Dynamic Work Environment Research Articles

It is Challenging to Shift the Norm: Exploring how to Anticipate and Address Microaggressions in Clinical Learning Environments.

Increased attention to improving a culture of belonging in clinical learning environments has led to various approaches to addressing microaggressions. However, most approaches in the literature focus on responding or reacting to microaggressions with insufficient attention to building trust before microaggressions might occur. Research on microaggressions in clinical learning environments suggests anticipatory or pre-emptive conversations about microaggressions may foster greater trust. In this study, the authors explored how diverse participants perceived the experience of anticipatory conversations about potential microaggressions. Overall, the authors sought to gain a deeper understanding of how pre-emptive and anticipatory conversations may influence an organization's approach to addressing microaggressions in clinical learning environments. The authors utilized constructivist grounded theory methodology and conducted individual qualitative interviews with 21 participants in an academic department within a larger health sciences center in the United States. Findings suggest that anticipatory conversations about microaggressions were challenging due to existing norms in dynamic clinical learning and working environments. Participants shared that the idea of anticipating microaggressions elicited dissonance. Conversations about microaggressions could potentially be facilitated through leaders who role model vulnerability, organizational supports, and an individualized approach for each team member and their role within a complex hierarchical organization. Anticipating and addressing microaggressions in clinical learning environments holds tremendous potential, however, any conversations about personal identity remain challenging in medical and healthcare environments. This study suggests that any attempts to address microaggressions requires attention to cultural norms within healthcare environments and the ways that hierarchical organizations can constrain individual agency.

Arm-support exoskeleton reduces shoulder muscle activity in ceiling construction

The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy and user’s impression of an arm-support exoskeleton in complex and realistic ceiling construction tasks. 11 construction workers performed 9 tasks. We determined objective and subjective efficacy of the exoskeleton by measuring shoulder muscle activity and perceived exertion. User’s impression was assessed by questionnaires on expected support, perceived support, perceived hindrance and future intention to use the exoskeleton. Wearing the exoskeleton yielded persistent reductions in shoulder muscle activity of up to 58% and decreased perceived exertion. Participants reported limited perceived hindrance by the exoskeleton, as also indicated by no increase in antagonistic muscle activity. The findings demonstrate the high potential of an arm-support exoskeleton for unloading the shoulder muscles when used in the dynamic and versatile working environment of a ceiling construction worker, which is in line with the consistent intention of the workers to use the exoskeleton in the future. Practitioner Summary: The majority of research focuses on the effect of using an arm-support exoskeleton during isolated postures and prescribed movements. We investigated the efficacy of an exoskeleton during a complex and realistic work, namely ceiling construction. Shoulder muscle activity was lower in almost all tasks when wearing the exoskeleton.

How Successfully Do We Educate Tourism, Hospitality, and Events Graduates?

ABSTRACT This study examines perceptions of university-level tourism, hospitality and events (THE) graduates with regards to whether the degree prepared them for a successful career. “Success” is a highly nuanced term that can be interpreted narrowly as producing job ready graduates or more broadly as producing graduates who have a quality and enjoyable education that equips them with a desire for lifelong learning, a positive value set, and the skills to develop their careers in a dynamic work environment. Listening to the graduates’ voices reveals that a successful educational experience involves far more than making them job ready and instead involves creating passionate future employees who want the chance for personal development and who feel valued in the workplace. However, some issues did arise relating to a relatively high attrition rate from the sector and concern over the degree of practical training provided. The study findings help inform curriculum of programmes.

Adaptive Management Strategy and Mental Wellbeing of the South Jakarta Metropolitan Police

In the dynamic and complex demands of law enforcement agencies such as the South Jakarta Metropolitan Police (Polres Metro Jakarta Selatan), the balance between professional responsibilities and personal life has become increasingly important. Police officers, as important pillars in maintaining public security and order, often face significant stress that can affect their psychological and physical well-being. This research aims to provide deeper insight into the factors that influence the work-life balance of police officers in a dynamic and complex work environment. Organizational support plays an important role in helping individuals overcome work challenges and reducing the impact of potential stress. On the other hand, work stress faced by police personnel can originate from various factors, including task pressure, workload, and exposure to risky situations. However, the role of emotional intelligence is also a critical factor in managing work stress and maintaining balance, because it influences a person's ability to recognize, understand and manage their own and others' emotions. The methodology used is a literature review with an approach used to research and analyze various literature sources relevant to a particular research topic. This includes collecting, reading, analyzing, and synthesizing articles, books, journals, and other sources related to the research topic. In the context of the South Jakarta Metropolitan Police Department, where work dynamics are different and complex, understanding how organizational support, job stress, and emotional intelligence interact and impact police officers' work-life balance is critical. This research aims to fill the knowledge gap in the literature by investigating the relationship between these factors and their implications for the work-life balance of members of the South Jakarta Metropolitan Police Department. In this context, our research not only focuses on understanding the factors that influence work balance but also aims to provide insights that can be used by the police and similar organizations to develop more effective strategies and interventions to improve the well-being of their members. Through a deeper understanding of the dynamics between organizational support, work stress, and emotional intelligence, it is hoped that this research can make a significant contribution to efforts to create a more balanced and resilient work environment amidst the challenges faced by police personnel.

"Collapsing into Darkness": An Exploratory Qualitative Thematic Analysis of the Experience of Workplace Reintegration among Nurses with Operational Stress Injuries.

Nurses are engaged in an unpredictable and dynamic work environment where they are exposed to events that may cause or contribute to physical and/or psychological injuries. Operational stress injury (OSI) may lead to an extended time away from work or nurses leaving the profession altogether. A deliberate focus on the workplace reintegration phase of the mental health recovery process may lead to the increased retention of nurses in their profession. Prior to the creation and implementation of potential solutions to address workplace reintegration, it is imperative to explore the experiences and perceptions of nurses affected by OSI. This qualitative study aims to investigate the experiences and perceptions of nurses (N = 7) employed within a Canadian provincial healthcare system who have attempted workplace reintegration after being off of work with an OSI. Nurses were recruited via social media, unit emails, and word of mouth. Data were collected through recorded semi-structured interviews conducted over videoconferencing. Once transcribed, the data were thematically analyzed using an inductive approach. The resulting themes included (1) heroes to zeros, (2) changing the status quo, (3) connection is key, and (4) post-traumatic growth: advocacy and altruism. Study participants indicated both that nursing culture and a cumulation of events contributed to a need for a leave of absence from work and that a formalized process was desired by nurses to assist in returning to work. The development, implementation, and exploration of innovative policies, procedures, and initiatives to bridge the gap from clinical interventions to workplace reintegration are needed for nurses experiencing OSI. Further research is also needed regarding mental health impacts and appropriate resources to support nurses in their workplace reintegration process after experiencing psychological and/or physical injury.

How Team Familiarity Mitigates Negative Consequences of Team Composition Disruptions: An Analysis of Premier League Teams

In today’s dynamic work environment, teams are increasingly confronted with disruptions. While there are different types of disruptions that teams face, we contend that team composition disruptions that occur during the completion of a team’s task can be especially challenging. We also argue that it is important to consider different types of team composition changes as they create different demands for team adaptation. Specifically, we assess the effects of loss of a team member and change in team membership resulting from injury substitution. We examine how these two types of team composition disruptions impact coordination and team outcomes (i.e., goals scored) by leveraging data from 2,280 soccer games in the English Premier League. We found that team member loss impaired both team coordination and outcomes while team member substitution only impacted team coordination. Moreover, we build upon and extend existing research that has examined team familiarity by distinguishing between familiarity that is built amongst members on the current team (i.e., current team familiarity) and familiarity that has developed as a result of members working together in prior teams (i.e., prior team familiarity). This distinction appears important as we did not find evidence of a main effect of prior team familiarity on coordination but found evidence of a reversing curvilinear effect of current team familiarity on coordination. Finally, the indirect effect of team member loss on team outcomes through team coordination was more pronounced when teams had low (compared to high) prior team familiarity.

Unmanned Aerial Systems and Deep Learning for Safety and Health Activity Monitoring on Construction Sites.

Construction is a highly hazardous industry typified by several complex features in dynamic work environments that have the possibility of causing harm or ill health to construction workers. The constant monitoring of workers' unsafe behaviors and work conditions is considered not only a proactive but also an active method of removing safety and health hazards and preventing potential accidents on construction sites. The integration of sensor technologies and artificial intelligence for computer vision can be used to create a robust management strategy and enhance the analysis of safety and health data needed to generate insights and take action to protect workers on construction sites. This study presents the development and validation of a framework that implements the use of unmanned aerial systems (UASs) and deep learning (DL) for the collection and analysis of safety activity metrics for improving construction safety performance. The developed framework was validated using a pilot case study. Digital images of construction safety activities were collected on active construction sites using a UAS, and the performance of two different object detection deep-learning algorithms/models (Faster R-CNN and YOLOv3) for safety hardhat detection were compared. The dataset included 7041 preprocessed and augmented images with a 75/25 training and testing split. From the case study results, Faster R-CNN showed a higher precision of 93.1% than YOLOv3 (89.8%). The findings of this study show the impact and potential benefits of using UASs and DL in computer vision applications for managing safety and health on construction sites.

Optimizing Human Performance to Enhance Safety: A Case Study in an Automotive Plant

Human factors play a relevant role in the dynamic work environments of the manufacturing sector in terms of production efficiency, safety, and sustainable performance. This is particularly relevant in assembly lines where humans are widely employed alongside automated and robotic agents. In this situation, operators’ ability to adapt to different levels of task complexity and variability in each workstation has a strong impact on the safety, reliability, and efficiency of the overall production process. This paper presents an application of a theoretical and empirical method used to assess the matching of different workers to various workstations based on a quantified comparison between the workload associated with the tasks and the human capability of the workers that can rotate among them. The approach allowed for the development of an algorithm designed to operationalise indicators for workload and task complexity requirements, considering the skills and capabilities of individual operators. This led to the creation of human performance (HP) indices. The HP indices were utilized to ensure a good match between requirements and capabilities, aiming to minimise the probability of human error and injuries. The developed and customised model demonstrated encouraging results in the specific case studies where it was applied but also offers a generalizable approach that can extend to other contexts and situations where job rotations can benefit from effectively matching operators to suitable task requirements.

Whiteness as credential: exploring the lived experiences of ethnically diverse UK event professionals through the theory of racialised organisations

PurposeThe events sector is an innovative and dynamic working environment that requires a creative and diverse workforce to help it thrive. However, in the main, the events workforce is not diverse, with evidence suggesting that most leaders continue to be White and male. There has been no previous research exploring the experiences of ethnically diverse professionals in this environment. This paper aims to draw on the theory of racialised organisations to begin to address this gap and amplify the voices of ethnically diverse events professionals.Design/methodology/approachQualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 ethnically diverse event managers working in the UK events industry.FindingsCovert and overt forms of racism and discrimination remain ubiquitous within the culture of event organisations, and in a number of guises, ranging from regular racialised microaggressions to more subtle forms of exclusion. The events industry needs to do more than pay lip service to neoliberal notions of diversity and acknowledge the ways in which racial relations of power shape the industry and the experiences of individuals within it, and design interventions to address these issues.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to apply the theory of racialised organisations to the events industry, recognising the centrality of race and racism to events organisations and careers. In so doing, it offers essential insight into race and ethnicity in this sector and contributes to ongoing efforts to integrate race and racism within theorising in management and organisation studies.

Proactive Career Orientation and Subjective Career Success: A Perspective of Career Construction Theory.

In the current dynamic and flexible work environment, traditional career models are constantly challenged by individuals' self-concepts of career development. Previous studies have investigated the predictors of subjective career success, yet little is known about the impact of proactive career orientation on subjective career success. This study, grounded in the career construction theory, aims to examine the influence mechanism of proactive career orientation on subjective career success by analyzing questionnaire data from 296 employees. Empirical results indicate that proactive career orientation has a positive impact on subjective career success. Second, career adaptability partially mediates the relationship between proactive career orientation and subjective career success. Third, mentoring moderates the relationship between proactive career orientation and career adaptability, as well as the relationship between career adaptability and subjective career success. Specifically, both the positive impact of proactive career orientation on career adaptability and the positive impact of career adaptability on subjective career success are stronger when the level of mentoring is higher. Fourth, the indirect relationship between proactive career orientation and subjective career success through career adaptability is stronger when mentoring is high compared to when mentoring is low. This study contributes to the career construction theory by identifying the influence mechanism of proactive career orientation on subjective career success through career adaptability, with mentoring moderating the process. As for practical implications, research findings remind managers of the importance of career planning and mentorship in enhancing employees' subjective career successes.

Environment-Aware Worker Trajectory Prediction Using Surveillance Camera in Modular Construction Facilities

The safety of workers in modular construction remains a concern due to the dynamic hazardous work environments and unawareness of the potential proximity of equipment. To avoid potential contact collisions and to provide a safe workplace, workers’ trajectory prediction is required. With recent technology advancements, the study in the area of trajectory prediction has benefited from various data-driven approaches. However, existing data-driven approaches are mostly limited to considering only the movement information of workers in the workplace, resulting in poor estimation accuracy. In this study, we propose an environment-aware worker trajectory prediction framework based on long short-term memory (LSTM) network to not only take the individual movement into account but also the surrounding information to fully exploit the context in the modular construction facilities. By incorporating worker-to-worker interactions as well as environment-to-worker interactions into our prediction model, a sequence of the worker’s future positions can be predicted. Extensive numerical tests on synthetic as well as modular construction datasets show the improved prediction performance of the proposed approach in comparison to several state-of-the-art alternatives. This study offers a systematic and flexible framework to incorporate rich contextual information into the prediction model in modular construction. The observation of how to integrate construction data analytics into a single framework could be inspiring for further future research to support robust construction safety practices.

Skill Verification System using Blockchain: SkillVio

Abstract: In today's dynamic work environment, where skills and competencies are the key drivers of success, it is crucial to have an effective skill verification system. Traditional methods of verifying skills and competencies can be time-consuming, cumbersome, and often lack transparency. A blockchain-based skill verification system can provide a secure, transparent, and decentralized platform to record and verify an employee's skills, experience, learning goal progress, and competency level. In this paper, we present a detailed analysis of the benefits of using blockchain technology for skill verification, the challenges associated with implementing such a system, and the potential future scope of this project.

Job Analysis in Organizations: Transition From Traditional to Strategic

Purpose: The aim of the study is to highlight essential elements of job analysis techniques, discusses innovative approaches, and the strategies adopted by organizations to improvise the Job Analysis procedure. Theoretical framework: Technological advancements and dynamic work environments have changed the means and methods through which job analysis procedure was managed earlier. HR professionals are now exploring innovative approaches and strategies to job analysis which are essentially compatible with the present-day organizational situation. To achieve this objective, human resources operations should be incorporated into the company's strategic management process. Professional experts of human resources should construct a compatible HR management system to support the organization implement its strategic objectives. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology is primarily based upon secondary data. For this, extant literature related to the topic from different databases, websites, and other available sources was gathered. A logical and orderly review of the accumulated literature was completed. Findings: The findings envisage the need for a well-established job analysis framework with all the elements needed to help human resource personnel updated about the changes in the work force concerns around them, make meticulous decisions using job data, and communicate effectively through all the departments in their organization. Practical implications: The study intends to provide managers with a detailed framework of job analysis practices in organization enfolding both the traditional and modern methods and suggesting probable ways to implement them. Originality/value: The paper is basically a descriptive viewpoint that may contribute positively to the extant literature, academicians, professionals and other related streams of the discipline.

Operating in the margins: Women’s lived experience of training and working in orthopaedic surgery in South Africa

Medicine in South Africa (SA), as in other parts of the world, is becoming an increasingly gender diverse profession, yet orthopaedic surgery continues to be dominated by men, with women constituting approximately 5% of the profession in SA. The aim of this descriptive qualitative study was to explore women’s experiences of training and working as orthopaedic surgeons in SA and identify structures, practices, attitudes, and ideologies that may promote or impede the inclusion of women. Data were collected via focus group discussions with women orthopaedic surgeons (n=16). Grounded in phenomenology, data were analysed using thematic analysis following a data-driven inductive approach to making sense of participants’ experiences. Five main themes emerged: i) dynamic working environments and the work of transformation; ii) negotiating competing roles of mother and surgeon; iii) belonging, exclusion and internalised sexism; iv) gaslighting and silencing; and v) acts of resistance – agency and pushing back. The findings highlight the dynamic process in which both men and women contribute to co-creating, re-producing, and challenging practices that make medicine more inclusive.

The Use of the Analytic Hierarchy Process in Improving Psychological Empowerment and Employee Performance

The purpose is to further analyze the influence of AI technology on the psychology of employees in the computer industry and truly solve the problems encountered in enterprise management, such as difficult organizational relationship and lack of staff morale. With artificial intelligence algorithm as the research object, AI-based employee psychology and performance analysis model is built based on artificial neural network (ANN) from four aspects of work performance, psychological empowerment, work engagement, and perceived dynamic work environment. MATLAB tool is used, employee psychological empowerment index is taken as an input variable, and employee performance index is taken as output index. The validity of the models proposed in different studies is further verified through different test methods. The results show that artificial intelligence technology can positively affect employees' performance by improving their psychological empowerment, and the improvement of work performance is directly related to psychological empowerment.

A Self-Collision Detection Algorithm of a Dual-Manipulator System Based on GJK and Deep Learning.

Self-collision detection is fundamental to the safe operation of multi-manipulator systems, especially when cooperating in highly dynamic working environments. Existing methods still face the problem that detection efficiency and accuracy cannot be achieved at the same time. In this paper, we introduce artificial intelligence technology into the control system. Based on the Gilbert-Johnson-Keerthi (GJK) algorithm, we generated a dataset and trained a deep neural network (DLNet) to improve the detection efficiency. By combining DLNet and the GJK algorithm, we propose a two-level self-collision detection algorithm (DLGJK algorithm) to solve real-time self-collision detection problems in a dual-manipulator system with fast-continuous and high-precision properties. First, the proposed algorithm uses DLNet to determine whether the current working state of the system has a risk of self-collision; since most of the working states in a system workspace do not have a self-collision risk, DLNet can effectively reduce the number of unnecessary detections and improve the detection efficiency. Then, for the working states with a risk of self-collision, we modeled precise colliders and applied the GJK algorithm for fine self-collision detection, which achieved detection accuracy. The experimental results showed that compared to that with the global use of the GJK algorithm for self-collision detection, the DLGJK algorithm can reduce the time expectation of a single detection in a system workspace by 97.7%. In the path planning of the manipulators, it could effectively reduce the number of unnecessary detections, improve the detection efficiency, and reduce system overhead. The proposed algorithm also has good scalability for a multi-manipulator system that can be split into dual-manipulator systems.

Sustainability and role conflict: A bibliometric analysis of research themes, trends, and future research directions: 2013-2022

Information Technology (IT) Sector is known for its fast paced and dynamic work environment, which often leads to role conflict among IT professionals. This paper presents a bibliometric analysis and systematic literature review of the phenomenon of role conflict in the IT sector. The study analyses a total 77 academic papers published till 2022, indexed in Scopus and Web of Science database. The bibliometric analysis identifies the most influential authors, journals and keywords related to the topic of role conflict in the IT sector. The systematic literature review identifies and synthesizes the major themes, theoretical perspectives and research method used in the literature on role conflict in the IT sector. The findings suggests that role conflict in the IT sector is a complex phenomenon that can result from a variety of factors including conflicting expectations, unclear job responsibilities, and organisational, and environmental factors that contribute to role conflict, as well as the strategies that can be used to manage and reduce it. The study concludes with recommendations for future research and practical implications for organisations seeking to mitigate the negative effects of role conflict on their employees and performance.

Competition or collaboration for human–robot relationship: a critical reflection on future cobotics in hospitality

Purpose The hospitality industry has recently witnessed explosive growth in robotization with the replacement of robots in many areas. Yet, a key consideration in this robotics wave is whether competition (i.e. robots take over all human tasks) or collaboration (i.e. humans collaborate closely with robots to perform work better) will define the future of the hospitality workspace. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on this controversial issue by taking a collaborative perspective to address the future human–robot relationship in hospitality workplace (i.e. cobotic team). Design/methodology/approach Drawing upon relevant theories and extant robotics literature, this paper will develop a critical reflection on the management of future cobotic team as a new phenomenon in hospitality industry. Findings The successful management of cobotics in hospitality lies in three interrelated key domains: feeling intelligence training for frontline employees, ethics governance for cobotics and trust building toward robot partners. Practical implications How to manage this cobotic team efficiently will be a focus for hospitality managers in the coming years. This paper offers several managerial insights for hospitality managers and practitioners regarding effectively managing the future collaboration between humans and robots within a dynamic work environment. Originality/value This study addresses cobotics as a critical yet unaddressed shift in the contemporary hospitality sector and proposes a framework highlighting three key domains for managing this cobotic team effectively. This framework also sets the direction to encourage more future empirical research exploring cobotic workforce in hospitality.

Towards Resilient UAV Swarms—A Breakdown of Resiliency Requirements in UAV Swarms

UAVs have rapidly become prevalent in applications related to surveillance, military operations, and disaster relief. Their low cost, operational flexibility, and unmanned capabilities make them ideal for accomplishing tasks in areas deemed dangerous for humans to enter. They can also accomplish previous high-cost and labor-intensive tasks, such as land surveying, in a faster and cheaper manner. Researchers studying UAV applications have realized that a swarm of UAVs working collaboratively on tasks can achieve better results. The dynamic work environment of UAVs makes controlling the vehicles a challenge. This is magnified by using multiple agents in a swarm. Resiliency is a broad concept that effectively defines how well a system handles disruptions in its normal functioning. The task of building resilient swarms has been attempted by researchers for the past decade. However, research on current trends shows gaps in swarm designs that make evaluating the resiliency of such swarms less than ideal. The authors believe that a complete well-defined system built from the ground up is the solution. This survey evaluates existing literature on resilient multi-UAV systems and lays down the groundwork for how best to develop a truly resilient system.

Career adaptability and proactive work behaviour: A relational model

AbstractResearch on career adaptability has found that it helps people adapt at work. However, in modern uncertain and dynamic work environment, people need to perform proactive work behaviour to ensure individual effectiveness. Thus, to understand how career adaptability advances career development, it is necessary to examine its influences on proactive work behaviour. Adopting a relational perceptive, the current paper proposed leader‐member exchange and perceived coworker support as the mediators and future work self salience as a moderator. Data were collected with a three‐wave design in China. Findings largely supported the propositions, albeit showing partial mediation effects. This study extends existing understandings of the role of career adaptability at work, provides a new perspective about why it influences work‐related outcomes and enriches the knowledge about the antecedents of proactive work behaviour.