Organisational consequences of asymmetries in task dependence: the moderating role of HR practices

This study integrates recent advances in interdependence theory with the literature on commitment‐based HR practices. New research on interdependence theory suggests that differences, or asymmetries, in task dependence among organisational members can cause interests to diverge. Prior research has shown that this can negatively affect interpersonal relations, individual outcomes and team processes. However, these insights gained on the dyadic, individual and team levels of analysis have not yet been explored at the organisational level and, until now, no research had yet connected these advances in interdependence theory to the field of HRM research. Hence, the current study investigates (a) whether asymmetries in task dependence do (or do not) matter at the organisational level and affect organisational effectiveness, (b) why this relationship may work by assessing a key mediator, namely, trust climate and (c) if and how these relationships can be altered by commitment‐based HR practices. Our moderated‐mediation model was tested and fully supported by a multi‐source data set of 8,390 employees from 67 organisations.     

An Insight into the Personal and Emotive Context of Wildlife Viewing at the Penguin Place,Otago Peninsula,New Zealand

The personal and emotive context of visitors’ experiences has been neglected in much sustainable tourist attraction management. This paper applies ASEB demi-grid analysis as a consumer-orientated management tool to facilitate an understanding of the beneficial experiences gained by international visitors to a penguin-watching tourism attraction on the Otago Peninsula, New Zealand. Forty in-depth interviews with visitors showed that the main beneficial experiences gained included reported enhanced environmental awareness (cognition) and ‘mood’ benefits (affection). In addition, several consistent themes emerged from the beneficial experiences reported by tourists, including issues related to viewing, proximity, authenticity and wonder. Findings thus included the perceived importance of visitors to be able to view endangered penguins ‘up close’ in their natural habitat to elicit feelings of exploration and privilege, to appreciate the simplicity and naturalness of the setting and to increase their knowledge of the species through interaction with an experienced guide.     

The Determinants of Sticky Prices and Sticky Plans: Evidence from German Business Survey Data

So far, there is no consensus on the price adjustment determinants in the empirical literature. Analyzing a novel firm‐level business survey data set, we provide new insights on the price setting behavior of German retailers during a low inflation period. Relating the probability of both price and pricing plan adjustment to time‐ and state‐dependent variables, we find that state‐dependence is important; the macroeconomic environment as well as the firm‐specific condition significantly determines the timing of both actual price changes and pricing plan adjustments. Moreover, input cost changes are important determinants of price setting. Finally, price increases respond more strongly to cost shocks compared to price decreases.     

Das neue Pflegezeitgesetz

Zusammenfasung  Chancen und Risiken — Am 1. Juli 2008 ist das neue Pflegezeitgesetz in Kraft getreten als Bestandteil der Mitte M?rz beschlossenen Pflegereform. Damit haben Berufst?tige die M?glichkeit, sich für die Pflege naher Angeh?riger in h?uslicher Umgebung freistellen zu lassen. Diese Verbesserung für Besch?ftigte, kann sich für Personalverantwortliche in Krankenh?usern und Heimen, aber auch für kleine Pflegedienste nachteilig auswirken.     

Linking employer branding orientation and firm performance: Testing a dual mediation route of recruitment efficiency and positive affective climate

Faced with competitive labor markets, firms increasingly use employer branding to build a qualified workforce and engage their employees. However, our understanding of the impact of employer branding orientation on firm performance and the theoretical firm-level mechanisms underlying this potential impact is very limited. To address this gap, we integrate brand marketing theory with human resource management (HRM) research to develop a model explicating how employer branding orientation is linked to firm performance through a dual route by enhancing both recruitment efficiency (i.e., external route: applicants) and positive affective climate (i.e., internal route: incumbent employees). The results of a multisource study (i.e., top management, human resource managers, employees) with 93 firms show employer branding orientation is positively related to firm performance through positive affective climate but not recruitment efficiency. Using a brand equity approach to HRM, our results advance the literature by demonstrating the generalizability of employer branding effects independent of concrete brand attributes and explaining the firm-level mediating mechanisms linking it to firm performance.     

The Carrot or the Stick: Self-Regulation for Gender-Diverse Boards via Codes of Good Governance

Journal of Business Ethics - Scholars have emphasized the potential of self-regulation, realized through ‘codes of good governance’, to improve gender diversity on boards. Yet,...     

Effectiveness of sequences of classroom training for welfare recipients: what works best in West Germany?

Sequences of active labour market programmes (ALMPs) may be part of an intensified activation strategy targeting hard-to-place unemployed individuals. Such sequences are very common among welfare recipients in Germany, but most studies only evaluate either single ALMPs or unemployed individuals’ first ALMP. I analyse the effects of different sequences of classroom training for West German men and women on different labour market outcomes. Using rich administrative data and a dynamic causal model, I can control for dynamic selection problems that occur during a sequence. The results show that two classroom trainings are more effective than two periods of welfare receipt in helping welfare recipients find regular employment, especially among West German women. Moreover, immediately assigning individuals to classroom training is more effective than waiting and assigning them to classroom training in the second period. However, in some cases, avoiding participation in multiple programmes is preferable.

Abbreviations: ALMP, active labour market programme; CIA, Conditional Independence Assumption; CSR, Common Support Requirement; DATET, dynamic average treatment effect on the treated; IEB, Integrated Employment Biographies; IPW, inverse probability weighting; LHG, UBII-Receipt History (Leistungshistorik Grundsicherung); MSB, mean standardized absolute bias; SUTVA, Stable Unit Treatment Value Assumption; UBII, unemployment benefit II; UBI, unemployment benefit I; WDCIA, Weak Dynamic Conditional Independence Assumption     

Women are scaredy-cats and men are conquerors?

The European legal framework requires that financial consultants assess their clients’ risk tolerance before advising them on investments. The study aims at further testing an alternative measure to quantify the risk attitudes of investors: The Implicit Association Test (IAT). This study examines differences in implicit, unconscious, and explicit cognitive attitudes of men and women. The results of the IAT are compared with their answers from a risk tolerance questionnaire used by practitioners and self-selected asset allocation (portfolio). The data show that implicit attitude, and, thus, unconscious and uncontrolled thinking, can differ from conscious processes. Furthermore, in this study, there is no gender gap in risk attitude and risk tolerance. The findings suggest that experience and financial knowledge are likely the most important determinants of risk attitudes with no significant difference between men and women.     

ECONOMIC RELATIONS BETWEEN WOMEN AND THEIR PARTNERS: AN EAST AND WEST GERMAN COMPARISON AFTER REUNIFICATION

abstract

This article compares women's and men's economic relations in East and West Germany following the 1990 reunification to exemplify the impact of varying opportunity structures on women's relative contribution to family income. West Germany's takeover set in motion a rapid transformation of East German institutions and employment structures. The analysis shows that women in West Germany became less dependent on their partners in the 1990s, largely because fewer women were housewives without earnings. In contrast, the contributions of women to the family economy in East Germany fell between 1990 and 1996. Afterwards, women in East Germany regained some of their economic power because of their partners' increasing difficulties sustaining employment. A multivariate analysis showed that the fact that women in West Germany were more likely to work less or not at all – especially if they were married or had children – accounted for much of the difference.     

Organizational Performance Consequences of Age Diversity: Inspecting the Role of Diversity‐Friendly HR Policies and Top Managers’ Negative Age Stereotypes

This paper seeks to advance the diversity literature by investigating organizational performance consequences of age diversity. Drawing from social‐identity and social‐categorization theory, we theoretically argue that, in age‐diverse companies, age‐based subgrouping processes occur, favouring a shared perception of a negative age‐discrimination climate. This perceived negative age‐discrimination climate in turn negatively relates to organizational performance. As the main contribution, top managers’ negative age‐related stereotypes and diversity‐friendly HR policies are introduced as organizational‐level moderators that increase and attenuate, respectively, the social categorization processes affecting performance in age‐diverse companies. We utilized structural equation modelling (SEM) to test the proposed hypotheses using a multisource dataset comprising 147 companies. The results supported all hypotheses, indicating that low negative top managers’ age stereotypes as well as high diversity‐friendly HR policies are potential organizational factors that can prevent the negative relation of age diversity with organizational performance transmitted through the negative age‐discrimination climate. These results are discussed in light of their contribution to the diversity literature and social‐categorization theory as well as their implication for practitioners.