Search results

1 – 10 of 18
Article
Publication date: 19 December 2018

Rania El Haddad, Silva Karkoulian and Rabih Nehme

This paper aims to extend previous results demonstrating a statistically significant causal relationship between the implementation of 360-degree feedback in an organization and…

2138

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to extend previous results demonstrating a statistically significant causal relationship between the implementation of 360-degree feedback in an organization and employees’ perceptions of organizational justice. It explores the sustainability of this justice, ultimately making it an integral part of the organizational culture. The paper examines whether the previous model (based on relationships among 360-degree feedback, organizational justice and sustainability of organizational justice) is invariant across different levels of management (i.e. operational and top/middle managers) and across a group of female versus male employees.

Design/methodology/approach

Structural equation modeling multigroup analysis and invariance tests were conducted with a cross-sectional sample of 400 employees in various positions in home appliances and electronics organizations.

Findings

The results further sustain/contest previous findings on the relationships among appraisal, organizational justice and sustainability among respondents of different genders and at different managerial levels. The results also provide significant practical implications. Top managers and supervisors can incorporate gender and managerial level differences identified in this study to modify their management styles and appraisal techniques to install high levels of organizational justice and achieve a competitive edge through the sustained levels of this organizational justice.

Originality/value

This study is the first to explore the impact of implementing a 360-degree appraisal system on employees’ perceptions of justice, while taking into consideration gender differences, i.e. whether males or females tend to perceive different types of justice within the organization and whether they differ in the way that they react to the appraisal system being implemented within the workplace. Given all the positive traits associated with a 360-feedback appraisal system, the way that this feedback is viewed and interpreted by employees can differ according to the employee’s rank within the organization, i.e. whether he/she belongs to top/middle management team or the operational/front-line management team.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 27 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 March 2024

Assil Homayed, Silva Karkoulian and F. Jordan Srour

Faculty play a unique role in universities performing duties along the three fronts of teaching, research and service. While it might be teaching that contributes most to the…

Abstract

Purpose

Faculty play a unique role in universities performing duties along the three fronts of teaching, research and service. While it might be teaching that contributes most to the bottom line of a small university, it is often research by which faculty merit is judged. This study explores the relationships between role ambiguity, role conflict and commitment (affective, normative and continuance) as mediated by job satisfaction among faculty members.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 133 faculty members at a US-accredited university in Lebanon served as the basis for this study. The faculty members completed a survey covering scales on role ambiguity, role conflict, commitment and job satisfaction in addition to demographic variables.

Findings

We find that a decrease in role ambiguity strengthens affective and normative commitment but weakens continuance commitment. Structural equation modeling indicates that job satisfaction partially mediates the relationship between role ambiguity and affective commitment, while not mediating the relationship between role ambiguity and normative and continuance commitments. Similar findings hold for job satisfaction as a mediator in the relationship between role conflict and commitment.

Originality/value

Based on statistical modeling, this work (1) puts forth a revised scale for organizational commitment tailored to academia and (2) provides guidance to higher education institutions in terms of the differential impacts on faculty commitment that stem from reducing role-ambiguity versus role-conflict. Managerial recommendations focus on improving normative and affective commitment through the design of policies to reduce role conflict among faculty.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 September 2019

Silva Karkoulian, Jordan Srour and Leila Canaan Messarra

Engaged employees are a critical asset in any business. This is largely because engaged employees tend to proffer innovative solutions to complex problems in the workplace. The…

1841

Abstract

Purpose

Engaged employees are a critical asset in any business. This is largely because engaged employees tend to proffer innovative solutions to complex problems in the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between engagement and innovation as moderated by the use of 360-degree evaluation.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey targeting employees in Lebanon solicited their perceptions of 360-degree evaluation, engagement and innovative behaviors along with a statement as to whether their firm used 360-degree evaluations or not. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the moderating effect of 360-degree evaluations on the latent variables of engagement and three facets of innovation.

Findings

SEM results show that 360-degree evaluations serve to enhance engaged employees’ innovative work behavior. However, ideation (creation and implementation) behaviors are more strongly influenced by the presence of 360-degree evaluation as compared to their “tangible” counterpart (technology and financial resource use).

Research limitations/implications

Respondents selected for this research were randomly sampled employees in Lebanon. A stronger study strategy would be to study paired departments within organizations – one implementing 360-degree evaluation and another not implementing it.

Practical implications

Managers, seeking to engender and strengthen innovative behaviors in engaged employees, should utilize 360-degree evaluation processes. Furthermore, the 360-degree evaluations should be designed to probe both tangible (technology and financial resource use) and intangible (idea generation and implementation) facets of innovation.

Originality/value

This study yields a deeper understanding of the relationship between engagement and innovative behaviors in the workplace along with managerial insights into the design and use of 360-degree evaluation.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 69 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 June 2019

Sevag K. Kertechian, Silva Karkoulian, Hussein Ismail and Patricia Nassif

Good managerial work habits are essential for creating a favorable work environment that can stimulate everyone’s performance. This papers aims to explore the psychometric…

Abstract

Purpose

Good managerial work habits are essential for creating a favorable work environment that can stimulate everyone’s performance. This papers aims to explore the psychometric properties of the good management work habits (GMWH) scale for a group of 464 Lebanese working adults.

Design/methodology/approach

A two-step approach was used. A first split-half of the sample affirmed that the GMWH scale had a factorial structure, and a factorial analysis used in the second split-half confirmed this. Jointly, the two split-half tests demonstrated the predictive and discriminant validity of the scale.

Findings

After validating the GMWH scale, this study substantiated the psychometric legitimacy of the GMWH test and confirmed its effectiveness in assessing organizational attributes.

Research limitations/implications

This study focused on Lebanese managers only and future studies should be extended to assess the GMWH scale’s validity in other countries. Moreover, the variables of organizational culture and gender were not taken into account in this study.

Practical implications

The GMWH scale can be applied to determine the negative effects of stress on performance to improve an organization’s productivity. Evaluating managers' self-perceptions of their work habits may improve relations with their subordinates and the organization as a whole.

Originality/value

The work habits of a company’s managers play a key role in organizational outcomes and have a ripple effect on all parties in the organization, from subordinates to other managers. This study proposes a validated tool for a company’s leaders to evaluate managers’ perceptions of their work habits and contributes beneficial knowledge to future research on practical ways to measure the work skills of managers.

Details

Measuring Business Excellence, vol. 23 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1368-3047

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 December 2021

Kevin Sevag Kertechian, Silva Karkoulian, Hussein N. Ismail and Samar Samir Aad Makhoul

This study aims to examine the effect of experience abroad, academic success and university reputation on students' employability in the Lebanese labor market.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the effect of experience abroad, academic success and university reputation on students' employability in the Lebanese labor market.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a between-subject design to identify whether academic success, university reputation and experience abroad have an impact on how potential recruiters (i.e. employers) are perceiving student employability. The study uses 16 fictitious applications of business graduates, which differed in grade-point average, university reputation and experience abroad, rated by 784 Lebanese professionals.

Findings

The results suggest that high-performing students with experience abroad and high-performing students from a reputable university are perceived to be more employable. For low-performing students, having completed an experience abroad results in a lower reward in terms of employability.

Research limitations/implications

The present study offers an analysis of students' employability through employers' lens; it offers insights for students on how to be perceived as more employable in a context where competition among future workers is fierce.

Practical implications

The results of this research provide a roadmap for graduates for enhancing their employability in Lebanese markets and offer actionable insights to employers.

Originality/value

The most original contribution of this study is the analysis of university reputation impact on the likelihood of receiving positive feedback during the evaluation process. The impact of two Lebanese universities, one ranked in the QS ranking and one not, was investigated.

Details

Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-3896

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 January 2019

Hussein N. Ismail, Silva Karkoulian and Sevag K. Kertechian

As one of the first studies in this field, the purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of personal values on job performance and job satisfaction across different jobs…

1822

Abstract

Purpose

As one of the first studies in this field, the purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of personal values on job performance and job satisfaction across different jobs. Further, it aims to identify personal value types that are positively, or negatively, related to behavioural and attitudinal outcomes in different job categories.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a sample of 270 participants across several job categories including finance, accounting, marketing, sales, HR (human resources), operations and information technology (IT), this research explores the relationship between personal values, job performance and job satisfaction across the listed job categories. Ordinary least square (OLS) stepwise-regression and partial least square (PLS) regression were used in analysing the results.

Findings

Findings showed that for some of the jobs examined, different types of personal values were associated with different worker outcomes.

Originality/value

This research study identifies sets of personal values that are suited to some jobs more than others in terms of job performance and job satisfaction outcomes. Moreover, this research demonstrates the importance of controlling for job categories in future research models that investigate the links between values, performance and satisfaction.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 27 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 July 2013

Silva Karkoulian, Leila Canaan Messarra and Richard McCarthy

The goal of this research is to empirically assess whether knowledge management (KM) and learning organizations (LO) are distinct concepts and if so, to test whether KM enhances

2474

Abstract

Purpose

The goal of this research is to empirically assess whether knowledge management (KM) and learning organizations (LO) are distinct concepts and if so, to test whether KM enhances LO more or vice versa.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors propose an approach by which they first empirically assess the independence of those two concepts, then KM's fundamental processes, being knowledge acquisition, sharing, and utilization, are hypothesized to have a positive relationship with the different LO dimensions. Retail business employees working in organizations in Lebanon were surveyed. KM processes were first designated as dependent variables and then as independent variables. Bartlett's test, Pearson correlation, factor analysis, and regression analysis were used to test the hypothesis.

Findings

The results indicated that the two dimensions LO and KM are distinct and that KM enhances LO more than LO enhances KM.

Practical implications

This research extends the impact of knowledge management to include informal processes. It provides empirical evidence that managers should seek to implement formal and informal knowledge management processes into their organizational culture to enable a dynamic learning environment.

Originality/value

This research is significant in that up to this point the relationship between KM and LO has been posited and supported through anecdotal evidence and observation. This research provides empirical evidence of the relationship and forms the basis for further study in this area.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 17 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 May 2013

Silva Karkoulian, Wassim Mukaddam, Richard McCarthy and Leila Canaan Messarra

Organizational downsizing, right sizing, layoffs, and restructuring that attempt to reduce labour cost and increase competitiveness, have generated considerable feelings of job…

1001

Abstract

Purpose

Organizational downsizing, right sizing, layoffs, and restructuring that attempt to reduce labour cost and increase competitiveness, have generated considerable feelings of job insecurity among today's employees. Conversely, the rapidity of change in the Middle Eastern region, coupled with the unpredictability of economic conditions, the inevitable need to survive and the ever‐lasting craving for organizational success merge to aggravate the adverse effects of job insecurity. The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between job insecurity and powerlessness, management trust, peer trust and job satisfaction within Lebanon.

Design/methodology/approach

Employees working within medium‐sized organizations in Lebanon were surveyed to measure their perceptions of job insecurity, job satisfaction, powerlessness, and interpersonal trust. Statistical analyses were performed using Pearson correlation matrix and linear regression tests.

Findings

The study identified significant positive relationship between job insecurity and powerlessness, and negative relationships between job insecurity and management trust and job satisfaction. No significant relationship was found between job insecurity and peer trust.

Research limitations/implications

The study adds to the existing job insecurity literature by empirically testing the relationship between job insecurity and powerlessness, peer trust, management trust and job satisfaction within Lebanese organizations. The researchers hope that this study will assist managers in understanding the importance of earning their subordinates' trust and its implications on job insecurity which could also negatively affect job satisfaction. Also, the issue of powerlessness should be seriously considered by management since it triggers the feeling of job insecurity.

Originality/value

Western organizational behavior literature has given the topic of job insecurity significant attention. However, no scholarly research has yet examined the topic of job insecurity within the Middle East. This paper sheds light on important results regarding job insecurity and its consequences. Powerlessness predicts and aggravates job insecurity, and is affected by the nature of the job; trust in management has a negative effect on job insecurity, while peer trust has no influence. Also, job satisfaction is influenced by the perceptions of job insecurity.

Details

Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues, vol. 6 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-7983

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 July 2008

Silva Karkoulian, Leila A. Halawi and Richard V. McCarthy

As businesses continue to forge ahead in the twenty‐first century, knowledge management (KM) has materialized as a significant differentiator. The process of creating new…

3907

Abstract

Purpose

As businesses continue to forge ahead in the twenty‐first century, knowledge management (KM) has materialized as a significant differentiator. The process of creating new knowledge, sharing, and preserving such knowledge, is crucial for achieving competitive advantage. To gain maximum benefit from new knowledge, it must be efficiently integrated into the organization within a continuous knowledge life cycle. In this respect, mentoring is becoming ever more effective as a means to facilitate knowledge creation and sharing and build intellectual capital. This study aims to examine how both formal and informal mentoring enhances KM in the Lebanese banking sector.

Design/methodology/approach

Professionals in the Lebanese banking sector were surveyed to measure their perception of the impact of mentoring on their willingness to share information within the organization on both a formal and informal basis. A Pearson correlation was conducted to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Results suggest that informal mentoring is highly correlated with KM; whereby the more employees practice mentoring willingly the more knowledge will be shared, preserved, and used within the organization. However, there was little support for formal mentoring.

Practical implications

The results suggest that management should be highly supportive of informal mentoring as a means to capture and retain organizational knowledge. They should design and reward informal mentoring processes within the organization.

Originality/value

This paper adds to the existing mentoring literature by empirically testing the relationship between mentoring and KM.

Details

The Learning Organization, vol. 15 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-6474

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 July 2016

Leila Canaan Messarra, Silva Karkoulian and Abdul-Nasser El-Kassar

Conflict in the workplace creates a challenge for many of present day managers. The purpose of this paper is to explore the moderating effect of generations X and Y on the…

10864

Abstract

Purpose

Conflict in the workplace creates a challenge for many of present day managers. The purpose of this paper is to explore the moderating effect of generations X and Y on the relationship between personality and conflict handling styles.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is conducted using a sample of 199 employees working in the electronic retail sector in a non-Western culture. The five-factor model of personality traits is used to measure personality, while conflict styles are measured using Rahim’s Organizational Conflict Inventory II.

Findings

Results indicate that generations X and Y moderate the relationship between specific personality traits and conflict handling styles.

Research limitations/implications

This study investigated the moderating effect of generations X and Y on a sample of employees within the electronic retail service sector in Lebanon. It is recommended that future research examine such a relationship in other sectors and cultures for generalizability. Since generation Z (born in the late 1990s) will soon be entering the job market, further studies should include this cohort when investigating the relationships. Finally, for a deeper understanding of the relationship, it is advisable to use both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods.

Practical implications

The understanding of what influences an individual’s choice regarding his/her choice of conflict resolution styles is of great use to supervisors in general and human resource managers in particular. This will assist in developing training programs that help employees acquire the appropriate skills necessary to control their impulses in a conflict situation. Training should comprise conflict resolution and communication skills that could help bridge the gap between generations. Effectively managing generational conflict in the workplace can positively contribute to the level and frequency of future conflicts, which in turn, can lead to favorable organizational outcomes.

Originality/value

Earlier research that examined the relationship between personality and conflict management styles have found varying results ranging from weak to strong relationships. The understanding of what influences an individual’s choice of which management style he/she chooses is of great use for managers in general and human resource managers in particular. This study showed that the inconsistency could be the result of some factors that moderate this relationship. The age of individuals contributes to the strength or the weakness of the various relationships between personality and conflict handling styles. Findings suggest that generations X and Y do not moderate the relationships among the personality traits and the dominating and obliging conflict styles. They do, however, have varying moderating effects on the relationships between specific personality traits and the integrating, avoiding, and compromising styles.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 65 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

1 – 10 of 18