The role of management and trade union leadership on dual commitment: The mediating effect of the workplace relations climate

This article examines the effect of transformational and laisser‐faire leadership on the part of local union leaders and immediate supervisors on the dual commitment of unionised workers. Building on the social information processing perspective, it is suggested that these leadership styles are linked to commitment through the workplace relations climate (WRC). Based on a sample of 834 unionised workers, our results suggest that WRC represents an important mechanism explaining the effect of the immediate supervisor's leadership in unionised settings. Results also show that transformational leadership on the part of union representatives is positively linked to union and organisational commitment. This article contributes to the WRC and dual commitment literatures by going beyond structural and institutional explanations and considering relational and actor‐related variables, such as leadership styles.     

Weighing asset pricing factors: a least squares model averaging approach

Empirical evidence has demonstrated that certain factors in asset pricing models are more important than others for explaining specific portfolio returns. We propose a technique that evaluates the factors included in popular linear asset pricing models. Our method has the advantage of simultaneously ranking the relative importance of those pricing factors through comparing their model weights. As an empirical verification, we apply our method to portfolios formed following Fama and French [A five-factor asset pricing model. J. Financ. Econ., 2015, 116, 1–22] and demonstrate that models accommodated to our factor rankings do improve their explanatory power in both in-sample and out-of-sample analyses.     

Smoking in the Workplace: Balancing Smoker and Nonsmoker Rights

The tobacco industry presents an interesting American dilemma. While warning against the use of tobacco and striving for a smokeless society the U.S. government subsidizes the growth of tobacco. The economic impact of smoking is, on balance, negative for users, nonusers and society. The federal government does not legislate the use of tobacco but most states and many municipalities have smoking laws. Although such laws vary they normally attempt to protect the rights of both smokers and nonsmokers. Workplace smoking policies also vary but generally focus on applicable laws, health research findings, employee preferences, involvement in policy determination, formalization and communication, and smoking cessation programs.     

基于销售定额的信息甄别模型和差别工资

根据不同能力类型的销售人员具有不同形状的效用曲线这一假设．建立了信息甄别模型来研究销售人员的报酬激励机制，证明了分离均衡是该模型唯一的均衡，并且优于混同均衡，得出以差别工资制取代统一工资制可以提高管理效率，减少了雇佣双方由于信息不对称带来的无谓损失，其结果具有一定的理论和实际意义。     

Using the theory of planned behaviour to predict public sector training participation

Workplace learning is essential to the continuous improvement and competitiveness of organizations. Antecedent training conditions are crucial for training participation. Despite its recognized importance, few studies have proposed theory-based models for predicting the antecedents of training participation. The principal objective of this study was to test the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) for predicting public sector training participation. The second aim was to elucidate the factors that influence, directly or indirectly, employee intentions and behaviours to participate in training. A sample of 1108 participants was analysed by structural equation modelling to assess path suitability and significance. The empirical results confirmed the applicability of TPB for predicting training participation in the public sector.     

Psychological contract breach and counterproductive workplace behaviors: testing moderating effect of attribution style and power distance

In this study, we examined the relationship between psychological contract breach (PCB) and counterproductive workplace behaviors (CWBs). We also explored two personal factors, namely casual attribution styles and power distance, in moderating the PCB–CWB linkage. One hundred and thirty-one full-time Chinese employees in Macao were recruited. Results showed that PCB was positively correlated with CWB. Furthermore, this relationship was moderated by external attribution style and power distance. In particular, employees who attributed the contract breach more to disruption and endorsed higher on power distance tended to report lower CWB. Limitation and implication are discussed.     

Bullying in the U.S. Workplace: Normative and Process-Oriented Ethical Approaches

Bullying is a serious problem in today’s workplace, in that, a large percentage of employees have either been bullied or knows someone who has. There are a variety of ethical concerns dealing with bullying—that is, courses of action to manage the bullying contain serious ethical/legal concerns. The inadequacies of legal protections for bullying in the U.S. workplace also compound the approaches available to deal ethically with bullying. While Schumann (2001, Human Resource Management Review 11, 93–111) does not explicitly examine bullying, the five moral principles that he advocates can be applied to judge the ethics of bullying in the workplace. A possible limitation of this model is that, it is designed to be normative (judgmental), and while it does take into consideration the relationships among the victim, the perpetrator, the groups in the organization, and the organization itself in judging the ethics of bullying, it does not explicitly consider the process by which bullying might develop and persist. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics of this process, Nijhof and Rietdijk (1999, Journal of Business Ethics 20(1), 39–50)) suggest applying an A–B–C (antecedents, behaviors, and consequences) model to help understand the dynamics of bullying in the workplace. Formal propositions are offered to guide both academics and practitioners to an enriched understanding of the ethics of workplace bullying.     

The role of mutual funds in the sustainable energy sector

The integration of renewable energy criteria in mutual fund investment decisions could channel private resources into the funding of environmentally related projects implemented by firms contributing to sustainable development. This paper examines the performance of European renewable energy funds that invest globally by comparing their risk‐adjusted returns with those achieved by black energy and conventional mutual funds. It uses Carhart's model on a sample of 81 renewable energy funds, 125 black energy funds, and 4,337 conventional mutual funds. The results indicate that 32.1% of renewable mutual funds—most of which adopt energy producers, renewable energy technology, and energy efficiency‐focused criteria—perform significantly better than the S&P Clean Energy market benchmark, this percentage being affected by the different states of the economy. However, none of them are able to beat the fossil fuel energy (S&P Global 1200 Energy Index) or conventional market benchmarks (S&P Global 1200 Index). Furthermore, 37.04% of renewable energy funds significantly underperform the S&P Global 1200 benchmark. Therefore, the investment in renewable energy funds has a financial cost for investors in relation to conventional fund investors.     

Fun in the workplace: A review and expanded theoretical perspective

Since the turn of the century, a growing body of research has systemically examined the role of fun in the workplace. In general, the extant body of research has demonstrated that fun in the workplace has a beneficial impact for individuals and organizations, but some evidence has been mixed. To help advance research in this area, the aims of this paper are two-fold. The first aim is to review previous research on fun in the workplace and identify gaps in the literature to provide direction for future work. The second aim is to offer a theoretical framework that helps explain how individuals may interpret fun in the workplace and how it may be most beneficial. Drawing on the notion that fun in the workplace is in the eye of the beholder, our proposed framework provides a more nuanced understanding of the temporal processes and contextual factors that explain how individuals appraise and ultimately benefit from fun.     

How and when workplace ostracism influences task performance: Through the lens of conservation of resource theory

Drawing upon the conservation of resource (COR) theory, this study examines how workplace ostracism negatively affects task performance by reducing workers' physical strength and emotional energy; it also captures the moderating role of spousal support in the relationship between ostracism, physical strength, and emotional energy. Using matched data from 117 supervisors and 523 of their immediate employees, results indicated that workplace ostracism negatively related to physical strength and emotional energy, which, in turn, decreased task performance. Additionally, spousal support mitigated the harmful impact of workplace ostracism on individual emotional energy, whereas its buffering effect on physical strength was not significant. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.