Today's Organizations Research Articles

Developing a team performance framework utilising Neethling’s thinking style preference instrument

Orientation: This article focuses on the employees and managers’ experience of the effects of Neethling’s thinking style preference instrument on team performance.Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to compile a framework to apply Neethling’s thinking style preferences to team performance.Motivation for the study: Organisations today are aware that they need to increase quality, decrease costs, advance customer service, increase their adaptability to an increasingly competitive environment and decrease the time spent on creating new products. To realise these goals, organisations must convert their work teams into more cohesive and dedicated teams. No or limited research has been conducted on how the application of Neethling’s thinking style preferences may influence team performance.Research approach/design and method: A qualitative exploratory study was conducted with 19 participants working in the Financial and Insurance Department of a sales-driven organisation in Gauteng, South Africa. The data were collected by means of focus group and individual interviews.Main findings: The positive effects of the Neethling’s thinking style preferences on the team were that the participants understood people better, their conflict management skills increased, their self-awareness improved, the communication in the team increased and they experienced an increase in team cohesion. The negative experiences were task avoidance, labelling and wrong assessments of people, but the positive experiences exceeded the negative experiences. Due to the positive experiences, the organisation also benefitted in terms of improved customer service and increased productivity, which could lead to organisational success and a competitive advantage.Practical/managerial implications: When used in teamwork, the Neethling’s thinking style preference instrument shows positive outcomes regarding team performance.Contribution/value-add: The findings of this study contribute new knowledge regarding the application of Neethling’s thinking style preferences in team performance.

Leader Humility and Taking Charge: The Role of OBSE and Leader Prototypicality.

Taking charge refers to an extra role behavior that is change oriented and can bring constructive benefits to the organization. However, taking charge always involves risks and might incur potential costs for employees. Understanding how to encourage employees’ taking charge has become increasingly important for today’s organizations. Drawing on self-concept-based theory, we intend to explore when and why leader humility would inspire followers’ taking charge behavior in China. Employing a time-lagged research design with a sample of 190 supervisor-subordinate dyads, we found that the association between leader humility and taking charge is significantly and positively correlated, with organization-based self-esteem (OBSE) mediating the connection. We also found support for the moderating effect of leader prototypicality. Leader humility positively affected taking charge via followers’ OBSE, though only in cases of high leader prototypicality. Finally, we probed into the practical and theoretical implications of this research.

Leadership expert shares practical strategies for making shifts that lead to success

ORLANDO, FLA. — Yesterday's style of leadership is no longer enough to effectively lead your organization today.

Leadership expert shares practical strategies for making shifts that lead to success

ORLANDO, FLA. — Yesterday's style of leadership is no longer enough to effectively lead your organization today.

Leadership expert shares practical strategies for making shifts that lead to success

ORLANDO, FLA. — Yesterday's style of leadership is no longer enough to effectively lead your organization today.

Leadership expert shares practical strategies for making shifts that lead to success

ORLANDO, FLA. — Yesterday's style of leadership is no longer enough to effectively lead your organization today.

How Ethical Leadership Shapes Employees' Readiness to Change: The Mediating Role of an Organizational Culture of Effectiveness.

Today’s organizations are operating in a highly competitive and changing environment that pushes them to continuously adapt their organizational structures to such environment. However, the success of change initiatives may face a barrier in the response of employees, especially when they lack readiness to change. While leadership can shape the culture of an organization and a culture of effectiveness can help increase employees’ readiness to change, ethical leaders, who serve as a guide and offer support, can also make a difference by reducing uncertainty. Yet existing research on the role of ethical leadership in the enhancement of the employees’ readiness to change is practically non-existent. Far less is the research that analyses the mechanisms that ethical leadership can use to foster employees’ readiness to change. This study aims to investigate whether the ethical leadership of middle–lower echelons influences on employees’ readiness to change positively (H1) and if this relationship is mediated through shaping an organizational culture of effectiveness (H2). Using data from 270 direct reports of middle–lower managers in public foreign trade Egyptian companies, the findings reveal that ethical leadership enhances employees’ readiness to change and that this impact is partially mediated by an organizational culture of effectiveness. Thus, with these findings, new light is shed on the positive role of ethical leadership and the mechanisms it uses to enhance employees’ readiness to change.

Digital competencies: A review of the literature and applications in the workplace

In today's organisations and politics, there is a growing awareness of the gap between existing and needed digital competencies of the workforce to master the challenges of the digitalised future at work. Nevertheless, no comprehensive framework or definition of digital competencies at work has been proposed so far. Our aim is to offer a holistic view and broaden the scope of the concept of digital competencies, thereby focussing on applications at work. We combine diverse methods to integrate different perspectives on digital competencies. By conducting an extensive literature review about definitions and frameworks of digital competencies that might be applicable at work, we provide an overview of the current state of the art in research on digital competencies. Additionally, eleven half-structured interviews based on the critical incidents technique (CIT) were conducted to gain insights into the perspectives of professionals with expertise in digitalisation processes and digital competencies. Subsequently, researchers with different educational backgrounds clustered the results from both approaches and agreed on twenty-five dimensions that constitute digital competencies for white-collar workers with office jobs, encompassing a large variety of knowledge, skills, and abilities. The results of this research indicate that even though there is overlapping content, each perspective adds unique content to the concept of digital competencies at work. By creating a coherent and detailed framework and a definition, our research enhances the applicability of professional learning and development of digital competencies at work.

The relationship between the online social anxiety, perceived information overload and fatigue, and job engagement of civil servant LINE users

In today's organizations, employees have an ever-growing variety of Instant Messaging (IM) technology to use to assist with the performance of their work activities. The use of an instant messenger (LINE) is popular in the government sector where immediate responses due to public pressure are expected; however, very little is known about the role of LINE in civil servants' work and its impact on their experiences. To address this gap, based on the media richness theory, this study aims to explore workers' online social anxiety, LINE cognitive fatigue (LCF) and perceived information overload of IM (PIOIM) affecting their job engagement. The data used in this study were collected from 429 civil servants in Taiwan via an online survey and were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results show that online social anxiety is positively related to LCF and PIOIM. Respondents with higher LCF and PIOIM are less likely to be involved in job activities. Online social anxiety is negatively related to job engagement mediated by LCF and PIOIM. Considering the flexibility of using IM in communicating public affairs between civil servants, the flood of messages has to be reduced in order to increase job engagement.

Leadership expert shares practical strategies for making shifts that lead to success

ORLANDO, FLA. — Yesterday's style of leadership is no longer enough to effectively lead your organization today.

İŞ- YAŞAM DENGESİ: ÖĞRETMEN VE YÖNETİCİLER ÜZERİNDE BİR ÇALIŞMA

The fact that one of the determinants of the effectiveness of today's organizations is their human resources is now recognized. Therefore, organizations are looking for ways to reduce the factors that negatively affect the commitment and motivation of their human resources and to retain this important resource. One of these negative factors is the occasional problem in balancing the work and family life of employees as a result of the rapid change. Work life balance expresses the harmony between family, personal and work life and the balance between different areas of life. As with all employees, education employees are required to simultaneously perform interconnected and influenced work and family roles. In addition, they have different responsibilities to their students, families, the institution they work for and the society. In this study, it is aimed to determine the perceptions of the administrators andteachers about the balance of work and life and to examine these perceptions in terms of different variables. The research was designed as a relational survey model and the sample of the study consists of 601 participants consisting of 43 administrators and 558 teachers working in 21 schools determined by stratified cluster sampling method. In this study, “Work-Life Balance Scale” was used to determine the perception of work-life balance of administrators and teachers. The most important result of the study is that both administrators and teachers working in secondary education institutions are able to balance the work and private living spaces, if not fully. In this regard, it was found that the participants mostly achieved balance and control in the management of multiple life roles; however, it was found that they were less successful in achieving a balance between satisfying and engaging in their roles in both work and private life and providing sufficient time for themselves. In addition, another striking result of the research is that although the managers are less successful in allocating sufficient time for themselves, the work-life balance felt by managers and teachers is at a similar level. In addition to these, it was seen that the gender of the administrators and teachers, the type of school in which they work, their education and having a child are not important factors in achieving the balance between work and living spaces. However, it was concluded that the time spent by the participants in the profession and at school caused differences in their perceptions of work-life balance. In this context, on the basis of these results of the research, in order to achieve a balance between work and living spaces, which can have a significant impact on the performance of education workers, it can be suggested that the Ministry may make arrangements for the development and implementation of the means and methods of coping with work-family conflict or family-work conflict in order to raise awareness about work-life balance.

Motivation to Transfer Training and Individual Performance: the Influence of Transformative Learning and Supervisor Support

This article discusses the mediating role of motivation to training transfer as mediation in the relationship between supervisor support and transformative learning on lecturer performance. Survey methods and purposive non random sampling techniques were used with the help of a questionnaire based on a 7-point Likert scale. The number of fit samples was 199 to test the hypothesis. Amos and structural models are used to test the statistical significance of the path coefficients. The findings of the study explain that supervisor support and transformative learning can encourage lecturers to make intense efforts in utilizing the skills and knowledge learned during the training process. The study also highlighted the motivation of training transfer as the key to successfully improving lecturer performance. Training plays an important role in the HRM strategy in an effort to renew the HRM competencies needed by the organization today. Therefore, motivation for training transfer is an important problem faced by professionals in developing HRM. This means that positive transfer training motivation requires that trainees can effectively apply what has been learned to the job, which leads to meaningful changes in performance.

Leadership expert shares practical strategies for making shifts that lead to success

ORLANDO, FLA. — Yesterday's style of leadership is no longer enough to effectively lead your organization today.

When motivation theories create demotivation and impair productivity

ABSTRACTThis article discusses motivation theories in a historical perspective and underlines the paradoxical results sometimes occurring when applying motivation theories out of context. Some of the motivation theories from the past may result in demotivation and in organizational ineffectiveness harming the core of a business or the main purpose of an organization today. The increasing complexity, the global challenges and the rate of change demand new types of leading and managing, and the motivation theories underpinning performance management and incentive systems used not long ago, are now changing in order to facilitate caring and innovation. Also, the notion of, what drives motivation changes. Organizations that implement managerial concepts from the past, or do not adapt their approach fast enough risk losing their competitive edge.

Leadership expert shares practical strategies for making shifts that lead to success

ORLANDO, FLA. — Yesterday's style of leadership is no longer enough to effectively lead your organization today.

Work Environment and Stress of Bank Employees

After the introduction of new economic policy in India, Banking sector has liberated itself from the traditional brick and mortar system and now it is incorporating changes for providing customer oriented service. Here easiness of conducting transactions is at the highest level for the customers but it overburdens the responsibilities and complexity of work, of bank employees. The work environment at the current day characterises deadlines at work, uncertainty of future, high competition and low social support, which has paved way for stressful condition for the employees. A sample of 75 bank employees were taken for the study from Kannur. Stress resulting from work environment are analysed in the study. The symptoms of stress could be rooted in psychological, physical or behavioural concepts. Though stress is a universal component in today's organisations, its symptoms and impact varies from person to person and this reflects on the outcome. The study aims at analysing the impact of demographic factors in instigating stress from the work environment. For the purpose, descriptive statistics, correlation, cross tabulation and Anova were used.

Core self-evaluations as a personal resource at work for motivation and health

We investigated the role of core self-evaluations (CSE) as a positive, personal resource in the motivational and health impairment processes outlined in the Job-Demands-Resources (JDR) model. In two samples of German and Dutch employees we investigated how this higher-order personality construct integrating self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability, contributes to the prediction of two outcomes pertaining to strain and well-being. In Study 1 (N = 135) we found CSE to be positively related to work engagement, directly, and indirectly via job crafting behavior aiming to enhance structural resources at work. In Study 2 (N = 330), we found a negative relationship of CSE with burnout, directly, and an indirect relationship via psychological detachment with regard to exhaustion. Against our expectations, we did not find support for a moderating effect of CSE in either study, neither on the relationship of job crafting behavior and work engagement, nor on the relationship of psychological detachment with exhaustion and disengagement. Nonetheless, our results support the role of CSE as a positive individual resource, sustaining the building of psychological and job resources. Therefore, our findings bear important practical implications for enhancing motivation and health of employees in today's organizations.

Parental Perceptions of Year-Round School Environments

ABSTRACTYear-round school is the organization of days within a school calendar year to provide students with regular breaks and instructional blocks. This study surveyed 502 parents to identify factors influencing parental support for, or opposition to, year-round school. Three themes were constructed based on parent responses: children need educational enrichment in the summer, summertime provides essential opportunities for personal restoration, and summertime strengthens family relationships. The study findings illustrated the complexity of factors influencing parental perceptions of year-round school; parents both for and against year-round school identified similar factors, yet for different reasons. Implications and limitations are explored.

Factors of the Readiness for Information Exchange in Pre-School Education Establishments

The development of an interactive environment that allows for a significant enhancement in interaction opportunities with information resources for a child is one of the primary tasks of the pre-school educational process organisation today. This study involved 50 establishments for children in Chelyabinsk (N = 1280: 230 children, 350 teachers, 700 parents). We used two techniques to collect data: a questionnaire for teachers on the use of Information Exchange in the educational process, their attitude towards ICTs, and the available resources (resources included technological aspects, such as infrastructure, equipment, and software, as well as educational aspects, such as further training and the availability of a qualified methodologist); and a conversation with children on their experience in using and operating digital devices for various tasks. The questions were divided into four groups that provided us with data on the following topics: the degree of inclusion of parents in the interaction (a triad of a child, a digital device, and a parent), the awareness of the child of the capacity and resources of ICTs, motivation and interests that can be realized through digital technologies, and self-reflection as the capacity of the child to predict and analyse their activities. The Hypothesis that the level of readiness for information exchange in subjects of the educational process can be increased through further training of pre-school teachers and the establishment of a single information space in a kindergarten group has been proven right. The findings the study proved such an influence and proposed directions for further studying.

The Necessary Leadership for Organizational Transformation Work in the Digital Age

The influence of technology in organizing interaction and managerial activities has created enduring challenges for organizational leadership. As people within organizations need relational effectiveness to achieve desired goals, seeing interdependence will make something new and regenerative. The workplace is becoming more complex and dynamic as managers face ever-changing technological advancement, thus understanding mental models and deeper system structures is essential to building trust and reliable communication. The advancement of technology has made communication a critical factor to organizational effectiveness. Digitally connected networks with self-organizing mode have revealed the limitations of the command and control model of organizing. Solving complex problems in today's organization needs a new kind of leadership with built-in relationship paradigm that can influence across boundaries without imposing authority. Systemic Leadership is a relationship enabled approach. This paper connects the evolving workplace.