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Presents a conceptual framework for understanding the meanings of polychronic behavior for individuals. A “created” meaning perspective, arguing that cultural, social, and personality differences influence how the meaning of polychronic behavior is interpreted at the individual level is presented. These meanings through a phenomenological study of polychronic behavior in the workplace for both traditional, “mainstream” Americans and recent Latin American immigrants are explored. Implications for managers and workgroups are also explored.

The purpose of this paper is to report the results of an empirical study of the meaning of working, individual level work outcomes, and job and career satisfaction, among professional level employees in business organizations in Russia, Poland, and Germany.

The theoretical framework for the study was based on the work by England and colleagues. The sample (n=638) included professional level employees in the medium and large manufacturing and service organizations in the three countries. Correlations, discriminant function analysis, and multiple regressions were used to answer research questions regarding the relationship between the study variables and to determine country differences.

Results indicate different patterns and levels of work centrality, desired work outcomes, work role identification, and job and career satisfaction among the three countries. A significant difference was found between work values in Russia, on the one hand, and Germany and Poland, on the other. Gender differences in meaning of work patterns were found among Russian respondents. Job and career satisfaction was related to different combinations of demographic and work meaning variables.

For human resource development (HRD) and training and development (T&D) professionals working in multinational companies and/or with customers/suppliers in these three countries, the findings imply the need to take into account the similarities and differences in individual meaning of working variables when designing and implementing organization development and training interventions.

Despite the central role of working for individuals and the central role of the work values construct for the professional fields of training and HRD, research on meaning of working has been sparse in the academic literature. Thus, the study can contribute to a fuller understanding of experience of work and its implications for the theory and practice of training and human resource development.

Research was conducted to empirically demonstrate the relationships between personal meaning, calling and organizational commitment in the context of spiritual leadership. Wong's Personal Meaning Profile was used to establish the various sources of personal meaning and identify those that predict calling. The results showed significant positive correlations between self‐transcendent personal meaning and calling. Further, calling was also positively correlated with organizational commitment and contrasted with work‐as‐job as a predictor of commitment. The study suggests that not all sources of personal meaning are predictive of calling, and that calling mediates the relationship between self‐transcendent personal meaning and organizational commitment. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

What happens to nonelite workers’ meaning, belonging, and identity when work is “on-demand”? On-demand organizations, such as Uber and TaskRabbit, have ambiguous boundaries and locations of workers. This qualitative study investigated how organizational and societal boundary discourse and the organization of the work itself, constructed sometimes conflicting worker roles that influenced how ride-hailing workers understood the boundaries of the on-demand organization and their location with respect to it. The roles of app–user and driver–partner constructed ride-hailing workers as outside the boundaries of the organization, while the driver–bot role constructed them as (nonhuman) elements of organizational technology. While the driver–partner role had positive and empowering identity, meaning, and belongingness associations, its conflict with the other roles blocked these positive associations, and led to cynicism and fatalism. We reflect on the possible impacts of the on-demand economy on society, workers, and the practice of work, particularly for nonelite workers.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the question of whether the differences between meaning in philosophy and meaning in information retrieval (IR) have implications for the use of philosophy in supporting research in IR.

The approach takes the form of a conceptual analysis and literature review.

There are some differences in the role of meaning in terms of purpose, content and use which should be clarified in order to assist a productive relationship between the philosophy of language and IR.

This provides some new theoretical insights into the philosophical context of IR. It suggests that further productive work on the central concepts within IR could be achieved through the use of a methodology which analyses how exactly these concepts are discussed in other disciplines and the implications of any differences in the way in which they may operate in IR.

The paper suggests a new perspective on the relationship between philosophy and IR by exploring the role of meaning in these respective disciplines and highlighting differences, as well as similarities, with particular reference to the role of information as well as meaning in IR. This contributes to an understanding of two of the central concepts in IR, meaning and information, and the ways in which they are related. There is a history of work in IR and information science (IS) examining dilemmas and the paper builds on this work by relating it to some similar dilemmas in philosophy. Thus it develops the theory and conceptual understanding of IR by suggesting that philosophy could be used as a way of exploring intractable dilemmas in IR.

The purpose of this study was to explore low-income women’s perspectives of the shared meaning of work and employment values in their intergenerational family context from a critical and systemic lens. Participants were rural and urban women from low-income contexts (N = 14). Semi-structured interviews were designed to elicit thick description of lived experiences of work and family. Analyses were conducted using Van Manen’s hermeneutic phenomenology coding process (1990).

Four emergent categories (Purpose to Work, What Work Is, Motherhood and Work, and Loss, Resilience and Work) with 16 themes described work–family integration. These narratives evoked a deep interconnectedness of work, family, and life. Because participants were recruited in locations where they were either already employed or seeking employment, these findings may not represent other women.

Effectiveness of programs and policies could be expanded by incorporating women’s values and motivations for employment and targeting family-level interventions. Programs could better empower women to seek employment and skills training for lasting financial sustainability, rather than just getting any job. Because participants distinguished between careers and jobs based on college education, many felt they could never obtain a career. Additionally, participants described work–family integration, not the prevalent idea of “work–life balance.” Participants described fighting to provide a better life for their children.

This study highlights under-represented perspectives of low-income women about work. Understanding the experiences of low-income women is essential for designing programs and services that will be practical and useful.

The purpose of the study is to ascertain the mediating role of meaning between servant leadership and work engagement. The study also explores the relationship between servant leadership and work engagement.

The data were collected from 704 service sector employees working in Pakistan through survey design. The data analysis was done through structural equation modeling using PLS-Smart and hierarchical regression using SPSS.

The results revealed that servant leadership was related to meaning and work engagement. Moreover, meaning was found to be related to work engagement. Finally, meaning was found to mediate the relationship between servant leadership and work engagement.

The research has ascertained the previously unexplored mediating role of meaning between servant leadership and work engagement.

This study aims to explain the health impact of work demands and organization, job content, leadership and values in the workplace. It also explores the extent to which health conditions influence the meaning in life in late career.

The sample consisted of 1,330 Portuguese-based individuals aged 55–75 years. The structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for the data analysis and to test the research questions.

The results showed that stress and burnout are influenced by work demands and organization, job content, leadership and values in the workplace. Employment status had no influence. Health status affects the meaning in life.

Although participants were asked to answer the questionnaire bearing in mind their last work experience, retirees could have had difficulty reporting on their last work; therefore, in future research, the use of a qualitative methodology could also be equated as to complement richer information regarding past experiences in the work context.

Considering the main goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, this study contributes, namely, to the third one – Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. In fact, directing a look at the condition in which older people work and at their health contributes not only to more productive organizations, to less spending of public money on health, but also to a more inclusive society. Bearing in mind workers are progressively retiring later and that the exposure to certain work conditions during the late career is problematic for organizations and for society in general, this study has practical and social implication.

Considering demographic changes and the aging of the active population in Portugal and the scarce studies carried out in the country concerning this relevant theme, the authors believe that the conclusions may constitute an important input for workplace policies regarding older workers. In addition, little research has focused on the effect of health in meaning in life.

The purpose of this paper is to present a meaning‐based framework to understand the motivation of knowledge workers and an effective leadership model that suits that framework.

Definitions of knowledge worker, meaning, complex adaptive systems and leadership are provided. The concept of meaning in work is explored through the constructs of work orientation and identity. Based on that, a global meaning framework for knowledge workers is outlined. Additionally, the servant leadership model is detailed and analyzed in light of the global meaning framework for knowledge workers and the need for complex adaptive behavior in successful knowledge‐based organizations.

The motivation of knowledge workers can be well understood from a meaning perspective, taking two constructs into account: work orientation and identity. The global meaning framework of knowledge workers is based on three main characteristics: work as a calling, need for a strong membership association with peers, and need for autonomy. Servant leadership is a model that fits well with those characteristics, potentially enabling the creation of a sense of meaning and purpose and consequently inducing the intrinsic motivation of knowledge workers. As a side‐effect, complex adaptive behavior will emerge, leading to both organizational and social performance.

The proposed model combines a meaning perspective with servant leadership theory to provide insight into the motivation of knowledge workers. This is posited in the context of complex adaptive behavior.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to our understanding of the meaning of work. The study is concerned with eliciting work meanings of spiritually oriented individuals with a view of establishing whether there is a common agenda identifiable and whether spirituality influences work behavior. It was found that in spite of their diversity, all research participants desired to express spiritual life purposes of “developing and becoming self”, “unity with others”, “expressing self” and “serving others” in the workplace. A second finding is that they seek to balance these over time. Furthermore it was found that spirituality clearly influences work behavior as research participants make career transitions if they cannot express their spirituality. Lessons are explored for contemporary organizations interested in retaining spiritually oriented employees.