Job Complexity Research Articles

Retirement Type and Cognitive Functioning in Japan.

A growing literature examines the effect of retirement on cognitive function, but pays little attention to how this relationship may depend upon the nature of retirement. Of particular importance is the growing prevalence of gradual retirement characterized by continued employment-either with a new employer or with the same employer-after retiring from a career job. We use data from men and women aged 50 or older in the Japanese Study of Aging and Retirement to examine the effects of full retirement, partial retirement with the same employer, and partial retirement with a new employer on cognitive function. Our analyses consider the moderating role of career job complexity and exploit distinctive features of the Japanese public pension and mandatory retirement systems to estimate the causal effect of retirement type on cognition. Results indicate that partial retirement with the same employer has a significant and adverse effect on cognitive function (relative to those not yet retired). In contrast, those who experienced either full retirement or partial retirement with a new employer were, on average, no different from those still in their career job. Partial retirement with a new employer has a beneficial effect on cognition among those who had a high-complexity career job. Results are consistent with the idea that novel work exposures and experiences have a beneficial effect on cognition. They also suggest that ongoing policy efforts to promote partial retirement with the same employer may have unexpected adverse implications for cognitive health.

Leader's Emotional Intelligence Reduces Employees' Turnover Intention Through Organizational Commitment By Playing A Mediator Role In An Organization.

According to (Coetzee and Pauw 2013), the retention of capable staff of nursing is crucial for leaders of nursing because of identifying the consequences of shortage in nursing staff. However, the skills and ability of leaders affect reactions to the situations (Coetzee and Pauw 2013). The deficiency of nursing staff relies on many components of the delivery of healthcare. There is a negative influence on the nursing staff's high turnover on patients, finance, and outcomes of hospitals (Mxenge, Dywill, et al., 2014; Langove and Isha, 2017). Recruiting and training of nursing have a monetary impact which is evaded by a good number of healthcare corporations. The standard cost of substituting a nurse is estimated in the USA from 42,000 USD to 64,000 USD (Galati and Moessner 2013). Zhang, Jiang et al. (2017) stated that the organization of healthcare is always changing and the global turnover of nurses is high. According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan (2012), there is an unavailability of 60,000 staff of nursing in Pakistan (Rehman, Jingdong, et al. 2019). Also, Pakistan is one of the 57 countries that have a severe deficiency of nursing staff under the standard of WHO to provide needed healthcare (McGuire 2016). Therefore, organizations of healthcare consistently struggle to retain nursing staff to deal with the issues of nursing scarcity (Ponte and Sturgeon 2014). This research study would provide a more effective understanding of the backgrounds of turnover of employees if job complexity, the volume of job information that a person holds at the selection time, and the scenario of the labor market were carefully considered. For this reason, these issues are taken as research limitations and more study need to be done to address these problems (Lu Lu, Lu, Gursoy, & Neale, 2016; Shaozhuang Ma, Silva, Callan, & Trigo, 2016; Mamoona Rasheed, Iqbal, & Mustafa, 2018) Various earlier researches on productive workplace atmosphere which has focused on several positive results such as performance, employees' well-being, and behavior of organizational citizenship (Lonsdale, 2016; Zhang, Gong, et al., 2017; Evans and Dobrosielska 2019). Keywords: Emotional intelligence, Organizational Commitments, Turnover Intention, Pakistani Healthcare Sector

Examining Job Complexity on Job Crafting Within Conservation of Resources Theory: A Dual-Path Mediation Model.

This study examined the different ways in which job complexity influences employees’ job crafting. Specifically, we draw on conservation of resources (COR) theory to hypothesize that job complexity is positively related to approach crafting via work engagement (i.e., resource gain process). At the same time, job complexity may also induce employees to engage in avoidance crafting (i.e., resource loss process) as employee energy resources are depleted. Our data consist of 251 employees working in Macau. We used structural equation modeling (SEM) in Mplus software to test the proposed hypotheses. Our findings confirm that job complexity has differential effects on approach and avoidance crafting through work engagement and energy depletion. These findings highlight the importance of costs and benefits of job complexity and the importance of resources in the employees’ job crafting process. We discuss the practical implications for modern organizations in which complex jobs are prevalent.

A study on the effect of freight forwarder's job complexity on job stress : moderating effect of network cooperation as job resources

본 연구는 JD-R 모형(Job Demands-Resources model)을 주요 이론적 배경으로 하여 프레이트 포워더 종사자가 직무요구로서 경험하는 직무 복잡성이 직무 스트레스에 어떤 영향을 미치는지 규명하고, 이를 조절할 수 있는 ‘직무자원’의 하나로 네트워크 협력의 역할을 살펴보았다. 총 91명의 응답자를 대상으로 한 설문조사 결과 프레이트 포워더 종사자들이 지각하는 직무 복잡성은 직무 스트레스에 정(+)의 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났으며, 외부 협력사들과의 네트워크 협력관계는 이러한 정의 관계를 조절하는 직무자원으로서 역할을 수행하는 것으로 지지되었다. 이러한 연구결과가 시사하는 경영관리적 의미와 본 연구의 한계점들이 토론되었다.

Computer use and pay for performance

AbstractWorkplace digitalisation is a pervasive phenomenon associated to an increase in wage differentials between occupations. This paper analyses the relationship between computer use and pay for performance, whose incidence has also followed a positive growth pattern. More concretely, we examined three pay‐for‐performance schemes: productivity/piece rate, team and firm pay for performance. We also investigated the mediating role of job design in this relationship. The complementarity framework perspective and the economic theory of incentives were the theoretical approaches applied in the development of hypotheses. Data from four waves of the European Working Conditions Survey were used in the empirical analyses. A positive association was found between computer use and the three pay for performance schemes considered, particularly team and firm pay for performance. The results also indicated that this relationship was partially explained by changes in job design due to computerisation, such as higher job complexity, on‐the‐job training and teamwork.

MIND Diet and Cognitive Function in Puerto Rican Older Adults.

Healthy diets have been associated with better cognitive function. Socioeconomic factors including education, poverty, and job complexity may modify the relationship between diet and cognition. We used adjusted linear mixed models to examine the association between long-term adherence to the Mediterranean-Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension - Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet and cognitive function over 8 years of follow-up in Puerto Rican adults residing in the Boston, MA area (aged 45-75 years at baseline). We also examined whether the MIND diet-cognition association was confounded or modified by socioeconomic measures. In both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses the highest, versus lowest, MIND quintile was associated with better cognition function (β = 0.093; 95% CI: 0.035, 0.152; p trend = .0019), but not with cognitive trajectory over 8 years. Education <=8th grade (β = -0.339; 95% CI: 0.394, -0.286; p < .0001) and income-to-poverty ratio <120% (β = -0.049; 95% CI: -0.092, -0.007; p = .024) were significantly associated with lower cognitive function, while higher job complexity (β = 0.008; 95% CI: 0.006, 0.011; p < .0001) was associated with better cognition function. These variables acted as confounders, but not effect modifiers of the MIND-diet-cognitive function relationship. Adherence to the MIND diet was associated with better cognitive function at baseline and over 8 years of follow-up; however, MIND diet was not associated with 8-year cognitive trajectory. More studies are needed to better understand whether the MIND diet is protective against long-term cognitive decline.

The Effects of Social Capital of Service Employees on Emotional Labor : Moderating Effect of Job Complexity

The Effects of Social Capital of Service Employees on Emotional Labor : Moderating Effect of Job Complexity

Understanding employees' innovative work behavior through interactionist perspective: the effects of working style, supportive noncontrolling supervision and job complexity

PurposeThis study extends the actor–context interactionist model of individual innovation from the traditional synergetic pattern to a complementary one. The complementary perspective emphasizes the need for integration of divergence and convergence in enhancing employee's innovative work behavior. This study examines how individual working style relates to innovative work behavior through supportive noncontrolling supervision and job complexity.Design/methodology/approachThe study used a time-lagged research design, collecting data through surveys from 262 employees and their immediate supervisors working in telecommunication companies of Saudi Arabia.FindingsThis study found that (1) employee with an intuitively inclined working style (e.g. a divergent predictor) engages in higher levels of innovative work behavior when supportive noncontrolling supervision or job complexity (e.g. convergent factors) is higher; and (2) the positive interactive effect of intuitive working style and supportive noncontrolling supervision on employee's innovative work behavior is stronger when job complexity is higher rather than lower.Originality/valueThis study provides deeper understanding of the interactionist perspective of employees' innovative work behavior. This study is the first of its kind to integrate complementary and synergistic perspectives of actor–context interactionist model of employees' innovative work behavior.

Challenge Demands and Resilience

Abstract. This study investigates the relationship of challenge demands (i. e., time pressure, job complexity) on employee resilience. We provide insights into potential pathways (i. e., learning, cognitive irritation) for how challenge stressors influence employee resilience. We employed a two-wave, time-lagged design to examine the influences of challenge stressors and explanatory pathways on employee resilience 2 months later. The data from 359 participants (52.1 % male) were analyzed using a Bayesian time-lagged path model. Results indicate that time pressure and job complexity are negatively related to employee resilience via cognitive irritation. In contrast, we found a positive, indirect effect of job complexity and resilience via learning. This paper contributes to existing employee resilience and stress research by highlighting the roles of learning and cognitive irritation to explain the relationships of challenge stressors on employee resilience. Moreover, the results provide us with a deeper understanding of which factors foster or drain employee resilience.

What do cardiac surgical assistants in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia think about their job? A cross-sectional survey of job and work characteristics.

Concerns about job design of the cardiac surgical assistant workforce such as role autonomy and job dissatisfaction have been outlined in the literature, although scant empirical research has examined these concerns from the perspective of cardiac surgical assistants themselves. This study surveyed the job design of cardiac surgical assistants in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia using Morgeson and Humphrey’s Work Design Questionnaire. All scalable items within the questionnaire were reported as satisfactory except for ‘autonomy’, ‘task identity’, ‘feedback from the job’, ‘job complexity’, ‘social support’, ‘feedback from others’, ‘ergonomic’ and ‘work condition’. The results provide insight into aspects of cardiac surgical assistants’ role characteristics and contribute to the body of knowledge about their organisational psychology. Given the growth of cardiothoracic operations, the role of the surgical care assistant needs to be further developed to address the job design issues raised.

Algorithms as work designers: How algorithmic management influences the design of jobs

We review the literature on algorithmic management (AM) to bridge the gap between this emerging research area and the well-established theory and research on work design. First, we identify six management functions that algorithms are currently able to perform: monitoring, goal setting, performance management, scheduling, compensation, and job termination. Second, we show how each AM function affects key job resources (e.g., job autonomy, job complexity) and key job demands (e.g., workload, physical demands); with each of these resources and demands being important drivers of worker motivation and their well-being. Third, rejecting a deterministic perspective and drawing on sociotechnical systems theory, we outline key categories of variables that moderate the link between AM on work design, namely transparency, fairness and human influence (e.g., whether workers can control the system). We summarize our review in the form of a model to help guide research on AM, and to support practitioners and designers in the creation and maintenance of meaningful jobs in the era of algorithms.

Can You Always Catch More Flies with Honey than with Vinegar? Applying an Asymmetric Approach to Transformational Leadership Research

This study addresses a shortcoming in the transformational leadership literature (Van Knippenberg & Sitkin The Academy of Management Annals, 7(1), 1-60, 2013) by demonstrating when and how individual transformational leadership components may predict high and low team performance, as well as how these behaviors can combine to achieve certain outcomes. The study also sheds light on how certain team leader’s demographics (i.e., leader sex, age, and tenure) and team context conditions (i.e., team size and job complexity) predict different team performance outcomes via different transformational leadership behaviors. A case-based asymmetric configurational approach and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) were used to examine data gathered from 59 teams in the marketing and print services sector. The results identified multiple useful configurations of transformational leadership behaviors and team leader demographics/team context conditions that accurately predict high and, separately, low team performance (i.e., achieving model prediction accuracy odds of 4 to 1 or greater). A predictive validation was also performed on a second sample whereby the highly consistent models for the study’s main sample had high predictive abilities for this second sample. From a practical standpoint, this study suggests that certain configurations of transformational sub-components may work better for some leaders than others (e.g., young female versus male leaders). It also identifies more realistic, authentic, and potentially less costly strategies for predicting high (and avoiding low) levels of team performance in different contexts. Finally, this study contributes to the literature by being a first attempt to apply an asymmetric approach to transformational leadership research.

How Refugees Experience the Australian Workplace: A Comparative Mixed Methods Study.

There is a growing body of evidence indicating poorer working conditions for migrant workers, particularly refugees, compared with native-born workers. Our objectives were to compare exposure to workplace psychosocial stressors in working refugees with other migrant groups and Australian-born workers of Caucasian ancestry and to describe the working experience of refugees. Cross-sectional surveys collected information on the workplace stressors of job complexity, control, security, bullying, and racial discrimination from six migrant groups (n = 1062) and Caucasian Australians (n = 1051); semi-structured face-to-face interviews were used with currently employed refugees (n = 30). Content analysis examined the qualitative data. Compared to all other groups, working refugees were more likely to report experiencing racial discrimination in the workplace and to report exposure to more than three hazards. Content analysis indicated that working refugees are working below their capacity, in terms of hours and qualifications, and in jobs that were low status and lacked security. Despite challenging work conditions, participants reported adequate health and safety training and feeling a sense of pride in their work. These findings highlight the need for better support for refugees in negotiating the workplace once they find employment and the importance of employers providing an inclusive and equitable workplace.

Unethical leadership and employee knowledge-hiding behavior in the Chinese context: a moderated dual-pathway model

On the basis of conservation of resource theory and job characteristics theory, we developed a moderated dual-pathway model, wherein unethical leadership increases knowledge hiding through external relational resources and internal psychological resources, with job complexity acting as a contextual condition. Surveying 235 employees and 41 leaders in China, our findings show that unethical leadership is positively associated with knowledge hiding. Furthermore, this positive relationship is fulfilled through two opposite mechanisms: on one hand, unethical leadership decreases employees’ relational identification, which then negatively predicts knowledge hiding. On the other hand, unethical leadership is positively related to psychological distress, which has a subsequent positive effect on knowledge hiding. The presence of high job complexity mitigates the effect of unethical leadership on psychological distress, which in return reduces knowledge hiding. Our findings have implications for leadership behavior in developing a knowledge-sharing workplace environment.

Covid‐19 and The Study of Professionals and Professional Work

Covid‐19 and The Study of Professionals and Professional Work

How and When Does Psychological Wellbeing Contribute to Proactive Performance? The Role of Social Resources and Job Characteristics.

Are psychologically healthy employees more proactive at work? Surprisingly, responses to this question are lacking as empirical research has overlooked the wellbeing–proactive performance relationship. Drawing insights from the conservation of resources theory and the motivational fit perspective, this study proposes that leader-member exchange and team-member exchange act as social resources that convey the benefits of psychological wellbeing to subsequent proactive performance. Moreover, job complexity and task interdependence—two job characteristics that enhance the motivational potential of social resources—are expected to amplify these positive indirect relationships. Data from a three-wave, time-lagged study conducted among employees (N = 318) from French-Canadian organizations were used to test our hypothesized model. The results indicated that leader-member exchange mediated a positive relationship between wellbeing and proactive performance and that the contribution of wellbeing to proactive performance via leader-member exchange was increased when job complexity was higher. We also found a negative indirect relationship between wellbeing and proactive performance via team-member exchange when team interdependence was lower. Theoretical and practical implications of this research are discussed.

Human resource practices accompanying industry 4.0 in European manufacturing industry

PurposeRecent research has shown that the implementation of Industry 4.0 requires companies to (re)adjust their human resource (HR) policies. This article focuses on the relationship between Industry 4.0 and three HR practices: i.e. employee involvement, job design and skill development.Design/methodology/approachWe use data of the European Company Survey (ECS) (2019). This nationally representative survey in the EU28 gathers data on workplace practices among managers from establishments employing at least 10 employees. We focus on 5,609 establishments in the manufacturing sector.FindingsFirstly, employee involvement shows a strong positive correlation with Industry 4.0, irrespective of the digital technology used, country or firm size. Secondly, weak but significant correlations are found with increasing job complexity and skill development.Research limitations/implicationsResearch should engage in fine-grained analyses of the alignment between particular digital technologies and their respective HR practices.Practical implicationsOur results stress the importance of involving employees during the implementation of Industry 4.0.Originality/valueDespite frequent acknowledgement across Industry 4.0 roadmaps and maturity models, the predictions for HR practices are empirically incomplete and theoretically inconclusive.

Promoting employee’s self‐change skills: The role of job characteristics, goal clarity and learning goals

AbstractPersonal growth initiative (PGI), i.e., self‐change skills, is necessary for employees to adapt to changing environments, but research examining the antecedents of PGI in an organizational context is limited. The present research investigated the antecedents of PGI in the workplace. Using a two‐wave questionnaire survey, data were collected from 204 employees, including nurses, medical technicians and administrative staff, at six healthcare organizations in Japan. The results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that goal clarity and learning goal orientation were positively related to PGI, whereas autonomy, skill variety and job complexity were not significantly related to PGI. The results also showed that goal clarity positively moderated the effect of skill variety on PGI, yet, negatively moderated the effect of job complexity on PGI. This study contributes to the existing literature by demonstrating how personal and situational factors influence employees’ self‐change skills in the workplace.

Cumulative employment intensity and complexity across the life course and cognitive function in later life among European women and men

PurposeRelatively little is known about how working-age life course cumulative exposure to employment intensity and job complexity informs older-age cognitive function. We investigate these associations, separately for men and women, and net of known confounders. MethodsUsing retrospective lifetime employment histories of Europeans born 1923–1959 (2004–2009, N = 22 266), we calculate cumulative working-age exposure to nonemployment, full-time and part-time employment, and a professional occupation. In gender-stratified linear regression models, these indicators predict cognitive function score based on the DemTect scale and Mini Mental State Exam. ResultsNonemployment ≥25% of the working life course was associated with poorer cognitive function for men by −0.43 points (95% CI = −0.79, −0.06) on a 19-point scale. Women's full-time employment, even if <25% of the working lifetime, was associated with a cognitive advantage over never-employment by 0.60 points (95% CI = 0.17, 1.02). Compared to predominantly nonprofessionally employed men, those working professionally for ≥75% of the life course had better cognition by 0.38 points (95% CI = 0.16, 0.60). ConclusionsThis paper provides novel evidence that older-age cognitive functioning is associated with cumulative exposure to both employment intensity and complexity, but that these relationships vary by sex.

The effectiveness of role autonomy in influencing job pursuit intentions of customer‐oriented frontline job seekers

AbstractAttracting customer‐oriented frontline employee (FLE) job seekers is important for many service organisations, particularly in competitive environments. It is widely accepted that FLEs' customer‐focused behaviours are instrumental in organisational success. Numerous studies demonstrate that autonomy plays an important role in supporting FLEs' self‐efficacy and in helping to reduce stress attributed to job demands. While autonomy is recognised as a key resource for FLEs, its influence over job pursuit intentions of tertiary‐educated FLE job seekers has received little empirical attention. Based on a sample of 120 undergraduates in their final year and postgraduate students in an Irish university we address this question and the possible impact of perceived job complexity on job pursuit intentions of this particular cohort. In addition, we investigate whether the individual difference characteristic of customer orientation (CO) affects the extent to which autonomy influences job pursuit intentions. Results support the importance of autonomy however, the findings suggest that autonomy's effect on job pursuit intentions is influenced by job seekers' individual CO. The results indicate that autonomy has a stronger effect on job pursuit intentions of FLE job seekers (educated to undergraduate level and beyond) with high versus low CO.