Education

A great deal has been written about mergers in industry, but those in the public sector have received much less attention. This article sets out to redress the balance, analysing 30 recent merger examples in the higher education (HE) sector. It draws parallels with the wider literature, and includes recommendations for practitioners.     

Is what you see what you get? Investigating the relationship between social media content and counterproductive work behaviors,alcohol consumption,and episodic heavy drinking

Abstract

Employers are increasingly using social networking website (SNW) content to screen applicants for employment despite the absence of much empirical support for this practice. The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of using SNW content to predict employee behavior. Specifically, we investigated the relationship between SNW content and counterproductive work behaviors (CWB), occurrence of workplace accidents, alcohol consumption, and episodic heavy drinking. Participants (N = 146 MBA and upper level undergraduate business students) self-reported demographic information and information about workplace counterproductive behavior. Participants also provided access to their SNW profile, which the researchers subsequently accessed in order to assess potentially compromising content. Results indicate SNW profiles are not associated with CWB or involvement in workplace accidents, while SNW profiles containing alcohol and drug content are associated with alcohol consumption and episodic heavy drinking. Our study is among the first to examine the relationship between SNW profile information and CWBs of interest to HRM personnel and provides evidence that practitioners should exercise caution in drawing inferences about workplace behaviors based on SNW profile information.     

Saving your rookie managers from themselves

Most organizations promote employees into managerial positions based on their technical competence. But very often, that kind of competence does not translate into good managerial performance. Many rookie managers fail to grasp how their roles have changed: that their jobs are no longer about personal achievement but about enabling others to achieve, that sometimes driving the bus means taking a backseat, and that building a team is often more important than cutting a deal. Even the best employees have trouble adjusting to these new realities, and that trouble can be exacerbated by the normal insecurities that may make rookie managers hesitant to ask for help. The dynamic unfolds something like this: As rookie managers internalize their stress, their focus, too, becomes increasingly internal. They become insecure and self-focused and cannot properly support their teams. Invariably, trust breaks down, staff members become alienated, and productivity suffers. In this article, coach and management consultant Carol Walker, who works primarily with rookie managers and their supervisors, addresses the five problem areas that rookie managers typically face: delegating, getting support from senior staffers, projecting confidence, thinking strategically, and giving feedback. You may think these elements sound like Management 101, and you'd be right, Walker writes. But these basic elements are also what trip up most managers in the early stages of their careers (and even, she admits, throughout their careers). The bosses of rookie managers have a responsibility to anticipate and address these problems; not doing so will hurt the rookie, the boss, and the company overall.