Building bank brands:how leadership behavior influences employee commitment

Front line employees are critical to service brand success, as their performance brings brand promises to life. Banking employees, like others, must remain committed to their employers, to live the brand, particularly during periods of economic uncertainty and customer frustration. Employees' commitment influences their brand adoption and brand-supporting behavior during service encounters. Effective leadership fosters employee commitment and brand supporting behaviors. This study examines the nature of employee commitment in banking, distinguishing between affective, continuance and normative commitment. The study explores bank leaders, examining whether initiating structure leader behavior or considerate leader behavior is most effective in encouraging employee commitment. Data from a sample of 438 employees in a leading Irish bank reveals the optimal leadership style for employee commitment. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.

A mixed methods investigation of parental factors in non-attendance at general paediatric hospital outpatient appointments

Non-attendance at paediatric outpatient appointments results in delayed diagnosis and treatment, putting children at risk of avoidable ill health, and incurring considerable health service costs. Links between missed appointments and clinical, socio-demographic, and access-related factors have been indicated, but parental cognitions associated with non-attendance have yet to be investigated. The aims of this project were to evaluate the effectiveness and theoretical bases of existing interventions designed to reduce non-attendance; to consider the ways in which missed appointments are managed by healthcare providers; to explore parents’ beliefs and experiences of attending and missing appointments; and to investigate the factors underlying these beliefs. A systematic literature review focusing on non-attendance interventions was conducted Within a mixed methods framework, interviews were conducted with healthcare professionals, subsequent interviews were conducted with parents who had attended or missed a General Paediatric outpatient appointment, and a cross-sectional questionnaire study of parents’ beliefs was implemented. The systematic review revealed that text message appointment reminders are effective at reducing non-attendance rates, but that no interventions have thus far been developed using theories of behaviour. Healthcare professionals recognised both barriers and parents’ beliefs as influences on attendance, but also believed there were ‘types’ of families who miss appointments. Healthcare professionals disagreed somewhat about how non-attendance should best be managed. The parent interview study found six themes. The findings reflect parents’ perceptions about the importance of attending and of their ability to attend. The results of the questionnaire study corroborate this structure of beliefs as the analysis produced two factors, the perceived ‘worth’ of attending and anticipated ‘worry’ when attending. This thesis demonstrates an original approach to investigating non-attendance at children’s outpatient appointments, using mixed methods and adopting a psychological rather than service-use perspective. The findings contribute to Health Psychology theory and offer recommendations for healthcare providers.

Introducing consultant outpatient clinics to community settings to improve access to paediatrics:an observational impact study

Objectives - In line with a national policy to move care ‘closer to home’, a specialist children's hospital in the National Health Service in England introduced consultant-led ‘satellite’ clinics to two community settings for general paediatric outpatient services. Objectives were to reduce non-attendance at appointments by providing care in more accessible locations and to create new physical clinic capacity. This study evaluated these satellite clinics to inform further development and identify lessons for stakeholders. Methods - Impact of the satellite clinics was assessed by comparing community versus hospital-based clinics across the following measures: (1) non-attendance rates and associated factors (including patient characteristics and travel distance) using a logistic regression model; (2) percentage of appointments booked within local catchment area; (3) contribution to total clinic capacity; (4) time allocated to clinics and appointments; and (5) clinic efficiency, defined as the ratio of income to staff-related costs. Results - Satellite clinics did not increase attendance beyond their contribution to shorter travel distance, which was associated with higher attendance. Children living in the most-deprived areas were 1.8 times more likely to miss appointments compared with those from least-deprived areas. The satellite clinics’ contribution to activity in catchment areas and to total capacity was small. However, one of the two satellite clinics was efficient compared with most hospital-based clinics. Conclusions - Outpatient clinics were relocated in pragmatically chosen community settings using a ‘drag and drop’ service model. Such clinics have potential to improve access to specialist paediatric healthcare, but do not provide a panacea. Work is required to improve attendance as part of wider efforts to support vulnerable families. Satellite clinics highlight how improved management could contribute to better use of existing capacity.

Externalizing, internalizing and fostering commitment:the case of born-global firms in emerging economies

This paper examines the HR practices of mature born-global firms from 29 emerging economies. Through an examination of large scale survey data the paper questions the extent to which firm size impacts the employment of temporary workers, the employment of skilled workers and the extent of employee training. Findings suggest that as firm size increases the use of temporary workers decreases, the number of skilled workers increases and the number of employees receiving training also increases. The paper highlights how born-global firms are able to shift away from externalized, market-based approaches towards more internalized, commitment-based approaches in order to survive, adapt and grow.

The meaning of ‘place’ in families’ lived experiences of paediatric outpatient care in different settings:a descriptive phenomenological study

Health service reforms in the United Kingdom have sought to ensure that children and young people who are ill receive timely, high quality and effective care as close to home as possible. Using phenomenological methods, this study examined the experience and impact of introducing new, community-based paediatric outpatient clinics from the perspective of NHS service-users. Findings reveal that paediatric outpatient ‘care closer to home’ is experienced in ways that go beyond concerns about location and proximity. For families it means care that ‘fits into their lives’ spatially, temporally and emotionally; facilitating a sense of ‘at-homeness’ within the self and within the place, through the creation of a warm and welcoming environment, and by providing timely consultations which attend to aspects of the families’ lifeworld.

Corporate social responsibility and organizational commitment:the moderating role of individuals’ attitudes to CSR

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) becomes ever more important for organizations. In times of corporate scandals and more governmental regulation on the one hand and a foreseeable shortage of highly qualified employees on the other, CSR is both a means to serve the wider society and to attract employees with a positive reputation and image. The aim of the present study was to determine whether CSR activities as perceived by employees indeed lead to more employee affective commitment and whether this would be moderated by employee differences in importance of CSR. The study differentiated two forms of CSR, namely corporate social responsibility directed towards individual employees (CSR-E) and directed towards the wider society (CSR-S). We surveyed 89 employees and found evidence for the predicted moderation and for both forms of CSR such that CSR-E and CSR-S and affective commitment were only positively related for those employees who evaluated CSR as important. Implications for recruitment and future research are discussed.

CP-036 evaluation of outpatient clinic letters for medication errors

Background - It is well recognised that errors are more likely to occur during transitions of care, especially medicines errors. Clinic letters are used as a communication tool during a transition from hospital (outpatient clinics) to primary care (general practitioners). Little is known about medicines errors in clinic letters, as previous studies in this area have focused on medicines errors in inpatient or outpatient prescriptions. Published studies concerning clinic letters largely focus on perceptions of patients or general practitioners in respect to overall quality. Purpose - To investigate medicines errors contained in outpatient clinic letters generated by prescribers within the Neurology Department of a specialist paediatric hospital in the UK.Materials and methods - Single site, retrospective, cross-sectional review of 100 clinic letters generated during March–July 2013 in response to an outpatient consultation. Clinic letters were conveniently selected from the most recent visit of each patient. An evaluation tool with a 10-point scale, where 10 was no error and 0 was significant error, was developed and refined throughout the study to facilitate identification and characterisation of medicines errors. The tool was tested for a relationship between scores and number of medicines errors using a regression analysis.Results - Of 315 items related to neurology mentioned within the letters, 212 items were associated with 602 errors. Common missing information was allergy (97%, n = 97), formulation (60.3%, n = 190), strength/concentration (59%, n = 186) and weight (53%, n = 53). Ninety-nine letters were associated with at least one error. Scores were in range of 4–10 with 42% of letters scored as 7. Statistically significant relationships were observed between scores and number of medicines errors (R2 = 0.4168, p < 0.05) as well as between number of medicines and number of drug-related errors (R2 = 0.9719, p < 0.05). Conclusions - Nearly all clinic letters were associated with medicines errors. The 10-point evaluation tool may be a useful device to categorise clinic letter errors.

How leadership and commitment influence bank employees' adoption of their bank's values

Retail banking is facing many challenges, not least the loss of its customers' trust and loyalty. The economic crisis is forcing banks to examine their relationships with stakeholders and to offer greater reassurance that their brand promises will be delivered. More than ever, banks need to stand for something positive and valued by stakeholders. One way to achieve this is through paying more attention to brand values. Our article explores how values are adopted by employees within a bank. When employees 'live' their brand's values, their behaviour during customer interactions reflects this, encouraging the strengthening of customer relationships. Specifically, we test the relationship between leadership style, employee commitment, and the adoption of values. Data was collected from a survey of 438 branch employees in a leading Irish retail bank. The study found that a structured and directive leadership style was effective at encouraging the adoption of the bank's values. Moreover, when employees are committed to the organisation, this has a significant impact on their adoption of values. Thus, this study supports the literature which suggests that leadership and commitment are prerequisites for values adoption. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

A szervezeti elkötelezettség és a munka-család viszonyrendszer összefüggései (The relationship between organizational commitment and work-life balance)

376 ügyfélszolgálati dolgozó bevonásával végzett kérdőíves vizsgálatukban a szerzők arra keresték a választ, hogy a szervezeti elkötelezettség profilok hogyan függnek össze a munkahelyi elégedettséggel, a kilépési szándékkal és a munka-család viszonyrendszerre vonatkozó változókkal (munka-család konfliktus, munkacsalád egyensúly, munka-család gazdagítás). Nyolc különböző profilt találtak, amelyek elemzéséből kiderült: az elkötelezettség-komponensek közül az érzelmi elkötelezettségnek kitüntetett szerepe van a kedvező következményeket tekintve, továbbá az elkötelezettségkomponensek együttes hatása szinergikus lehet. ________ In their research that was based on the answers of 376 customer service employees to a questionnaire survey, the authors are looking at the relationship between the organizational commitment profiles and work satisfaction, intention to leave the organization and various subconcepts of work life balance (work-family conflict, work-family balance and work-family enrichment). They have found 8 different profiles, the analysis of which revealed the central role of the affective component regarding the positive outcomes of the above mentioned variables as well as the synergic relations among the different components of organizational commitment.

The effect of vision congruence on employee empowerment, commitment, satisfaction, and performance

Five models delineating the person-situation fit controversy were developed and tested. Hypotheses were tested to determine the linkages between vision congruence, empowerment, locus of control, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and employee performance. Vision was defined as a mental image of a possible and desirable future state of the organization.^ Data were collected from 213 employees in a major flower import company. Participants were from various organizational levels and ethnic backgrounds. The data collection procedure consisted of three parts. First, a profile analysis instrument was used which was developed employing a Q-sort based technique, to measure the vision congruence between the CEO and each employee. Second, employees completed a survey instrument which included scales measuring empowerment, locus of control, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and social desirability. Third, supervisor performance ratings were gathered from employee files. Data analysis consisted of using Kendall's tau to measure the correlation between CEO's and each employee's vision. Path analyses were conducted using the EQS structural equation program to test five theoretical models for goodness-of-fit. Regression analysis was employed to test whether locus of control acted as a moderator variable.^ The results showed that vision congruence is significantly related to job satisfaction and employee commitment, and perceived empowerment acts as an intervening variable affecting employee outcomes. The study also found that people with an internal locus of control were more likely to feel empowered than were those with external beliefs. Implications of these findings for both researchers and practitioners are discussed and suggestions for future research directions are provided. ^

An organizational learning approach to expatriate cross-cultural adjustment, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between organizational learning and expatriation in overseas subsidiaries as well as in organizations as a whole. In doing so, two issues were addressed--(i) the use of expatriation as firms internationalize, and (ii) the significance of various factors to expatriate success as firms gain international experience. The sample of companies for this study was drawn from U.S. Fortune 500 multinational corporations (MNCs) in two sets of related industries--computers/electronics and petroleum/chemicals. Based on the learning that takes place within organizations as they increase their involvement overseas, a positive relationship was expected between international experience and expatriation when internationalization was low, and a negative relationship was expected when internationalization was high. Results indicate a significant positive relationship between country experience and the proportion of expatriates in that subsidiary when subsidiaries were relatively young, and a negative relationship, however not significant, for more mature subsidiaries. The relationship between overall firm degree of internationalization (DOI) and the proportion of expatriates in the firm as a whole was negative regardless of stage of internationalization, but this relationship was significant only for highly internationalized firms. It was further suspected that individual, environmental, and family-related characteristics would have a significant effect on the success of expatriates whose firms were low on internationalization, and that organizational characteristics would play a significant role in highly internationalized firms. Support for these hypotheses was received with respect to certain outcomes and some determinants of success. The preponderance of support was found for those addressing the effects of both environmental and family-related characteristics on the cross-cultural adjustment of expatriates in firms with little international experience. Considerable support was also found for those hypotheses addressing the impact of organizational characteristics on the job satisfaction levels of expatriates assigned to mature subsidiaries. The relevant literatures on organizational learning and expatriation are reviewed, and a model is developed underlying the logic of the hypotheses. Research methods are then described in full detail, results are reported, and implications for theory and for management are discussed. ^

The construct of work commitment: Testing an integrative framework

This dissertation meta-analytically examined the expansive material associated with work commitment. Work commitment, a multidimensional construct, encompasses the level of involvement an employee has with his or her work, organization, job, career, and union (Morrow & Goetz, 1998). Each of the dimensions of work commitment has been further divided into a number of subdimensions. The primary purpose of this study was to (1) cumulate the correlations found among each of the dimensions of work commitment to see which, if any, were intercorrelated, and to (2) determine the impact of work commitment dimensions and subdimensions on specific outcome variables (job satisfaction, job performance, and turnover). ^ A number of interesting results stemmed from the 213 separate meta-analyses that were conducted. First, the evidence did not indicate that all of the subdimensions for each respective dimension were positively correlated. Specifically, there was not enough evidence to indicate that continuance organizational commitment was positively correlated with its other organizational commitment subdimensions. Future research might consider revamping the work commitment taxonomy so that all subdimensions that fall within a particular dimension are interrelated. It might be appropriate, therefore, to drop continuance organizational commitment from the work commitment taxonomy. Second, while most of the respective dimensions were interrelated, this was not the case across the board. For instance, there was no evidence of a significant positive relationship between organizational commitment and union commitment. In fact, the only significant relationship was negative between organizational commitment and belief in unionism. Further, there was no evidence of a positive relationship between union commitment and either work ethic endorsement or job involvement, respectively. These findings supported Morrow's (1993) rationale for excluding union commitment from the work commitment taxonomy. ^

Factors predicting recommendations for civil commitment of sexually violent predators under Florida's Jimmy Ryce Act

This study investigated the factors considered by forensic examiners when evaluating sexually violent predators (SVP) for civil commitment under Florida's “Jimmy Ryce Act.” The project was funded by a pre-doctoral research grant awarded by the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA). ^ This study proposed two specific research questions. First, what is the direct relationship between actuarial risk assessment scores and recommendations for sex offender civil commitment? Second, which other variables are likely to influence SVP commitment decisions, and to what degree? The purpose of the study was to determine if risk assessment practices are evidence-based, and whether offenders selected for commitment meet statutory criteria. ^ The purposive sample of 450 SVPs was drawn from the population of sex offenders evaluated for civil commitment in Florida between July 1, 2000 and June 30, 2001. Data were extracted from SVP evaluations provided by the Florida Department of Children and Families. Using multivariate logistic regression, this correlational research design examined the relationship between the dependent variable, commitment decision, and several sets of independent variables. The independent variables were derived from a review of the literature, and were grouped conceptually according to their degree of correlation with sex offense recidivism. Independent variables included diagnoses, actuarial risk assessment scores, empirically validated static and dynamic risk factors, consensus based risk factors, evaluator characteristics, and demographics. This study investigated the degree to which the identified variables predicted civil commitment decisions. ^ Logistic regression results revealed that the statistically significant predictors of recommendations for sex offender civil commitment were actuarial risk assessment scores, diagnoses of Pedophilia and Paraphilia NOS, psychopathy, younger age of victim, and non-minority race. Discriminant function analysis confirmed that these variables correctly predicted commitment decisions in 90% of cases. ^ It appears that civil commitment evaluators in Florida used empirically-based assessment procedures, and did not make decisions that were heavily influenced by extraneous factors. SVPs recommended for commitment consistently met the criteria set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in Hendricks v. Kansas (1997): they suffered from a mental abnormality predisposing them to sexual violence, and risk assessment determined that they were likely to reoffend. ^