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1 – 10 of 886Eimear Nolan and Xiaoning Liang
The last decade has seen a significant increase in self-initiated expatriation research across various cohorts; however, limited research exists on the self-initiated expatriation…
Abstract
Purpose
The last decade has seen a significant increase in self-initiated expatriation research across various cohorts; however, limited research exists on the self-initiated expatriation of medical doctors despite their high mobility rates. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of cross-cultural adjustment among self-initiated medical doctors working and living in a host culture.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire was distributed to self-initiated expatriate (SIE) doctors working in Irish hospitals. In total, 193 valid responses were collected. Three linear regression analyses were conducted to explore factors influencing cross-cultural adjustment among SIE medical doctors, along with qualitative insight into their adjustment to working and living in Ireland.
Findings
This study found that age, marital status, cultural novelty, previous international work experience, length of time working in the host culture did not influence the cross-cultural adjustment of SIE doctors. However, gender, language ability and perceived fair treatment were found to influence their cross-cultural adjustment in the study. Specifically, female SIE doctors reported higher levels of general adjustment to that of SIE male doctors. SIE doctors' language ability was found to influence their work adjustment, and those who perceived unfair treatment in the host culture reported lower levels of general adjustment.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the limited knowledge and understanding surrounding the self-initiated expatriation of medical doctors and their cross-cultural adjustment to the host hospital and host culture.
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Alexei Koveshnikov, Heidi Wechtler, Miriam Moeller and Cecile Dejoux
Using social influence theory, this study examines the relationship between self-initiated expatriates' (SIE) political skill, as a measure of their social effectiveness, and…
Abstract
Purpose
Using social influence theory, this study examines the relationship between self-initiated expatriates' (SIE) political skill, as a measure of their social effectiveness, and cross-cultural adjustment (CCA). It also tests whether the host employer's psychological contract (PC) fulfillment mediates this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Partial least square structural equation modeling (covariance-based SEM) technique is employed to analyze a sample of 209 SIEs.
Findings
The study finds SIEs' political skill positively and significantly associated with SIEs' work-related adjustment. The relationship with interactional adjustment is only marginally significant. It also finds that SIEs' PC fulfillment mediates the relationship between SIEs' political skill and work-related adjustment. The mediation is marginally significant for the relationship between SIEs' political skill and general living adjustment.
Originality/value
The study adds to the literature on expatriates' skills and CCA by theorizing and testing the hitherto unexplored role of SIEs' political skill in their work and non-work CCA. It also theorizes and examines the host employer's PC fulfillment as a mediating mechanism, through which SIEs' political skill facilitates their CCA. Finally, it advances the literature on political skill by testing the construct's application in the cross-cultural and non-work domain.
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Joris van Ruysseveldt, Tonnie van Wiggen-Valkenburg and Karen van Dam
The purpose of this study is to develop the self-initiated work adjustment for learning (SIWAL) scale that measures the adjustments that employees make in their work to enhance…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to develop the self-initiated work adjustment for learning (SIWAL) scale that measures the adjustments that employees make in their work to enhance learning, based on theories and research on workplace learning, work adjustment and work design.
Design/methodology/approach
The SIWAL scale was validated in two independent studies. Study 1 (n = 208) focused on the internal consistency and factor structure of the SIWAL scale. Study 2 (n = 178) re-examined the factorial structure using confirmatory factor analysis and investigated scale validity.
Findings
In both studies, the SIWAL scale showed good psychometric characteristics, i.e. a clear two-factorial structure and internal reliable sub-scales. The findings also indicated convergent, divergent and concurrent validity.
Research limitations/implications
Using the SIWAL scale, future research could focus on the individual, social and organizational predictors and outcomes of SIWAL, collect supervisor and peer ratings to further validate this self-report scale and investigate lower-educated workers.
Practical implications
Organizations might try to enhance their employees' SIWAL through organizational policies, such as supportive leadership, and a learning climate.
Originality/value
This study provides a first step toward a better understanding of what workers do to enhance their workplace learning. The study findings indicate that employees address two adaptive behaviors: adjusting job responsibilities and adjusting social interactions.
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Lilly-Mari Sten, Pernilla Ingelsson and Marie Häggström
The purpose was to present a developed, tested and evaluated methodology for assessing teamwork and sustainable quality culture, focusing on top management teams (TMTs).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose was to present a developed, tested and evaluated methodology for assessing teamwork and sustainable quality culture, focusing on top management teams (TMTs).
Design/methodology/approach
The developed methodology was based on a convergent mixed-method design, including two data collection methods: questionnaire and focus group discussion. Two pilot tests were performed with two TMTs. This design involved analysing, merging and interpreting data, first separately by data collection method and theme and then in a meta-interpretation. Lastly, there was a follow-up meeting for evaluating results.
Findings
Findings from the study were that the methodology can be used to assess teamwork and sustainable quality culture, and the results also showed the strength of using two data collection methods to provide a broader picture of teamwork and sustainable quality culture. A follow-up meeting validated the results and provided additional value to the two TMTs in the form of suggestions on how to improve their teamwork and sustainable quality culture.
Practical implications
Applying this methodology can guide TMTs in how to improve their teamwork and sustainable quality culture within their organisations.
Originality/value
This is a new methodology, containing a developed questionnaire and an interview guide, aiming to assess and evaluate teamwork within TMTs and sustainable quality culture. The practice of the methodology adds value to both TMTs and their organisations, as well as provides a theoretical and methodological contribution to research on teamwork and sustainable quality culture.
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Robert Larsson and Martin Rudberg
This paper aims to study the effects of different weather conditions on typical concrete work tasks’ productivity. Weather is one important factor that has a negative impact on…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the effects of different weather conditions on typical concrete work tasks’ productivity. Weather is one important factor that has a negative impact on construction productivity. Knowledge about how weather affects construction works is therefore important for the construction industry, e.g. during planning and execution of construction projects.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire survey method is used involving means to perform pairwise comparisons of different weather factors according to the analytical hierarchical process (AHP). The survey also contains means to enable assessment of the loss in productivity for typical work tasks exposed to different weather types. The survey targets practitioners involved in Swedish concrete construction projects, and the results are compared with previous research findings.
Findings
The survey covers responses from 232 practitioners with long experience of concrete construction. The pairwise comparisons reveal that practitioners rank precipitation as the most important followed by wind and temperature. The loss in productivity varies significantly (from 0 to 100%) depending on the type of work and the type of weather factor considered. The results partly confirm findings reported in previous research but also reveal a more complex relationship between weather and productivity indicating several underlying influencing factors such as type of work, type of weather (e.g. rain or snow) and the intensity of each weather factor.
Originality/value
This paper presents new data about how 232 practitioners assess the effects of weather on construction productivity involving novel means to perform objective rankings such as the AHP methodology.
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Luciara Nardon, Amrita Hari, Hui Zhang, Liam P.S. Hoselton and Aliya Kuzhabekova
Despite immigrant-receiving countries' need for skilled professionals to meet labour demands, research suggests that many skilled migrants undergo deskilling, downward career…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite immigrant-receiving countries' need for skilled professionals to meet labour demands, research suggests that many skilled migrants undergo deskilling, downward career mobility, underemployment, unemployment and talent waste, finding themselves in low-skilled occupations that are not commensurate to their education and experience. Skilled immigrant women face additional gendered disadvantages, including a disproportionate domestic burden, interrupted careers and gender segmentation in occupations and organizations. This study explores how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic impacted skilled newcomer women's labour market outcomes and work experiences.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw on 50 in-depth questionnaires with skilled women to elaborate on their work experiences during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Findings
The pandemic pushed skilled immigrant women towards unemployment, lower-skilled or less stable employment. Most study participants had their career trajectory delayed, interrupted or reversed due to layoffs, decreased job opportunities and increased domestic burden. The pandemic's gendered nature and the reliance on work-from-home arrangements and online job search heightened immigrant women's challenges due to limited social support and increased family responsibilities.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the conversation of increased integration challenges under pandemic conditions by contextualizing the pre-pandemic literature on immigrant work integration to the pandemic environment. Also, this paper contributes a better understanding of the gender dynamics informing the COVID-19 socio-economic climate.
Hilary Yerbury, Simon Darcy, Nina Burridge and Barbara Almond
Classification schemes make things happen. The Australian Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), which derives its classification system from the World Health Organization's…
Abstract
Purpose
Classification schemes make things happen. The Australian Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), which derives its classification system from the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), legislates for adjustments to support the inclusion of people with disability. This study explores how students with disability enrolled in a university experience the systems intended to facilitate their studying “on the same basis” as students without disability.
Design/methodology/approach
Through an online questionnaire and interviews comprising open and closed questions made available to students registered with the disability services unit of a university and follow-up interviews with a small number of students, students’ views of their own disability and effects on their participation in learning were gathered, alongside reports of their experiences of seeking support in their learning. Interview data and responses to open-ended questions were analysed using a priori and emergent coding.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that students are aware of the workings of the classification scheme and that most accept them. However, some students put themselves outside of the scheme, often as a way to exercise autonomy or to assert their “ability”, while others are excluded from it by the decisions of academic staff. Thus, the principles of fairness and equity enshrined in legislation and policy are weakened.
Originality/value
Through the voices of students with disability, it is apparent that, even though a student's classification according to the DDA and associated university policy remains constant, the outcomes of the workings of the scheme may reveal inconsistencies, emerging from the complexity of bureaucracy, processes and the exercises of power.
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The trend in education is shifting toward a greater concern with learning. In this new model, teachers are required to constantly reflect on their pedagogy to sustain student…
Abstract
The trend in education is shifting toward a greater concern with learning. In this new model, teachers are required to constantly reflect on their pedagogy to sustain student interest and engagement. This reflective inquiry is particularly important when the teacher and students are of different language and culture as in the case of Zayed University, UAE. Such cross-cultural context often complicates the learning environment resulting in confusion, stress, and frustration for faculty and students. It also results in a reduced teaching effectiveness and a need to regularly adapt tried methods of teaching in Western universities with the educational background of students. This process requires deep reflection and cultural adjustment. This study therefore investigated the challenges, critical inquiry, and adjustments of Western faculty in the delivery of an American curriculum taught in English to Emirati female students. The study also sought to derive a theoretical model explaining faculty reflective processes in cross-cultural classrooms.
Jeová Torres Silva Júnior, Jailson Santana Carneiro, Patrick Wendell Barbosa Lessa and Carlos Leandro Soares Vieira
The challenges of the growth of the sharing economy are becoming more and more noticeable and urgent, especially concerning labor relations (e.g. uberization). The purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
The challenges of the growth of the sharing economy are becoming more and more noticeable and urgent, especially concerning labor relations (e.g. uberization). The purpose of this paper is to understand what app-based drivers think of working conditions and labor relations.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was carried out in three stages: bibliographical and documental research, and two empirical research, a quantitative one with the application of a questionnaire in a sample of 54 respondents and another qualitative one using an interview script with ten drivers. For data analysis, the abductive method and the content analysis technique were used.
Findings
The results reveal they have an exhausting labor routine, by checking that they work more hours per week than those who have a formal job. They are driven mainly by the extra income and flexibility that digital platforms of the sector of shared private transportation can offer, although the costs intrinsic to the activity often affect their revenues significantly.
Research limitations/implications
The number of answers from women was very small, which hinders the analysis of the potential specificities of women app-based drivers. Future studies could focus on this public for a more precise analysis, to bring the discussion on gender to the working context of app-based drivers.
Practical implications
The authors’ intention with the research reports was to make them relevant, leading to effective policies concerning working conditions and labor relations in the sharing economy, and to stimulate other surveys to understand the activity of an app-based driver of shared private transportation.
Originality/value
The authors’ research and this article contribute to the discussion on new work relationships, motivations and (dis)satisfaction with the activity, from the perspective of app-based drivers.
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Miki Kuwabara, Koji Oba, Nao Takano, Noritoshi Nagamine, Yoko Maruyama, Nobuhiro Ito, Izumi Watanabe, Chikako Ikeda and Junichi Sakamoto
Occupational stress-relating overwork among teachers predispose to mental disorders and eventually lead to long leave from work. Although some studies have been conducted to…
Abstract
Purpose
Occupational stress-relating overwork among teachers predispose to mental disorders and eventually lead to long leave from work. Although some studies have been conducted to assess these problems among elementary and junior high school teachers, a quantitative investigation has been limited to date. In this study, the authors sought to explore the association between overwork and mental stress among Japanese elementary and junior high school teachers.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory cross-sectional questionnaire survey was carried out on 294 Japanese elementary and junior high school teachers. The respondents filled a questionnaire on personal data, and occupational stress reaction was evaluated by Japanese version of Brief Job Questionnaire. Multiple linear regression model was used to evaluate the association between overwork information and psychological and physical stress.
Findings
Working during holidays was significantly likely to increase psychological and physical stress reactions among elementary school teachers (adjusted mean difference = −1.67, 95% CI: −2.81 to −0.54) and junior high school teachers (adjusted mean difference = −5.24, 95% CI: −9.60 to −0.87). A weakly positive association was found between high risk of psychological and physical stress and marital status (p = 0.005), teacher in charge of class (p = 0.015) among elementary school teachers.
Originality/value
This study indicated an association between working during holidays and psychological and physical stress reactions among elementary and junior high school teachers after adjusting for sociodemographic and work-related status. Further study for the confirmation of this finding is warranted.
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