Competitive Work Environment Research Articles

Gender Differences for Public Good Contributions by Competitive versus Group Work Environments

Using a between-subjects design we compare the effect of competitive and cooperative work tasks in the lab on subsequent public good investments. We remove potential reciprocal behavior by having the work tasks occur with separate subjects outside the lab and a one-shot public good experiment with subjects in the lab. We find that individuals in cooperative (group pay) treatments contribute more than individuals in competitions, but these differences are entirely driven by female participants. Women contribute significantly less after competitive tasks and more after group pay tasks while men’s public good contributions are not significantly different. The difference is large for females who contribute 78% more after the group pay treatment compared to competitions. The results suggest that women are more affected by work environments than men and that competitive work environments lead women to contribute less to public goods even outside the workplace.

Prevailing to the peers' detriment: Organizational constraints motivate Machiavellians to undermine their peers

Since Christie and Geis's (1970) seminal work suggested that Machiavellians win more and are persuaded less, researchers have debated the merits and faults of Machiavellianism. Recent findings suggest competition over resources lead Machiavellians to secure their superior's approval, promoting their career advancement. However, the strategies Machiavellians use in such contexts have yet to be identified. Social undermining research suggests that undermining one's coworkers might make it difficult for targets of undermining to maintain effective working relationships while promoting a perpetrator's relative status (Duffy, Shaw, Scott, & Tepper, 2006). Thus, drawing on trait activation theory, we argue that resource constraints motivate Machiavellians to undermine their coworkers, which might help them achieve higher relative status. Additionally, with increased effort devoted toward undermining one's peers, Machiavellians should be distracted from performing core duties resulting in increased production deviance. Data collected from 170 employees supported our arguments. Our study addresses a gap in the literature by suggesting that Machiavellians successfully navigate competitive work environments by undermining their coworkers. We conclude with theoretical and practical implications for both understanding and mitigating the extended detrimental influence of workplace Machiavellianism.

Realistic Intelligence and 21st Century Skills in Adapted Learning Environment

Today most schools are still using traditional and outdated teaching methods and learning environments. On the other hand, the highly competitive working environments create high level of uncertainty and demand adaptive thinking skills and creativity. Therefore the role and purpose of schools, learning spaces and teachers has to be changed and adapted to the 21st century needs. We developed a 4-step model called “Dynamic and Synchronized Pedagogy”, in an advanced learning environment based on Steelcase Education design, in which students are able to open a window to a world of engagement, motivation, success and deeper understanding.

Work life balancing in the acute competitive working environment

Why do we work? The conspicuous response to this inquiry would be that we require the cash and advantages to bolster our families and ourselves. In any case, is cash the main paradigm for working? Also, numerous works to stay profitable and dynamic all through their adulthood without which they would slip by into despondency and despairing. Having said that, there are numerous who don't take part in formal and standard occupations but then, they stay engaged and cheerful. Without a doubt, studies have demonstrated that the reason a greater part of us work is that work gives us intending to our lives.

Analisis Kinerja Dinas Kebudayaan Dan Pariwisata Provinsi Jawa Tengah

Currently tourism become one of five sectors which giving highest contribution to Indonesia economic side. Hence, our country trying to maximize the role of tourism stakeholders. One of it is The Department of Tourism and Cultural Department Central Java. According to findings, the performance to achieve the vision is not maximum, one of the reasons are human resources factor. This study attempts to analyze the performance especially employee performance and the resistor and supporter factor. The assessment conducted with research the performance indicators that writer is use which are quality of work, quantity of work, timing, and independence of work. While the resistor factor and the supporter factor are seen from the research that writer did. This study using descriptive qualitative research methods with described the outcome of the findings and the interviews. Based on the research, the employee performance in Central Java Tourism and Cultural Department is not optimal. It is provable by the problems in all performance indicators. Then, the resistorfactor also not support the performance become optimal, so that organization should form a competitive work environment, improves the ability of employee, and coordinated with the government to solve those problems.

Impact of Health and Recreation on Work-Life Balance: A Case Study of Expatriates.

Factors influencing work-life balance are evolving at a very fast pace, thus creating a fecund ground for innovative work-life balance tools and techniques. The increasing significance of expatriates in the global workforce necessitates a targeted set of work-life balance initiatives to help expatriate workers contribute more effectively in the competitive work environment. Health and recreation are the two important life spheres which play a very important role in success or failure of an expatriate assignment. While work-life balance researches are being conducted globally in plenty, yet research on expatriate adjustment and expatriate work-life balance is still in its nascent stage especially in an expatriate dominated work environment in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. This research paper investigates the health and recreation spheres of expatriate academicians working in private higher education institutes in Bahrain, Oman and the UAE. The research paper illustrates and evaluates the health and recreation spheres in relation to the demographic factors of the respondents and suggests ways to improve work-life balance of expatriate employees.

Impact of health and recreation on work-life balance: A case study of expatriates.

Factors influencing work-life balance are evolving at a very fast pace, thus creating a fecund ground for innovative work-life balance tools and techniques. The increasing significance of expatriates in the global workforce necessitates a targeted set of work-life balance initiatives to help expatriate workers contribute more effectively in the competitive work environment. Health and recreation are the two important life spheres which play a very important role in success or failure of an expatriate assignment. While work-life balance researches are being conducted globally in plenty, yet research on expatriate adjustment and expatriate work-life balance is still in its nascent stage especially in an expatriate dominated work environment in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. This research paper investigates the health and recreation spheres of expatriate academicians working in private higher education institutes in Bahrain, Oman and the UAE. The research paper illustrates and evaluates the health and recreation spheres in relation to the demographic factors of the respondents and suggests ways to improve work-life balance of expatriate employees.

Management of pharmaceutical sales representatives: A literature review

This paper reports literature review in the field of pharmaceutical marketing emphasizing problems faced by medical representatives. India after globalization and being the second highest populated country has emerged as major pharmaceutical market in the world. Pharmaceutical marketing in India is highly relied on personal relationship between medical representatives and doctors. In the last decade, many foreign companies have entered in Indian market. This has posed highly competitive and challenging work environment for medical representatives. Therefore, it is indispensable to study the challenges faced by medical representatives in this dynamic environment. Keywords: Job satisfaction, Medical representatives, Pharmaceutical marketing, Pharmaceutical sales representatives, Sales management, Turnover intention CLC number: R952 Document code: A Article ID: 1003-1057(2016)1-73-06

Risk connected to the demographic factors in managing labour relations in the tertiary sector of the economy

In today’s fast-paced, competitive and digital work environment, the challenges of work commitments and personal responsibilities confront employers and employees. Employees want flexibility and control over their work obligations and their personal lives. This is imperative as their economic needs depend on the income derived from work performance. Employers need to institute relevant programmes for economic viability and sustainability. The study aims to examine the impact of the demographic variables on work-life balance in a tertiary sector of the economy. The study utilizes a questionnaire that was self-developed which was pilot tested and, the validity and reliability were determined. Significant differences surfaced in the study. The findings of the study shed light on balancing several aspects of employees’ work and family lives. The results culminate in recommendations for management to integrate Employee Assistance Programmes into its structure and policies; provide for on-site day care facilities and; institute flexible working practices to impact positively on employee commitment and motivation, amongst others.

Teaching a ‘Managing Innovation and Technology' Course

In the last few years an increasing emphasis on developing entrepreneurship has been evident in many universities in an effort to prepare students to integrate effectively into the competitive working environment of the 21st century. A key question is how to do this. This work examines the impact of Student Centered Learning (SCL) introduced in a multidisciplinary undergraduate course of Management of Innovation and Technology at the University of Nicosia. It examines students' and lecturer experiences, benefits and challenges of implementing SCL, and gives recommendations to lecturers for designing a SCL based curriculum, incorporating inductive methods. The findings may be useful for academics who teach entrepreneurship related topics and seek ways to incorporate innovative approaches in their teaching and learning processes in order to motivate students towards the development of entrepreneurial skills and thinking.

Is Competition Engaging? Examining the Interactive Effects of Goal Orientation and Competitive Work Environment on Engagement

Contemporary work environments are growing increasingly competitive. However, some employees may “fit” with such environments better than others. This study examined how the relationship between employees’ goal orientations (learning, proving, and avoidance) and engagement is influenced by the competitive environment of their workplace. By investigating the interactive effect of goal orientation and competitive work environment, this research expands our understanding of factors leading to engagement. We tested our model using a sample of 345 working adults from a variety of organizations across several different industries. Results indicate that learning goal orientation was positively related to engagement while avoidance goal orientation was negatively related to engagement. Competitive work environment (CWE) interacted with learning orientation and proving orientation to predict engagement. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our results for human resource management. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Stress Management In The Construction Industry-Coping Strategies For Project Managers

In today's changing and competitive work environment, stress level is increasing both among team members and PM's. As a result of this work stress, more and more managers are showing signs of chronic fatigue and burnout. The role of a PM comprises of many areas such as managing people, stakeholders and the expectations of clients. Stress becomes noticeable when the PM fails to manage its role efficiently or get caught up in the enormity of the task, both mentally and physically. The inability of the PM to manage its roles effectively can bring permanent breakdown. In addressing this situation, this paper discusses areas of workstress among project managers, its effects and coping strategies to adopt in a stressful situation.

Research the Opportunities a Foreign Languages’ Competence for Professional Project Management in Latvia

In the current competitive working environment time has become the key resource therefore universities must be able to satisfy higher education needs by enabling students to obtain as many professional skills and knowledge as possible. One of the solutions is to develop online studies by organising the language courses on the internet and by supplementing in-class courses with online study materials. The goal of this work is to research the opportunities a foreign languages’ competence for professional project management in Latvia. Research materials on foreign language teaching methods and applicable IC technological aspects were gathered, and a survey was completed and its results analysed to find out the opinions and attitude towards learning online from second foreign language students and people studying independently. During the work it was discovered that applying the new technologies positively influences the students’ willingness to study the foreign language independently. Focusing on students’ motivation on autonomous study style, online studies have a potential and opportunity to be applied and developed for higher education study program expansions.

Digital Human Modelling and the Ageing Workforce

Digital human modelling (DHM) has often focused on user populations that could be characterised as able-bodied and in the working age group. It is clear however that demographic changes are resulting in older populations in developed countries but this is also becoming increasingly true even in developing countries. The economic pressures of increased life expectancy are resulting in demands for workers to remain in employment well past what would previously have been considered a normal retirement age. In many countries legislation is increasing retirement ages for entitlement to state pensions, and enforceable retirement ages are being outlawed. As a consequence older working populations can be expected. Age in the workforce has many positive aspects including increased experience, wisdom, loyalty and motivation, but an inevitable consequence of ageing is negative effects such as the loss of capabilities in strength, mobility, vision and hearing. The challenge of including older workers is recognised as an important aspect of Inclusive Design and DHM is recognised as a potentially useful method for its implementation. Today's highly demanding and competitive working environments require the highest levels of productivity from individuals so that overall operational and business objectives can be achieved. DHM-based workplace risk assessment methods have successfully been used to improve working environments by conducting virtual posture based ergonomic risk analysis. Older workers are significantly different from younger workers in terms of their physical, physiological and cognitive capabilities and these capabilities directly or indirectly affect human work performance. This article suggests the use of human capability data in a virtual environment to explore the level of acceptability of a working strategy based on real capability data (joint mobility in this case) of older workers. A case study shows that the proposed DHM-based inclusive design method is useful recommending working strategies that are acceptable for older workers in terms of work productivity, well-being and safety.

Promoting Creative Capacity in Followership Education

With increasing acceptance of followership as a counterpart of leadership, the study of followership within graduate-level leadership and business curricula should be equally considered. Further, an understanding of andragogy, or adult education theory, is of benefit with the inclusion of creativity within a followership curriculum. By developing creative capacity within followership education, graduate students are better equipped to influence the business world with innovative thinking skills that enhance problem solving in an increasingly competitive work environment.

Potential of Service-Learning on Students’ Interpersonal Skills Development in Technical and Vocational Education

Developing students’ Interpersonal Skills is a core element of any well-designed Technical and VocationalEducation (TVE) particularly in this present era. This is couple with the fact that Interpersonal skills are amongthe crucial skills preferred in the world of work setting for the betterment of both employer and employee. Overthe years, employers of labour have drastically observed decline in interpersonal capabilities of high schoolgraduate for meeting the 21st century workplace’s challenges. However, abundant literatures have indicated thepotential roles of service-learning in providing students to achieve knowledge, cognitive skills (disciplinespecific Skills) and core employability skills specifically the interpersonal skills required in 21st centuryworkplaces. It is on this regard that this library work shed light on the concept of interpersonal skills, concept ofservice-learning, influence of service-learning in TVE for improving students’ interpersonal skills and the needsof interpersonal skills in TVE related job places. In conclusion, the paper discloses that the fact that there iscrucial demand for TVE graduates to posses interpersonal skills and other work skills for effective jobperformance in the competitive global work environment, it was finally recommended that in order to ensure noskills gap, educators in TVE training institutions, should equip the forthcoming TVE graduates with thenecessary skills for employment by lying more emphasize on renown and superior instructional pedagogies suchas the Service-Learning.

An Analytical Approach of Cluster Analysis towards Various Manifestations of Organizational Conflict in Public and Private Sector Commercial Banks

Conflict exists throughout environments of all kinds. So every employee wants a healthy and competitive working environment in their organization. The main objective of this research article is to explore the factors concerning destructive or dysfunctional impacts of conflict in public and private sector banking organizations selected under study. After the extraction of factors concerning dysfunctional impacts, hierarchical cluster analysis has been employed to classify various observations or cases in clusters resulted into two-cluster solution and k-means cluster analysis has been further applied to find out the cluster membership according to various observations towards manifestations or impacts of organizational conflict in the selected banks under study. The sample includes 541 bank employees from 20 commercial banks situated in Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana cities of Punjab. Eight major factors have been extracted with the help of exploratory factor analysis, namely, ( a) declining performance, profits and management creditability, ( b) health and psychological problems, ( c) detrimental impact upon working environment and organization, ( d) declining cooperation, collaboration and efficiency among employees, ( e) disappointments and widened gap of misunderstanding, ( f) declining trust, morale and motivating power, ( g) interruptions in organizational operations and ( h) job dissatisfaction and resultant frustration. Further, analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant results towards various clusters so formed with the help of the multivariate technique of cluster analysis.

Newcomers in a hazardous environment: a qualitative inquiry into sex worker vulnerability to HIV in Bali, Indonesia.

BackgroundWomen new to sex work and those with a greater degree of mobility have higher risk of HIV infection. Using social capital as a theoretical framework, we argue that better understanding of the interactions of micro-level structural factors can be valuable in reshaping and restructuring health promotion programmes in Bali to be more responsive to the concerns and needs of newcomer and mobile female sex workers (FSWs).MethodsWe conducted interviews with 11 newcomer FSWs (worked < six months), 9 mobile FSWs (experienced but worked at the current brothel < six months), and 14 senior FSWs (experienced and worked at current brothel > six months). The interviews explored women’s experience of sex work including how and why they came to sex work, relationships with other FSWs and their HIV prevention practices.ResultsA thematic framework analysis revealed newcomer FSWs faced multiple levels of vulnerability that contributed to increased HIV risk. First, a lack of knowledge and self-efficacy about HIV prevention practices was related to their younger age and low exposure to sexual education. Second, on entering sex work, they experienced intensely competitive working environments fuelled by economic competition. This competition reduced opportunities for positive social networks and social learning about HIV prevention. Finally, the lack of social networks and social capital between FSWs undermined peer trust and solidarity, both of which are essential to promote consistent condom use. For example, newcomer FSWs did not trust that if they refused to have sex without a condom, their peers would also refuse; this increased their likelihood of accepting unprotected sex, thereby increasing HIV risk.ConclusionsPublic health and social welfare interventions and programmes need to build social networks, social support and solidarity within FSW communities, and provide health education and HIV prevention resources much earlier in women’s sex work careers.

Family Experiences of Competition and Adolescent Performance

Competition is intricately woven into the structural fabric of U.S. schooling; grades and extracurricular activities are aspects of the educational system where adolescents can differentiate themselves. Recent research suggests that messages about the value of competition may be a salient aspect of the socialization process for children, especially those in families with substantial economic and social resources (Lareau, 2011). However, many of these studies have relied on small purposive samples in which intensive interviews are conducted with small numbers of families (see Friedman, 2013). Despite the contributions of these studies, little is known about how competition is experienced differentially by working mothers and fathers and their daughters and sons at work, school, and home. Using data from The 500 Family Study (http:// www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/instructors/stud ies/4549), we examined how parents' experiences of competition at work and home are associated with their daughters' and sons' experiences of competition and how this parental competitiveness influences their academic activities and performance in school.SOCIALIZATION OF COMPETITION AT HOME AND IN SCHOOLOne of the most basic and perhaps most influential social contexts in which children learn about social norms-including competition-is the family (Lareau, 2011; Smetana, Campione-Barr, & Metzger, 2006; Steinberg, 2001). Families and their interactions with their children often reinforce messages regarding the value of competition, defined here as the rewards of spending time or other limited resources on perfecting performance in relation to oneself and, in some instances, to others (Burt, 1992; Ericsson & Lehmann, 1996). The actions that middle-class parents take with their children and their own work experiences reinforce the message that competition is a meaningful and important part of adult life. For example, specific values and expectations, such as the importance of obtaining a postsecondary degree and engaging in specific educational activities that assist them in preparing for an increasingly competitive college market, are reinforced (Alon, 2009).Over the past decades, one of the major changes in the work life of middle-class families has been an increase in the number of households with children under age 18 in which both parents hold full-time paid jobs (Bianchi, 2011). Today, slightly over 59% of these married couples are dual-earner families (see Table 4 in U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013), with the majority of mothers now employed in professional and management positions. The number of married women with children in professional and management positions-including lawyers, physicians and surgeons, architects, economists, and veterinarians-has increased twofold since the 1970s, when 16.5% of women held these positions. Now, many middle-class mothers are working full time in jobs where high levels of performance are expected and there is intense pressure to succeed (Bianchi, Robinson, & Milkie, 2006; Christensen, 2006; Jacobs & Gerson, 2006). Such expectations in the work environment for all parents, and especially today's working mothers, is likely to have an impact on family dynamics regarding the value of investing time and resources to remain competitive.It is commonly assumed that fathers are likely to thrive in these competitive work environments, whereas working mothers are less likely to have these same feelings, strategies for mobilizing resources, and the behaviors and attitudes needed to succeed. However, this may be more a notion perpetuated by the popular media rather than a fact based on evidence (Eisend, 2010). Given the narrowing gap in occupation segregation between men and women, in particular among those with a college degree (Blau, Brummund, & Liu, 2012), middle-class working mothers may have the same competitive posture and values as their spouses in similar types of jobs (Christensen & Schneider, 2010; Martinez, 2005). …

Developing Effective Human Resource for Achieving Business Excellence:Role of Emotional Intelligence

In an increasingly competitive work environment, today's business world has realised the fact that their human resource should not only be academically skilful, but also emotionally intelligent. It is said that in a corporate establishment, a person is recruited on the basis of IQ but is promoted on the ground of his or her EQ. Many research findings have established the fact that the powerful technique of integrating and applying the dimensions of emotional intelligence (EI) has shown better creativity and an increase in overall productivity of establishments. Basically, excellence in the context of business environment demands employees who can transcend their linear thinking towards inhabiting the art of cooperation, resilience, optimism and persuasiveness in their day to day activities. Daniel Goleman, the father of EI, has defined EI as a potential for mastering the skills of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. In this context, successful HR strategies of an organisation are urged to recognise the fact that strong, faithful and emotionally stable employees having the aforementioned characteristics can build business healthy and competitive. Therefore, it can be presumed that EI may stand as a valuable tool for management practitioners’ who seeks to bring about changes in their own organisations. Keeping this objective in mind, we have attempted to critically analyse the available literature for drawing inferences about the role of EI in terms of its measurement, applicability and effects. To concretise our assumptions, various conceptual factors on EI have been revisited which can be used effectively to drive the HR profession for deriving business excellence.