How Customer Requests Influence Frontline Employee Job Outcomes: The Role of Personal Appraisal Tendencies and Situational Customer Demandingness

This study investigates how customer requests, a common phenomenon, influence frontline employee (FLE) job outcomes. We propose and demonstrate that (1) FLEs possess tendencies to appraise customer requests in both positive (i.e., challenge appraisal tendency) and negative (i.e., hindrance appraisal tendency) ways, (2) higher levels of challenge appraisal tendency result in higher levels of FLE performance and lower levels of turnover (mediated through job engagement), (3) higher levels of hindrance appraisal tendency lead to increased FLE turnover (mediated through job stress), (4) the effects of FLE appraisal tendencies on situational engagement and stress are magnified when a specific customer request is deemed to be more (rather than less) demanding, and (5) customer request appraisal tendencies are shaped by the interaction between FLEs’ level of prosocial motivation and intrinsic motivation. These results are very encouraging for managers as they imply that FLE responses to customer requests are not determined by the nature of the requests themselves (which is beyond their control) but, rather, they are a function of how FLEs construe customer requests, a process that can be influenced through organizational human resource practices.     

Information overload and fake news sharing: A transactional stress perspective exploring the mitigating role of consumers’ resilience during COVID-19

The spread of fake news in social networks has become a major concern for various sectors of society, including retail and service providers, some of whom have suffered from decreasing sales due to misinformation consumers shared online. The current COVID-19 crisis has added to the surrounding hysteria, as fake news during crises can heighten negative behavioural responses in consumers, such as irrational panic buying or taking false medical precautionary measures. In fact, driven by the ubiquitous social media landscape, the dissemination of misinformation and the overarching overabundance of information have been major challenges of the pandemic. Given that current research offers little insight into the processes behind the sharing of fake news among consumers and that research on consumer-centred mitigating mechanisms is missing, this study explores the relationship between information overload, fake news sharing, and the overlooked concept of consumers' resilience as a potential shield as viewed through the lens of the current crisis. Structural equation modelling is applied to cross-sectional data from 241 social media users. Drawing from theories of transactional stress and psychological resilience, it is demonstrated that information overload leads to an increased likelihood of fake news sharing by increasing consumers' psychological strain. Furthermore, the study shows that consumers' resilience has the power to mitigate the drastic effects of this negative chain of influence by inhibiting each of the processual components. The results have important implications extending beyond crises. Measures should be taken to enhance consumers’ resilience amidst technology-induced stressors while altering the information environment confronting consumers.     

Relative Importance of Major Job Performance Dimensions in Determining Supervisors' Overall Job Performance Ratings

This study explores the factor structure of job performance and each performance dimension's relative importance in determining supervisors' overall job performance ratings. We found that the optimal factor structure of job performance includes five dimensions: task performance, organizational citizenship behaviour directed toward the organization and individuals (OCB‐O and OCB‐I, respectively), and counterproductive work behaviour directed toward the organization and individuals (CWB‐O and CWB‐I, respectively). The percent‐based relative weight (%RW) is the highest for task performance in determining job performance, followed by OCB and CWB. Interestingly, the %RW of non‐task performance dimensions directed toward the organization (OCB‐O and CWB‐O) is similar to the %RW of task performance but greater than the %RW of non‐task performance dimensions directed toward individuals (OCB‐I and CWB‐I). Copyright © 2018 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

员工-配偶工作家庭边界分割偏好匹配对员工工作投入的影响机制研究

依据个体-环境匹配理论和平衡理论，基于320份员工与配偶的配对问卷调查数据，采用多元回归分析、响应面分析以及块变量分析方法，探讨了员工-配偶工作家庭边界分割偏好不同匹配/不匹配类型对员工工作投入及情感平衡的影响。结果表明：员工-配偶工作家庭边界分割偏好匹配有利于提高员工的情感平衡和工作投入水平；而员工-配偶工作家庭边界分割偏好不匹配则会降低员工的情感平衡和工作投入水平。具体而言，当员工-配偶工作家庭边界分割偏好匹配时，员工边界分割偏好高-配偶边界分割偏好高对员工情感平衡和工作投入的正向影响更强；当员工-配偶工作家庭边界分割偏好不匹配时，员工边界分割偏好低-配偶边界分割偏好高对员工情感平衡和工作投入的负向影响更强。无论员工-配偶工作家庭边界分割偏好是否匹配，情感平衡均在其对员工工作投入的影响中起中介作用。     

“一碗水端不平”：领导者宽容差序、职场妒忌及其后果研究

员工犯错时，上级领导可能因差序格局而对不同下属给予不同程度的宽容，出现“一碗水端不平”的现象。领导者的宽容差序造成下属在情感或资源分配上的不平等，为员工之间的社会比较创造了可能。为了揭示领导者宽容差序对员工个体心理和行为的影响，基于社会比较理论，本研究构建了“宽容差序—职场妒忌—行为后果”的平行中介路径模型。通过问卷调研和统计分析，证实了领导者的宽容差序，一方面会增加员工的恶意妒忌，进而引发反生产行为；另一方面会使员工减少善意妒忌，进而减少工作投入。另外，通过间接和总体作用的抽样计算，发现领导者宽容差序总体上会导致员工降低工作投入及增加反生产行为。     

Factors contributing to injury severity in work zone related crashes in New Zealand

Roadworks take place frequently on existing roads in New Zealand. The adverse effects of poor road conditions and reduced road width due to the presence of a work zone on the safety of road users and workers at the work zone have been a matter of concern. Several studies have been conducted to examine the risk factors contributing to the occurrence of road crashes in work zones in different countries. Slow-moving and stopped vehicles near work zones have been found to be the primary cause of crashes and casualties in the work zones. Excessive speed of passing traffic has also been recognized as a crucial factor contributing to work zone related crashes in New Zealand. This study examined the effect of possible risk factors contributing to severe injury and fatality in work zone related crashes in New Zealand. A multinomial logistic regression model was established to determine the association between crash severity and factors such as road environment, vehicle attributes, driver behavior, and crash circumstances, based on the information available on 453 road crashes during the period from 2008 to 2013. The results indicated that the time period, vehicle involvement, and presence of vulnerable road users were the factors that determined the crash severity in work zones. This implies that improvements are required in traffic control and management measures in work zones to enhance road safety in the long run.     

The curse of bureaucratisation or the blessings of professionalisation? Nurses’ engaged adoption of quality management in hybrid managerial positions

The paper concerns how new quality management in the Danish hospital sector has created new career and professionalisation opportunities for nurses. While the well-known dualism between the logics of professionalism and managerialism is challenged in the literature, not much is known about how engagement in the tighter steering of practice may converge with professional identities and meaningfulness in work. The paper applies a Bourdieusian and ethnographic approach to the examination of nurses’ enthusiastic involvement in quality management as they take up hybrid managerial positions in an acute care department. The findings demonstrate the importance of the material and symbolic value of scientific-bureaucratic knowledge in legitimizing quality management, achieving meaningfulness in practice and bolstering the professional role of nurses.     

The economic burden of psoriasis with high comorbidity among privately insured patients in the United States

Objective: To evaluate the impact of comorbidities on healthcare resource use (HRU), and direct and indirect work-loss-related costs in psoriasis patients.

Methods: Adults with psoriasis (≥2 diagnoses, the first designated as the index date) and non-psoriasis controls (no psoriasis diagnoses, randomly generated index date) were identified in a US healthcare claims database of privately-insured patients (data between January 2010 and March 2017 were used). Psoriasis patients were stratified based on the number of psoriasis-related comorbidities (0, 1–2, or ≥3) developed during the 12?months post-index. All outcomes were evaluated during the follow-up period, spanning the index date until the end of continuous health plan eligibility or data cut-off. HRU and costs per-patient-per-year (PPPY) were compared in psoriasis and non-psoriasis patients with ≥12?months of follow-up.

Results: A total of 9,078 psoriasis (mean age?=?44?years, 51% female) and 48,704 non-psoriasis (mean age?=?41?years, 50% female) patients were selected. During the 12?months post-index, among psoriasis vs non-psoriasis patients, 71.0% vs 83.0% developed no psoriasis-related comorbidities, 26.3% vs 16.0% developed 1–2, and 2.6% vs 1.0% developed ≥3 psoriasis-related comorbidities. Compared to non-psoriasis patients, psoriasis patients had more HRU including outpatient visits (incidence rate ratios [IRRs]?=?1.52, 2.03, and 2.66 for 0, 1–2, and ≥3 comorbidities, respectively [all p?p?p?p?Conclusions: HRU and cost burden of psoriasis are substantial, and increase with the development of psoriasis-related comorbidities.     

浅谈标准化管理对提升海外工程项目安全执行力的作用

有效的管理,是保障项目顺利开展的必要条件。其中安全管理的落实,更是作为项目进度计划得以保证的前提和基本要素。俗话说,无规矩,无以成方圆。在海外项目业主及业主委派咨询(监理)公司不断关注和提升施工中安全、健康管理要求的当前背景下,承包商需要如何应对并展开相关工作,显得尤为重要。本文以中国港湾卡塔尔多哈新港项目为参考,浅析海外施工项目中标准化管理模式对提升整体项目安全执行力的作用。     

地质工作中现代测绘技术的应用

相较于传统的地质测绘手段而言,现代测绘技术在多方面都具有明显的优势,现代测绘技术的不断创新无疑是对地质工作更好地服务于与国家和人民的助推器。本文介绍了现代测绘技术的构成以及在地质工作中的应用。