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1 – 10 of over 204000Miikka Palvalin and Maiju Vuolle
The purpose of this paper is to introduce and evaluate methods for analysing the impacts of work environment changes. New working practices and work environments present the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce and evaluate methods for analysing the impacts of work environment changes. New working practices and work environments present the potential to improve both the productivity and the wellbeing of knowledge workers, and more widely, the performance of organisations and the wider society. The flexibility offered by information and communication technology has influenced changes in the physical environment where activity-based offices are becoming the standard. Research offers some evidence on the impacts of work environment changes, but studies examining methods that could be useful in capturing the overall impacts and how to measure them are lacking.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper concludes research of the last five years and includes data from several organisations. The paper presents and empirically demonstrates the application of three complementary ways to analyse the impacts of knowledge work redesigns. The methods include: interview framework for modelling the potential of new ways of working (NWoW); questionnaire tool for measuring the subjective knowledge work performance in the NWoW context; and multidimensional performance measurement for measuring the performance impacts at the organisational level.
Findings
This paper presents a framework for identifying the productivity potential and measuring the impacts of work environment changes. The paper introduces the empirical examples of three different methods for analysing the impacts of NWoW and discusses the usefulness and challenges of the methods. The results also support the idea of a measurement process and confirm that it suits NWoW context.
Practical implications
The three methods explored in this study can be used in organisations for planning and measuring work environment changes. The paper presents a comprehensive approach to work environment which could help managers to identify and improve the critical points of knowledge work.
Originality/value
Changes in the work environment are huge for knowledge workers, but it is still unclear whether their effects on performance are negative or positive. The value of this paper is that it applies traditional measurement methods to NWoW contexts, and analyses how these could be used in research and management.
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Vathsala Wickramasinghe and Manoja Karunasekara
The purpose of this paper is to empirically identify the post‐implementation impact of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems on work and work‐life of managerial‐level…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically identify the post‐implementation impact of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems on work and work‐life of managerial‐level end‐users, in terms of problem‐solving support, job discretion, management visibility and cross‐functionality, authority and decision rights, and overall impact on organization, in Sri Lanka.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey methodology was used and managerial‐level end‐users who fulfilled the selection criteria set for the study, responded. The hypothesized relationships were examined using structural equation modelling.
Findings
It was found that “ERP system product performance” significantly predicts “problem solving support”, “job discretion, management visibility and cross‐functionality”, and “impact on organization”. However, the direct link between “ERP system product performance” and “authority and decision rights” is not significant.
Originality/value
The literature suggests that the impact of ERP systems on individuals and organizations can be conceptualized in terms of individual users' perceptions and beliefs about the changes which occurred after the implementation. However, the main shortcoming of past studies is that they included a limited number of consequences of ERP adoption in a single study.
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Vincent Kwame Osei-Appiah, Ernest Kissi, Victor Acheamfour Karikari, Prosper Ayeng, Eugene Danquah-Smith and Michael Adesi
Works procurement performance is critical to successful project delivery. However, early supplier involvement (ESI) has been touted in other industries to impact procurement…
Abstract
Purpose
Works procurement performance is critical to successful project delivery. However, early supplier involvement (ESI) has been touted in other industries to impact procurement performance positively. Works procurement has been attracting significant attention from major players due to poor performance characterized by poor performance, budget overruns and incompetence. Hence, the purpose of this study was to assess the impact of ESI on public works procurement performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a thorough review of the literature for a pilot survey, the main questionnaires were administered to 103 public procurement officers. To assess the impact of ESI on public works procurement performance, three constructs that served as factors for implementing ESI and five that measure works procurement performance were validated using partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).
Findings
The outcome of this study shows a significant positive impact of ESI on works procurement performance. This included communication, trust and supplier capabilities. The study further showed that even though cost, schedule, quality, health and safety are essential, sustainability measures are also crucial for work procurement.
Research limitations/implications
The results of this study could help firms make better decisions regarding public works procurement by encouraging ESI. This will likely significantly impact the successful project delivery and preservation of sustainability and efficiency objectives.
Originality/value
The application of PLS-SEM analysis in this study provides insights into how ESI can impact the procurement of public works in Ghana.
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Justin B. Keeler, Noelle F. Scuderi, Meagan E. Brock Baskin, Patricia C. Jordan and Laura M. Meade
The purpose of this study is to investigate the complexity of how demands and stress are mitigated to enhance employee performance in remote working arrangements.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the complexity of how demands and stress are mitigated to enhance employee performance in remote working arrangements.
Design/methodology/approach
A time-lagged snowball sample of 223 full-time remote working adults in the United States participated in an online survey. Data were analyzed using R 4.0.2 and structural equation modeling.
Findings
Results suggest remote job resources involving organizational trust and work flexibility increase performance via serial mediation when considering information communication technology (ICT) demands and work–life interference (WLI). The findings provide insights into counterbalancing the negative aspects of specific demands and stress in remote work arrangements.
Practical implications
This study provides insights for managers to understand how basic job resources may shape perspectives on demands and WLI to impact performance. Specific to remote working arrangements, establishing trust with the employees and promoting accountability with their work flexibility can play an important part in people and their performance.
Originality/value
This study contributes theoretically to the literature by evidencing how components of the E-Work Life (EWL) scale can be used with greater versatility beyond the original composite measurement because of the job-demand resource (JD-R) framework and conservation of resources theory (COR). This study answers several calls by research to investigate how ICT demands and WLI play a complex role in work performance.
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Farhana Hashmi, Kanwal Ameen and Saira Soroya
Since 2005, various public and private sector institutions have been offering a postgraduate degree in Library and Information Management (LIM) in Pakistan and a good number of…
Abstract
Purpose
Since 2005, various public and private sector institutions have been offering a postgraduate degree in Library and Information Management (LIM) in Pakistan and a good number of professionals working in different sectors have got MPhil degree. However, locally, no study has been conducted to measure the impact of higher education on the job performance of information professionals (IPs) in any aspect. The purpose of this paper is to measure job performance of MPhil degree (18 years of education) holder IPs.
Design/methodology/approach
It is a quantitative study based on the theoretical framework of job performance comprised of its four constructs, i.e. task performance, contextual performance, counterproductive work behaviors (CWB) and adaptive performance. An adopted self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from professionals who have graduated from any LIM schools of the Punjab province with at least one-year work experience after completion of MPhil degrees. For the purpose of the present study, demographic information like age, job experience and library context was also asked about to explore their impact on job performance.
Findings
Findings revealed that MPhil degree has a significant positive impact on the job performance of IPs. The professionals reported a significant positive change in their CWB regarding experience after getting a degree. Furthermore, results revealed that professionals were capable of technical skills but needed training regarding time management, teamwork and improving emotional intelligence.
Originality/value
This is the first study reported from Pakistan on the subject. The results of the study may help the LIM schools to review their MPhil programs for the desired results. It may also help organizations to encourage their personnel for higher education.
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Pushpesh Pant, Pradeep Rathore, Krishna kumar Dadsena and Bhaskar Shandilya
This study examines the performance effect of working capital for a large sample of Indian manufacturing firms in light of supply chain disruption, i.e. the COVID-19 pandemic.
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the performance effect of working capital for a large sample of Indian manufacturing firms in light of supply chain disruption, i.e. the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on secondary data collected from the Prowess database on Indian manufacturing firms listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) 500. Panel data regression analyses are used to estimate all models. Moreover, this study has employed robust standard errors to consider for heteroscedasticity concerns.
Findings
The results challenge the current notion of working capital investment and reveal that higher working capital has a positive and significant impact on firm performance. Further, it highlights that Indian manufacturing firms suffered financially post-COVID-19 as they significantly lack the working capital to run day-to-day operations.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the scant literature by examining the association between working capital financing and firm performance in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, representing typical developing economies like India.
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Liang Ma, Xin Zhang and Gaoshan Wang
Enterprise social media (ESM) are frequently used in enterprises for daily operation. Although many researchers have attempted to understand the antecedents and consequences of…
Abstract
Purpose
Enterprise social media (ESM) are frequently used in enterprises for daily operation. Although many researchers have attempted to understand the antecedents and consequences of ESM use, the integrated model, boundary conditions and mechanism of the impact of ESM use on performance are still unclear. This study fill this research gap by adopting a grounded theory approach to study how ESM use affects employee performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Choosing representative cases, the authors collected interview data and analyzed the data using open coding, axial coding and selective coding.
Findings
The results showed four main categories including ESM use, work efficiency, emotional maintenance and work performance, as well as 14 sub-categories. This paper also constructs a model of the impact of ESM use on work performance. In addition, results showed that ESM use affects employees' work performance through work efficiency and emotional maintenance, and frequency of use and individual characteristics may moderate this process.
Originality/value
This study’s results contribute to the existing ESM literature by finding the integrated model, boundary conditions and mechanism of the impact of ESM use on performance. The authors also contributed to the social media literature by finding 14 sub-categories and four main categories including ESM use, work efficiency, emotional maintenance and work performance. The conclusion of this paper provides guidance and reference for the use and management of internal social media in enterprises.
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Heljä Franssila and Aleksi Kirjonen
Work environment change from the traditional cell- and open-space offices to activity-based work (ABW) generates many concerns among workforce and management. The purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
Work environment change from the traditional cell- and open-space offices to activity-based work (ABW) generates many concerns among workforce and management. The purpose of this study is to observe impacts of ABW change on several knowledge work performance drivers and outputs.
Design/methodology/approach
A quasi-experimental design was applied to distinguish the impact of ABW on several dimensions of knowledge work performance in three governmental organizations. The empirical measures that were observed in the study were: perceptions of physical environment, virtual environment and social environment, individual ways of working, well-being at work and self-assessed productivity.
Findings
Well-being at work or productivity will not collapse because of ABW change. Most of the facets of self-assessed productivity and all of the well-being facets did not change because of the adoption of ABW. ABW change had a positive impact on group work effectiveness but negative effect on perceptions of the facilities as conducive for efficient working. ABW change had an enhancing effect on the routine of protecting one’s concentration from software-induced interruptions and decreasing effect on using mobile technologies to work during idle times and using technology to avoid unnecessary traveling. ABW change made telework more acceptable.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study was one the first studies following real-world change to ABW with quasi-experimental design. The difference-in-differences approach made it possible to isolate the causal impact of ABW change on the knowledge work performance drivers and outputs from other simultaneous changes taking place in the studied workplaces.
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Luminita Hurbean, Louie H.M. Wong, Carol XJ Ou, Robert M. Davison and Octavian Dospinescu
The authors investigate the relationship between instant messenger (IM) use and work performance, mediated by interruptions and two key indicators of the stress associated with…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors investigate the relationship between instant messenger (IM) use and work performance, mediated by interruptions and two key indicators of the stress associated with technology use: overload and complexity.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors validate this research model using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) with data collected through a survey of 416 working professionals.
Findings
The data reveal that while IM use contributes minimally to work interruptions and to a greater extent to technological complexity, these two constructs fully mediate the direct influence of IM use at work on technology overload, and meanwhile significantly and directly contribute to work performance.
Research limitations/implications
This research provides theoretical insights into the deployment of IM and its actual impacts in the workplace. To improve the generalisation of the findings, the authors call for more IM-related research in other countries, with more native theories and various methodologies in this domain.
Practical implications
The level of stress generated through IM use is moderate, considering IM is not a significant contributor to work interruptions. Thus, despite the potential negative effects of IM communication, the positive effects of using IM at work prevail. As a result, the technology can be promoted as long as employees, their managers and the organisation as a whole are well prepared. Employees can transfer skills and behaviour from the personal setting to their work environment and thus may find an intrinsic motivation to make better use of the IM technology at work.
Originality/value
The authors argue that this research model is novel for its perspective on evaluating the actual impacts of IM use at work instead of the reasons of using it. The authors conceptualise the process to explain how IM contributes to interruptions and other technostress indicators in the working context, and the impact on performance. Contrary to some prior research, the authors find that overall IM applications do not have a negative impact on work performance, and instead may enhance it.
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Shubhi Gupta, Govind Swaroop Pathak and Baidyanath Biswas
This paper aims to determine the impact of perceived virtuality on team dynamics and outcomes by adopting the Input-Mediators-Outcome (IMO) framework. Further, it also…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to determine the impact of perceived virtuality on team dynamics and outcomes by adopting the Input-Mediators-Outcome (IMO) framework. Further, it also investigates the mediating role of team processes and emergent states.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected survey data from 315 individuals working in virtual teams (VTs) in the information technology sector in India using both offline and online questionnaires. They performed the analysis using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM).
Findings
The authors investigated two sets of hypotheses – both direct and indirect (or mediation interactions). Results show that psychological empowerment and conflict management are significant in managing VTs. Also, perceived virtuality impacts team outcomes, i.e. perceived team performance, team satisfaction and subjective well-being.
Research limitations/implications
The interplay between the behavioural team process (conflict management) and the emergent state (psychological empowerment) was examined. The study also helps broaden our understanding of the various psychological variables associated with teamwork in the context of VTs.
Practical implications
Findings from this study will aid in assessing the consequences of virtual teamwork at both individual and organisational levels, such as guiding the design and sustainability of VT arrangements, achieving higher productivity in VTs, and designing effective and interactive solutions in the virtual space.
Social implications
The study examined the interplay between behavioural team processes (such as conflict management) and emergent states (such as psychological empowerment). The study also theorises and empirically tests the relationships between perceived virtuality and team outcomes (i.e. both affective and effectiveness). It may serve as a guide to understanding team dynamics in VTs better.
Originality/value
This exploratory study attempts to enhance the current understanding of the research and practice of VTs within a developing economy.
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