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1 – 10 of 14Helen De Cieri, Cathy Sheehan, Ross Donohue, Tracey Shea and Brian Cooper
The purpose of this paper is to apply the concept of power imbalance to explain workplace and demographic characteristics associated with bullying by different perpetrators in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to apply the concept of power imbalance to explain workplace and demographic characteristics associated with bullying by different perpetrators in the healthcare sector.
Design/methodology/approach
All 69,927 members of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (Victoria) were invited to participate in an online survey in 2014; 4,891 responses were received (7 per cent response rate). Participants were asked about their exposure to workplace bullying (WPB) by different perpetrators. The questionnaire addressed demographic characteristics and perceptions of workplace characteristics (workplace type, leading indicators of occupational health and safety (OHS), prioritisation of OHS, supervisor support for safety and bureaucracy). Analysis involved descriptive statistics and regression analyses.
Findings
The study found that the exposure of nurses and health workers to bullying is relatively high (with 42 per cent of respondents experiencing WPB in the past 12 months) and there are multiple perpetrators of bullying. The research revealed several demographic predictors associated with the different types of perpetrators. Downward and horizontal bullying were the most prevalent forms. Workplace characteristics were more important predictors of bullying by different perpetrators than were demographic characteristics.
Research limitations/implications
There are limitations to the study due to a low response rate and the cross-sectional survey.
Practical implications
Practical implications of this study emphasise the importance of focussed human resource strategies to prevent bullying.
Originality/value
The key contribution of this research is to draw from theoretical explanations of power to inform understanding of the differences between perpetrators of bullying. The study highlights the workplace characteristics that influence bullying.
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Mingqiong Mike Zhang, Jiuhua Cherrie Zhu, Helen De Cieri, Nicola McNeil and Kaixin Zhang
In a complex, ever-changing, and turbulent business world, encouraging employees to express their improvement-oriented novel ideas through voice behavior is crucial for…
Abstract
Purpose
In a complex, ever-changing, and turbulent business world, encouraging employees to express their improvement-oriented novel ideas through voice behavior is crucial for organizations to survive and thrive. Understanding how to foster employee promotive voice at work is a significant issue for both researchers and managers. This study explores how to foster employee promotive voice through specific HRM practices and positive employee attitudes. It also examines the effect of employee promotive voice on perceived organizational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employed a time-lagged multisource survey design. Data were collected from 215 executives, 790 supervisors, and 1,004 employees in 113 firms, and analyzed utilizing a multilevel moderated serial mediation model.
Findings
The findings of this study revealed that promotive voice was significantly related to perceived organizational performance. Innovation-enhancing HRM was positively associated with employee promotive voice. The HRM-voice relationship was partially mediated by employee job satisfaction. Power distance orientation was found to significantly moderate the relationship between innovation-enhancing HRM and employee job satisfaction at the firm level. Our findings showed that innovation-enhancing HRM policies may fail to foster promotive voice if they do not enhance employee job satisfaction.
Originality/value
This study challenges some taken-for-granted assumptions in the literature such as any high performance HRM bundles (e.g. HPWS) can foster employee promotive voice, and the effects of HRM are direct and even unconditional on organizational outcomes. It emphasizes the need to avoid potential unintended effects of HRM on employee voice and the importance of contextualizing voice research.
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Shuming Zhao, Cathy Sheehan, Helen De Cieri and Brian Cooper
The purpose of this paper is to address gaps in the knowledge about human resource (HR) professional involvement in strategic decision-making in China compared with that in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address gaps in the knowledge about human resource (HR) professional involvement in strategic decision-making in China compared with that in Australia.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the authors compare the strategic involvement of Chinese and Australian HR professionals. Second, based on the upper echelon theory, the authors compare the impact of chief executive officer (CEO) and top management team (TMT) between both countries on HR involvement in strategic decision-making. Data were collected from matched pairs of HR and TMT executives in China (n = 168) and in Australia (n = 102).
Findings
Results indicate a difference, despite of no statistical significance, in HR involvement in strategic decision-making between Chinese and Australian samples. TMT behavioural integration was positively related to HR involvement in strategic decision-making in a collectivistic culture (i.e. in China), but not in an individualistic culture (i.e. in Australia). However, CEO support for HRM was positively related to HR involvement in strategic decision-making in Australia, whereas it is not related in China.
Originality/value
The paper conducts a comparative study and practical, and research implications are discussed at the end.
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Diep T.N. Nguyen, Stephen T.T. Teo, Helen De Cieri and Marcus Ho
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether formal authority of the HR department has any impact on line managers’ evaluations of HR department effectiveness.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether formal authority of the HR department has any impact on line managers’ evaluations of HR department effectiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
Two studies were conducted in Vietnam. Study 1 comprised a survey of 405 line managers to test the hypothesized model. Study 2 comprised a survey conducted with 155 line managers validated the findings from Study 1. Structural equation modeling and PROCESS macro were used to analyze the data.
Findings
Line managers’ perceptions of the HR department’s formal authority had a positive and indirect impact on HR department effectiveness through the HR department’s strategic involvement and influence. Public sector line managers tended to perceive their HR departments as possessing a higher level of formal authority than did their private sector counterparts.
Research limitations/implications
This study extends the theory of political influence as it applies to the HR department. Specifically, the study provides empirical evidence of the influences of an organization’s political conditions on the perceptions of HR department effectiveness. This study also contributes to the extant literature on HRM in Vietnam by showing how Vietnam’s HR departments can utilize power and influence in accordance with specific ownership types.
Practical implications
Public sector HR managers could establish their formal authority among stakeholders as a way to enhance the recognition of HR department effectiveness. This can be done by relying on the presence of the traditional bureaucratic characteristics of the public sector which confer the HR department with formal authority.
Originality/value
The study contributes an understanding of the determinants of HR department effectiveness in the context of Vietnam. Research findings show that highly formal authority practices in the public sector affect the way line managers perceive the strategic involvement of the HR department. The more formal the authority, the more the public sector HR department is perceived to be involved in the strategic management process. Thus, formal authority is a prerequisite that public sector HR departments need to signal its importance among line managers. To have a long-term influencing role in the organization, the HR department in the public sector needs to develop its political and influencing skills. In contrast to this, the private sector HR department needs to develop a strategic partnership with line managers in order to increase its influence and perceived effectiveness.
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Helen De Cieri, Danny A. Samson and Amrik S. Sohal
The process of transition to Total Quality Management (TQM) at a major facility of a large Australian manufacturing company is described. The key steps taken by the company as…
Abstract
The process of transition to Total Quality Management (TQM) at a major facility of a large Australian manufacturing company is described. The key steps taken by the company as part of a process improvement model are also described. The difficulties experienced in implementing TQM and the critical success factors for TQM are presented.
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Yvonne McNulty and Helen De Cieri
Little is known about the attraction, development, and attrition factors that impact on expatriates’ decision making in relation to international assignment opportunities, nor is…
Abstract
Purpose
Little is known about the attraction, development, and attrition factors that impact on expatriates’ decision making in relation to international assignment opportunities, nor is there clear understanding as to how global mobility outcomes impact on global talent management (GTM). The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize the attraction, development, and attrition of expatriates as a process that is focussed on two core elements of expatriate ROI (eROI) – corporate ROI (cROI) and individual ROI (iROI). Further, the authors adopt an innovative approach by conceptualizing how global mobility is linked to GTM.
Design/methodology/approach
Applying psychological contract theory, the authors draw on empirical data from two large studies to compare the perspectives of mobility managers (the cROI inputs) with those of long-term assignees (expatriates; the iROI inputs) to identify how global mobility outcomes can impact on GTM.
Findings
By comparing and contrasting corporate and individual perspectives, the findings show a more complete picture of expatriation in practice than has been offered in prior research. Doing so highlights synergies and conflicts in the desired support provided for, and outcomes expected from, global mobility and GTM programs.
Originality/value
The research adds to the literature by demonstrating how cROI and iROI combine to influence overall global mobility outcomes for multinational corporations, and how these, in turn, impact on GTM initiatives and overall GTM success. It extends previous research to specifically link global mobility to GTM, and adds to the limited empirical literature on eROI. The research also advances understanding of the employment relationship during expatriation by identifying new factors and consequences pertaining to psychological contract fulfillment. Implications for future research are presented.
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Cathy Sheehan, Helen De Cieri, Brian Cooper and Tracey Shea
The purpose of this paper is to consider the impact of human resource (HR) role overload and HR role conflict on the HR function’s involvement in strategic decision making and to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider the impact of human resource (HR) role overload and HR role conflict on the HR function’s involvement in strategic decision making and to examine whether conditions of environmental dynamism moderate the impact of HR role conflict and HR role overload in that relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected data from two sources, senior HR and top management team (TMT) executives. A total of 180 HR executives and 109 TMT members completed the survey. In all, 102 organisations were included in the sample with matched HR executive and TMT responses.
Findings
Results did not support hypothesised negative relationships between HR role management and involvement in strategic decision making but did establish the moderating effect of environmental dynamism, such that these associations were more negative at higher levels of dynamism.
Research limitations/implications
The cross-sectional nature of the study precludes making inferences about causality and would need to be replicated with a longitudinal design before stronger inferences could be drawn with regard to the relationships between the variables. A strength of the study however is the use of two sources of data to address the issue of common method variance.
Practical implications
The research has implications for the potential value that HR provides in dynamic environments and the risk that HR role conflict and overload pose to the contribution that HR can make during these periods.
Originality/value
The research shifts the focus away from the definition of HR roles to considering how these roles are enacted and kept in balance.
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Marilyn Fenwick and Helen De Cieri
A qualitative study of a research and development network of major global mining companies is reported in this paper. In this international inter‐organizational network, emergent…
Abstract
A qualitative study of a research and development network of major global mining companies is reported in this paper. In this international inter‐organizational network, emergent global human resource development and, particularly, career development challenges for participating individuals and organizations are analyzed. These challenges arise from two important dimensions of present and future network effectiveness, the boundary activities of network centrality, and building and maintaining optimal trust. Implications for future research and practice are identified.
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Jianzhong Li, Alhanouf Alburaikan and Rita de Fátima Muniz
The main purpose of this paper is to create a suitable structure based on neutrosophic numbers to evaluate the safety performance in construction projects in such a way that the…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this paper is to create a suitable structure based on neutrosophic numbers to evaluate the safety performance in construction projects in such a way that the shortcomings can be highlighted with the reasoned measurement and possible strategies can be recommended.
Design/methodology/approach
Data envelopment analysis (DEA), which is a useful tool for performance appraisal, along with neutrosophic logic, which is one of the most complete tools for handling uncertainty phenomenon, has been used to evaluate the safety performance of construction projects. With this hybrid model, a new strategy is considered as an indicator for safety performance and comparisons are made between different units.
Findings
A total of 35 Chinese organizations with construction projects lasting between 1.5 and 2 years were selected for comparison. After processing the data into neutrosophic numbers and using the NN-DEA model, it can be found that projects that pay more attention to safety issues such as training and equipment are more efficient.
Originality/value
Since in the real world, there are uncertainties with different contradictions, and neutrosophical data can handle many of these challenges, using DEA model with neutrosophic numbers to evaluate the performance of construction projects from a safety perspective, can provide significantly better results. Therefore, considering that no study has been presented in this field so far, the authors will deal with this topic.
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We are living in turbulent and uncertain times and organizations need to struggle with these circumstances in order to achieve their goals. More than ever, resilience capacity is…
Abstract
We are living in turbulent and uncertain times and organizations need to struggle with these circumstances in order to achieve their goals. More than ever, resilience capacity is an added value that organizations need to build to respond to obstacles in these challenging times. Resilience is a capacity of individuals, teams, organizations, communities, even society, that make them to overcome setbacks (such crises, changes, or turbulences) in a way that they not only survive but emerge even stronger. Previous research on resilience at different range of settings and groups show that resilience is a capacity that can be trained or build up. Therefore, the goal of this chapter is to review the main lines of action available to organizations that want to foster resilience at work. The chapter will review theoretical research on workplace resilience, and empirical research that links Human Resources Management and workplace resilience. Aspects covered include the role that corporate social responsibility toward employees, career development or work–family balance have in developing resilience. The chapter closes with a discussion of some practical guidelines for HR managers and practitioners.
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