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1 – 10 of over 38000Bernhard E. Reichert and Matthias Sohn
Many companies use competition for either monetary or non-monetary rewards to induce employee effort. Pitting employees against each other in a competition could come at a thus…
Abstract
Many companies use competition for either monetary or non-monetary rewards to induce employee effort. Pitting employees against each other in a competition could come at a thus far insufficiently considered cost of leading to lower employee cooperation. The authors examine how competition for monetary rewards in the form of tournament incentives or non-monetary rewards in the form of standing in uncompensated public rankings affects employee cooperation with former competitors in a subsequent task where the extent of the cooperation does not affect the welfare or social standing of the person deciding to cooperate. The authors hypothesize that competition in the first task negatively affects cooperation in the second task. The authors further predict that competition leads to psychological pressure, which mediates differences in cooperation. The results support the authors’ hypotheses. In addition, the authors find that the decrease in cooperation results from the behavior of low performers, whereas cooperation by high performers is not affected. The findings are important because they show that inducing effort in one dimension leads to an unintended cost in the form of lower cooperation in another dimension. This cost occurs for both types of competition – competition for monetary payoffs and for non-monetary rewards. Ultimately, the size of this cost depends on the marginal benefit from any cooperation of low performers.
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Muhammad Rafique, Mastura Jaafar, Aliya Zafar and Saira Ahmed
Little research has focused on abusive supervision in the context of project management, despite its prevalence and detrimental influence on the psychological health of…
Abstract
Purpose
Little research has focused on abusive supervision in the context of project management, despite its prevalence and detrimental influence on the psychological health of subordinates. Therefore, drawing on affective event theory (AET), this study sought to investigate supervisor-level antecedents of abusive supervision by considering the mediating role of emotional exhaustion and moderating role of psychological resilience.
Design/methodology/approach
Utilizing a time-lagged design, data were collected through questionnaires from project managers and their immediate subordinates in construction projects. PROCESS macros were utilized to analyze a sample of 241 supervisor-subordinate dyads.
Findings
The findings revealed that time pressure and emotional exhaustion significantly predicted project manager abusive supervision. The authors also found that emotional exhaustion mediates the relationship between time pressure and project manager abusive supervision. Furthermore, the results show that highly resilient project managers become less emotionally exhausted when facing time pressure. Lastly, psychological resilience moderated the indirect effect of time pressure on project manager abusive supervision through emotional exhaustion.
Originality/value
According to Fordjour et al., abusive supervision is a critical factor that deteriorates the psychological health of subordinates in the project. Nevertheless, this phenomenon remains uninvestigated. Therefore, this research contributes to the project management literature by investigating key predictors of abusive supervision, thus filling both a theoretical and practical gap.
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Peter Kotzian, Thomas Stoeber, Florian Hoos and Barbara E. Weissenberger
Manipulation checks are a recommended for experimental accounting research. Usage of information gained by manipulation checks varies. In some studies, participants who failed the…
Abstract
Purpose
Manipulation checks are a recommended for experimental accounting research. Usage of information gained by manipulation checks varies. In some studies, participants who failed the manipulation check are removed from the sample. Other studies report the results of the manipulation checks but still use the full sample. Some authors recommend removing participants who failed the manipulation check as a means to increase the power of the statistical analysis. Others warn that removing these participants endangers the randomization as a crucial precondition for gaining valid insights from experimental research. Until now, there is little research on how sensitive results react to exclusion of participants. The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of removing participants failing the manipulation checks on the evaluation of a hypothesis and the development of alternative usages of the information gained from manipulation checks.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on an analytical model and a simulation, the authors show how removing participants who fail the manipulation check affects experimental findings.
Findings
Simulations show that statistical results and conclusions drawn from an experiment differ substantially, depending on whether participants who failed the manipulation check are removed from the sample. As the participants who are removed are no random sub-sample, but share a certain property, the experimental results react strongly, typically showing significant results, where there are actually none.
Originality/value
This paper is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the first to address the sensitivity of experimental results to removing participants who fail the manipulation check from the sample and the implications for the validity of conclusions drawn from experimental accounting research. This paper’s contribution is a better way of using information gained in the manipulation check in the statistical analysis of the experimental data.
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Beiting He, Ran An and John Berry
The purpose of this paper is to explore the psychological adjustment process of expatriates from Chinese multinational enterprises, including how their social capital affects this…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the psychological adjustment process of expatriates from Chinese multinational enterprises, including how their social capital affects this process.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative investigation was based on semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 26 Chinese expatriates. The grounded theory method was applied to guide the data collection and analysis.
Findings
The psychological adjustment process of Chinese expatriates includes three periods: crisis, self-adjustment and self-growth period. In addition, bonding capital (including organizational, family and co-cultural colleagues’ support) is more conducive to Chinese expatriates’ psychological well-being than bridging capital (e.g. host-nationals’ support). Finally, a separation acculturation strategy is more conducive to psychological adjustment, rather than an integration strategy.
Research limitations/implications
This study focused on expatriates themselves. Future research should consider other stakeholders (e.g. organizations, family), and examine expatriate adjustment from new perspectives (e.g. strategic human resource management, work-family balance). This study had a small sample and focused on only one organization. Future research could usefully add other Chinese multinational corporations, and other Chinese expatriates to expand the generalizability of the current findings.
Practical implications
This study suggests the possible benefits of management practices for expatriates. Organizations can develop an “expatriate bubble” to help structure basic life overseas. Organizations could develop family-support programs and make them expatriate-supportive. Organizations should also strengthen the connections between expatriates and local colleagues.
Originality/value
Few scholars have elaborated on how different support groups (based on their cultural backgrounds) influence the psychological adjustment of expatriates. Until now, mainland Chinese expatriates have received little attention. In addition, this research takes a significant step forward by illuminating the psychological adjustment of Chinese expatriates from a social capital perspective.
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Aleksandra Luksyte, Christiane Spitzmueller and Carolina Y. Rivera-Minaya
The purpose of this paper is to examine stressor-strain relationships that play a role in foreign-born Hispanic workers’ well-being and family-to-work facilitation (FWF) as a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine stressor-strain relationships that play a role in foreign-born Hispanic workers’ well-being and family-to-work facilitation (FWF) as a moderator in this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used a unique sample of foreign-born Hispanic workers employed in blue-labor jobs in Texas (n=163).
Findings
Consistent with the theoretical assertions, the authors found support for the negative relationship between legal status concern and Hispanic workers’ psychological and perceived physical health. Further, FWF attenuated the negative consequences of lack of English language proficiency on psychological well-being.
Research limitations/implications
Both organizations and Hispanic workers can benefit from the results of the study. Hispanic immigrants can enhance their well-being by relying more on their families and seeking more support from their friends and families when dealing with immigration-related stressors. Organizations and policymakers can improve Hispanic workers’ well-being by educating them about immigration-related issues and by offering help with mastering English language.
Originality/value
The authors studied psychological and physical well-being of a population that is generally underrepresented in the literature – foreign-born Hispanic immigrant employees. The paper also examined what employers can do to improve the work experience of these workers.
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Erin C. McCanlies, Anna Mnatsakanova, Michael E. Andrew, John M. Violanti and Tara A. Hartley
Balancing work and family in dual-earner households can be stressful. Research suggests that increased work-family conflict (WFC) significantly predicts poor psychological health…
Abstract
Purpose
Balancing work and family in dual-earner households can be stressful. Research suggests that increased work-family conflict (WFC) significantly predicts poor psychological health and increased stress in police officers. The purpose of this paper is to assess whether child care stress was associated with anxiety symptoms and if stressful work events and shift work modified this relationship among 163 Buffalo, NY police officers.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants indicated child care stress by reporting how much stress they felt (0 – none to 10 – high) when making child care/daily living arrangements. Shiftwork was assessed from pay-roll data (1994 to date of exam) and by asking, “Do you work opposite shift from your spouse/partner to care for your children?” to assess partner’s shift. The Beck Anxiety Scale and Spielberger Police Stress Survey were used to assess anxiety and work stress, respectively. Effect modification was assessed by stratifying on police stress scores using their median values, and on partner’s shift. All models were adjusted for age, alcohol intake, sex and smoking status.
Findings
Results suggest that child care stress was positively associated with anxiety symptoms and that this relationship was moderated by high (>median) work stress factors and afternoon/midnight shift-work, but not having a partner who works opposite shift. These results indicate that child care stress is associated with anxiety symptoms and that this relationship may be modified by work factors.
Research limitations/implications
A number of limitations should be considered while interpreting the results. This study is cross-sectional, which prevents causal inferences; therefore, the temporal pattern between exposure and outcome cannot be determined. The independent, dependent and moderating variables are all self-report measures, which may introduce recall bias. Lastly, generalizability is limited to police departments of similar size and geographic area.
Practical implications
Police experience high stress as part of their jobs, these results indicate that similar to other professions, WFC can also affect police officers, and is associated with higher levels of anxiety.
Originality/value
Few research studies have evaluated the affects of family issues in police. Specifically, the relationship between child care stress and anxiety, and how this relationship may be modified by high work stress.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of varying motivation induced by financial incentives and common uncertainty caused by time pressure on audit judgment…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of varying motivation induced by financial incentives and common uncertainty caused by time pressure on audit judgment performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The experimental method is used to examine how financial incentives and time pressure affect audit performance, based on predictions by both economic and behavioral theories. The relative performance contract and the profit sharing contract are two incentive schemes considered. To achieve the incentive effect on subjects when conducting the experiment, all subjects were compensated with real cash rewards, according to their incentive contracts as randomly assigned.
Findings
As predicted, major results show that both incentive contract and time pressure affect audit judgment performance. The audit performance is generally better under the relative performance contract than under the profit sharing contract. Additionally, it is demonstrated that an increase in the level of time pressure significantly improves recall, recognition, and total efficiency under both types of incentive contracts, but impairs recall and total performance, particularly under the relative performance contract. Moreover, the reduction of recall and total performance under the relative performance contract is significantly greater than under the profit sharing contract. Nevertheless, in this case, the relative performance contract still outperforms the profit sharing contract.
Research limitations/implications
The findings suggest the relative superiority of the relative performance contract in comparison with the profit sharing contract in improving auditors' judgment performance for structured tasks.
Practical implications
The relative performance contract would motivate junior auditors to exert more effort to increase their performance in the work environment of increased time pressure. The audit firms may incorporate relative performance evaluations into incentive schemes, to improve junior auditors' performance for structured tasks.
Originality/value
The paper is of value to audit firms in the design of performance‐contingent incentive contracts.
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Early turnover is a worldwide problem that occurs frequently during the first three years of employment. From a multidisciplinary perspective, this study attempts to find the…
Abstract
Purpose
Early turnover is a worldwide problem that occurs frequently during the first three years of employment. From a multidisciplinary perspective, this study attempts to find the economic, organizational and psychological factors that account for turnover at the early stage of employment.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used turnover records provided by the human resources division of a US pharmaceutical company operating in China of 222 Medical Representatives (MR). The method of Firth's logistic regression for analyzing was employed.
Findings
As an economic factor, the favorable labor conditions (i.e. high ratio of job vacancies) at the time of recruitment were inversely associated with MR subsequent retention. For organizational factors, unsatisfactory supervision and disappointment of intra-organizational career were the major predictors, and job ranks showed a U-shaped relationship to early resignation. Moreover, working pressure was a psychological factor of early exit.
Originality/value
This study provides organizations with empirical implications to devise retention plans for newcomers at risk of attrition, which prevent them from early turnover in the industry facing a talent shortage. Studies based on the company exit records have little been done in turnover literature.
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Wenting Wang, Lirong Jian, Qiuyun Guo, Haitao Zhang and Wenxing Liu
The purpose of this study is to build a link between narcissistic supervision and employees' change-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). On the basis of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to build a link between narcissistic supervision and employees' change-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). On the basis of the social dynamics of state paranoia theory, the study examines the relationship between narcissistic supervision and employees' change-oriented OCBs, and explores how this relationship is mediated by psychological safety and affective organizational commitment.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data collected from a sample of 183 employee–leader dyads from a technology company in China, the study examines the mediating effects of psychological safety and affective organizational commitment on the relationship between narcissistic supervision and employees' change-oriented OCBs. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze the data.
Findings
The results indicate that narcissistic supervision has a negative effect on psychological safety and affective organizational commitment; psychological safety mediates the relationship between narcissistic supervision and affective organizational commitment; and affective organizational commitment mediates the relationship between psychological safety and employees' change-oriented OCBs. The results also show that the negative effect of narcissistic supervision on employees' change-oriented OCBs is mediated by psychological safety and subsequently affective organizational commitment.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by linking narcissistic supervision and employees' change-oriented OCBs and suggesting that psychological safety and affective organizational commitment are two critical mediators of this relationship. This study not only advances research on the “dark side” of narcissistic supervision, but also sheds light on the underlying mechanism of narcissistic supervision and employees' change-oriented OCBs from the psychological and emotional perspectives.
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This study aims to construct a mental health service system for middle school students in the post-COVID-19 era with the framework of Six Sigma DMAIC (define, measure, analyze…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to construct a mental health service system for middle school students in the post-COVID-19 era with the framework of Six Sigma DMAIC (define, measure, analyze, improve and control) and analyze the influencing factors of the mental health service system to study the implementation strategies of quality-oriented mental health services in middle schools.
Design/methodology/approach
This study was conducted in Tianjin, China, from September to November 2022, and 350 middle school students from Tianjin Public Middle School were selected as subjects. A questionnaire survey was used to collect data. In this study, the Six Sigma DMAIC method, sensitivity analysis method, exploratory factor analysis and principal component analysis were used to analyze the mental health services provided to middle school students.
Findings
Based on the Six Sigma DMAIC framework, this study indicates that the contribution rate of the mental health service process factor is the largest in the post-COVID-19 era. The mental health cultivation factor ranks second in terms of its contribution. Mental health quality and policy factors are also important in the construction of middle school students’ mental health service system. In addition, the study highlights the importance of parental involvement and social support in student mental health services during the post-COVID-19 era.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, a study on middle school students’ mental health in the post-Covid-19 era has not yet been conducted. This study developed a quality-oriented mental health system and analyzed the influencing factors of mental health for middle school students based on data analysis and the Six Sigma DMAIC method.
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