent. In this chapter, using clinical examples, I explore the possibility that professional competence and virtue are based, in part, on clinicians’ ability to engage in a “mindful” practice in which they can be attentive to their own actions, curious enough to examine them and present and flexible enough to change them.

Details

Lost Virtue
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-339-6

Article
Publication date: 27 February 2020

Smaranda Boroş and Delia Vîrgă

This paper aims to enhance clarity for the conceptualization and measurement of group emotional awareness by defining it as an emergent state. The authors explore the emergence of…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to enhance clarity for the conceptualization and measurement of group emotional awareness by defining it as an emergent state. The authors explore the emergence of this state through two studies designed to explore the four characteristics (global, radically novel, coherent and ostensive) of emergent phenomena (Waller et al., 2016).

Design/methodology/approach

In Study 1, the authors explore in an experimental setting the formation of group emotional awareness and regulation as emergent states as a result of compositional effects (team members’ self-perceptions of their individual emotional awareness capabilities) and group norms regarding emotional awareness. Study 2 uses an experimental design to explore how pre-existing expectations of group emotional awareness, based on previous dyadic interactions between team members, can prevent conflict escalation (from task to relationship conflict) in project teams.

Findings

Individual perceptions of members’ own abilities and group norms interact in the emergence of group emotional awareness. Group emotion regulation can develop only under an optimal level of emergent group emotional awareness; groups that build emotional awareness norms compensate for their members’ low awareness and develop equally efficient regulatory strategies as groups formed of emotionally aware individuals. However, the conjunction of personal propensity towards awareness and explicit awareness norms blocks the development of regulatory strategies. Group emotional awareness (both as a developed state and as an expectation) reduces the escalation of task to relationship conflict.

Originality/value

Designing for the exploration of the four characteristics of emergence allowed us to gain new insights about how group emotional awareness emerges and operates too much awareness can hurt, and affective group expectations have the power to shape reality. These findings have strong implications for practitioners’ training of emotional awareness in organizations.

Details

Team Performance Management: An International Journal, vol. 26 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7592

Keywords

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