1,720,970 research outputs found
Learning to trust in social enterprises: The contribution of organisational culture to trust dynamics
No full textGeneral models for trust development in organisations suggest a linear path founded on three bases (calculus, knowledge, identification). Seeking to capture a more dynamic nature for the trust development pathway, this study focuses on the role of organisational culture in shaping these paths by conveying sensemaking processes. Through exploratory group interviews, we examined how trust can be boosted or weakened among senior and newcomer members of two Italian social enterprises (NPSEs) as organisational contexts whose core values make trust a valuable relational asset. Our in-depth analysis of key trust processes showed that the NPSE members refer principally to a non-linear path of trust-building in their professional experience, and acknowledge the knowledge base as the starting point for, and the main source of, trust. Two other processes for implementing trust also emerged, the spillover of trust capabilities to other kinds of relationships, and their leaders' ability to establish organisational routines that can consolidate trust. Overall, our findings contribute to connecting trust-building dynamics to broader organisational culture, highlighting specific routines and practices–intentional as well as informal–that encourage their members to learn to trust. Applicative implications for building trust in workplaces are discussed
Bridging pre-professional identities: The contribution of trustworthiness and academic socialisation to undergraduates’ employability
No full textPurposeThe evolving dynamics of the labour market make graduates' future employability an important issue for higher education (HE) institutions, prompting universities to complement the conventional graduate skills approach with a wider focus on graduate forms of capital that may enhance their sense of employability. This study, adopting a capital perspective, explores whether and how teachers in HE, when acknowledged as knowledgeable trustworthy actors, may affect graduates' employability. It investigates how they can mobilise undergraduate cultural capital through socialisation, and shape their pre-professional identity, paving the way for university-to-work transition.Design/methodology/approachTo test the hypothesised model, a self-report online questionnaire was administered to a sample of 616 undergraduates attending different Italian universities. Multiple mediating models were tested using the SEM framework.FindingsResults supported the tested model and showed that trust in knowledgeable HE teachers was associated with undergraduates' perceived employability both directly and through both mediators (i.e. academic socialisation and identification with future professionality).Research limitations/implicationsThis research explores a capital conceptualisation of graduate employability, identifying possible processes for implementing graduates' capital across their academic experience and providing initial evidence of their interplay and contribution to transition into the labour market.Originality/valueThese findings provide empirical support to possible forms of capital that HE institutions may fulfil to enhance their undergraduate employability throughout their academic career, which serves as a liminal space allowing undergraduates to begin building a tentative professional identity
The Workaholism–Technostress Interplay: Initial Evidence on Their Mutual Relationship
No full textDuring the pandemic, the occurrence of extreme working conditions (e.g., the sudden shift to remote work, isolation, and the slowdown of the work processes) exacerbated several phenomena, such as increased workaholism and stress due to technological devices; that is, technostress. Literature on the onset of these phenomena during the pandemic highlighted a possible interplay among them; however, there is still a dearth of knowledge about the direction of the relationship between workaholism and technostress. The present study assessed the relationship between workaholism and technostress through a two-wave cross-lagged study using path analysis in SEM (Structural Equation Modeling). The study was conducted in Italy during the pandemic, and a total of 113 Italian employees completed the online survey at each wave. Results showed that workaholism at Time 1 was a significant predictor of technostress at Time 2 (β = 0.25, p = 0.049), while the reversed causation was not supported (β = 0.08, p = 0.22). These findings may help employees and organizations to better understand the phenomena of technostress and workaholism and develop strategies to prevent the consequences of excessive and compulsive work and to improve the balanced use of technology for their daily activities
Reason in prison: How emergencies are managed in the Italian penitentiary context
No full textPurpose: The prison system is a complex structure in which staff members monitor the prison population with the aim of preventing and coping with possible emergency events. To examine how prison staff conceive plans to manage these events, the present study focuses on the qualitative analysis of critical events and the related coping strategies and conclusions drawn from each episode. Method: By drawing on 563 narrative forms completed by prison directors and prison officer commanders from all over Italian prisons, four coding families have been identified (the emergency event itself, strategies adopted to manage this event, knowledge gained from this event, and possible improvements to prevent future emergency events) as well as specific categories for each of them. Frequency and chi-square analyses were conducted to identify the differences in occurrences in each coding family and among categories for the type of emergency event. Results: The findings revealed significant differences both in the occurrence of different types of emergency events and in the way each type of event is managed, as well as in the specific knowledge gained from the experienced event and possible improvements to prevent future emergency events. Conclusions: According to the data collected, it seems fair to assume that the management of emergencies in prisons is not a problem that concerns a linear mode of intervention but includes several factors—personal, structural, procedural, and relational factors—which together influence the effectiveness of coping with emergencies. The results have been discussed according to the relevant literature on the topi
One perception, two perspectives: measuring psychological contract dimensionality through the Psychological Contract Content Questionnaire
Full text linkThe present study aims to contribute to the validity strengthening of a psychological contract measure, assessing the dimensionality of the item structure of the Psychological Contract Content Questionnaire (PCCQ). According to the authors (De Vos, Buyens, & Schalk, 2003), the scale consists of two theoretical dimensions, one to measure perceived employer inducement (PEI) and the other to measure perceived employee contributions (PEC), both from the employee's perception, each divided into five content areas. Different structure models were tested in newcomers (police officers working in the Penitentiary Administration attending a one-year training) in two different stages of their entry: at their early entrance (three weeks, TI; 436 respondents) and after their encounter with the operative environment (eight months, T2; 519 respondents). Analyses were carried out using nonparametric item response theory (IRT) approach and multidimensional IRT approach. Results showed that psychological contract is a single latent construct that describes the general perception that the employee has about his/her relationship with the organization and reciprocal obligations fulfilment
Learning the rope: The role of mentoring for training application in correctional officers.
No full textThis research aims at understanding the moderating role of formal mentoring support on the relationship between organizational socialization and two adjustment indicators, positive (commitment) and negative (turnover intention).
Based on a questionnaire administered to 117 prison officer newcomers, since the jail context is particularly critical for newcomers, our results show: a direct effect of both socialization and mentoring on commitment and on turnover; an interaction between socialization and mentoring on turnover, but not on commitment.
Thus, when the socialization process goes ahead steadily, both processes contribute to determine a good adjustment, but when traditional tactics goes wrong a different learning source (mentoring) exerts a protective function, reducing the newcomers’ intention to quit
Managing knowledge in organizations : a Nonaka’s SECI model operationalization
Full text linkPurpose: The SECI model (Nonaka, 1994) is the best-known conceptual framework for understanding knowledge generation processes in organizations. To date, however, empirical support for this framework has been overlooked. The present study aims to provide an evidence-based groundwork for the SECI model by testing a multidimensional questionnaire Knowledge Management SECI Processes Questionnaire (KMSP-Q) designed to capture the knowledge conversion modes theorized by Nonaka.
Methodology: In a twofold study, the SECI model was operationalized via the KMSP-Q. Specifically, Study One tested its eight-dimensional structure through exploratory and confirmatory factorial analyses on 372 employees from different sectors. Study Two examined the construct validity and reliability by replicating the KMSP-Q factor structure in knowledge-intensive contexts (on a sample of 466 health-workers), and by investigating the unique impact of each dimension on some organizational outcomes (i.e., performance, innovativeness, collective efficacy).
Findings: The overall findings highlighted that the KMSP-Q is a psychometrically robust questionnaire in terms of both dimensionality and construct validity, the different knowledge generation dimensions being specifically linked to different organizational outcomes.
Research/Practical Implications: The KMSP-Q actualizes and provides empirical consistency to the theory underlying the SECI model. Moreover, it allows for the monitoring of an organization’s capability to manage new knowledge and detect the strengths/weaknesses of KM-related policies and programs.
Originality/Value: This paper proposes a comprehensive measure of knowledge generation in work contexts, highlighting processes that organizations are likely to promote in order to improve their performance through the management of their knowledge resources
Editorial: Management of Intangible Assets Among Non-profit Organizations: Challenges and Peculiarities
Full text link
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
- …
