Large Canadian Organizations Research Articles

Communicating Workplace Spirituality

Workplace spirituality has been the focus of many studies, which underline its importance for organizations and employees. While most larger employers have embraced inclusion strategies that recognize and support neurodiversity, gender, race, ability, and other characteristics, spirituality appears to be excluded from the conversation, despite evidence of its benefits. This study explores the question, “how are large Canadian employers signalling a commitment to workplace spirituality to prospective employees?” Employing content analysis, the websites of 25 large Canadian organizations were examined to discover: (1) how they publicly communicate spirituality; (2) what can be inferred from this communication; and, (3) what first steps organizations can take to signal spirituality to prospective employees. The findings show few of these organizations publicly communicate spirituality, either explicitly or implicitly. We also examine the barriers and opportunities explicit declarations of spiritual support create in attracting and retaining talent.

Developing a collaborative and sustainable return to work program for employees with common mental disorders: a participatory research with public and private organizations

Purpose To disentangle the key steps of the return to work (RTW) process and offer clearer recovery-focused and sustainable RTW for people on sick leave due to common mental disorders (CMDs). Methods This participatory research involves two large Canadian organizations. In each organization, we established an advisory committee composed of RTW stakeholders. We collected information in semi-structured interviews from RTW stakeholders (n = 26) with each member of the advisory committee in each organization, as well as with employees who had recently experienced CMDs. The interviews examined the RTW process for employees on sick leave due to CMDs as well as RTW stakeholders’ perceptions of barriers and facilitators. A thematic approach was used to synthesize the data, following which, results were discussed with the two advisory committees to identify solutions considering key RTW steps. Results Ten common key steps within the three RTW phases emerged from the semi-structured interviews with RTW stakeholders and discussions with the two advisory committees: 1) At the beginning of sickness absence and involvement of disability management team (phase 1), we found 3 steps (e.g., taking charge of the file), 2) during the involvement in treatment rehabilitation with health professionals and preparation of the RTW (phase 2), 4 steps (e.g., RTW preparation), and finally 3) the RTW and follow-up (phase 3) consists of 3 steps (e.g., gradual RTW). Conclusion A participatory study involving RTW stakeholders helped identify 10 common key steps within three phases to support RTW sustainability of people with CMDs. Future research will need to address how RTW coordinators intervene in the RTW process of employees with CMDs within these steps. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION Rehabilitation professionals will benefit from a detailed description of the RTW process (10 steps spread out over 3 RTW phases), allowing them to standardize it while adopting a personalized approach for the employee on sick leave. Rehabilitation professionals are informed of stakeholders’ role and actions required in the RTW process; as such the communication between RTW stakeholders should be improved. RTW coordinators will be able to tailor more precisely their intervention, considering the detailed RTW process and RTW stakeholders’ role and actions, and thus will become the pivot occupational health specialists for the RTW process.

A Study to Understand the Impact of Bereavement Grief on the Workplace.

Although most employees and business owners or operators will likely experience the death of one or more loved ones over their work lives, attention has not focused on how bereavement grief impacts the workplace. A study was conducted for foundational information. Data on the annual incidence of bereavement leaves and related matters were collected from a relatively representative sample of small, medium, and large Canadian organizations. Two of every three organizations had 1+ employees take a bereavement leave last year, with 3.2% of all employees taking a bereavement leave consisting of 2.5 days on average and often with additional travel and accommodation days. The findings suggest that more should be done by organizations to prepare for bereavement leaves and assisted work returns. This preparation is essential for the tsunami of bereavement grief in the years ahead as deaths increase rapidly in number with population aging.

"Gender Diversity, Business Strategy, and Organizational Performance"

This study examined the interactions of gender diversity and organizational strategies on organizational outcomes. Using a longitudinal sample of large Canadian organizations, we found gender diversity had a negative effect on organizational productivity, but was positively associated with organizational innovation when an expansion, an improvement, or a cost strategy was adopted. These findings support a contingency approach to research on diversity. Our study also contributes to the current understanding of diversity and strategic management.

Diversity and organizational innovation: The role of employee involvement

AbstractThis study examined the interactive effects of workplace diversity and employee involvement on organizational innovation. Using a sample of 182 large Canadian organizations, we found a three‐way interaction between level of employee involvement, variation in involvement, and racioethnic diversity on innovation. In organizations with high levels of employee involvement, high variation in involvement was associated with higher involvement levels among racioethnic minorities, resulting in a stronger association between diversity and innovation. Furthermore, the association between White employee involvement and innovation was significantly more positive under the condition of high involvement among racioethnic minority group members. Thus, ensuring high levels of involvement among members of historically marginalized racioethnic groups enhances the innovation effects of employee empowerment systems. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Interdepartmental Knowledge Transfer Success During Information Technology Projects

This article reports on a study that investigates the knowledge transfer between an information systems/technology (IS/IT) department and non-IT departments during IT projects. More specifi-cally, we look into the link between the knowledge management capabilities of the IT department and the effectiveness and efficiency of the knowledge transfer to a client department. Knowledge management (KM) capabilities are defined by Gold, Malhotra, and Segars (2001) as the combina-tion of knowledge infrastructure capabilities (structural, technical, and cultural) and knowledge processes capabilities (acquisition, conversion, application, and protection). Data collected through a Web-based survey result in 127 usable questionnaires completed by managers in large Canadian organizations. Data analysis performed using partial least squares (PLS) indicates that knowledge infrastructure capabilities are related to the knowledge transfer success, and more specifically to its effectiveness whereas knowledge processes capabilities are only related to the efficiency of such transfer. Implications of our results for research and practice are also discussed.

Re‐examining field sales unit performance

PurposeDrawing on the resource‐based view of the firm and the dynamic capabilities perspective, this paper sets out to argue that salespeople's selling skills and their inter‐ and intra‐unit collaborative skills are valuable, rare, socially complex, and inimitable knowledge‐based resources embedded in the human and social capital of field sales units (FSUs). Salespeople's selling and collaborative skills, both directly and interactively, should help field sales units generate greater economic rents. This paper also aims to explore the effect of salespeople's selling and collaborative skills on the level of total compensation through the mediating role of sales unit performance.Design/methodology/approachThe data were obtained from a sample of managers of FSUs in 102 large Canadian organizations. The proposed model and its hypotheses were tested using hierarchical moderated regression analysis.FindingsCollaborative skills, but not selling skills, are directly related to FSU performance; the effect of selling skills on FSU performance is strengthened by the complementary role of collaborative skills; and selling skills and collaborative skills both individually and interactively result in the payment of higher compensation to salespeople as a result of their enhanced performance.Research limitations/implicationsSalespeople's selling skills and collaborative skills (both directly and interactively) not only enable the FSU to generate higher levels of performance, but they also increase individual salespeople's compensation.Practical implicationsIt is necessary for managers to acknowledge the role of knowledge‐based resources in building/developing organizational dynamic capabilities.Originality/valueThis is one of the few studies that explores the strategic role of salespeople in creating a competitive advantage and links the sales management literature to the literature on the RBV of the firm and social capital/human capital theory.

Distinguishing between the board and management in company mission

A relationship between board/management “involvement” and “awareness” with organizational mission and their link to “employee commitment” and “organizational performance” was modeled by drawing on previous research. The model was tested with data from 339 large Canadian and US organizations. It was determined that “mission awareness” on the part of both the board and senior management is an important consideration in the determination of employees' commitment to the mission. However, the impact of board and management involvement with the mission is not identical. The results emphasize the strong and important role that the board performs when it is actively engaged in the development of the organization's mission.

A model of the impact of mission statements on firm performance

A relationship between mission and organizational performance was modeled by drawing on previous research. The model was tested with data from 83 large Canadian and US organizations. We found that mission statements can affect financial performance, however, not as one might have anticipated initially. Several mediating elements were observed to exist. For instance, “commitment to the mission” and the “degree to which an organization aligns its internal structure, policies and procedures with its mission” were both found to be positively associated with “employee behavior”. It was this latter variable which was observed, in turn, to have the most direct relationship with financial performance.

The Relationship Between Mission Statements and Firm Performance: An Exploratory Study

This paper examines the relationship between mission statements and firm performance using a sample of 136 large Canadian organizations. Previous writings suggest that mission statements are essential for superior organizational performance results. However, there is little empirical evidence to support this claim. The data from the present study demonstrate that mission statements and some of their specific characteristics are selectively associated with higher levels of organizational performance. The paper concludes with several propositions to guide future research.

Factors Affecting Permanent Workforce Reduction: Evidence from Large Canadian Organizations

AbstractDespite an extensive practitioner literature on workforce reduction, relatively few Canadian studies have empirically examined the determinants of workforce reduction policies. Using data from more than 1,000 organizations across the country, this study investigated factors associated with permanent workforce reduction strategies. Fifty‐three percent of the respondents permanently reduced their workforce during the two‐year period of the study (with an average reduction of almost 15% of the workforce). Multinomial logit was used to compare organizations that had and had not engaged in employee cutbacks. The results revealed that differences in workforce reduction strategies were associated with the economic environment, characteristics of the organization, and human resource management policies.RésuméMalgré l'abondance de la documentation qui existe sur la pratique de la réduction des effectifs, relativement peu d'études canadiennes ont examiné empiriquement les déterminants des politiques de réduction des effectifs. Basée sur les réponses de plus de 1,000 organisations dans tout le pays, cette étude se penche sur les facteurs qui déterminent les stratégies de réduction permanente des effectifs. Cinquante‐trois pour cent des répondants ont réduit leur personnel de façon définitive pendant les deux années de l'étude (réduction moyenne de près de 15% des effectifs). Des organisations qui ont et qui n'ont pas réduit leurs effectifs ont été comparées au moyen d'un logit multinomial. Les résultats montrent que les stratégies de réduction des effectifs dépendent de la con‐joncture, des caractéristiques de l'organisation et des politiques de gestion des ressources humaines.

Managing workplace stress: A Canadian Delphi study among human resource managers

Abstract The human and finacial costs of stress in the workplace have been extensively documented in the literature. The present study used a two-round Delphi methodology with 17 human resource managers from 17 medium-sized and large Canadian organizations. The main purposes of the study were to predict future policy and programme directions as well as expected benefits and constraints on organizations during the 1990s. This panel of experts predicated even greater stress in the workplace in large part due to greater (global) competition and greater resource constraints on organizations for programmes and services for their employees as well as management resistance to such directions. Organization will be challenged to identify cost effective means to prevent or, at least, to amelorate stress. Several practical ideas were generated by the panel for organizations to consider.

Taking stock of corporate benchmarking practices: Panacea or Pandora's box?

Benchmarking corporate communications/public relations (CC/PR) is an increasingly useful approach used by some CC/PR managers to demonstrate the “value” of their activities to sceptical organizational executives. This article describes a series of independent observations of a number of proprietary CC/PR benchmarking efforts which have been performed in Australia, Canada, and the U.S. between 1991–1993. As such, it is one of the first attempts to offer an assessment of the effectiveness of CC/PR management benchmarking and to suggest several avenues for potentially productive research on the topic. The article provides several robust reasons why CC/PR should be benchmarked, details several common myths about benchmarking CC/PR, describes the types of CC/PR benchmarking that can be performed, overviews the general processes used for performing CC/PR benchmarking, and identifies critical decisions which need to be considered prior to undertaking CC/PR benchmarking. Dr. Fleisher is an Associate Professor of Policy and Law in the School of Business and Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU), Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. He is the director of the North American Public Affairs Research Group (NAPARG) located at WLU and serves on the boards of both Canadian and U.S. public affairs professional associations. Sara Burton is Manager, North American Public Affairs Research Group (NAPARG). She is currently involved in NAPARG's benchmarking research efforts with the CC/PR groups of several large Canadian organizations.

Community Ecology and Employment: Dynamics: A Study of Large Canadian Organizations, 1985-1992

Community Ecology and Employment: Dynamics: A Study of Large Canadian Organizations, 1985-1992

Community Ecology and Employment Dynamics: A Study of Large Canadian Organizations, 1985-1992

Community Ecology and Employment Dynamics: A Study of Large Canadian Organizations, 1985-1992

Assessing Senior Executives: The Impact of Context on their Roles

This study assesses the leadership roles of senior executives/managers. It first offers an empirical construct of five roles for senior executives: mobilize; ambassador, driver, auditor; and servant. These roles reflect the perceptions of subordinate managers of the leadership roles of their superior senior executives. Second, it tests three hypotheses on the impact of the hierarchical level of the senior executives, the type of organization they manage (public vs. private), and the interaction between level and organizational type on senior executive roles. The data for this study were obtained from 1,687 senior to upper middle managers in three large Canadian organizations. The results showed that hierarchical level of the superior and the interaction between level and organizational type both had an impact on the roles of senior executives. The article discusses avenues for further research in senior management leadership roles.

A Survey of Employee Assistance Programs in Medium and Large Canadian Organizations

A survey was conducted of 71 medium and large Canadian organizations which reported having EAPs in a larger, earlier study of stress in the workplace. Findings from the 48 responding organizations showed that virtually all offered broad brush EAPs; most perceived benefits to be improved employee morale and reduced absenteeism among other benefits; and only a minority evaluated their EAPs. Conclusions and recommendations are offered in three major areas: EAP information systems, EAP expansion in the fume, and improved evaluation/audit of EAPs.