Work–family conflict,family satisfaction and employee well‐being: a comparative study of Australian and Indian social workers

Work‐to‐family conflict and family‐to‐work conflict have been widely investigated as antecedents of well‐being in various employee groups. However, these studies have largely been performed in Western countries, and only a few studies have investigated the phenomenon using both Western and non‐Western samples. The present study contributes to the literature by investigating work–family conflict experiences of social workers in Australia and India. More specifically, it explores the impact of work‐to‐family conflict and family‐to‐work conflict on well‐being and the mediating role of family satisfaction in this relationship. Our findings reveal the direct negative effects of work‐to‐family conflict on well‐being and family satisfaction in both groups and of family‐to‐work conflict on well‐being of Indian social workers. There is evidence that family satisfaction mediates work–family conflict and well‐being relationships in both samples. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings for HRM policies in social service agencies of both countries.     

MONOPOLISTIC COMPETITION AND PRODUCT DIVERSITY: REVIEW AND EXTENSION

Abstract The modeling of monopolistic competition has contributed to rapid developments in numerous fields of economics, notably macroeconomics, international trade, industrial organization, economic growth and economic geography. This paper provides a systematic review and some extensions of various path‐breaking models of monopolistic competition and their subsequent developments, including the works of Spence, Dixit and Stiglitz that are based on the ‘love‐of‐variety’ approach, the works of Lancaster that are based on the ‘love‐of‐characteristic’ approach, and the large‐group monopolistic competition models of Hart, among others. The paper also examines the properties of some utility functions frequently used in the literature on models of monopolistic competition. Perhaps owing to the complexity of these models, the literature lacks a broad and systematic coverage of this essential subject. The paper aims to help fill the gap.     

Organization‐Based Self‐Esteem,Psychological Contract Fulfillment,and Perceived Employment Opportunities: A Test of Self‐Regulatory Theory

This study addresses organization‐based self‐esteem (OBSE) development by examining the role of perceptions of employer psychological contract fulfillment, and the self‐regulatory processes by which OBSE evolves and produces its effects. Self‐regulatory theory helps reveal why psychological contract fulfillment relates to OBSE, how OBSE mediates its effects, and the ways in which OBSE might interact with perceived employment opportunities to affect job satisfaction, performance, and turnover intentions. The results show that OBSE is related to and mediates the relationships between relational contract fulfillment and employee job satisfaction and performance, but OBSE is not related to transactional contract fulfillment. Nor does OBSE mediate the relationships between transactional contract fulfillment and the dependent variables. Perceived employment opportunities moderate the relationships of OBSE with job satisfaction and turnover intentions. This study concludes with recommendations of ways managers can increase their sensitivity to the types of messages they communicate to employees. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Work‐To‐Life Conflict and Enrichment Among International Business Travelers: The Role of International Career Orientation

The present study examines the direct and moderating effects of an international career orientation in the relationship between frequency and duration of international business traveling and work‐to‐life conflict and enrichment. In addition, the effort‐reward imbalance that potentially features in the international business traveler's job was examined in relation to work‐to‐life conflict and enrichment. The study was conducted among 232 Finnish people in jobs requiring international business travel. A moderated hierarchical regression analysis shows that travel of considerable duration and a pronounced effort‐reward imbalance had direct links to work‐to‐life conflict. In contrast, low effort‐reward imbalance and a strong international career orientation had direct links to work‐to‐life enrichment. In addition, having a strong orientation to an international career decreases work‐to‐life conflict when a job requires very frequent traveling, but the moderation effect was not found in relation to duration of traveling. Our findings indicate that interventions aimed at reducing work‐to‐life conflict and increasing work‐to‐life enrichment among international business travelers should focus on fostering a balance between efforts and rewards at work. The extent of employees’ internationalism should also be considered when recruiting people into jobs involving international business travel. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Meta‐Analytic Research in Management: Contemporary Approaches,Unresolved Controversies,and Rising Standards

Early meta‐analyses in management research sought primarily to resolve seemingly conflicting findings by estimating a relationship’s population‐level effect size. Since then, management researchers have adopted increasingly sophisticated approaches that permit new theorizing, testing and comparing sophisticated models, and identifying boundary conditions. We summarize three of these approaches – i.e., qualitative meta‐analysis (QMA), meta‐analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM), and meta‐analytic regression analysis (MARA) – along with the special issue papers that adopt each approach. We conclude by raising three unresolved controversies that we believe deserve more attention and by offering our thoughts about how to maximize a meta‐analytic study’s chances for publication and impact.     

Aspects of second‐order analysis of structured inhomogeneous spatio‐temporal point processes

Statistical methodology for spatio‐temporal point processes is in its infancy. We consider second‐order analysis based on pair correlation functions and K‐functions for general inhomogeneous spatio‐temporal point processes and for inhomogeneous spatio‐temporal Cox processes. Assuming spatio‐temporal separability of the intensity function, we clarify different meanings of second‐order spatio‐temporal separability. One is second‐order spatio‐temporal independence and relates to log‐Gaussian Cox processes with an additive covariance structure of the underlying spatio‐temporal Gaussian process. Another concerns shot‐noise Cox processes with a separable spatio‐temporal covariance density. We propose diagnostic procedures for checking hypotheses of second‐order spatio‐temporal separability, which we apply on simulated and real data.     

META‐ANALYSIS OF ECONOMICS RESEARCH REPORTING GUIDELINES

Meta‐regression analysis (MRA) can provide objective and comprehensive summaries of economics research. Their use has grown rapidly over the last few decades. To improve transparency and to raise the quality of MRA, the meta‐analysis of economics research‐network (MAER‐Net) has created the below reporting guidelines. Future meta‐analyses in economics will be expected to follow these guidelines or give valid reasons why a meta‐analysis must deviate from them.     

Exploring the effect of environmental orientation on financial decisions of businesses at the bottom of the pyramid: Evidence from the microlending context

Existing research has accumulated substantial evidence on the effect that an environmental orientation has on businesses' economic performance. Yet this research does not cover small businesses from bottom‐of‐the‐pyramid (BOP) markets. In fact, despite increasing interest in research on BOP markets, the effect of environmental orientation on the financial decision‐making of small businesses from BOP markets has gone largely unexplored. Using a large multicountry data set from a microlending platform, we investigate how the environmental orientation of BOP businesses impacts their financial decisions related to microlending, which ultimately shapes their economic performance. The results indicate that an environmental orientation necessitates BOP businesses to request a higher level of financial capital and ask for longer time to pay it back. Surprisingly, environmental orientation increases the odds of BOP businesses paying back the borrowed capital. These results show that environmental orientation gives rise to both challenges and opportunities for sustainable development in BOP markets.     

The Association of Meaningfulness,Well‐Being,and Engagement with Absenteeism: A Moderated Mediation Model

We theorized that absence from work is a resource‐based process that is related to perceived meaningfulness of work, well‐being, and engagement. Broaden‐and‐build theory (Fredrickson, 1998, 2001) and engagement theory (Bakker, Schaufeli, Leiter, & Taris, 2008; Kahn, 1990) were used to develop a framework for explaining absence. Results of a study of 625 employees and human resource records of subsequent absenteeism data for a three‐month period supported our hypotheses that meaningful work increases engagement with work, and that engagement is associated with low levels of absenteeism. Furthermore, data showed that engagement fully mediated the relationship between meaningfulness and absence, and that well‐being strengthened the relationship between meaningfulness and engagement. The results have implications for understanding the role of individual‐level resources in the workplace, and how meaningfulness, well‐being, and engagement influence absence.     

Social Intermediation in Base‐of‐the‐Pyramid Markets

Our study explores the structuring decisions made by intermediaries seeking to alleviate poverty by connecting base‐of‐the‐pyramid markets with more developed markets. Using intermediation theory to ground our study, we collected qualitative data on 29 social intermediation projects located within Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Our findings suggest that ‘socializing’ intermediation theory to more accurately explain and predict structural outcomes across more diverse contexts requires three key modifications: (1) the attenuation of opportunism, which creates an internalizing social force; (2) the accommodation of non‐monetary objectives, which creates an externalizing social force; and (3) the perception of transaction capabilities as tractable, which serves as a guidepost for reconciling these two opposing social forces.     

Idiosyncratic deals and work‐to‐family conflict and enrichment: The mediating roles of fit perceptions and efficacy beliefs

Idiosyncratic deals (i‐deals), which involve personalised work arrangements negotiated between employees and their managers, offer a promising approach to accommodating the demands of a diverse workforce. In contrast with the traditional social exchange theory perspective, we integrate the theories of person–environment fit and self‐efficacy to examine the effect of flexibility i‐deals on both work‐to‐family conflict and enrichment. We specifically consider two mediating mechanisms: needs–supplies (N‐S) fit and family‐role efficacy. Results from two Chinese samples reveal that supervisor‐rated flexibility i‐deals relate positively with employees' family‐role efficacy and N‐S fit. These, in turn, relate to work‐to‐family conflict negatively and to work‐to‐family enrichment positively. Monte Carlo bootstrapping analyses confirm the indirect effects of N‐S fit and family‐role efficacy. By using an alternative theoretical perspective, we add to our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the i‐deals effect. This study expands existing i‐deals research to an empirically underrepresented area: work–family enrichment. Our findings also confirm the work–family benefits of i‐deals and strengthen managers' confidence regarding the merits of implementing i‐deals in the workplace.     

Cultural values and definitions of career success

This paper examines how national culture relates to the ways that individuals define career success. Data are drawn from interviews with 269 professional services employees in 15 countries. Interviews are content coded and linked with country‐level Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness measures of cultural values. We test our hypotheses using a multilevel multinomial logit model. The results demonstrate that the ways in which employees define career success vary across countries, due in part to differences in cultural values after controlling for gender, occupation, job level, and national economic development. We find that employees from countries high in future orientation, uncertainty avoidance, and performance orientation are more likely to define career success in terms of interpersonal outcomes, and those from countries high in collectivism (institutional and in‐group), humane orientation, and gender egalitarianism are more likely to prefer intrapersonal outcomes. We find that employees from countries that are high in assertiveness, uncertainty avoidance, and performance orientation are more likely to define career success in terms of achievement‐oriented outcomes. Finally, we find that employees from countries high in power distance report career success definitions in terms of safety and security outcomes. We discuss the implications of these findings for theories of cultural differences in careers across countries.     

Adjusting for Non‐Response in Population‐Based Case‐Control Studies

In this paper we discuss the analysis of data from population‐based case‐control studies when there is appreciable non‐response. We develop a class of estimating equations that are relatively easy to implement. For some important special cases, we also provide efficient semi‐parametric maximum‐likelihood methods. We compare the methods in a simulation study based on data from the Women's Cardiovascular Health Study discussed in Arbogast et al. (Estimating incidence rates from population‐based case‐control studies in the presence of non‐respondents, Biometrical Journal 44, 227–239, 2002).     

ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND HUMAN CAPITAL: A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY OF THE LITERATURE

Abstract Grossman proposed an individual's health can be viewed as one aspect of their human capital. Following this line of thought a number of recent papers have reported a positive impact of alcohol consumption on earnings. The rationale for the existence of such a relationship is the positive impact of alcohol on physical and mental health. We conduct a meta‐analysis to determine whether such factors as: the estimation technique, the presence of ex‐drinkers in the sample, possible sample selection bias and publication bias may all contribute to these findings. An additional suggestion for the positive relationship between alcohol and wages is the presence of a common set of personality traits that determines drinking behaviour and also leads to higher earnings. We examine this relationship by reviewing the literature that investigates if the personality influencing aspects of alcohol consumption influences measures of human capital. We also survey the significant body of research that has examined how alcohol consumption has been found to influence educational outcomes and the work force participation of problem drinkers.     

ADMM for Penalized Quantile Regression in Big Data

Traditional linear programming algorithms for quantile regression, for example, the simplex method and the interior point method, work well for data of small to moderate sizes. However, these methods are difficult to generalize to high‐dimensional big data for which penalization is usually necessary. Further, the massive size of contemporary big data calls for the development of large‐scale algorithms on distributed computing platforms. The traditional linear programming algorithms are intrinsically sequential and not suitable for such frameworks. In this paper, we discuss how to use the popular ADMM algorithm to solve large‐scale penalized quantile regression problems. The ADMM algorithm can be easily parallelized and implemented in modern distributed frameworks. Simulation results demonstrate that the ADMM is as accurate as traditional LP algorithms while faster even in the nonparallel case.     

Why Do I Feel Valued and Why Do I Contribute? A Relational Approach to Employee's Organization‐Based Self‐Esteem and Job Performance

Drawing on the relational perspective and self‐consistency theory, we theorize how relationships involving work‐centric, off‐work‐centric, and/or personal components can affect an employee's organization‐based self‐esteem and job performance in Chinese organizational contexts. Matched data were collected from a multi‐source sample that included 219 employee–supervisor dyads from a Chinese bank. Results based on hierarchical regression analyses reveal that a high‐quality relationship with a supervisor through work and off‐work domains (leader–member exchange and guanxi) is positively related to organization‐based self‐esteem. Organization‐based self‐esteem plays a mediating role in the relationship between guanxi and job performance. Additionally, career mentoring from a supervisor (a work‐centric relationship involving personal components) moderates the relationship between organization‐based self‐esteem and job performance.     

Menopause and the workplace: New directions in HRM research and HR practice

This paper offers two key arguments. The first is that HRM scholars and HR practitioners need to pay a good deal more attention to the bi‐directional relationship between menopause and the workplace—how menopausal symptoms can affect women's experience of work and how work can exacerbate a woman's symptoms. We outline the social responsibility, demographic, legal and business cases which explain the urgency of more research and more concerted practice in this area. Our second argument concerns the importance of future research and practice adopting an intersectional political economy approach, in order to better understand the considerable differences between how women going through menopause transition experience work. Here, we offer arguments ranging from the macro‐ through the meso‐ down to the micro‐level of these differences, in so doing setting an agenda for the work to come on this very significant issue.