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The purpose of this paper is to investigate how employees’ Islamic work ethic might enhance their propensity to help their coworkers on a voluntary basis, as well as how this relationship might be invigorated by despotic leadership. It also considers how the invigorating role of despotic leadership might depend on employees’ gender.

Survey data were collected from employees and their supervisors in Pakistani organizations.

Islamic work values relate positively to helping behaviors, and this relationship is stronger when employees experience despotic leadership, because their values motivate them to protect their colleagues against the hardships created by such leadership. This triggering role of despotic leadership is particularly strong among female employees.

For organizations, the results demonstrate that Islamic work values may be important for creating a culture that promotes collegiality, to a greater extent when employees believe that their leaders act as despots who exploit their followers for personal gain.

This study elaborates how employees’ Islamic work ethic influences the likelihood that they help their coworkers, particularly in work contexts marked by stress-inducing leadership.

The purpose of this paper is to examine Chinese managers' perceptions of work ethic (work‐related values and attitudes) and to provide insights on how managers interact with their workers.

This is a qualitative study using a series of in‐depth interviews to draw state‐owned enterprises (SOE) managers' perceptions of work ethic. The inquiry process led to a single‐case level of analysis where data are aggregated to incorporate a thematic approach. Underlining theoretical frameworks that guide the study are a combination of Western and Eastern work ethic frameworks and cross‐culture management understanding of the concept of guanxi.

Five themes that emerged from data analysis became the five dimensions of Chinese managers' work ethic profile. In addition, the study revealed four overarching themes that influence managerial behavior in Chinese SOEs: the absolute power of the boss; work is the center of life; social network ties to the workplace; and place hope in the hands of the boss.

The paper provides comprehensive understanding of the Chinese management work ethic profile. Future studies should expand to include managers from different generations and industry sectors.

The paper highlighted the importance of matching cultural values with management practices. It identified differences between the west and east of their work‐related values and attitudes, which have practical implications for developing effective management strategies and practices when working with Chinese SOEs.

The paper provides an indigenous description of Chinese managers' work ethic profile and provides suggestions for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to extend the current debate on value-intention link by investigating the hitherto unexplored relation between the concepts of the multidimensional work ethic profile and entrepreneurial intentions (EIs). In addition, this research seeks to offer specific insight into the work values and EIs of United Arab Emirates (UAE) national youth in an effort to contribute to decision making and policy formation for enhancing entrepreneurship.

In total, 309 UAE youth completed an Arabic version of the short form multidimensional work ethic profile (MWEP-SF) and a measure of EI.

Results confirm the value-intention link and support the view that values can direct work choices in entrepreneurship. The regression model identifies that the work ethics of wasted time, leisure, and self-reliance positively predict EI, while centrality of work is unrelated to EI.

The relation between work values and EI of youth is underexplored in the context of the UAE. The current extreme underrepresentation of UAE nationals in the private sector of the UAE economy highlights a significant problem for the UAE strategy of workforce nationalization. As the current findings reveal that the UAE youth possess work values which can predict EIs, the policy initiatives in the UAE may encourage Emirati nationals to more actively participate in the new venture creation and development. This will potentially facilitate the government to achieve the balance between public sector employability and self-employment contributions in the private sector.

This paper aims to examine the relationships between Islamic work ethic, deviant organizational behaviours and person-organization fit within the context of the hotels.

A survey was conducted with the participation of 243 employees working at five-star hotels operating in Marmaris, which is one of the popular destinations that attracts the most tourists in Turkey. The data obtained from the research is tested by implementing confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.

The results revealed that Islamic work ethic was negatively related to deviant organizational behaviour but positively related to person organization fit. On the other hand, no significant relationship was found between deviant organizational behaviour and person-organization fit.

This study presents to hotels practical and theoretical applications about employee behaviours and management practices.

In South Africa, there is a view that some industrial/economic problems arise from the nature, or lack of, an appropriate work ethic. This paper attempts to analyse the concept of work ethic, the factors underlying it and its relationship to productivity.

To provide current information on managers' expectations of their employees, toward structuring future research on amount of time and energy devoted to work.

Qualitative data, acquired through focus groups and interviews, provide a sample of the perceptions of 57 managers in the mid‐Atlantic region of the USA regarding employees' work ethic.

The results are presented as descriptive information of interest in formulating future research. The traditional work ethic (hard work, responsibility, diligence) still dominates managers' expectations, and they believe many employees have lost the willingness to work now for later returns (that was a key component of the early Protestant work ethic in the USA). Many of the concerns these managers expressed parallel predictions by writers in social and economic history – for example, influence of early social development, emphasis on everything “instant”, and the pressure through technology to work anywhere/anytime. Some implications for practice are discussed.

This study is unique in that it asks the managers directly about their individual expectations. Literature reflects both individual and organizational pressures for hard work, but the organizational side is assessed through examining unfortunate outcomes of policies and practices. The personal comments of the managers provide an important dimension to considering demands of the workplace.

The Protestant Work Ethic (PWE) is an important construct for management theorists. However, there appear to be biases and distortions in the way it is used in research. This paper aims to discuss the issues of assumptions involving the PWE, thus addressing this gap in the management literature.

The management literature distorts the PWE in three ways. First, though there are multiple work ethics, researchers largely focus on this one. This paper examines work‐ethics research and language in various management fields. Second, the construct has been developed within limited philosophical perspectives. This is tested by comparing work histories. Third, the historic documents are investigated and it is argued that the PWE is not Protestant.

There is evidence of bias in the management literature concerning the PWE. Though there are many work values, management research is dominated by the PWE. Luther's and Calvin's writings indicate that their essential views on work are the opposite of Webers' formulation of the PWE. However, the views of Marx and Engels on work echo the PWE.

If a basic assumption is distorted, research utilizing this assumption is suspect. The PWE is an important construct in several management disciplines. Bias in construct assumptions can result in inaccurate measurements and results.

Researchers must constantly be aware of possible personal bias, particularly regarding key constructs. Scholars should regularly examine assumptions in their discipline. The history of a discipline can greatly assist this examination.

This is one of the few examinations of the assumptions behind a key construct in the management literature, the PWE. There are strong indications that distortions about the PWE have been reified.

This study investigates the moderating impacts of the Islamic work ethic on the relationships between organizational commitment and job satisfaction. It uses a sample of 425 Muslim employees in several organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The empirical results indicate that the Islamic work ethic directly affects both organizational commitment and job satisfaction, and that it moderates the relationship between these two constructs. Results further reveal that national culture does not moderate the relationship between the Islamic work ethic and both organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Results also point out that support of the Islamic work ethic differs across age, education level, work experience, national culture, organization type (manufacturing or service), and ownership (private or public). Furthermore, empirical results suggest that there is a positive and significant relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Implications, limitations and lines of future research are discussed.

Organizational change initiatives are successful only through the efforts of the people, so it is important to look beyond surface reactions and understand the deeper implications of employees' visible work habits. By integrating work from several disciplines, this paper poses a series of questions aimed at creating better awareness of differences in how and why people work. Historic tracking of beliefs about work in the USA is provided as an example of how a positive foundation of strong work ethic can become the dysfunctional extreme of workaholism.

Examines the relationships among a set of management values, a set of tourism and hospitality industry job adaption/advancement strategies, measures of the work ethic and a range of socio‐demographic measures within a sample of Australian high school students from a major tourism host community. Most students would elect to gain further qualifications and skills in order to obtain a better position within the tourism and hospitality industry. Most students regarded as important the need for management to require employees to: achieve highly; maintain amicable relationships with fellow workers; demonstrate autonomy in their job performance; and abide by sufficient regulations and rules for the smooth running of the enterprise. Explores the implications of the study for the tourism and hospitality industry.