Fun in the workplace: A review and expanded theoretical perspective

Since the turn of the century, a growing body of research has systemically examined the role of fun in the workplace. In general, the extant body of research has demonstrated that fun in the workplace has a beneficial impact for individuals and organizations, but some evidence has been mixed. To help advance research in this area, the aims of this paper are two-fold. The first aim is to review previous research on fun in the workplace and identify gaps in the literature to provide direction for future work. The second aim is to offer a theoretical framework that helps explain how individuals may interpret fun in the workplace and how it may be most beneficial. Drawing on the notion that fun in the workplace is in the eye of the beholder, our proposed framework provides a more nuanced understanding of the temporal processes and contextual factors that explain how individuals appraise and ultimately benefit from fun.     

An HRM perspective on workplace commitment: Reconnecting in concept,measurement and methodology

Workplace commitment is viewed as an important mechanism connecting HRM practices with organizational outcomes, including performance. For this reason, commitment has emerged as one of the most significant and voluminous areas in HRM studies. Yet some of the key advances in the wider field of commitment have not been incorporate in studies of commitment in the HRM field. This is problematic as the body of work on commitment may develop separately from HRM research, wherein which the construct is so central. We seek to rectify this disconnected development through a systematic literature review which is targeted on three key threads, i.e., (1) definition and conceptual meaning, (2) multiple targets of commitment, and (3) the dynamics of commitment. These three threads are then connected to measurement and methodology, together providing the basis for a ‘toolkit’ for future research on commitment in HRM studies. Our review advances the field of commitment research in HRM by providing much needed conceptual, theoretical and methodological clarification, and by providing ways of bridging the gap and stimulating further research in this area.     

Working for a higher purpose: A theoretical framework for commitment to organization-sponsored causes

We explicate the theoretical foundations of employee commitment to organization-sponsored causes—voluntary, socially responsible practices or programs espoused by an organization—as targets of employee commitment. Although scholarly interest in organization-sponsored causes is increasing, little is understood about the mechanisms for employee involvement in organization-sponsored causes, since the motives and context for participation may differ significantly from participation in such causes outside of work. We propose that commitment to organization-sponsored causes can be conceptualized in terms of affective and normative mindsets and suggest that these mindsets, both separately and in combination, influence employees' behavioral support for the cause. We also draw upon the theory of planned behavior to suggest that employee perceptions regarding how an organization supports employee participation in the cause may influence their behavioral support for the cause. Finally, we describe the interrelationships among commitment to the organization-sponsored cause, employees' behavioral support for the organization-sponsored cause, and organizational commitment.     

The role of management and trade union leadership on dual commitment: The mediating effect of the workplace relations climate

This article examines the effect of transformational and laisser‐faire leadership on the part of local union leaders and immediate supervisors on the dual commitment of unionised workers. Building on the social information processing perspective, it is suggested that these leadership styles are linked to commitment through the workplace relations climate (WRC). Based on a sample of 834 unionised workers, our results suggest that WRC represents an important mechanism explaining the effect of the immediate supervisor's leadership in unionised settings. Results also show that transformational leadership on the part of union representatives is positively linked to union and organisational commitment. This article contributes to the WRC and dual commitment literatures by going beyond structural and institutional explanations and considering relational and actor‐related variables, such as leadership styles.     

Employee intercultural effectiveness in a multicultural workplace: theoretical propositions,strategies and direction for future research

This paper attempts to identify some of the key factors that can impinge on employee intercultural effectiveness in a multicultural workplace. Behavioural, attitudinal, cognitive and personality factors have been recognized as the main psychological factors that can impinge on intercultural effectiveness. Because intercultural effectiveness can be influenced by employee's sociobiological background, employee's ethnicity, age, country of origin, educational/professional attainment and religion are noted as among the factors that can impinge on intercultural effectiveness as well. In addition to these factors, employees' intercultural effectiveness is argued to be influenced by prior experience and organizational factors such as structure, systems, policies. Given the significance of sociobiological background, strategies for managing this background have been presented. Finally, the paper offers direction for future research.     

Normative fundraising ethics: A review of the field

The ethics of fundraising has received scant attention in the academic literature, while there is not a huge amount in the grey and practitioner literature either. There is little that explicitly describes normative theories of fundraising—broad concepts of how fundraising ought to be practised, from which recommendions for applied ethical practice can be drawn. This is the first review of the literature on fundraising ethics, articulating, synthesing and naming (often for the first time) 14 ethical theories/lenses that can be inferred (few are explicitly stated as normative ethical theories) from the literature. In so doing, this review provides scholars and practitioners with a much firmer conceptual foundation for examining and developing professional fundraising ethics, and for analysing applied practice and finding solutions to the ethical dilemmas in applied practice.     

Welfare-improving policy on medical tourism and labor productivity: A theoretical analysis

This paper considers welfare and wage inequality effects of developing medical tourism on the host country from a theoretical point of view. Due to the competition between public healthcare provision and medical tourism, the development of medical tourism might reduce labor productivity and thus widen wage inequality via the increased wage rates of healthcare workers and decreased wage rates of production workers. In addition, the expansion of medical tourism can lower social welfare of the host country through a decline in labor productivity caused by reduced public healthcare provision. A tax-subsidy welfare-improving scheme is suggested to mitigate the unfavorable productivity effect of medical tourism on the host economy. This theoretical result fits into current empirical evidence on medical tourism.     

Implications of game theory for theoretical underpinning of cooperative relations in workplace partnership

This article clarifies the ongoing debate over the key factors underpinning cooperative relations between management and trade unions by drawing on the once‐off and repeated prisoner's dilemma models. It argues that the lower the risk to achieve a ‘win‐win’ outcome and the longer the time horizon for workplace partnership, the more likely is for the two parties to cooperate.     

Dimensions of small business performance from the owner-manager's perspective: a re-conceptualization and empirical validation

Owner-managers make decisions and manage their firm as governed by the manner in which they conceptualize or ‘conceive’ performance for themselves and their firm, rather than being governed by researchers' and experts' conceptualizations of small business performance. On the basis of survey data obtained from 433 Canadian small businesses, this study aims at a deeper understanding of what owner-managers conceive performance to be, and to what extent this conception is determined by their objectives and social influences.     

Between advocacy,compliance and commitment: A multilevel analysis of institutional logics in work environment management

In this study we explore the development and enactment of institutional logics in the field of work environment management. We show how three historically developed logics constitute different values and practices that guide professionals’ organizational action. Using both historical and contemporary qualitative data, we show how the three institutional logics are present in the field of work environment, and how the logics are enacted simultaneously by actors within four large organizations in Denmark. The study contributes to the literature on institutional logics. The logics perspective is combined with critical realism to describe the inter-relatedness between the levels of society, institutional fields, and organizations, and by elaborating the near-decomposable relations between institutional logics and orders. The study contributes to the literature on work environment management by investigating the ideational lenses through which regulations and interventions are perceived by organizational actors, and how these perceptions may lead to different organizational outcomes and outlooks in work environment management.     

AIDS in the workplace: Options and responsibilities

Scientists now believe that no one is safe from AIDS. AIDS is no longer “the disease” of a small fringe segment of society. It is now a disease that can touch us in our personal, family, and professional lives. AIDS is, as columnist Ellen Goodman has suggested, an “equal opportunity infector” that does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, or sexual orientation. Although statistics indicate that most of us will probably not experience AIDS in our private or family lives, a significant number of us will be forced to grapple with AIDS in the workplace. This article is an attempt to examine the business community's response to AIDS, and the possible options and strategies that larger corporations especially might use in responding to the medical, legal, and ethical dimensions of the disease. According to Nancy L. Merritt, vice-president and director of equal opportunity for Bank of America, AIDS raises at least three fundamental issues in the workplace: How do you handle an employee with AIDS? How do you educate and ensure the safety and morale of your other employees? How do you balance the needs of business with the human, ethical considerations raised by the disease? Such questions, Merritt maintains, will become more and more pressing as the AIDS epidemic continues to spread.     

How to turn workplace boredom into something positive. A theoretical framework of the ‘bright sides’ of boredom

The management literature describes workplace boredom and related behaviors mostly as counterproductive. However, within the psychological literature, boredom is studied as a functional emotion, stressing a positive aspect in this unpleasant state. This article introduces this positive approach toward boredom to the management literature. Specifically, we provide a comprehensive theoretical model and testable propositions regarding how to foster the positive effects of employees' boredom in the workplace. Based on Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory, we argue that boredom is the result of job demands. However, in combination with the right job resources, boredom can actually lead to productive coping behaviors (i.e., task-unrelated thought, changing task engagement, and other task engagement). We identify three traditional and three boredom-specific job resources presenting managerial measures that facilitate positive outcomes of boredom. These job resources are located at the level of tasks, work organization, interpersonal and social relations, as well as the organizational level.     

Peer pressure,incentives, and gender: An experimental analysis of motivation in the workplace

We present results from a real-effort experiment, simulating actual workplace conditions, comparing the productivity of workers under fixed wages and piece rates. Workers, who were paid to enter data, were exposed to different degrees of peer pressure under both payment systems. The peer pressure was generated in the form of private information about the productivity of their peers. We have two main results. First, we find no level of peer pressure for which the productivity of either male or female workers is significantly higher than the productivity without peer pressure. Second, we find that very low and very high levels of peer pressure can significantly decrease productivity (particularly for men paid fixed wages). These results are consistent with models of conformism and self-motivation.     

Gender inequities in the workplace: A holistic review of organizational processes and practices

In this paper, we provide a broad, integrative review of the degree to which gender inequities exist in organizational domains and practices covering areas such as performance evaluation, compensation, leadership, work-family conflict, and sexual harassment, spanning the employee lifecycle from selection to exiting the organization. Where the literature allows, we review intersectionality findings. We also review the factors and processes that facilitate and hinder gender equity in the workplace, by drawing on the most robust empirical evidence. Throughout the paper, we distinguish between findings that allow us to infer gender inequity versus gender equality. Consolidating these disparate literatures allows us to develop a model that explains how gender inequities cumulate across the employee lifecycle and are reinforced across multiple levels (i.e., societal, organizational, interpersonal, and individual). We also identify important gaps in the literature, suggest next steps for research and highlight practical implications for organizations aiming to advance gender equity.     

A theoretical and empirical analysis of the length of residency discount in the rental housing market

We present an analysis of occupancy discounts and suggest a decomposition of the discount into two components, a “sit” discount and a length of residency discount. Data from the national longitudinal survey of the Annual Housing Survey in which 75,000 housing units from around the United States were followed from 1974 to 1977 are used to obtain consistent and efficient estimates of those discounts. The econometric models account for censoring in the data by endogenously treating the tenant's staying decision. The estimation indicates that neither discount is significant. This result is contrary to the commonly accepted result in the urban literature that landlords offer discounts to their current tenants when contracts are renegotiated.     

Tenure decisions,mortgage interest,and the spatial distribution of housing demand: A theoretical analysis

This paper develops a model for analyzing household tenure decisions and life cycle planning decisions that must be made simultaneously with housing location decisions. It is found that increases in the leverage sensitivity of mortgage interest structures lead to flatter housing gradients within the city. We examine conditions under which households tend to move further from the center with age and income and under which home purchasers will tend to outbid renters at distances further from the center.