The relationship between laissez-faire leadership and burnout: Mediation through work alienation and the moderating role of political skill

We tested the relationship between laissez-faire leadership and job burnout and the mediating role of work alienation in this relationship. We also examined the moderating role of political skill in the relationship between laissez-faire leadership and burnout. Based on time-lagged (three waves, two months apart) survey data collected from 272 employees in 92 firms operating in China, our results showed that laissez-faire leadership was positively related to burnout both directly and via work alienation. Moreover, the positive relationship between laissez-faire leadership and burnout was contingent on political skill, such that the relationship was weak when political skill was high. The study provides useful suggestions to help managers curb employees' feelings of burnout and work alienation.     

The Japanese labour market during the global financial crisis and the role of non-standard work: A micro perspective

This paper analyses aggregate labour dynamics during the global financial crisis in Japan and the role of non-standard work using micro data. The analysis proceeds in two steps. First, using comprehensive establishment-level datasets for the period 1991–2009, it provides a detailed portrait of the adjustment behaviour of establishments at the micro level. Second, it compares aggregate labour market dynamics during the global financial crisis with that observed during the 1997 crisis and decomposes the observed differences into components that can be attributed to changes in the micro-adjustment behaviour of Japanese establishments, changes in the incidence of non-standard work and changes in the distribution of shocks across establishments. It finds that the incidence of non-standard work has increased considerably, worker turnover is much higher among non-standard than standard workers and adjustments in working-time are less important for non-standard workers. Counterfactual simulations suggest that the employment response during the global crisis would have been smaller if the incidence of non-standard work remained at the level observed during the 1997 crisis. The relatively small employment response observed during the global financial crisis is therefore driven by factors other than the increase in the incidence of non-standard work.     

Credibility lost: attempting to reclaim an expert identity in an HR professional context

Professional insecurity is a long‐standing concern within HR, with claims to expertise seen as critical to credibility. Considering HR as an epistemic community and drawing on the identity work literature, we examine an identity threat to, and subsequent response by, a training and development (T&D) team. Based on ethnographic exposure to their practice, we explore how team members experience the threat and follow their attempts to re‐establish their position in the local epistemic community, the HR department. We examine both individual and collective identity work, considering how both the identity threat and subsequent responses are embedded within T&D and HR practice more broadly. Through this analysis, we offer academic insight on the nature of HR practice and the construction of claims to expertise.     

Worktime control and work stress: the moderating effect of self-comparisons and social comparisons

Abstract

Perceived work-related stress has increased notably in recent years, reducing individuals’ well-being and increasing organizations’ and economies’ costs. This study focuses on worktime control as a key approach to reducing work stress, as the extant research on its effects reports inconsistent results. The study argues that comparisons play a major role in how work stress, conceptualized as effort-reward imbalance, occurs. Ordinary least squares is used to test hypotheses with a sample of 1721 employees from Germany to determine whether employees’ prior worktime control and employees’ referents’ worktime control affect the relationship between worktime control and work stress. Results show that (1) worktime control is negatively associated with the experience of work stress, (2) employees’ prior worktime control moderates the relationship between worktime control and work stress, and (3) there is no moderating effect of employees’ referents’ worktime control. The results are discussed in light of gift-exchange theory and related empirical findings.     

Work-home interface in a cross-cultural context: a framework for future research and practice

Abstract

With dual-income families on the increase, combining work and family obligations is a daily reality for many individuals. Unsatisfactory combinations of work and home duties can result in various unfavourable individual and organisational outcomes. Therefore, its proper understanding is essential in order to create adequate recommendations for interventions and prevention. There is a need for the development of theoretical frameworks that take cultural context into account in relation to work-home interface (WHI). In this paper a new framework is proposed; ‘the pyramid of intersecting domains of WHI’ that incorporates cultural context and other important work-life interface aspects. It builds on empirical findings of the intersectionality and work/family border theories. The pyramid consists of the following domains: the domain of work and home characteristics, the roles domain and the cultural domain, which intersect to determine the fourth side of the pyramid, that is, the observed WHI. Based on the pyramid several research propositions can be formulated. Implications for researchers and HR professionals are provided.     

Key drivers of innovation capability in hotels: implications on performance

Innovation capability is critical for the modernization and competitiveness of the hotel industry. This work analyzes the role of hotels' innovative culture, market orientation, and internal marketing as forerunners of innovation capability in hotels, as well as the effect of innovation capability on hotels' performance. The proposed conceptual model is evaluated through structural equation modeling using a sample of 256 Spanish hotels. The results reveal that innovative culture by itself is not a key driver of the hotels' innovation capability. However, internal marketing and market orientation mediate the innovative culture-innovation capability relationship. Innovation capability proves to enhance hotels' market results directly and indirectly through customer equity. Our findings offer hotel managers useful guidance to understand how innovation capability is built within the firm by combining the right organizational culture and practices. Additionally, our study reinforces the financial and non-financial benefits of innovation capability in hotels.     

An investigation of the moderating effects of current job position level and hotel work experience between technology readiness and technology acceptance

Rapid technology development has greatly changed the hotel structure in operation or customer relationship management. Most previous studies simply employed either the technology readiness index (TRI) or considered the technology acceptance model (TAM) to predict consumer behavior from the perceptions of consumers. Nonetheless, only limited studies, if ever any, integrated technology readiness (TR) into technology acceptance model in hospitality. Hence, to bridge the aforementioned research gap, the purpose of the present study is to advance and modify TAM by proposing a new research framework which integrates TR into TAM. Online questionnaire survey was conducted with hotel employees through a well-known survey company Qualtrics. Data were then analyzed by structural equation modelling. Findings indicate the direct relationship between technology readiness (TR) and technology acceptance (TA), and reveal the moderating effects of current job position level and hotel work experience on the proposed research framework. Implications are further discussed.     

加强新时代高校宿舍舍长队伍建设,助力“00后”大学生成长成才

加强新时代高校宿舍舍长队伍建设,更有利于积极发挥高校宿舍育人阵地的作用,高校宿舍舍长在教育管理工作中的重要性不可忽视。论文提出从提高新时代宿舍舍长工作的站位、加强宿舍舍长的角色认同与培养、加强宿舍舍长管理机制的制度建设三个方面,加强高校宿舍舍长队伍的建设,助力新时代“00后”大学生的成长成才。     

高校女职工的“工作-家庭”关系及其态度研究——以安徽省芜湖市高校为例

高校女职工中普遍存在“工作一家庭”兼顾的平衡模式，一方面，女职工承担起大部分家务，为丈夫的事业发展做出了牺牲；另一方面，女职工对工作有着积极的态度和较强的事业心。调查发现：这种“工作一家庭”兼顾的平衡模式并未在女职工生活中的造成重大冲突；由于女职工受到传统性别意识的影响，事业心不足，为家庭奉献的决心仍旧存在，因而她们较...