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Research has consistently demonstrated that psychological capital (PsyCap) is an important predictor of various employee outcomes. Despite this, there is a paucity of knowledge regarding antecedents of PsyCap and the boundary conditions that influence PsyCap relationships. This study aimed to address these gaps by investigating how ethical leadership (EL) influences employee PsyCap, and in turn, predicts a range of desirable and undesirable employee attitudes. Furthermore, the study examined the moderating role of length of the leader-follower relationship (LLR) and organisational identification in these relationships in a novel moderated-mediation model.

Data were collected from 269 full-time employees in Australia via an online survey across two time-points.

The results show that PsyCap mediates the relationship between EL and employee attitudes. The results also indicate that LLR moderates these relationships, whereby these relationships are strengthened as LLR increases.

This study responds to calls for further investigation of antecedent and outcome variables related to PsyCap, as well as moderators of the relationships between PsyCap and antecedent and outcome variables. The findings also extend the application of social exchange theory to the context of EL and PsyCap.

The US Federal Government awards contracts worth hundreds of billions of dollars each year. Many firms that rely on these contracts have appointed former government officials to their corporate boards in the hopes of securing government contracts. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between these government experienced directors (GEDs) on boards and firms being awarded government contracts.

The paper compiles a panel data set from 2017 to 2020 for S&P 500 firms. This includes hand-collected data for government-experienced directors on boards. This is tested using both regression and analysis of variance methodologies.

Results find that former government officials on corporate boards increase the amount of government contracts secured by the firm, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of firms’ revenue. There are significant industry level effects for the health care and financials sectors. Government-experienced directors on boards are also positively related to firms receiving COVID contracts. Lobbying was not found to be related to the securing of regular government contracts but was positively related to firms obtaining COVID contracts.

This paper contributes to the literature by using panel data, an expanded definition of GEDs and data on COVID contracts. The “revolving door” between government and firms is paying off for companies.

Early paradox research in organization theory contained a remarkable breadth of inspirations from outside disciplines. We wanted to know more about where early scholarship found inspiration to create what has since become paradox theory. To shed light on this, we engaged seminal paradox scholars in conversations: asking about their past experiences drawing from outside disciplines and their views on the future of paradox theory. These conversations surfaced several themes of past and future inspirations: (1) understanding complex phenomena; (2) drawing from related disciplines; (3) combining interdisciplinary insights; and (4) bridging discourses in organization theory. We end the piece with suggestions for future paradox research inspired by these conversations.

This paper is about extraordinary performance in organizations. Our specific focus is unusual. We examine a context with which many readers are deeply familiar, the public school classroom. We consider the work of highly effective teachers and generate a framework of hypotheses about how they get extraordinary results. These hypotheses may contrast with the reader’s assumptions of what a public school teacher does. The framework may therefore provoke insights about how to create and lead high performing organizations in other contexts.

Breakage and fallout of glazing systems create openings in an enclosure that affect the fire growth and the development of post flashover flames emerging outside of the openings. The behaviour of glazing is the result of its thermally induced stress response to the heat fluxes from the fire in an enclosure. In recent times building façade designs have evolved and now incorporate many different shapes, orientations and materials. The conventional single and double glazing panels have been surpassed by composite type glazing systems including glazing and transparent resins. This paper presents experimental testing of these comp osite glazing panels having different orientations subjected to localized fires, which have the same fire load. The experimental findings of interest include the varying first crack times for both scenarios as well as the variable final crack patterns on the glazing panels. The effect of localized fire on the materials tested as seen in the final char patterns on both glazing systems is also note worthy. The paper also includes details of three-dimensional finite element modeling completed for the prediction of response of the glazing panels at different orientations to the elevated temperatures of the localised fire scenario as tested in the laboratory. This finite element analysis allows for an assessment of glazing thermal stresses at various times throughout each test.

The purpose of this paper is to cover a 10-year period in ten of Ontario’s 72 school districts on the nature, origins and importance of “leading from the middle” (LfM) within and across the districts.

The research uses a self-selected but also representative sample of ten Ontario school districts. It undertook three-day site visits in each of the districts, transcribed all the interviews and compiled an analysis into detailed case studies.

LfM is defined by a philosophy, structure and culture that promotes collaboration, initiative and responsiveness to the needs of each district along with collective responsibility for all students’ success.

To be sustainable in Ontario, LfM needs support and resourcing from the top. The current environment of economic austerity therefore threatens sustainability. Globally, examples of LfM are emerging in at least three other systems. The analysis does not have identical questions or respondents in phases 1 and 2. Ontario’s version of LfM may differ from others. The collaborative design may downplay criticisms of LfM.

LfM provides a clear design for leading in complex times. Compared to top-down leadership the whole system can address the whole of students’ learning and well-being. LfM is suited to systems and cultures that support local democracy, community responsiveness and professional empowerment and engagement.

LfM is an inclusive, democratic and professionally empowering and responsive process that differs from other middle level strategies which treat the middle merely as a way of connecting the top and bottom to get government policies implemented more efficiently and coherently.