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1 – 10 of 19Dalia Birani-Nasraldin, Anit Somech and Ronit Bogler
Previous studies have examined the empowerment of individual teachers, while neglecting the fact that such a phenomenon might grow within a team. Building on the crossover model…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous studies have examined the empowerment of individual teachers, while neglecting the fact that such a phenomenon might grow within a team. Building on the crossover model and social exchange theory, the aim of this study is to explore whether team empowerment among school management teams (SMTs), is transmitted to the school level and affects schoolteachers' job satisfaction and thereby schoolteachers' organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Furthermore, we explored whether those relationships are moderated by team-member exchange (TMX) relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 86 principals, 357 SMT members and 683 schoolteachers from 86 schools.
Findings
Results confirmed the mediating role of schoolteachers' job satisfaction, showing a positive relationship between SMT empowerment and schoolteachers' job satisfaction, and between job satisfaction and OCB. The moderation of TMX and the overall moderated mediation hypotheses were not supported.
Research limitations/implications
The nature of data collected in the current study precludes any inference concerning the direction of casual links among the study constructs. Therefore, longitudinal studies could be designed, aimed at confirming the direction of links among the variables.
Practical implications
The findings reinforce the impact of schoolteachers' job satisfaction on achieving OCBs. Hence, SMT members carry the responsibility to cultivate satisfied schoolteachers through schools' support mechanisms and guidance in order to achieve schoolteachers' OCB.
Originality/value
The study identifies SMT empowerment as a key factor that may indirectly encourage schoolteachers to invest in OCBs through positive attitudes of schoolteachers' job satisfaction.
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Dalia Birani-Nasraldin, Ronit Bogler and Anit Somech
Relying on the principles of the social exchange theory, the current study is aimed at investigating the impact of team-member exchange relationships (TMX) among school management…
Abstract
Purpose
Relying on the principles of the social exchange theory, the current study is aimed at investigating the impact of team-member exchange relationships (TMX) among school management team (SMT) members on school outcomes (organizational citizenship behavior [OCB], job satisfaction and innovation) via the mediating role of leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships between principals and SMTs.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from multiple sources in 86 elementary and junior high schools to avoid one-source bias: 86 principals, 357 SMT members and 683 schoolteachers who were not members of the management teams.
Findings
The results revealed a positive relationship between TMX and teachers' job satisfaction and OCB, but no significant link between TMX and innovation. LMX partially mediated the relationship between TMX and OCB and between TMX and teachers' job satisfaction. Full mediation was found in TMX-innovation relationship.
Practical implications
The findings carry a message for school principals and policymakers regarding the importance of developing and maintaining high-quality horizontal and vertical exchange relationships among the SMT members for their positive influence on school outcomes.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to examine the link between TMX and LMX as a team phenomenon, and specifically in the educational setting. The finding that there is a positive link between the two constructs may imply that SMTs contribute to school success not only directly by exhibiting high-quality TMX but also indirectly through the high-quality LMX.
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Research has provided accumulative evidence that the willingness of teachers to invest in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is a fundamental component for achieving school…
Abstract
Purpose
Research has provided accumulative evidence that the willingness of teachers to invest in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is a fundamental component for achieving school effectiveness. However, most studies examined OCB of the individual teacher, while neglecting the fact that such behavior might grow in a context. Furthermore, educational scholars have focused almost solely on OCB of teachers, and have almost completely neglected to address the concept through a managerial prism. By taking a contextual perspective, the purpose of this paper is to postulate a positive link between leader OCB and team OCB, and suggest that organizational justice serves as a moderator in this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through a survey from multiple sources, to avoid one-source bias. The sample included 82 schools: 82 management teams and their 82 principals, as well as 246 teachers, who were not members of management.
Findings
Results of the hierarchical regression analysis confirmed the hypotheses. The authors found a positive association between leader OCB and team OCB and revealed that this positive relationship was significant under high levels of organizational justice, but non-significant under low levels.
Practical implications
The importance of leader OCB in promoting team OCB can inspire the educational system to learn how to develop organizational mechanisms that encourage principals to perform citizenship behaviors and to take this component into consideration in screening processes and succession planning.
Originality/value
The contribution of the study is in identifying leader OCB as a key instrument that may encourage teams to invest in OCBs. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study ever to examine the link between leader OCB and team OCB. The finding that there is a positive association between the two constructs may imply that leader OCBs contribute to the school, not only directly, by exhibiting behaviors of helping and support, but also indirectly, through the leader’s impact on his or her team’s behavior.
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The purpose of this paper is to use a model to broaden the understanding of the organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) phenomenon in educational teams and examines team OCB’s…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to use a model to broaden the understanding of the organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) phenomenon in educational teams and examines team OCB’s mediating role in the relation of the contextual variables of team justice climate (distributive justice, procedural justice, interpersonal justice) to team psychological capital (PsyCap) and team innovation.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through a survey consisting of validated scales. The sample covered 78 disciplinary teams, 78 coordinators and 13 school principals at 13 junior-high schools.
Findings
The PROCESS test confirmed the mediating role of team OCB, showing positive relations between team procedural justice and team PsyCap and team OCB, and also between team OCB and team innovation.
Research limitations/implications
By taking a team perspective, the findings offer evidence that despite the usual approach treating OCB as an individual phenomenon; it may be regarded as shared norms of behaviors at the team level.
Practical implications
The team-level approach may urge principals and other educational leaders to realize that teachers’ willingness to invest extra effort in school is mainly the result of an appropriate team context, which can be shaped and developed.
Originality/value
The present study explored team OCB by from a context perspective. This is important because to date most studies on OCB in schools have focused on teacher OCB as an individual phenomenon, disregarding its contextual nature.
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This research sought to document the volume, development trend and geographical distribution of the research on teacher autonomy, identify high-impact journals, authors and…
Abstract
Purpose
This research sought to document the volume, development trend and geographical distribution of the research on teacher autonomy, identify high-impact journals, authors and documents and reveal the intellectual structure of the field.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper analyzed the articles published on the related subject in the Web of Science (WoS) and/or Scopus. Based on certain exclusion criteria, analyses were conducted on a total of 259 articles. The data were then subjected to descriptive analyses and bibliometric analyses.
Findings
The review found that the teacher autonomy knowledge base has grown dramatically since 2004. In the co-citation analysis, it was determined that four clusters focused on the themes of professionalism and professional development, leadership and self-efficacy, autonomy in language teaching and learning and self-determination theory. According to the co-word analysis in this review, the most co-occurring keywords were revealed to be “teacher autonomy,” “autonomy,” “teachers,” “teacher professionalism” and “professional development.”
Originality/value
Despite increasing numbers of systematic reviews focusing on educational administration and leadership, this paper represents the first bibliometric review conducted to reveal the development of research on teacher autonomy using both the WoS and Scopus databases. Teacher autonomy can be regarded as an emerging field of study backed up by a theoretical background. Although there are some distinct prominent scholars in the research area, autonomy research still needs more scholars to specialize in the field.
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Elena Belogolovsky and Anit Somech
The purpose of this research was to explore common conceptions about the underlying nature of teachers’ organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). Two studies were conducted to…
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to explore common conceptions about the underlying nature of teachers’ organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). Two studies were conducted to examine the dynamic and subjective nature of the boundary between teachers’ in-role and extra-role behavior. Study 1, based on a sample of 205 teachers from 30 elementary schools in Israel, examined this boundary between teachers’ in-role and extra-role behaviors through teachers’ career stages. Study 2, based on a survey of 29 principals, 245 teachers, and 345 parents from 30 elementary schools in Israel, investigated how different stakeholders in schools (principals, teachers, parents) conceptualized teachers’ in-role–extra-role boundary. Results from these two studies attest to its dynamic and subjective nature. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Pascale Benoliel and Anit Somech
There has been an increasing trend toward the creation of senior management teams (SMTs) which are characterized by a high degree of functional heterogeneity. Although such teams…
Abstract
Purpose
There has been an increasing trend toward the creation of senior management teams (SMTs) which are characterized by a high degree of functional heterogeneity. Although such teams may create better linkages to information, along with the benefits of functional heterogeneity comes the potential for conflicts that stem from the value differences among subcultures in an organization. These conflicts can adversely affect performance. The purpose of this paper is to examine how school leaders’ activities mediate the relationship of SMT functional heterogeneity to SMT effectiveness (in-role performance and innovation).
Design/methodology/approach
Data, which were obtained through a survey, was collected from a sample of 92 schools in Israel. Data were collected from two sources (principals and SMT members) to minimize problems associated with same source and common method bias. Data were aggregated at the team level of analysis.
Findings
The results of structural equation model indicated that principal’s internal activities enhanced SMT in-role performance whereas principals’ external activities enhanced SMT innovation. The results also showed that principal’s internal activities are full mediators of the relationship between functional heterogeneity and SMT in-role performance.
Originality/value
This study has implications for policies involving the design and implementation of leadership tools to effectively manage SMTs. The results of this study can help principals to establish priorities and allocate their time and resources more effectively, both inward and outward the SMT boundary so as to assist functionally heterogeneous SMTs translating the benefits of functional heterogeneity into significant achievements.
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This chapter explores the phenomenon of organizational resilience. A comprehensive model was advanced and tested while utilizing a quantitative study conducted in the education…
Abstract
This chapter explores the phenomenon of organizational resilience. A comprehensive model was advanced and tested while utilizing a quantitative study conducted in the education system in Israel with 98 schools, involving 1,132 educators. Statistical analysis based on structural equation modeling revealed significant relationships between three antecedents (social capital, team empowerment, goal interdependence) and organizational resilience. In addition, a positive significant relationship was found between organizational resilience and organizational functioning in crisis. Organizational resilience was found to be a mediator between three of the antecedents (social capital, team empowerment, goal interdependence) and organizational functioning in crisis. Furthermore, organizational functioning in crisis was found to mediate the relationship between organizational resilience and organizational innovation. Implications for policymakers, managers, and change leaders in organizations are discussed.
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Anat Drach‐Zahavy and Anit Somech
With a twofold aim, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the service climate, including its antecedents, consequences, and a moderator. First, it examines whether task‐ and…
Abstract
Purpose
With a twofold aim, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the service climate, including its antecedents, consequences, and a moderator. First, it examines whether task‐ and goal‐interdependent configuration facilitates the level of service climate; second, it tests the strength of the moderating role of service climate between service climate levels and service behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
Among 54 nursing units at six hospitals, the data were collected using multiple methods (surveys, observations, administrative data).
Findings
Mixed‐linear model analyses indicated that the joint effects of task and goal interdependence related significantly to service climate level. Service climate strength moderated the relationship of service climate level to quality service behavior.
Research limitations/implications
The research approach may diminish the generalizability of the research results. Further work should test the propositions in other research contexts.
Practical implications
Quality service behaviors and the service climate could be promoted through well‐designed task‐ and goal‐interdependence structures within units. Assimilating a service climate in units is not enough. To promote high quality service behaviors, managers must direct their efforts toward finding agreement among team members with regard with the importance of service in their unit.
Originality/value
The paper's findings offer empirical support to the persistent social interaction explanation of climate formation and point to the important role of interdependence for creating and maintaining service climate levels and promoting service behaviors in units.
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Smadar Gilad-Hai and Anit Somech
The purpose of this paper is to examine the implications of implementing innovation in experimental schools (focussing on R & D) for school effectiveness post-intervention…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the implications of implementing innovation in experimental schools (focussing on R & D) for school effectiveness post-intervention (five years). Based on theoretical models of social exchange and “conservation of resources” (Hobfoll, 1989), the authors focussed on assessing the effects of implementing innovation on individual outcomes (strain) and school level outcomes (social cohesion, emotional conflict, organizational innovation). The authors compared three types of schools: schools that have completed the implementation process (after), schools still in the implementation process (during) and schools not participating in the implementation process (control group).
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 75 schools (23 non-experimental, 25 during the experiment, 27 post-experiment) was used. Data were collected from teachers and principals to avoid a single source bias.
Findings
MANOVA analyses suggest that the process of implementation of innovation contributes to organizational effectiveness: differences were found between the control group and the two groups of experimental schools. The two groups of experimental schools showed higher levels of organizational innovation and social cohesion and lower levels of emotional conflict and strain as compared to the control group.
Research limitations/implications
This study concentrated on the question of the direct links between the study variables – the effects of the implementation of innovation on school functioning. It would be interesting to examine the limit conditions (encourage – discourage factors) for these relations.
Practical implications
Findings suggest that a structured process of implementing innovation contributes not only to the outcome of innovation in school, but also enhances overall school functioning.
Originality/value
Permits the authors to deepen the knowledge of the potential of organizational processes of innovation in schools over time (pre-during-post process).
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