Developing a framework for understanding the emotional dimension of organizational culture

Why is it that in some organizations we are able to find and develop our positive selves and in others we are not? Responding to the call from positive organizational scholarship to better understand how to build contexts for human flourishing, in this paper we are concerned how an organization's culture contributes to our thriving, or failing to thrive, at work. We introduce the organizational culture construct and its summary dimensions, noting the absence of an emotional dimension. We show that it is through our interactions with others that organizational culture is developed and maintained, and through which we learn how to manage and interpret the emotions we experience. That is, relationships are central to both culture and emotions. Integrating Josselson's model of our relational needs with Schein's typology of organizational culture, we present a relationally-based framework for an emotional dimension of organizational culture. The paper concludes with a report on a study designed to refine the framework presented and suggests that individuals will thrive in organizations where the cultural norms and values for relating enable a "good enough" fulfillment of our relational needs.

Conversion stories as shifting narratives of organizational change

This paper is concerned with how employees talk about their experiences of organizational change and focuses specifically on the construction of conversion stories. These are particularly positive narratives that consider change as a turning point in which individuals depart from an old way of life pre-change to embrace a post-change organization. In this study, employees seek conversion into management groups and report the values and philosophies of management in their narratives, thus highlighting the benefits of change while suppressing any negative aspects. This paper draws attention to the dramatic nature of the conversion story and explores the sharp distinction between the reporting of experiences prior to and after change. We also investigate the relationship between constructing conversion stories and gaining personal and career advancement at work and suggest that beneath the positive exterior of the conversion narratives lies a theme of silence, which may be related to career advancement. Our findings suggest that such stories of silence complicate the conversion story as an example of positive organizational change and discuss implications for both the theory and practice of narrative change research.

Physical activity based professional development for teachers : the importance of whole school involvement

Objective: This study sought to investigate teachers’ perceptions of a physical activity-related professional development intervention.
Design: Interview-based qualitative approach founded on the interpretive paradigm.
Setting: Purposive selection of one high-rated independent, and one low-rated public primary school from Auckland, New Zealand.
Method: A qualitative approach was used, incorporating a questionnaire used for purposive sampling and a total of eighteen semi-structured interviews with six teachers from two primary schools.
Results: Participants highly valued the inclusion of all teachers in onsite professional development and felt supported by a strong, positive organizational culture.
Conclusion: Participant teachers believed physical activity played an important role within the school setting, and recognized their role in the provision of opportunities for their students. However, they did not necessarily feel confident and competent to facilitate opportunities. A specific professional development intervention was introduced as one form of support to address this need. Teachers valued first-hand experience of professional development and reported particular enjoyment if they participated alongside their colleagues.

How does microfinance enhance entrepreneurial outcomes in emerging economies? The mediating mechanisms of psychological and social capital

In this article, a conceptual framework and research propositions are developed to explain how microfinance provision can translate into new venture creation and existing venture growth in an emerging economy context by engendering higher levels of psychological and social capital in clients. In doing this, the extent to which microfinance institutions provide business support and opportunities for social interaction are identified as factors which may strengthen the impact of microfinance provision on psychological and social capital, especially for poor entrepreneurs in resource-constrained settings. The conceptual framework and research propositions developed will be of use to academics in designing an agenda for future empirical research. In addition, they will help policymakers and microfinance providers to better design microfinance initiatives that enhance the well-being of clients and maximise their entrepreneurial outcomes. © The Author(s) 2013.

Psychological capital: A review and synthesis

The concept of psychological capital (PsyCap) has attracted a great deal of interest from both academics and practitioners and has been linked to employee attitudes, behavior and performance at different levels of analysis. Yet, the nature of the concept, its measurement, the factors that influence its development, and when and how it influences individual-level, team-level and organizational-level outcomes are the subject of continued debate in the literature. This article offers a detailed and focused review of the existing literature on PsyCap, with the aim of developing an agenda for future research. In particular, we call for researchers to pay greater attention to possible multi-level applications of PsyCap research, examine the underlying mechanisms by which PsyCap influences individual-level, team-level and organizational-level outcomes, and identify possible factors that may moderate the relationship between PsyCap and its outcomes. In doing this, we provide a roadmap for scholars to progress the development of the field. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Individual and organisational factors influencing academics` decisions to pursue the scholarship and teaching of ICT

This paper focuses on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) academics' perceptions of factors that promote and inhibit their pursuit of scholarship in their teaching work. It identifies critical factors that influence academics' attitudes, orientations and behaviours in respect to the scholarship of teaching, and from these builds a framework for understanding the interaction between these factors. We have named this framework the Scholarship of Teaching Support Framework.

During 2001 and 2002 a national project investigated teaching and learning initiatives in the major discipline of lCT in Australia's universities. As part of this project a mini-conference program was devised to elicit academics' perceptions of the factors influencing their teaching work and their participation in scholarly activities around this work. In total 83 ICT teachers from 29 universities participated in the mini-conference program. Attendees included staff members from a range of academic levels.

In discussions of aspects of the scholarship of teaching at the mini-conference participants referred to both attributes and responses of both university teachers and the university institutions. We have categorized these factors into those that relate to the individual academic (Individual domain) and those that relate to the tertiary institutional system (Organisational domain). Many contributions highlighted the interaction between these two domains.

Within the Individual domain, two key factors described by participants as affecting the pursuit of the scholarship of teaching were teachers' motivation towards, and their capabilities in, scholarly activities surrounding their teaching. Within the organizational domain two influential factors also emerged. These were the organizational support provided through allocation of resources and symbolic support reflected in an institution's systems, policies and processes.

Our findings indicate that both the Individual and Organizational domains contribute to university teachers' decisions to pursue (or not to pursue) the scholarship of teaching.

These two domains were seen by participants to interact within university environments to influence whether a particular environment is supportive or unsupportive in terms of the pursuit of the scholarship of teaching. Factors both from and within the individual and the organizational domains were seen to interact with each other forming a web of interrelated factors that appear to influence individuals' decisions to pursue, or not to pursue, the scholarship of teaching. From this complexity four theoretical extremes emerged providing the dimensions and components of the Scholarship of Teaching Support Framework.

We argue that responsive and innovative approaches to university teaching are best supported by academics undertaking scholarly activities around their teaching work, yet this article presents a picture of a university work environment where scholarly activities that focus on teaching and learning are seen as generally unsupported and unrewarded. This perception was identified as commonalities across a university system. Although some exceptions were noted, participants generally agreed that the organisational domain of Australian universities was largely unsupportive of the pursuit of the scholarship of teaching. Similarly, in general, university ICT teachers were not thought to have the backgrounds and capabilities necessary for pursuing the scholarship of teaching, such as familiarity with literature on teaching and learning and skills in educational evaluation. However, despite perceived inhibitors in universities' organisational culture and allocation of resources, and a perceived lack in individuals' skills, participants agreed that scholarly activities and innovation in university teaching and learning do take place, These are largely driven by the intrinsic motivation of individuals. It was recognised that further work is necessary to explore how motivation can be engendered and encouraged.

The Scholarship of Teaching Support Framework is a useful tool for examining how conducive a given university teaching context is to the scholarship of teaching and, therefore, can be used for review purposes within both research and policy contexts. Such tools will become increasingly important as policy changes begin to affect practices in how university teaching work is managed, supported and encouraged.

Human resource practices, unionization and the organizational efficiency of French industry

Organizational performance improves through several channels, including changes in efficiency, innovation and technological change. Most of the extant research has focused on overall performance, often measured by partial measures of productivity, with little attention given to the components of performance. The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of HR practices and unionization on one important channel - organization efficiency - as measured by technical and scale efficiency. Using French industry survey data, the paper shows that HR practices do influence efficiency, but this is moderated by the existence of unions. The results show a rather complex set of associations. We find robust results that show that in France, HR practices have a positive effect on scale efficiency but this effect is dampened in the presence of unions. On their own, HRpractices have no effect on technical efficiency. However, some of the results suggest that HR practices can exert a positive influence when combined with unions.

A defection analysis of lapsed season ticket holders : a consumer and organizational study

This paper reports on a four-stage study that investigated the motivations and future intentions of recently lapsed members (season-ticket holders) of professional sports organizations, and the marketing responses of those organizations to the issue of customer retention. Survey responses from over 1,000 recently lapsed members across five large sporting clubs were collected. A further study on one club was then conducted to compare attitudes and demographics of lapsed members to those who renewed. The responses suggests that although these lapsed members report that they joined to financially support and feel more involved with the club, they let their membership lapse primarily due to an inability to attend games. Despite joining for intangible, altruistic reasons, it seems that if these members could not get to games, they believed that the membership was not worth maintaining. These members were satisfied with the membership; however, measures of overall level of satisfaction had only a weak positive relationship with the likelihood of members rejoining in the future. These sport organizations were greatly concerned by lapsed members but have only ad hoc relationship marketing strategies in place to either prevent members lapsing or renew lapsed members.

Do organizational service recovery actions impact on hotel guests future intentions and does speed of recovery matter?

This paper investigates hotel guests’ responses to organizational actions dealing with service failure. Eight service failure scenarios were used to identify guests’ intentions towards future visits. Guests’ intentions to switch hotels, revisit the property and remain loyal to the chain were found to vary based on the recovery efforts undertaken. This research found that empowering employees contribute to positive consumer intentions toward the service provider. Compensation was also found effective if offered through empowered employees. Speed of response to service failure was also identified as important action to improve consumer future intentions. Based on these findings, implications for future research are highlighted. Recommendations to the practitioners of hospitality and tourism sector were made for the management of failed service encounter.

The marketing audit and organizational performance an empirical profiling

This study investigates the use of strategy to address changes in business performance. It suggests the use of the marketing audit as a facility that can assist with the establishment, maintenance, and management of a market orientation strategy. The practice of the marketing audit and its perceived benefits are examined, and their relationships with change in business performance are investigated. The results indicate a positive association between the usage of the marketing audit and increase in market share, and a stronger increase in market share than increase in overall financial performance.

Mentoring and the transfer of organizational memory within the context of an aging workforce : cultural implications for competitive advantage

Organizational memory, the knowledge gained from organizational experience, has significant potential for competitive advantage. Many authors in the knowledge management and human resource management literatures consider mentoring to be a particularly effective method of transferring organizational memory. In addition, older workers are often considered ideal mentors in organizations because of their experience and alleged willingness to pass on their knowledge to less experienced employees. There is an associated assumption that these workers also anticipate and experience positive outcomes when mentoring others. This chapter considers whether these assumptions hold up in the workplaces of the 21st century, particularly within Western countries. Individualistic cultural norms and some discriminatory practices towards older workers, along with a changing career contract that no longer guarantees employment in one organization for life, may discourage knowledge sharing in organizations. This chapter discusses the constraints and motivations that may operate when older experienced workers consider mentoring others. It considers relevant global and organizational cultural characteristics that may influence mentoring to transfer knowledge, and accordingly suggests strategies for those eager to capitalise on the knowledge experienced employees possess.

Organizational memory and empowerment

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to test a model of the relationship between organizational memory and empowerment. The model posited that organizational memory would be related to requests to share knowledge, psychological empowerment in the workplace (meaning, competence, self-determination and impact), and organization-based self-esteem. Design/methodology/approach – The model was tested with 134 employees representing six companies using hierarchical regression analysis. Findings – Significant relationships were found between organizational memory and requests to share knowledge, empowerment, and organization-based self-esteem. Findings indicated that a positive stereotype may exist towards older workers and the frequency they are requested to share knowledge, and that a halo-type effect may operate, where knowledge of an organization's history is generalized to other knowledge domains. Research limitations/implications – Causal implications cannot be made as this was correlational research. Some of the research measures while achieving acceptable to good reliability were in an early development stage. The study utilized a convenience sample that may limit how the results can be generalized. Practical implications – The paper indicates that organizations can emphasize positive outcomes for those who are knowledge repositories and mentors. It is also important to consider possible “positive stereotypes” which may be operating when organizational members evaluate older workers as knowledge repositories and mentors. Originality/value – The paper addresses the assumptions in the human resources literature concerning the role of older workers as repositories of organizational memory and suitable mentors. The study introduces the “requests to share knowledge scale”.

Islamic organizational leadership within a Western society: the problematic role of external context

This research tests qualitatively the relationship between leadership, organizational culture and organizational effectiveness in Islamic organizations in Australia in the early years of the 21st century. We also researched the contextual challenges faced by Islamic organizations in Western societies during the early years of the 21st century. Qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed qualitatively. Theoretical sampling and theoretical coding generated a positive and negative story-line. A grand narrative of Muslim disenfranchisement and several micro-stories of organizational complexity brought to life the story-lines. One conclusion is that context invariably is problematic for leadership. Another conclusion is that leadership cannot be studied fruitfully out of context. A third conclusion from this substantive setting is that a challenge for Islamic leadership is to reconstitute the context of the organization. An underlying parallel with structure-agency theory is noted. The leadership of Islamic organizations is faced with the traditional leadership challenges found in the extant literature. In addition it must accommodate a problematic external context, a heterogeneous followership, the important role of religion, the influence of Imams, and increasing roles for women and young Muslims. © 2010.

The impact of socially responsible human resource management on employees' organizational citizenship behaviour: the mediating role of organizational identification

Based on insights from social exchange and social identity theories, this paper examines the influence of three dimensions of socially responsible human resource management (SR-HRM), namely legal compliance HRM, employee-oriented HRM and general CSR facilitation HRM, on employees' organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB). Structural equation modelling of dyadic data collected from Chinese employees and their direct supervisors in three phases revealed that whilst organizational identification fully mediated the relationship between employee-oriented HRM and employee OCB, general CSR facilitation HRM had a direct effect on employee OCB. In contrast, legal compliance HRM neither influenced employee OCB directly, nor indirectly through organizational identification. The findings highlight the important but complex role played by SR-HRM in eliciting positive employee work outcomes, and contribute to our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying this relationship.

The positives and negatives of organizational politics: a qualitative study

The study aimed to develop a richer understanding of how employees perceive organizational politics in contemporary organizational contexts, and to identify whether organizational politics is described in both positive and negative terms. Design/methodology/approach: Individual in-depth interviews were conducted using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis with 14 employees across three organizations. Findings: Participants’ perceptions of organizational politics were interpreted according to four levels: reactive, reluctant, strategic, and integrated. The four levels captured how individuals defined, described, and perceived outcomes of organizational politics. Definitions included organizational politics as destructive and manipulative (reactive), as a necessary evil (reluctant), as a useful strategy that helps get things done (strategic), and as central to organizational functioning and decision-making (integrated). Political behaviors were described in terms that correspond to five established bases of organizational power: connection power, information power, coercive power, positional power, and personal power. Descriptions of organizational politics encompassed positive and negative individual and organizational outcomes. Implications: Traditional negatively framed definitions of organizational politics need to be extended and elaborated. Definitions of organizational politics need to accommodate a range of understandings. Originality/value: Despite numerous calls for qualitative research regarding organizational politics, this is one of very few qualitative studies in this area. The proposed classifications of levels, definitions, and behaviors complement and extend existing conceptualizations of organizational politics. We contribute an understanding of organizational politics that is more balanced than existing negatively skewed conceptualizations and that will have implications for measurement and management of organizational politics.