When profession trumps potential: The moderating role of professional identification in employees’ reactions to talent management

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the role that a professionalized context plays in shaping employee reactions to talent management decisions. We examined the mediating role of felt obligation in the relationship between talent ratings and organizational citizenship behavior. Further, the study tested whether professional identification moderates the relationship between talent ratings and felt obligation towards the organization. Five hundred and ninety-eight teachers that had recently received ratings of their talent status responded to a survey questionnaire. Felt obligation mediated the relationship between talent ratings and organizational citizenship behavior. Furthermore, professional identification moderated the relationship between ratings of potential and felt obligation in such a way that the relationship was strongest for the teachers expressing the lowest professional identification. At high levels of professional identification, the relationship was not significant. These results indicate that conventional talent management might be less effective for increasing favorable attitudes and behaviors among employees in highly professionalized contexts, such as the education sector.     

Towards a hybrid model? A systematic review of human resource management research on Chinese state-owned enterprises (1993–2017)

Abstract

Over the past two decades, there has been a proliferation of research on human resource management (HRM) in Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) as a result of the wide-reaching state-sector reform of the late 1980s. This article aims to provide a systematic review of literature on this topic and capture the nature of HRM in Chinese SOEs, both in research and practice. The article draws on 178 studies from 43 English academic journals over a period of 25?years (1993–2017). In analysing this literature and by taking stock of theoretical frameworks, research methods, themes and analysis of academic articles in this area, we have gained a number of insights. The study has found that the research methods used have shifted from qualitative and interpretive methodology toward quantitative and sophisticated modelling. A further insight is that there has been a relatively heavy reliance on institutional theory in the earlier studies reviewed, and since then a switch towards organizational behaviour perspectives. The level of analysis has moved from macro to micro level and thematic foci have become more diverse and complex. We highlight a number of avenues, theoretical and empirical, for future studies in this field.     

Value Orientations, Income and Displacement Effects, and Voluntary Contributions

Identifying the value orientations of subjects participating in market or non-market decisions by having them participate in a ring game may be helpful in understanding the behaviour of these subjects. This experiment presents the results of changes in the centre and the radius of a value orientations ring in an attempt to discover if the measured value orientations exhibit income or displacement effects. Neither significant income effects nor displacement effects are identified. An external validity check with a voluntary contribution game provides evidence that value orientations from rings centred around the origin of the decision-space explain significant portions of voluntary contributions while value orientations from displaced rings do not.     

Understanding the role of situational factors on online grocery shopping among older adults

This paper seeks to identify the situational factors that drive the adoption of online grocery shopping among older adults. A two-step research process is employed. First, exploratory qualitative research is carried out to identify situational factors that older adults take into account when deciding whether to buy groceries online. This is followed by a conjoint experiment to determine which situational factors are considered most important when making such a decision. The sample consisted of 9 participants in the in-depth individual interviews and 206 respondents in the conjoint experiment. The findings indicate that health, mobility issues, and distance to a store are the most important situational factors driving older adults to buy groceries online. Moreover, the findings confirm that the adoption of online grocery shopping among older adults is a result of a complex trade-off of situational variables. The findings contribute to managerial practice by providing online grocery retailers with insight that can be applied when designing promotional programs targeted at older adults.     

网络环境下经济行为边界的确定

现代社会是信息社会,互联网和计算机应用是最明显的特征。人们基于网络参与经济决策与市场交易活动,道德理念、行为准则和行为安排发生了较大的变化。网络技术:一方面,极大地降低了交易费用;另一方面,由于经济行为的隐蔽性,追求经济利益的行为缺乏有效监督,人的趋利避害和机会主义倾向更容易诱发蓄意性诱导行为。在网络环境下,如何界定“经济人”的行为模式,怎样减少经济行为负的外部效应成为经济学理论研究的问题。本文主要讨论网络环境中“经济人”经济行为边界的确定。     

The Effect of Social Cues on Sniping Behavior in Internet Auctions: Field Evidence and a Lab Experiment

This research explores how social cues presented in an online auction affect sniping behavior. Sniping is a strategy of placing a bid on an item in the very ending stages of an auction with a pre-determined ending time in an attempt to win the auction. Such a strategy conceals the intentions of the bidder until the last moments of the auction and minimizes the possibility of other opposing bidders submitting higher bids due to the short period of time left to respond. The research includes two field studies and a lab experiment indicating that sniping appears to be influenced by social factors, that is, when there are a greater number of bidders in the auction or the auction site provides social information about the bidders, the relative use of sniping increases. This research supports the perspective that bidders rely on others' bidding behavior and characteristics as an indication of the true value of the item on sale, and is one of the first studies in the literature which takes this perspective.     

论科学发展观视野下的学生工作

目前在我国高校的学生工作中,学生日益增长的发展需求和学校陈旧的学生工作管理模式之间的矛盾是其主要矛盾。然而科学发展观的宗旨是强调人的主体地位和核心地位,这就要求我们必须积极改革创新,利用先进的学生工作理念和科学的学生工作管理模式来解决这一矛盾,充分落实科学发展观。文章主要通过"用爱与智慧引领学生成长"的学生工作理念加以阐述。     

More on the role of switching costs in service markets: A research note

The present paper focuses on several important and under-researched issues related to switching costs (SC) as a defensive marketing tool in retaining customers with complaint handling. While most previous research analyzed the effects of SC on the behavioral intent of customers, our findings have focused on the actual behavior of bank customers; that is, staying with or leaving the bank to which they had complained previously. The findings show that, of the six potential facets of SC, only two significantly affect the actual behavior of complainants, one directly (i.e., Continuity Costs) and the other as a moderator (i.e., Learning Costs). Likewise, a customer's evaluation of the complaint handling affects behavior directly.     

Customer participation and citizenship behavioral influences on employee performance, satisfaction, commitment, and turnover intention

Despite increasing awareness of the importance of customer behaviors in service delivery, understanding consequences relating to employees receives little attention. Therefore, using data from a large electronic firm relating to customers, employees, and managers, this study examines the effects of customer participation and citizenship behavior on employee performance, satisfaction and commitment, as well as indirect effects on turnover intention. Furthermore, the study examines how similarity and likeability moderate the effects of customer participation and citizenship behavior on employee satisfaction. The study also includes a laboratory experiment and provides further support for causal direction. The article discusses marketing implications of the results.