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1 – 10 of 12Liisa Mäkelä, Barbara Bergbom, Jussi Tanskanen and Ulla Kinnunen
The purpose of this paper is to study well-being among the internationally mobile work force by exploring the relationships between international business traveling, work-family…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study well-being among the internationally mobile work force by exploring the relationships between international business traveling, work-family conflict (WFC), and health issues. In this study, these relationships are examined on the basis of the health impairment process of the job demands-resources model. More specifically, the study examines the role of WFC as a mediator between international business travel and sleep problems using a full panel design.
Design/methodology/approach
The data for this study are drawn from Finnish employees whose work involved international business travel (n=868) and who answered two surveys with a one-year time lag.
Findings
The results showed that international business travel in terms of the number of travel days per year, while not predicting sleep problems directly over time, did significantly increase WFC, which in turn increased sleep problems. Thus, WFC functioned as a mediator in the relationship between business travel and subsequent sleep problems.
Practical implications
The results indicate that family-friendly HR policies and practices might help international business travelers (IBTs) reduce levels of WFC, which could in turn protect them from harmful health effects, particularly sleep problems.
Originality/value
The study examines the understudied professional group of IBTs and contributes to the knowledge on their well-being and WFC issues.
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Ulla Kinnunen, Taru Feldt and Saija Mauno
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between authentic leadership and team climate across 22 months. More specifically, three alternative causation models…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between authentic leadership and team climate across 22 months. More specifically, three alternative causation models (normal, reversed, reciprocal) were tested.
Design/methodology/approach
The longitudinal study was conducted among 265 Finnish municipal employees (87.5 per cent women, mean age 48.4 years). The participants completed a questionnaire three times: at baseline (T1), about 14 months after baseline (T2) and about eight months after the second questionnaire (T3).
Findings
The cross-lagged analyses based on structural equation modelling lent support to the reversed causation model more than the normal causation and reciprocal models. More specifically, team climate at T2 predicted authentic leadership across eight months at T3. Thus the study suggests that positive team climate (i.e. vision, participation safety, task orientation, and support for innovation) may foster authentic leadership in the long term and not vice versa.
Practical/implications
The findings suggest that − besides improving team climate and authentic leadership themselves – team climate should be improved in order to enable authentic leadership to develop and flourish. It is important to emphasize that in forming the team climate employees are active agents and not passive targets.
Originality/value
The study is among the first to test different causal models regarding authentic leadership and team climate. From the theoretical viewpoint, the findings suggest that follower-centric theories of leadership merit greater attention in the future.
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Ulla Kinnunen, Anne Mäkikangas, Saija Mauno, Katri Siponen and Jouko Nätti
The purpose of the present study is to examine how perceived employability relates to job exhaustion, psychological symptoms and self‐rated job performance in involuntary and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the present study is to examine how perceived employability relates to job exhaustion, psychological symptoms and self‐rated job performance in involuntary and voluntary temporary employees compared to permanent employees.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on a cross‐sectional design using a sample of university teachers and researchers (n=1,014) from two Finnish universities. Of the sample, 40 percent (n=408) are permanent employees, 49 percent (n=495) involuntary and 11 percent (n=111) voluntary temporary employees. Most respondents (54 percent) have education above a Master's degree, the average age is 43 years, and 58 percent are women.
Findings
The results of general linear model analyses show that perceived employability promotes favorable outcomes among all respondents. However, the negative relationship between perceived employability and job exhaustion and psychological symptoms is stronger among voluntary than among involuntary temporary employees.
Originality/value
The study indicates that although perceived employability seems to be important to all employees, involuntary temporary employees benefit least from high perceived employability in terms of individual well‐being.
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Barbara Bergbom, Maarit Vartia-Vaananen and Ulla Kinnunen
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether immigrants, when in the minority, are more exposed to bullying at work than natives, and whether immigrants’ cultural distance…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether immigrants, when in the minority, are more exposed to bullying at work than natives, and whether immigrants’ cultural distance from the host culture increases the risk of being bullied.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted as a cross-sectional survey. The participants were immigrant (N=183) and native (N=186) employees in a transport company in Finland.
Findings
Whereas immigrants on average were more likely than natives to label themselves as being bullied, the culturally least distant group of immigrants did not differ in this regard from natives. Compared to natives, the risk of being bullied was nearly three times higher in the intermediate distance group of immigrants and nearly eight times higher in the culturally most distant group. The primary type of negative act immigrants were subjected to was social exclusion.
Research limitations/implications
It would be advisable for future research investigating immigrants’ exposure to bullying to use quasi-objective measures along with a self-labelling measure, and to apply qualitative methods.
Practical implications
The heightened risk of culturally distant immigrants to being exposed to bullying might be reduced by improving employees’ cross-cultural communication skills and by promoting an atmosphere of acceptance of cultural diversity.
Originality/value
The study is an addition to the still scarce literature on immigrants’ exposure to workplace bullying, and takes into particular account immigrants’ cultural distance from their host culture.
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Kaisa Perko, Ulla Kinnunen and Taru Feldt
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the link between transformational leadership and depressive symptoms among employees is mediated by such personal resources as…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the link between transformational leadership and depressive symptoms among employees is mediated by such personal resources as occupational self-efficacy, perceived meaningfulness of the work, and work-related rumination.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted using questionnaires among 557 Finnish municipal employees in various occupations. The statistical analysis was based on structural equation modeling. A multiple mediation model enabled us to investigate the specific indirect effects of each mediator. Model comparison was applied to ascertain whether the mediation should be considered as full or partial.
Findings
Results based on model comparison showed that the proposed factors fully mediated the negative relationship between transformational leadership and depressive symptoms. Thus high level of transformational leadership was associated with high levels of occupational self-efficacy and perceived meaningfulness of the work, and low level of work-related rumination during off-job time, which, in turn, were associated with low level of depressive symptoms. The fully mediated model explained 36 percent of the variance in depressive symptoms. All of the three mediators made a unique contribution to this relationship.
Research limitations/implications
The results imply that transformational leadership behaviors may decrease depressiveness among employees through strengthening the personal resources of employees. However, as the study is cross-sectional, causal relationships can only be hypothesized.
Originality/value
The study sheds new light on the possible processes through which transformational leaders may exert their health-promoting effects on employees even in terms of depressive symptoms.
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The need to change budgeting has been frequently debated. Drawing on the literature on management accounting and budgeting change, this study aims to explore changes in budgeting…
Abstract
Purpose
The need to change budgeting has been frequently debated. Drawing on the literature on management accounting and budgeting change, this study aims to explore changes in budgeting and whether experienced success of budgeting varied with time and budget type. Changes in the use of the following budget types were investigated: fixed, revised, rolling, flexible and hybrid budgets.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a mixed research methodology. Survey data was collected from the same business units of large Finnish manufacturing firms in 2004 (Time 1) and 2016/2017 (Time 2) (N = 28). In addition, some of the respondents of the latter survey were interviewed in 2023 (Time 3).
Findings
Almost all business units were found to have remained loyal to budgeting. However, changes in budget types were not uncommon and varied considerably. Overall, the use of fixed budgets continued strongly, the use of revised and hybrid budgets declined, and the use of rolling budgets increased over time. Moreover, the joint use of budgets declined. The perceived success of budgetary processes was, initially, weakened by the use of fixed budgets and, later, by the use of revised budgets. The interview data further illustrates some of the patterns of, and reasons behind, the changes.
Originality/value
Longitudinal analysis of change in the same business units was useful in revealing the patterns of change in budgeting and on relationships between the variables analysed over time. Further research could be carried out using more extensive case studies in companies or sector-focused surveys longitudinally.
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Virpi Sillanpää, Antti Lönnqvist, Niina Koskela, Ulla‐Maija Koivula, Matti Koivuaho and Harri Laihonen
The starting‐point of this paper is the observation that, while intellectual capital (IC) management seems to be a potential approach for non‐profit elderly care organizations…
Abstract
Purpose
The starting‐point of this paper is the observation that, while intellectual capital (IC) management seems to be a potential approach for non‐profit elderly care organizations, there is a lack of empirical evidence on how it could actually be applied. This paper aims to add to knowledge of this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
This is an exploratory, qualitative case study including three case organizations. The case descriptions and analysis are based on interviews with managers of the case organizations.
Findings
The study describes which intangible resources are highlighted in the operations of non‐profit elderly care organizations, the existing practices regarding the management of IC factors and the IC needs of management in these organizations.
Research limitations/implications
The study focuses on Finnish non‐profits. The operations of the third sector may vary across countries.
Practical implications
The elderly care sector is facing big challenges due to the changing age structure in many Western countries and due to the pressure to produce cost‐effective but still high‐quality services. The IC approach seems well‐suited as a managerial framework that can capture the intangible aspects of operations. However, more research and practical application experience are needed at this stage.
Originality/value
IC research on non‐profit organizations is rare and has so far been rather generic and conceptual. The paper makes a contribution by presenting empirical and industry‐specific findings.
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Taejun Cho and Kiung Ryu
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among self-efficacy, family-work conflict, social comparison standards, career expectation (CE), and career success…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among self-efficacy, family-work conflict, social comparison standards, career expectation (CE), and career success through surveying the faculties of two major universities in Shandong Province, China.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through online survey instruments returned by 147 university women faculties from the two major universities in the region.
Findings
The results showed that: there was a significantly negative relationship between social comparison standards targeting to men and CE; self-efficacy was both impact statistically on family-work conflict and social comparison standards. This study found that the perceptions of CEs of Chinese women faculties were impacted by social comparison standards that could be directly perceived from men through observing and communicating with them. On the other hand, family-work conflict, which indirectly impacted on their CE, was not statistically significant, even though it significantly bothered them. Moreover, by investing the moderate effect of self-efficacy, it was a very important factor which helped them to develop their CEs.
Originality/value
Since the higher self-efficacy group had higher CEs, increasing self-efficacy should be a prerequisite to help them develop their careers. Still, Chinese women faculties of two major universities in Shandong Province had low CE, high family-work conflict, and felt an inequality in career against men.
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