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1 – 6 of 6Leah Tomkins and Virginia Eatough
The purpose of this paper is to look at how phenomenology can be used to explore the meaning and experience of organizational life. It argues that phenomenology provides more than…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to look at how phenomenology can be used to explore the meaning and experience of organizational life. It argues that phenomenology provides more than just themes or leitmotifs for post hoc analysis of narrative data; in its basic formulation, phenomenology is a way of thinking – a method – which illuminates the embodied, subjective and inter-subjective qualities of the life-world.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper follows Husserl's command to “go back to the things themselves” to access raw experience, asking ourselves, “what does experience mean phenomenologically?” We draw on the work of Merleau-Ponty to “flesh out” the embodied aspects of that phenomenological experience, outlining how the idea of a “field of presence” grounds our reflections in the here-and-now and gives our selfhood its coherence.
Findings
The paper presents data on the diverse meanings of “experience” to suggest that phenomenological and organizational understandings can be differentiated in terms of both temporality and selfhood. The paper argues that these differentiations expose different ways of thinking about the world more generally, drawing on Husserl's philosophy of the “natural attitude” to propose that one of its derivations, an “organizational attitude”, is obscuring our view of embodied experience.
Practical implications
The paper provides practical guidelines for those interested in researching the embodied, experiential qualities of organizational life. These emphasize the need to suspend the “organizational attitude”, modify how the authors position and explain the research, and attend to the interplay between the felt sense of the world and the words used to articulate it.
Originality/value
The logic of the body helps the authors to work towards a more integrative, conciliatory epistemological position for qualitative organizational research. The paper uses a phenomenological view of embodiment – as both subjectively experienced and objectively presented to the world – to suggest that the body, particularly when it is sick, is giving us clues for how to conceptualize the life-world of work.
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Leah Tomkins and Virginia Eatough
The purpose of this paper is to offer a more integrative and inclusive conceptualisation of reflexivity as a way of identifying, understanding and managing some of the risks…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to offer a more integrative and inclusive conceptualisation of reflexivity as a way of identifying, understanding and managing some of the risks associated with reflexivity's potentially solipsistic “inward turn”.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on the authors' experience of empirical qualitative research with working carers. This experience is grounded within the traditions of interpretative phenomenology and critical epistemology.
Findings
Two reflexive risks: an unintended focus on researcher rather than participant; and process at the expense of substance are discussed and the first of these, reflexive narcissism, is associated with the recognition of biographical similarity between researcher and participant, and the second, a kind of reflexive “process‐ism”, with certain research designs involving meta‐reflection with participants on the research experience. The paper advocates the use of multiple reflexivities and an intrinsic sensibility to reflexive possibility throughout the duration of a research programme.
Research limitations/implications
The paper offers an alternative model of reflexivity and some practical guidelines, which may be of value to researchers working across a range of different qualitative methodologies.
Practical implications
The paper makes some preliminary observations about the phenomenon of the working carer, which may be of value to organisational practitioners.
Originality/value
The approach to reflexivity outlined in this paper helps to clarify some of the issues and difficulties associated with the reflexive thesis, and in particular, will help less experienced qualitative researchers to avoid some common pitfalls of reflexive practice.
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Traci Carrano Traci Carrano and Darrell Norman Burrell
The emergence of COVID-19 has exacerbated and spurred the growth of mental health issues in ways that have challenged mental health workers tremendously. The complex nature of…
Abstract
Purpose
The emergence of COVID-19 has exacerbated and spurred the growth of mental health issues in ways that have challenged mental health workers tremendously. The complex nature of COVID-19 has made the need of mental health professionals extremely important. Hospital ward overcrowding, social distancing requirements, sequestrations, limits to face-to-face consultations have created barriers to mental health access, especially those in need of Certified Peer Recovery Specialists. Certified Peer Recovery Specialists play a critical role in the treatment of mental illness through their support and engagement of those recovering from substance abuse. Many in this role are hired because they have a strong skillset for help-oriented clinical work but are often challenged, especially in times like this to development and demonstrate leadership skills. This paper explores the nature and need to develop leadership skills and leadership challenges for people in this field through interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) and a content analysis of the current and seminal literature.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper explores the nature and need to develop leadership skills and leadership challenges for people in mental health through IPA and a content analysis of the current and seminal literature.
Findings
The essential necessity to invest in the cultivation of peer recovery specialists and mental health professionals as organizational leaders.
Originality/value
Hospital ward overcrowding, social distancing requirements, sequestrations, limits to face- to- face consultations have created barriers to mental health access, especially those in need of Certified Peer Recovery Specialists. Certified Peer Recovery Specialists play a critical role in the treatment of mental illness through their support and engagement of those recovering from substance abuse.
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Kevin Hill, Denis Chênevert and Jean Poitras
This study aims to clarify the relationship between changes in role ambiguity and turnover intentions. The authors propose that increases in role ambiguity over time can bias…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to clarify the relationship between changes in role ambiguity and turnover intentions. The authors propose that increases in role ambiguity over time can bias employees’ interpretations such that they come to view more relationship conflict at work. Because of the importance of social relationships at work, the authors propose that these increases in perceptions of relationship conflict mediate the positive effect of increases in role ambiguity on turnover intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is a two-wave longitudinal analysis of survey responses obtained from 146 employees working in the health-care sector over a three-year period. Structural equation modeling of cross-lagged correlations was used to test the hypothesized model.
Findings
The positive relationship between increases in role ambiguity and turnover intentions over time is mediated by increases in relationship conflict. Results provide an integrative explanation of the phenomenon, uniting role theory, conflict theory and turnover theory.
Research limitations/implications
Measures were all self-reported, and the non-experimental nature of the research design precludes causal interpretations. Future research should incorporate sources of measurement other than the focal employee and include additional variables presumed to operate in explaining these effects.
Practical implications
Results highlight the need to monitor changes in employees’ role ambiguity beliefs over time. They also point to conflict management interventions as a potential means of reducing turnover intentions among employees who experience role ambiguity increases.
Originality/value
The longitudinal examination of changes in these variables yields new insight into the nature of the relationships between role ambiguity, conflict and turnover intentions.
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Jill R. Helmle, Isabel C. Botero and David R. Seibold
The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that influence perceptions of work-life balance among owners of copreneurial firms. Research on work-life balance in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that influence perceptions of work-life balance among owners of copreneurial firms. Research on work-life balance in the context of family firms has focussed on the effects that perceptions of balance can have on the emotional well-being of business owners and performance of the firm. Less attention has been given to understanding the factors affecting an owner's perceptions of work-life balance. This paper not only explores the antecedents of perceptions of work-life balance but does so with copreneurs, or couples who own and manage a firm.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for this study were collected using surveys. In all, 210 copreneurs with businesses in nearly 20 industries answered questions about their perceptions of work-life balance, work-life conflict (WLC), life-work conflict, communication practices, characteristics of their jobs, and spousal support.
Findings
WLC was negatively related to perceptions of work-life balance. Job involvement, flexibility at work, and permeability of communication were significantly related to perceptions of WLC. Interestingly spousal support did not affect individual perceptions of life-work balance, but had a direct influence on perceptions of work-life balance.
Research limitations/implications
The sample was not randomly selected, and participants were surveyed at only one point in time. Notwithstanding these limitations, the findings have implications for advancing research and theory in the areas of family business, work-life issues, and communication. While the paper focus on copreneurial firms, the findings may have implications for family firms and co-founded ventures.
Practical implications
The potential benefits of copreneurs’ increased awareness of these findings (from readings or through coaching) are important given prior research demonstrating that family to work conflict and work to family conflict affect the emotional well-being of family business owners, their satisfaction with work, and firm performance.
Originality/value
This project offers two important contributions to research in family firms. First, it focusses on copreneurial firms as a unique type of family firm which has the potential to shed light on the differences between family firms. Second, results from this study provide a picture of the predictors of work-life balance for couples who are firm owners.
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