Economic austerity and healthcare restructuring: correlates and consequences of nursing job insecurity

The healthcare system underwent considerable restructuring and downsizing in the early to mid-1990s in several countries as governments cut costs to reduce their budget deficits. Studies of the effects of these efforts on nursing staff and hospital functioning in various countries generally reported negative impacts. Healthcare restructuring and hospital downsizing is again being implemented in North America in 2009/2010 as governments struggle to reduce their deficits at a time of worldwide economic recession. The present study examines the relationship of hospital restructuring initiatives in and their link with increased threats to job security with a variety of individual and hospital outcomes in a sample of nursing staff working in hospitals undergoing significant restructuring and downsizing. Data were collected from 289 nursing staff working in California hospitals. Nurses reported a relatively large number of restructuring and downsizing initiatives. Restructuring initiatives and threats to job security accounted for a greater increment in explained variance on every outcome measure than did personal demographic factors and work situation characteristics. Threats to job security were generally associated with negative work attitudes and satisfactions, levels of psychological well-being and perceptions of hospital functioning. Some suggestions for more successful approaches to cost reductions are offered.     

High-performance work system and intention to leave: a mediation model

To address recent calls in the literature for additional work on the role of high-performance work systems (HPWS) in determining individual outcomes, this study examines the relationship between employees' perceptions of HPWS and intention to leave, as well as the possible mediating role of job satisfaction, procedural justice and intrinsic motivation in this relationship. The model is tested with EQS 6.1, on a sample of 155 engineers from 19 different companies and industries. Results indicate that HPWS is associated positively with job satisfaction, procedural justice and intrinsic motivation. Results also show that only job satisfaction mediates the relationship between HPWS and engineers' intention to leave, whereas procedural justice and intrinsic motivation mediate the relationship between HPWS and job satisfaction.     

The Convergence and Divergence of Job Discretion Between Occupations and Institutional Regimes in Europe from 1995 to 2010

Drawing on technical change and institutional theories, this paper examines the convergence and divergence of job discretion between occupations and institutional regimes in Europe from 1995–2010. Latent growth modelling of a pseudo‐panel data set derived from the European Working Conditions Survey reveals that significantly different rates of change have led to an increasing polarization of job discretion between occupations and between Nordic and other European countries. Across occupations the findings are in keeping with routine‐biased technical change rather than skill‐biased technical change theories and suggest that the effects of technical change on job discretion depend largely on whether technology substitutes or complements job tasks. Across countries, the results are in line with employment regime theory, which suggests that institutional differences (particularly employment policies and trade union influence) are driving cross‐national variation in job discretion. Overall, a more comprehensive empirical and theoretical understanding is provided of factors shaping change in a key aspect of job quality, namely job discretion.     

Linking job insecurity to well-being and organizational attitudes in Belgian workers: the role of security expectations and fairness

The aim of this study was to investigate how perceptions of job insecurity and fairness associate with individual well-being (job satisfaction and general health) and organizational attitudes (organizational commitment and turnover intention), under the condition that the psychological contract as perceived by the employee includes a promise on job security, or not. More specifically, we suggest that (H1) job insecurity is negatively related to individual well-being and organizational commitment and positively related to turnover intentions when job security is expected as part of the psychological contract, (H2) that job insecurity is negatively related to fairness perceptions when job security is expected as part of the psychological contract, (H3) that fairness associates positively with individual well-being and organizational commitment and negatively with turnover intentions and (H4) that the association between job insecurity, individual well-being and organizational outcomes is mediated by fairness under the condition that job security is expected as part of the psychological contract. Thus, we propose a model of mediated moderation. Results based on a sample of Belgian employees (N = 559) supported our hypotheses for organizational outcomes. For individual well-being, the mediation framework was not conditional upon a perceived promise of job security as part of the psychological contract. We conclude that employees' perceptions of job insecurity and fairness are important factors in employees' well-being and their attitudes towards the organization. More importantly, these perceptions can in part be shaped by organizational agents such as managers and supervisors. Additionally, the active utilization of the psychological contract in management strategies seems to have favourable results for the fostering of pro-organizational attitudes among employees.     

论建设社会主义和谐社会如何做好思想政治工作

改革开放30年后,我国正超越日本成为世界第二大经济体。经济的腾飞,为我国建设和谐社会奠定了坚实的物质基础。在新形势下,在建设和谐社会过程中如何做好思想政治工作成为一个新课题,文章就此展开探讨。     

谈如何做好出纳工作

文章结合工作实践,就如何做好财务出纳工作提出见解。     

NPM Can Work: An optimistic review of the impact of New Public Management reforms in central and eastern Europe

Abstract

This article reviews the New Public Management (NPM) literature in central and eastern Europe (CEE) with the aim of assessing whether reforms have ‘worked’. Increasingly, academics have tended to argue against the suitability of NPM instruments in this region. To understand the impact of this much-debated policy, we first propose a classification of the impacts of NPM geared to the realities of central and eastern European states. Then, we use this classification to carefully review empirical studies across the region over the past 10 years. Unlike much of the recent academic literature, we suggest that NPM can work. NPM policy has not always been successful to the extent expected and promoted, but there is enough evidence to show that some of the central ideas in NPM have led to improvements in public service organization or provision across different organizational settings. An adequate degree of administrative capacity, sustained reform over time and a ‘fitting context’ are the main factors that can tip the scale for the success of these management instruments. The article provides a fresh and transparent assessment of a major administrative development in a growing region with implications for other parts of the world that experience similar challenges and opportunities.     

It Takes Three to Tango: Exploring the Interplay among Training Intensity,Job Autonomy,and Supervisor Support in Predicting Knowledge Sharing

This study explored whether the relationship between perceived training intensity and knowledge sharing is prone to combined moderating influences. We operationalized perceived training intensity as a challenge stressor, in accordance with the challenge‐hindrance framework of work stressors. The results of a study of 129 employees from three Norwegian service industries revealed a positive relationship between perceived training intensity and supervisor‐rated knowledge sharing for employees reporting high levels of perceived job autonomy and high levels of perceived supervisor support. In contrast, we found a negative relationship between perceived training intensity and supervisor‐rated knowledge sharing for employees reporting high levels of perceived job autonomy and low levels of perceived supervisor support. These findings suggest that supervisors are of vital importance in facilitating knowledge sharing among employees in settings where developmental challenges are prevalent and perceptions of job autonomy are high. Implications for future research and practice are also discussed. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

如何做好新形势下企业思想政治工作

文章阐述了企业思想政治工作应坚持的原则,分析了当前企业思想政治工作面临的新问题,并对如何做好新形势下企业思想政治工作进行探讨。     

如何做好新形势下企业思想政治工作

文章阐述了企业思想政治工作应坚持的原则,分析了当前企业思想政治工作面临的新问题,并对如何做好新形势下企业思想政治工作进行探讨。     

Employees' concerns about change and commitment to change among Italian organizations: the moderating role of innovative work behavior

Despite being regarded as a critical psychological process influencing the effectiveness of change initiatives, concerns about change have not received empirical attention in the organizational change literature. The present study addresses this issue by examining the relationships among employees' concerns about change (conceptualized as including concerns about the contents and benefits of change, and concerns about mastering the change), commitment to change and innovative work behavior. First, in a hospital undergoing a major administrative change (N = 435), concerns about change were generally found to be negatively related to affective and normative commitment to change and positively related to continuance commitment to change. These results were replicated in a chemical and pharmaceutical company undergoing a technological change (N = 113), except that concerns about change were unrelated to normative commitment to change. In addition, employees' innovative work behavior moderated the relationship of concerns about change to affective commitment to change such that the relationship was negative when innovative behavior was low but nonsignificant when innovative behavior was high. This study provides scholars and practitioners with a theoretically and empirically grounded framework for assessing employees' concerns about change, and moves research a step forward into identifying the behaviors that organizations should support to counteract this psychological threat.     

论如何做好新时期企业思想政治工作

文章分析研究现阶段企业思想政治工作面临的新形势、新问题,探讨思想政治工作的新规律、新方法,对企业做好思想政治工作有着十分重要的现实意义。     

谈新形势下如何做好企业思想政治工作

企业思想政治工作是企业党组织的重要工作之一,是党的优良传统和政治优势,是企业改革和发展坚强有力的思想保证。在新形势下,做好企业的思想政治工作要做到“七个坚持”：一是坚持服务理念,二是坚持思想动态分析,三是坚持以人为本,四是坚持对症下药,五是坚持正确疏导,六是坚持解决困难,七是坚持改进方式。通过做到“七个坚持”,企业思想政治工作取得良好的成效,为企业深化改革、快速发展和奋斗目标的实现奠定思想基础。     

新形势下做好企业的思想政治工作探讨

随着企业的发展和新形势的变化,如何把企业思想政治工作做好,有效地发挥思想政治工作的堡垒作用,已成为摆在企业面前亟待解决的问题。     

新形势下做好企业的思想政治工作探讨

随着企业的发展和新形势的变化,如何把企业思想政治工作做好,有效地发挥思想政治工作的堡垒作用,已成为摆在企业面前亟待解决的问题。     

新时期如何做好医院职工思想政治工作

以科学发展观为统领,加强和改进医疗单位思想政治工作,是当前创建和谐医院,构建和谐社会,实现广大人民群众享受基本医疗服务的重要保证。医疗单位要从思想政治工作的时效性出发,创新思想政治工作,突出思想政治工作的针对性,以适应医疗卫生体制改革发展的需要。     

在企业发展过程中如何发挥思想政治工作的重要作用

思想政治工作是企业现代化管理的重要组成部分,是企业实现经营管理目标的重要思想保证。文章围绕企业生产经营中心工作,从6个方面阐述思想政治工作在企业发展过程中所发挥的重要作用。