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Ambidexterity increases an organisation’s capability to successfully navigate dynamic and uncertain environments. While leaders are expected to model flexible learning and practices throughout the organisation, little is known about the leader characteristics and contextual factors that underpin ambidexterity. This study aims to explore whether paradoxical thinking, integrator behaviours and managerial role and level influence the likelihood of leaders exhibiting ambidexterity.

This study relied on a self-report questionnaire completed by 152 managers of a large, public health-care organisation in New Zealand. A k-means cluster analysis of the data was conducted to identify leader ambidexterity clusters, and the hypothesised effects were tested with multinomial logistic regressions.

Health-care managers favoured exploitation and moderate ambidexterity. Higher levels of integrator behaviours (i.e. reflective learning and context responsiveness) were found among leaders who showed high ambidexterity. Context responsiveness was the sole significant predictor distinguishing between high ambidexterity and other ambidexterity profiles. No statistically significant differences in ambidexterity cluster membership were found between clinical and non-clinical roles and across managerial levels.

While our study relied on a cross-sectional self-reported design, the findings underscore the importance of learning behaviours and context responsiveness to ambidexterity. This study discusses avenues for future research and leadership development towards improved organisational learning systems and practices.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first to test the contribution of paradoxical thinking and integrator behaviours to health-care leader ambidexterity and to examine differences in ambidexterity profiles across managerial levels and roles. The factor analysis suggests that integrator behaviours represent two distinct constructs: reflective le`arning and context responsiveness.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the management of maternity leave in small firms and particularly to explore the perceived costs and benefits of paid maternity leave (PML). PML is a universal right in some countries (i.e. the UK), but not in Australia where most private sector female employees only have access to 12 months unpaid maternity leave. It also aims to explore how the business case for (or against) PML is constructed in small firms.

The study was limited to smaller firms operating in the business services sector in the same regional area. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with eight employers and female employees in six of these firms. Analysis by theme was undertaken within and across interview transcripts.

Not one of these small firm employers offered PML and the cost of doing so was not considered to outweigh the benefits already realised through the (legislated) unpaid maternity leave scheme. In these firms maternity leave was managed in an informal way with notions of flexibility – give and take – characterising what happens.

The paper addresses the lack of research on access to family‐related leave policies in small firms. Employer and employee views of the issue are drawn upon, the latter not often being heard. The paper contributes to understanding the construction of the business case for a specific issue in smaller firms and human resource management from a resource‐based view more generally in smaller firms.

Although library costs continue to rise in respect to staff, materials, and general operating expenses, the budgets needed to maintain the expected level of services are not keeping pace. And, in spite of a surge in interest in computing unit costs for budget justification, resource distribution, cost comparison, and forecasting, relatively few organizations have implemented full‐scale cost analyses.

Looks at the 2000 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference held at the University of Cardiff in Wales on 6/7 September 2000. Spotlights the 76 or so presentations within and shows that these are in many, differing, areas across management research from: retail finance; precarious jobs and decisions; methodological lessons from feminism; call centre experience and disability discrimination. These and all points east and west are covered and laid out in a simple, abstract style, including, where applicable, references, endnotes and bibliography in an easy‐to‐follow manner. Summarizes each paper and also gives conclusions where needed, in a comfortable modern format.

The purpose of this paper is to explore perceptions of quality of life (QoL) of people with a dual diagnosis of learning disability and autism to facilitate a better understanding for clinical practice and service provision.

Mixed methods were used to gain perceptions of QoL from 20 individuals referred to their local diagnostic service. Individuals completed questionnaires and participated in in-depth interviews which were thematically analysed.

Subjective wellbeing scores were lower than those found in previous research. Social interaction was raised extensively with participants describing both positive and negative perceptions. The need for tailored social support and the value of individual control over environment were raised.

The study was small in scale and limited to subjects who had been referred for a diagnostic service. The study identified the need for further investigation, particularly in relation to the social relationships domain of QoL, and the impact of stress and anxiety.

This study demonstrated that it is possible to access views from this group and that these views are nuanced. It suggests differences between reported QoL in people with learning disabilities who are and who are not autistic. Service design and individual approaches could be improved by a better understanding of these differences.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the dynamics between management approach, human resource systems and practices, and responses of seasonal workers.

After reviewing literature on contingent workers focusing on seasonal workers in particular, this paper presents a case study of how seasonal work is managed in a specific organisational context.

There is a noticeable gap between the organisation's initial approach to human resource management (during recruitment and induction) and the way employees are actually managed during the course of their employment. While seasonal employees may have low levels of organisational commitment as a consequence, nevertheless their commitment to colleagues, supervisors, and in some cases, clients has side‐benefits for the organisation.

The research is based on a single case study and has illustrative value. The characteristics of seasonal work described in the case reflect a specific industry and organisational context.

The findings suggest that employers of seasonal workers should consider the influence of human resource management systems and practices on the expectations and experience employees have of work.

The paper makes an empirical contribution as seasonal work has received little attention to date. Moreover, as seasonal work potentially combines short‐term finite employment with longer‐term relational aspects, we are able to highlight the relevance of cyclical time to an understanding of how employees perceive and experience work.

Wonders whether companies actually have employees best interests at heart across physical, mental and spiritual spheres. Posits that most organizations ignore their workforce – not even, in many cases, describing workers as assets! Describes many studies to back up this claim in theis work based on the 2002 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference, in Cardiff, Wales.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the papers contributing to this special issue and to locate them within the broader questions about the role of small firms in enabling or alleviating issues of equality, diversity, and difference for various groups in society.

The literature dealing with the issues of equality, diversity, and difference pertaining to the operation of and/or working in smaller firms was reviewed prior to drawing out the key points from the submitted papers and considering the contribution they make to this literature.

Overall, one's these five papers contribute to one's understanding of the issues facing those in business or self‐employment, working in small business or wanting to pursue enterprise.

Rarely are questions asked about the assumed role small firms play in mitigating social exclusion for a range of groups in society. By addressing questions which explore the challenge of equality, diversity, and difference for small business in their establishment, management, and effective operation using interdisciplinary frameworks and different methodologies, a better understanding of the role of small business in society can be developed.

Secondary prevention programmes have traditionally employed mass screening approaches to assess for asymptomatic signs of cancer. It has been suggested that early detection strategies involving public education and self‐referral may prove more cost‐effective with low risk populations for cancers with symptomatic presentation. This study, which was commissioned to inform the development of a cancer awareness campaign, aims to examine public perceptions of the early detection of cancer, the psycho‐social barriers to self‐referral amongst a key at‐risk population and the implications for patient education.

An exploratory study using qualitative focus groups with an at‐risk population of older people living in deprived communities in west‐central Scotland.

The findings reveal broad support for initiatives designed to raise symptom awareness. However, fear of cancer can lead to apparently irrational responses to symptoms and subsequent delay, particularly amongst men who are less likely to seek support from lay networks.

Early detection messages need to take account tone and symptom description to allay fears and ensure appropriate presentation. Consideration also needs to be given to the role played by lay and professional opinion formers to informing and supporting patients' decision to present with suspicious symptoms, particularly when targeting harder to reach patients of men, older people, and people living in deprived communities.

This study clarifies how intra-organizational social capital (IOSC) and unit-organizational ambidexterity (UOA), using resource-based view and dynamic capability theory, together support organizational value creation. While there is research in strategic human resource management (SHRM) exploring the role of resources and its uses, there remains limited understanding of how resources are linked and their effective utilization in the service sector. This study aims to examine the mediating process linking employee-experienced service-oriented high-performance work systems (SHPWS) experienced by employees and service performance by integrating IOSC and UOA.

This study uses time lagged data from managers and employees of different branches of Chinese state-owned banks. To test the proposed hypotheses, path analysis was applied.

The path analysis results reveal that employee-experienced SHPWS is an important antecedent of service performance. Moreover, IOSC (as resources) and UOA (uses) strongly mediate the theorized relationship.

This study attempts to refine theory and practice with clearer, more insightful and coherent means to better understand and help unpack the ‘black box’ between SHPWS-performance relationships through a new linkage model.