Women's progression to leadership: A project-based organisational perspective

This is a qualitative study of female underrepresentation in leadership roles in project-based organisations in Australia, specifically the construction and property development industries. Using a gender lens, the underlying structural and cultural barriers to women's advancement to leadership in those organisations was studied and, in particular, what challenges they face in their career advancement and what attempts they make to resolve those challenges. The findings show that the unique characteristics of project-based organisations, with their perpetual masculine work practices, embedded masculine logic, gender-based bias and masculine organisational culture, all maintain the pattern of underrepresentation of women.

Organisational age cultures: The interplay of chief executive officers age and attitudes toward younger and older employees

This article investigates the interactive effects of chief executive officer (CEO) age and CEO attitudes toward younger and older employees on organisational age cultures. Data was collected from 66 CEOs of small and medium-sized businesses and 274 employees. Results were consistent with expectations based on organisational culture and upper echelons theories. The relationship between CEO age and organisational age culture for younger employees was negative for CEOs with a less positive attitude toward younger employees and positive for those with a more positive attitude toward younger employees. The relationship between CEO age and organisational age culture for older employees was positive for CEOs with a more positive attitude toward older employees and non-significant for those with a less positive attitude toward older employees. The findings provide initial support for the existence of organisational age cultures, suggesting that these cultures can be predicted by the interplay of CEO age and age-related attitudes.

Organisational sustainability policies and employee green behaviour: The mediating role of work climate perceptions

Organisations are increasingly introducing sustainability policies to encourage environmentally friendly behaviours. Employees' green work climate perceptions (i.e., how they perceive their organisations' and co-workers' orientations towards environmental sustainability) may constitute psychological mechanisms that link such policies with behaviour. We present findings of a study on relationships among the perceived presence of organisational sustainability policies, green work climate perceptions and employee reports of their green behaviour (EGB). We hypothesised that green work climate perceptions mediate the positive relationship between employees' perceptions of the presence of a sustainability policy and EGB. Results based on data from 168 employees supported our hypotheses. Green work climate perceptions of the organisation and of co-workers differentially mediated the effects of the perceived presence of a sustainability policy on task-related and proactive EGB. These findings extend research on the efficacy of sustainability policies by shedding new light on the psychological mechanisms that link them with EGB.

Managing flexible work arrangements in small not-for-profit firms: The influence of organisational size, financial constraints and workforce characteristics

Small, not-for-profit organisations fulfil a need in the economy that is typically not satisfied by for-profit firms. They also operate in ways that are distinct from larger organisations. While such firms employ a substantial proportion of the workforce, research addressing human resource management (HRM) practices in these settings is limited. This article used data collected from five small not-for-profit firms in Australia to examine the way one significant HRM practice – the provision and utilisation of flexible work arrangements – operates in the sector. Drawing on research from several scholarly fields, the article firstly develops a framework comprising three tensions in not-for-profits that have implications for HRM. These tensions are: (1) contradictions between an informal approach to HRM vs. a formal regulatory system; (2) employee values that favour social justice vs. external market forces; and (3) a commitment to service vs. external financial expectations. The article then empirically examines how these tensions are managed in relation to the specific case of flexible work arrangements. The study reveals that tensions around providing and accessing flexible work arrangements are managed in three ways: discretion, leadership style and distancing. These findings more broadly inform the way HRM is operationalised in this under-examined sector.

Organisational culture and quality management system implementation in Indonesian construction companies

The study of the organisational culture in the construction industry is still in the stage of debate (Oney-Yazıcı et al., 2007). Despite the complexities involved in measuring the culture of the construction industry (Tijhuis and Fellows, 2012), this culture is regarded as being worthy of research, especially in relation to the organisational culture needed to support quality management systems (Koh and Low, 2008; Watson and Howarth, 2011) and to improve organisational effectiveness, and therefore, organisational performance (Coffey, 2010; Cheung et al., 2011). A number of recent studies have examined the construction companies’ organisational culture within the context of the use of Cameron and Quinn’s Competing Value Framework (CVF), as well as the use of their Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) as the conceptual paradigm for the analyses (Thomas et al., 2002; Nummelin, 2006; Oney- Yazıcı et al., 2007; Koh and Low, 2008). However, there has been little research based on the use of Cameron and Quinn’s CVF-OCAI tool for identifying types of construction companies’ organisational culture and their influences on the implementation of QMS-ISO 9001. Research output and information is also very limited relating to the strength of the companies’ organisational culture driving an effective QMS-ISO 9001 implementation, affecting the companies’ effectiveness. To rectify these research gaps, the research has been aimed to study organisational culture types (based on CVF) and their influences on the implementation of QMS-ISO 9001:2008 principles and elements, which eventually lead to improved companies’ quality performance. In order to fully examine the status of the QMS being implemented, the research has studied the relationships of the barriers of QMS implementation with the implementation of QMS-ISO 9001:2008 principles and elements and with the business performance of the companies, as well as the examination of the relationships of the implementation of QMS-ISO 9001:2008 principles and elements with the companies’ business performance. The research output has been the development of fundamental and original studies on the study topics, to provide the knowledge for improvements in Indonesian construction companies’ quality performance and quality outcomes.

Trial of the Primary Care Practice Improvement Tool: Building organisational performance in Australian general practice and primary health care

Objective: To nationally trial the Primary Care Practice Improvement Tool (PC-PIT), an organisational performance improvement tool previously co-created with Australian primary care practices to increase their focus on relevant quality improvement (QI) activities. Design: The study was conducted from March to December 2015 with volunteer general practices from a range of Australian primary care settings. We used a mixed-methods approach in two parts. Part 1 involved staff in Australian primary care practices assessing how they perceived their practice met (or did not meet) each of the 13 PC-PIT elements of high-performing practices, using a 1–5 Likert scale. In Part 2, two external raters conducted an independent practice visit to independently and objectively assess the subjective practice assessment from Part 1 against objective indicators for the 13 elements, using the same 1–5 Likert scale. Concordance between the raters was determined by comparing their ratings. In-depth interviews conducted during the independent practice visits explored practice managers’ experiences and perceived support and resource needs to undertake organisational improvement in practice. Results: Data were available for 34 general practices participating in Part 1. For Part 2, independent practice visits and the inter-rater comparison were conducted for a purposeful sample of 19 of the 34 practices. Overall concordance between the two raters for each of the assessed elements was excellent. Three practice types across a continuum of higher- to lower-scoring practices were identified, with each using the PC-PIT in a unique way. During the in-depth interviews, practice managers identified benefits of having additional QI tools that relate to the PC-PIT elements. Conclusions: The PC-PIT is an organisational performance tool that is acceptable, valid and relevant to our range of partners and the end users (general practices). Work is continuing with our partners and end users to embed the PC-PIT in existing organisational improvement programs.