Channels of employee voice: complementary or competing for space?

This article identifies the existence of employee voice channels and examines how they interact within the context of an overall organisational voice system. In so doing, we can better appreciate the disparities between the micro‐level reality and macro‐level rhetoric of employee voice for highly skilled employees in the knowledge intensive sector. Drawing on an instrumental, inductive case study involving managers and, most notably, employees, the research finds that the plurality of mechanisms provided for voice appears to cause some confusion that leads to a neglect of certain channels and others competing for attention. This raises the issue, which has not received attention thus far, as to whether the availability of multiple voice channels can have counter‐productive effects whereby they start to compete with rather than complement each other.     

Do all constructive strongly monotone inter-temporal orders exhibit impatience?

In this paper we show that if a strongly monotone inter-temporal order exhibits no preference towards the advancement of timing of future utility on any infinite utility stream, then the existence of such an order must involve some non-constructive device.     

Analyzing social media,analyzing the social? A methodological discussion about the demoscopic and predictive potential of social media

Quality & Quantity - The impact of computational technologies and the worldwide use of Internet entails a theoretical and methodological challenge for social scientists, considering the purpose...     

Which HRM practices enhance employee outcomes at work across the life-span?

Abstract

Based on the social exchange theory and on ageing and life-span theories, this paper aims to examine: (1) the relationships between perceived availability and use of HRM practices, and employee outcomes (i.e. work engagement and employability); and (2) how employee age moderates these relationships. Using a sample of Nmaximum = 1589 employees, correlational analyses and multiple hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. First, confirming our hypotheses, results showed predominantly positive relationships between work engagement and both perceived availability and use of development HRM practices, such as HRM practices related to learning, development, and incorporating new tasks. The study outcomes opposed, however, our hypotheses with predominantly negative relationships between work engagement and perceived availability and use of maintenance HRM practices. Predominantly positive relationships were furthermore found, as was hypothesized, between employability and perceived availability and use of development as well as maintenance HRM practices. Generally speaking, these results were not more pronounced for any of the age groups. That is, age appeared to not play any significant moderating role. Research limitations, implications for practice and directions for future work are also discussed.     

Which factors affect the duration of hot topics on social media platforms?

Quality & Quantity - Hot topics, as a common phenomenon on social media platform, play a major role in public opinion. This paper aims to discuss the issues about the duration of hot topics:...     

Presenting dynamics of social phenomena: should we use absolute,relative or time differences?

Empirical studies within social sciences face an important decision about how to express key findings to the target audience. Simplicity is an important selection criterion here, because the findings need to be conveyed in an efficient manner (i.e., briefly and concisely), but also because stakeholders (e.g., policy makers, the media, general public) are heterogeneous in their methodological backgrounds. The corresponding ways of measuring thus need to be not only exhaustive and message-delivering but also simple and intuitively understandable. This is particularly important when dynamics in time are discussed. There, most typically, either absolute or relative differences are used. This review paper critically elaborates these two popular measures and, in addition, discusses the alternatives of time distance and time step. The paper demonstrates that even in simple linear examples, the results of these four types of measures may sharply contradict. The empirical example of the digital divide is also elaborated, which illustrates many tempting possibilities for biased, one-sided interpretations that match the needs of certain stakeholders. Finally, the paper alerts users about possible misleading conclusions and suggests comprehensive treatments, using several measures simultaneously.     

Should the firm or the employee pay for upskilling? A contract theory approach

Upskilling involves costly effort on behalf of existing employees to acquire new skills that are required to execute high value-added projects. A firm-financed training scheme allows the screening of applicants but comes with the cost of hidden actions, as some employees might train themselves yet continue working on low-value projects. A policy relying on worker self-training and incentive compatible contracts allows attracting more workers to high-value projects, yet it must grant a positive informational rent to flexible workers. The analysis reveals the optimal contract specific to each of the two training schemes. The profit comparison shows that the training strategy depends on how large is the net value created by upskilling, which is a characteristic of the business or industry.     

Does structuring of human resource management processes enhance employee creativity? The mediating role of psychological availability

In this study, we develop a theoretical conceptualization and an operational definition of structuring of human resource management (HRM) processes and examine how this structuring enables employee creativity at work. Analyzing the data collected from employees and their managers in knowledge‐intensive workplace settings, we examine a mediation model that suggests that the relationship between structuring of HRM processes and employee creativity is best explained in terms of the intervening variables of perceived uncertainty, stress, and psychological availability. Results suggest that structuring of HRM processes is negatively associated with perceived uncertainty and stress. These perceptions produce a sense of psychological availability, which in turn enhances employee creativity. This study offers new insights about diagnosing the level of structuring of HRM processes and the ways managers and HR directors facilitate its implementation in their organization. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Do we have all the necessary data? The challenge of measuring populism through metaphors

Quality & Quantity - The aim of this paper is to highlight one possible method how to recognize populism in political communication. The method synthesizes frameworks of content analysis,...     

‘My People’: the potential of LGBT employee networks in reducing stigmatization and providing voice

Abstract

This paper explores the separation and isolation from the mainstream workforce that lesbian, gay, and bisexual employees can experience due to their sexual orientation, and how this can affect their voice and silence in the workplace. In response to perceived threats and actual experience of stigma in the workplace, we highlight the need for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) voice in organizations, while unpacking the complexities and concerns for LGBT employees in publicly voicing their sexual orientation at work. We explore how LGBT employee networks help mitigate LGBT isolation at work, and can directly and indirectly provide them with voice in the organization. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with LGBT employees across organizations in Ireland. The findings confirm that LGBT employees can experience isolation at work, affecting their voice, and that workplace networks may moderate this loneliness and stigma. However, the findings question the value of LGBT employee networks in providing voice for all sexual minority employees. Our research considers the individual-level responses of LGBT employees to participation in, and the value of, employee networks, and the perceived role of these networks in giving them visibility and voice.     

Public,Private or Neither? Analysing the publicness of health care social enterprises

Social enterprises have been actively encouraged to spin out of the National Health Service (NHS) on the grounds that they can deliver more innovative, cost-efficient and responsive services. This is arguably achieved through a combination of the best of the public, third and private sectors. This article explores this idea by bringing together empirical data from interviews with NHS spin-outs and a framework of ‘publicness’. By focusing on NHS spin-outs, we look at what happens to an organization’s publicness when it leaves the public sector yet continues to deliver publicly funded services.     

Depletion or expansion? Understanding the effects of support policy use on employee work and family outcomes

Past research on the effects of employees' use of work–family support policies tends to draw on a depletion perspective suggesting that using these policies may reduce work–family conflict. The emphasis on depletion fails to consider the expansion perspective that assumes that using work resources may enrich family functioning. Using a sample of 113 matched employee–supervisor pairs and a 1‐month separation between predictor and criterion measurement, we found support for the expansion rather than the depletion perspective. Specifically, the relationships between support policy use and employee job satisfaction and family efficacy (but not organisational citizenship behaviour) were mediated by work‐to‐family enrichment; these effects were realised only for employees with high levels of family identity. In contrast, no support was found for family‐to‐work conflict as a mediator of the model.     

Local monotonicity of power: Axiom or just a property?

This paper discusses whether Local Monotonicity (LM) should be regarded as a property of the power distribution of a specific voting game under consideration, indicated by a power measure, or as a characteristic of power per se. The latter would require reasonable power measures to satisfy a corresponding LM axiom. The former suggests that measures which do not allow for a violation of LM fail to account for dimensions of power which can cause nonmonotonicity in voting weight. Only if a measure is able to indicate nonmonotonicity, it can help design voting games for which power turns out to be monotonic. The argument is discussed in the light of recent extensions of traditional power indices.     

Entrepreneurship in the informal economy: commercial or social entrepreneurs?

Recent research has revealed that a large proportion of entrepreneurs start-up their ventures operating on a wholly or partially off-the-books basis. Until now, it has been commonly assumed that those who operate in the informal economy are exclusively commercial entrepreneurs. They are assumed to be rational economic actors who weigh up the benefits of operating off-the-books against the costs of being caught and decide to operate in this manner. The aim of this paper is to evaluate critically this a priori assumption. Reporting evidence from a 2005/6 survey involving face-to-face interviews with 102 informal entrepreneurs in Moscow in Russia, the finding is that such entrepreneurs are not purely commercially driven. Examining their rationales, informal entrepreneurs are found to range from purely rational economic actors pursuing for-profit logics through to purely social entrepreneurs pursuing purely social logics, with the majority somewhere in-between combining both for-profit and social rationales. Neither do their logics remain static over time. What begins as a commercial entrepreneurial venture may become more socially oriented over time or vice versa. So too do their logics vary socio-spatially. Those living in deprived populations are more socially-orientated, whilst those in relatively affluent populations are comparatively more profit-driven. The outcome is a call for a more nuanced explanation of the complex and heterogeneous logics of informal entrepreneurs.     

To the victor belong the spoils? A theoretical investigation of star employee hierarchies

Star employees are characterized by their high-status position in organizations. Yet, important distinctions in stardom are likely to exist among stars within an organization. These distinctions, in turn, may have important implications for not only the organization but also the stars themselves. Examining star employees via a resource perspective, we integrate conservation of resources theory and the theory of self-control strength to examine the risks and benefits associated with different levels of stardom. In this work we introduce and investigate two unique star profiles identified as the “superstar” and the “understudy.” Specifically, we examine both the potentially unforeseen risks associated with superstar status and the unanticipated benefits associated with understudy status. We further consider how characteristics of stars and contextual factors may serve as important contingencies. Given the extent to which stars guide organizational success and the intention of many employees to reach various levels of stardom, this work has important theoretical and practical implications.     

Which work characteristics predict employee outcomes for the public-sector employee? An examination of generic and occupation-specific characteristics

The wide-ranging changes that have occurred in the public sector over recent years have placed increasing demands on public-sector employees. A survey of employees within a relatively commercially-oriented public-sector organization in Australia was used to test a demand-oriented generic model of employee well-being and a variety of situation-specific variables. The presence of support at work and the amount of control an employee had over their job were found to be key predictors of employee-level outcomes. Perceptions of pay and the perception of a lack of human resources (HR) were also found to predict employee outcome variables. The results emphasize the impact that middle managers and HR managers can have in terms of reducing the detrimental employee effects that can be caused by the introduction of new public management (NPM) and the potential for a positive impact on employees. In particular, public-sector managers can use the design of jobs and the development of social support mechanisms, such as employee assistance programmes, to maintain, if not improve, the quality of working life experienced by their employees. More broadly, this study has found that the job strain model is a useful tool in a public-sector environment and is likely to be of increasing utility with the continuing introduction or consolidation of NPM over time. Managing these issues in the new public sector could be a key means of protecting the key resource of the Australian public sector – the employees.