Stress and turnover intents in international organizations: social support and work–life balance as resources

Abstract

This study investigates whether work opportunities have an impact on stress and the related turnover intentions of employees working in intergovernmental international organizations (IOs). It contextualizes the job resources and demands model within IOs’ specific work conditions. The empirical test is based on original data from a survey administered in four major organizations of the United Nations system. Results demonstrate that social work opportunities and work–life balance are organizational levers reducing stress and willingness to quit for employees who are facing red tape or the stresses of being an expatriate. In this context, the relationships between these work opportunities and turnover intention are partially mediated by stress. Contextualized HR management propositions are made to help organizations coping with these management challenges.     

Inferring international dotcom Web communities by link and content analysis

This study investigates international hyperlink networks and their content in terms of the .com domain, the most ubiquitous generic top-level domain, to examine the kinds of global websites that are linked to .com, what the linked contents are, and who are dealing with the hyperlinks. The results show the hyperlink network of websites with outgoing hyperlinks to .com websites indicates the dominant centrality of the U.S., whereas that of those with incoming hyperlinks from .com websites illustrates a core–periphery structure centered about the U.S. and other superpowers. The most globalized topics covered by websites linked to .com websites are business, the Internet and computers, recreation and entertainment, and personal interests. Many of the websites with outgoing hyperlinks to .com websites use only one non-English language. The predominant use of English by websites with outgoing hyperlinks to .com websites demonstrates the centrality of countries using English as the mother language in hyperlinked societies on the Web. The implications of these findings and further research are discussed.     

Website development by nonprofit organizations in an emerging market: a case study of Thai websites

• Nonprofit organizations are pertinent players in making the world a better place. Their websites aid in fulfilling their socially beneficial missions by being a platform to present themselves, to interact with stakeholders around the world, and to perform e‐transactions to raise funds. This interdisciplinary research explores nonprofit websites in Thailand, an emerging market, to determine their progress through an adapted e‐business stage model. A manual website decoding process was used to determine the development of websites, within the sector. On average, almost three‐quarters of the websites offered interactivity and just less than half conducted online transactions, but internationally connected organizations in Thailand were significantly more likely to do so. The findings suggest that while nonprofit websites in Thailand are progressing, there is significant lag between local Thai websites and those that have international connections. While the model successfully provided new data for understanding nonprofit websites in less developed markets, it may need to be modified in future studies.

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

实现云南省艾滋病链接平台建设的网络信息资源研究

收集整理了云南与艾滋病防治相关的主要网站,云南省网站、地区、国家级网站、国际组织、机构网站等三大类型的网站、平台的情况,探讨实现云南省艾滋病相关咨询、服务、治疗链接平台建设的网络资源基础。     

The effect of human image in B2C website design: an eye-tracking study

On B2C shopping websites, effective visual designs can bring about consumers’ positive emotional experience. From this perspective, this article developed a research model to explore the impact of human image as a visual element on consumers’ online shopping emotions and subsequent attitudes towards websites. This study conducted an eye-tracking experiment to collect both eye movement data and questionnaire data to test the research model. Questionnaire data analysis showed that product pictures combined with human image induced positive emotions among participants, thus promoting their attitudes towards online shopping websites. Specifically, product pictures with human image first produced higher levels of image appeal and perceived social presence, thus stimulating higher levels of enjoyment and subsequent positive attitudes towards the websites. Moreover, a moderating effect of product type was demonstrated on the relationship between the presence of human image and the level of image appeal. Specifically, human image significantly increased the level of image appeal when integrated in entertainment product pictures while this relationship was not significant in terms of utilitarian products. Eye-tracking data analysis further supported these results and provided plausible explanations. The presence of human image significantly increased the pupil size of participants regardless of product types. For entertainment products, participants paid more attention to product pictures integrated with human image whereas for utilitarian products more attention was paid to functional information of products than to product pictures no matter whether or not integrated with human image.     

The effects of information sharing and interactivity on the intention to use social networking websites

Social networking sites (SNSs), which satisfy the primary demands of making friends, learning, and shopping, and are inseparable from human life, have been booming in recent years that domestic or international websites have endeavored to have users access to their websites. This study proposed relational model to examine the intention to use SNSs, and also applied a questionnaire survey to examine differences in this intention among various user groups. The findings indicated that that, in order to promote the intention to use social networking sites, managers should work to enhance interactivity and information sharing, and should also consider the feelings and attitudes of users. Different user groups lead to different outcomes with regard to the intention to use model developed in this work. However, the intention to use of most users in the sample groups was enhanced by the SNSs characteristics of information sharing and perceived playfulness.     

To Screen or Not to Screen? Using the Internet for Selection Decisions

Organizations are increasingly relying on Internet searches and social networking websites to uncover detailed and private information about job applicants. Such Internet screening techniques have the potential to provide additional information beyond that found using traditional screening approaches. However, questions regarding the legality and appropriateness of this practice, as well as issues regarding the standardization, reliability, and validity of the information obtained, need to be addressed. The current work describes these issues associated with Internet screening and provides recommendations to help ensure this practice is used appropriately in organizations. Suggestions for future research on Internet screening are also discussed.     

Innovation in food firms: contribution of regional networks within the international business context

This paper explores the role of regional networks in processes of innovation within an international business context. It is hypothesized that firms participating in regional networks demonstrate a stronger innovation competence. Data are drawn from a survey among food firms in the region of Meetjesland, Belgium, and reflect the relation between the firm and a number of regional characteristics. After restructuring the data through factor analysis and cluster analysis, the important role of regional networking is revealed using discriminant analysis. The analysis marks out two factors having the strongest power to discriminate between the clusters: firms are classified as having a stronger innovation competence when networking within the region, and when orienting towards the international market. Results demonstrate that internationally operating firms benefit from regional networking. Further, it is argued that regional networking is not contradictory to an international market orientation, and that firms gain innovation competence by searching for external knowledge on different geographical scales. As these networks have the potential to enhance the innovation competence of firms, support to regional networking is promoted as a policy tool.     

Social media,an emerging platform for relationship building: A study of engagement with nongovernment organizations in India

The purpose of this study is to explore the major determinants of nongovernment organizations (NGOs) engagement and relationship building on social media in India. Netnography with a metaphoric grounded analysis is used for the data analysis to identify these determinants, and a conceptual framework is proposed to inform the strategic direction of NGOs. The findings suggest that supporters engage with NGOs largely for personal and organizational reasons. Emotions, trust, and information needs emerge as the primary personal drivers for engagement, whereas organizational accountability, performance, brand image, and transparency emerge as organizational drivers. Behavioural intention mediates the relationship between the drivers of engagement and supporter contributions. The study suggests that as the number of supporters on social media platforms is rapidly increasing, NGOs should recognize the importance of the supporter experience while designing their marketing strategies. Given the peculiarity of supporter behaviour in relationship building by NGOs, the inclusion of more supporters may improve the welfare of society.     

Determining the impact of age and LOS on job satisfaction: a case study of Pakistan automotive industry

This research was conducted to ascertain the impact of age and length of service (LOS) on job satisfaction in engineers of Pakistan public sector. Field survey was conducted using job satisfaction survey (JSS) questionnaire having closed-ended questions. Multistage sampling was conducted using a combination of cluster sampling, stratified sampling and random sampling techniques. Power and Precision software was used to determine the sample size. JSS questionnaires were administered amongst 225 electrical and mechanical engineers from five public sector organizations. 158 usable questionnaires were received and data were analyzed in SPSS. Statistical analyses showed existence of an open mouth U-shaped relationship between LOS/age and job satisfaction. It was found that age moderates relationship between LOS and job satisfaction. Non-responsiveness of senior engineers led to one of the limitations of this study. Results of this study can be used for policy-making decisions.     

Prerecruitment organizational perceptions and recruitment website information processing

Despite the prevalent use of the Internet for recruitment purposes, little is known about how job seekers process presented information, particularly before organizations have actively recruited these job seekers. In this study, we examine the effects of prerecruitment perceptions of familiar organizations before exposure to information on organizational recruitment websites using a combination of undergraduate students and employees of a large university located in the southwestern USA (N = 75). Participants completed a three-part study that allowed us to investigate how these prerecruitment perceptions impact the reported time spent viewing recruitment websites and the ability to recall website information. We used two hierarchical moderated multiple regression models to test study hypotheses. Our results suggest that job pursuit intentions may influence processing of job and organizational information presented on recruitment websites, and this influence is moderated by subjective fit perceptions. Specifically, we find that participants who indicated high job pursuit intentions and low perceptions of subjective fit were more likely to spend time on a recruitment website and recall presented information one week after viewing it. We discuss the implications of these findings for organizations as they design and implement early recruitment activities.     

The more the merrier? Network portfolio size and innovation performance in Nigerian firms

A positive relationship between firms' networking activities and innovativeness has been consistently established in the literature on innovation. However, studies considering different innovation types, and on developing countries are scarce. This paper addresses questions concerning the relationship between networking strategies and innovativeness of firms, using innovation survey data on Nigerian firms. Quantile regression is applied to trace the link between portfolio size and innovation at different levels of innovative success. The results show a positive relationship between a firm's innovation performance and the size of its networking portfolio. This relationship varies across different innovation types and with increasing innovation performance. The findings suggest that the widely accepted portfolio approach to external search for knowledge is not necessarily always the best—its utility depends on the firm's current level of innovative success. This poses a challenge for open innovation.     

Exploring supply management status,internal collaboration and operating performance

An important internal link in the supply chain is between supply managers and their internal customers. These individuals must collaborate to determine purchase specifications, develop sourcing strategies, ensure supplier performance, and maintain effective supplier relationships. Using power and social networking as the theoretical lenses, we develop and test a conceptual model examining the supply management function’s status, supply manager’s networking behavior, collaboration with the internal customer, and operating performance (lower cost, better quality, faster delivery, and consistent delivery). We also examine the mediating effect of collaboration and networking behavior on the positive effect of status and operating performance. Data gathered in an online survey of supply management professionals are examined using path analysis. Results show that without including the mediators, supply management status is directly related to all four operating performance measures. It is also positively related to collaboration with the internal customer and networking behavior. Contrary to expectations, the supply manager’s networking behavior is not related to collaboration with the internal customer. Collaboration is positively related to all four operating performance measures. However, the supply manager’s networking behavior is only related to one operating performance measure, better quality. Mediation analysis shows that supply management status has a direct effect on faster delivery performance beyond what is explained by collaboration and the supply manager’s networking behavior. The findings suggest that organizations should look for ways to elevate the status of the supply management function to improve internal collaboration and operating performance.     

基于灰关联的省市物流公共信息平台的链接分析

对部分省市物流公共信息平台网站的链接指标数据进行灰关联分析,将灰关联度和网站的PR值分别与链接指标进行相关性分析,以便进一步完善省市物流公共信息平台建设。     

Government intervention on cooperation,competition, and coopetition of humanitarian supply chains

We considered a humanitarian environment composed of donors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that the non-profits may adopt competitive or coopetitive inter-organizational interaction for managing the disasters. We also assumed that the government intervenes in the relief operations by applying one of its two policies; social welfare maximization (SWM) or budget consumption minimization (BCM). Using game theory (GT) approach, we develop 4 scenarios and, as a result, 4 mathematical programming models for examining the effect of the NGOs interactions and the government policies on the performance of donors, NGOs and government. We find that coopetition of NGOs facilitates the achievement of the government's objectives, and it also helps the non-profits to become more successful in providing relief. The government prefers to provide the indirect relief to the nonprofits to manage emergency operations successfully, and the financial aids are given only in the condition of reducing the level of NGOs cooperation. We also conclude that the cooperation of NGOs increases the donors' utility. A numerical example is conducted to test the findings of the models.     

Ngo-Business Partnerships

The rapidly changing external environment is having major implications for the role of NGOs, their sources of funding, the nature of their relationships and their activities Globalization, the Increasingly multinational nature of business and electronic communication, has caused a parallel reduction in the powers of the nation state to affect development and a rise in the powers of the business community NGOs need to engage with the private sector in new ways. INTRAC's own ongoing monitoring of the NGO sector suggests that an analysis of these issues would be of great value to NGOs and the private sector as they grapple with possible new modes of engagement in their quest to have a positive impact on justice, peace and poverty alleviation.

Relations have moved beyond the purely philanthropic, with corporations giving money to good causes, and the highly antagonistic, with organizations protesting a company's operations, to a situation where the two sectors often work in partnership to address core business issues such as environmental management, product development and ethical sourcing.There has been an explosion in these forms of partnership between business and NGOs. This raises many issues for strategies and tactics to be followed by NGO management. As such this research is of key strategic importance to NGOs and the private sector.     

Faces of the needy: the portrayal of destitute children in the fundraising campaigns of NGOs in India

• This paper focuses on the portrayal of children in fundraising campaigns by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in India and answers the following questions: How do children feel about their portrayal in the images of funding campaigns? How do photographers or managers/directors affiliated with NGOs view their portrayal of destitute children? The study draws on data from analysis of images, focus groups with children, and interviews with photographers and campaign managers from NGOs working in different parts of India. Findings suggest that children like to be portrayed as happy and in a “good light”, telling the whole story about their lives but that also generates awareness about hardships they face, such as child labor; NGOs face a challenge in representing beneficiaries in a good light while also showing “need” to donors; and children interviewed were unaware of the purpose of the images as a fundraising and marketing tool, raising ethical concerns.

Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The key performance indicators (KPIs) and their impact on overall organizational performance

The concept of performance management is used by most of the organizations to ensure that either they are going on the right path or not. For managing the performance the organizations are required to know about the performance indicators. This paper explores the key performance indicators (KPIs) and impact of these KPIs on the overall organizational performance in manufacturing sector in Pakistan. The data for present study collected from the top level management of the 84 best manufacturing organizations in Pakistan by using a structured questionnaire and the impact of KPIs on the overall performance of the manufacturing organizations were evaluated. The results show that the manufacturing organizations put more focus on the customer satisfaction and Delivery reliability in terms of performance measurement. And measuring the performance in terms of cost, financial, quality, time, flexibility, delivery reliability, safety, customer satisfaction, employees’ satisfaction and social performance indicators have positive significant impact on the overall organization’s performance. This paper puts together all important performance indicators used by organizations in a single list and check their impact on the overall performance indicator index of the Organizations. As Pakistan is among the developing countries, this study will serve as a valuable guideline for several manufacturing organizations operating in other developing countries of the world.     

Contrasting FOR and WITH factor chains: The case of material supply chains and human factor chains in Guatemalan nongovernmental organizations

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have varied success in meeting the challenges of disasters in Antigua, Guatemala. This research uses the TO–FOR–WITH model based on nine criteria that separate surviving NGOs from transient NGOs. Two Guatemalan NGOs, Corazon de los Nino and Sonidos para la Vida, are used to validate the model. The two NGOs differ on three of the nine criteria in the TO–FOR–WITH model. Corazon meets all nine criteria and is considered a WITH organization using local sources for employment, supplies, and logistics. Sonidos is a FOR organization because it falls short in the three categories of bilateral communication, residual intelligence, and post hoc deployment. The criteria were found to distinguish the two NGOs in meaningful ways. However, two cases are not sufficient for theory building. We distinguish between factor chains and material supply chains, a distinction that is especially salient for humanitarian services, which are the primary offerings of many NGOs. No prior studies have tested this recent model and no previous studies have addressed the distinction between material supply chains and factor chains. Additional research is needed including expanding to other NGOs, other countries, and other settings.     

Examining the international internet using multiple measures: new methods for measuring the communication base of globalized cyberspace

This article examines the network structure of the international internet using four different sources of data: (1) bilateral bandwidth between countries; (2) hyperlink connections among nations’ domain names; (3) structural equivalence of nations from the perspective of websites, measured by the percentage of specific websites’ traffic from individual countries; and (4) structural equivalence of nations from the national perspective, using the proportion of a country’s 100 most-visited websites shared with other countries. Results indicate that the international internet network appears to consist of series of small worlds determined by language, geography, and historical circumstances. Therefore, one cannot depict the internet only through an examination of the hyperlink connections among nations. There is a need for multiple indicators to accurately describe the global internet.