1,720,990 research outputs found
Insights into Effective Interventions for the Prevention and Management of Workplace Bullying in the New Zealand Public Service
No full textWorkplace bullying is widely recognised as a severe workplace health and safety issue that can have harmful consequences for both individuals and organisations. Bullying is a difficult phenomenon for organisations to deal with generally, with effective prevention and management in public sector environments considered especially challenging.
This thesis seeks to explore current workplace bullying prevention and management interventions within the New Zealand Public Service. In adopting a pragmatic exploratory mixed-model research method, research approaches aim to provide practical insights into anti-bullying interventions. Data for this research is collected from two sources; organisational anti-bullying policies, and semi-structured interviews with human resource practitioners and union representatives involved in the prevention and management of workplace bullying.
Both human resource practitioners and union representatives were found to have multiple roles in the prevention and management of workplace bullying, and generally interpreted bullying allegations as being unsubstantiated. This research suggests that greater emphasis should be placed on primary intervention, and that mediation may be useful as both a secondary and tertiary intervention. The findings of this research also indicate that stakeholder interpretations, and in turn their practical responses to workplace bullying, may be influenced by a range of factors within the public sector environment; including the sedimentation of contradictory public sector approaches, the legislative and regulatory environment, personal experience, and role expectations
Managing employee performance in transition economies: A study of Vietnamese public organisations
No full textPublic employees’ poor performance has been cited as one of the leading factors in the failure of reform programmes in developing countries. Although previous employee performance reforms have targeted selection, training, appraisal and compensation, agreement exists that these problems persist. Improving employee performance has proven difficult in developing and developed countries alike.
Motivated by the New Public Management (NPM), employee performance management (PM) has been widely introduced by developed and developing countries as a public sector reform. Employee PM supposedly furthers development objectives by improving performance, enhancing accountability and aligning employee efforts with organisational goals. Unfortunately, the literature has reported many failed PM reforms. Arguably, employee PM in the public sector usually faces several difficulties, including the diversity of stakeholders, bounded delegated authority, ambiguous organisational and job goals, as well as the inherent complexity of employee PM activities. The situation is even more challenging for developing countries due to contextual problems of weak institutions, weak capacity and traditional cultures. There are perspectives that employee PM may not be compatible in developing contexts.
Although there is no shortage of research on employee PM, most is theoretical research or conducted in developed countries. Empirical research in developing countries, particularly in the public sector, remains sparse. To address this gap, this research investigates whether employee PM is applicable or effective in the developing context, as well as exploring which contextual factors affect its development.
To answer these research questions, a mixed methods approach guided by the research philosophy of pragmatism was adopted. The data for this research was gathered from 30 interviews and a survey of 322 respondents from 29 different organisations across five central Ministries and two provinces in Vietnam as a transitional economy with a strong effect of Confucian culture.
This study contributes to the literature by providing some key findings. Firstly, it confirms that if well designed and implemented, PM can work in the public sector in developing countries. This finding supports the perspective that the failure of PM schemes is mostly because of implementation shortcomings rather than theory defects. Secondly, it proposes a formula for the effective implementation of PM in the developing context. Specifically, it is a combination of five PM practices, including goal-based appraisal, feedback, reward-for-performance, addressing poor performers and employee participation. Thirdly, the development of employee PM in developing countries is driven by three contextual factors: agency accountability, HR autonomy, and entrepreneurial leadership. Fourthly, PM is not only a tool to improve organisational performance, but also an important mediation agent to transmit the effect of other reform activities on desirable outcomes. Finally, the effect of the contextual factors on development of employee PM is weakened by interpersonal relationships and nepotism while being strengthened by communication and training.
Based on these findings, this research proposes strategic solutions for policy-makers while providing specific suggestions for practitioners to develop effective PM systems. It also discusses some implications and identifies gaps for researchers in the future
Hidden in Plain Sight: Manager-Employee Social Engagement Strategies
No full textEmployee engagement occurs at the ‘swirling intersection’ (Kahn, 1990, p. 719) of the manager-employee relationship; a multidimensional engagement relationship. However, research to date has focused on examining employees’ engagement relationships with their role, work or organisation, emphasising linear and transactional aspects of engagement. Interpersonal oriented research has been under-used to explore engagement.
In this study, attachment theory is used as a social systems theory to examine the manager-employee interpersonal relationship as a means to understand engagement. Attachment theory research has identified strategic patterns of interaction within close relationships that have been associated with optimising the quality of exploration outside of these relationships. Attachment theory informed workplace research has identified individual differential use of attachment patterns at work with differences in engagement. However, different patterns of attachment in relation to engagement (a potential form of exploration) have yet to be examined within the interpersonal context of the manager-employee relationship. In this study it is proposed that managers and employees might: socially interact with each other when under pressure in unique and strategically patterned ways; and that these interaction patterns might also influence engagement.
This thesis asks: how do managers and employees strategically manage their relationship to optimise their engagement at work? A sequential explanatory mixed methods design study is conducted. Attachment theory methods inform the development of a new concept and measure: manager-employee social engagement strategies. This measure is quantitatively tested in a survey study with managers (n=200) and employees (n=200). The quantitative survey is used to generate qualitative and interpersonal data about manager-employee social engagement strategies and engagement within a series of five qualitatively oriented case studies with manager-employee dyads.
Quantitative analysis indicates three manager and three employee social engagement strategy measures. These measures each uniquely correlate with perceptions about engagement, such as job and organisation engagement. Qualitative findings from the manager-employee dyads show (when under pressure) that they employ various combinations of social strategies to engage with each other; including a possible fourth strategy. In turn, these strategies are both influenced by, and influence, engagement.
In conjunction with the literature, these findings are formulated into the central contribution of this study: an attachment theory informed framework of manager-employee engagement. This multidimensional framework reconceptualises engagement as a dynamic system and centralises the interpersonal dimension; represented by the manager-employee relationship. This framework specifies simultaneous and multi-directional associations between (a) how managers and employees engage with each other, (b) their perceptions of engagement and attachment, and (c) their engagement.
This research has theoretical and practical implications for the training and coaching of managers and employees. It highlights knowledge currently hidden in plain sight within the engagement field that can be used to change: how we interact with each other when under pressure and stress as a route to changing our perceptions about engagement; and our engagement. This research confirms the relevance of a future research agenda that places the manager-employee relationship at the centre of engagement
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
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
CLEW'D IN June 2018
No full textEmployee performance management (PM) has become increasingly popular in the last three decades. It supposedly improves individual attitudes, and then organizational performance. It does this through a continuous process of goal setting, feedback, communication, coaching and rewarding (Kinicki, Jacobson et al. 2013). Ideally, it differs from the traditional misery of annual performance appraisals by being more continuous, forward looking, developmental, job relevant and linked to rewards.
Many countries have introduced employee PM in their public services, at least rhetorically. Ideally it is a management tool to promote result-driven cultures, accountability, and transparency in order to improve public service delivery. This study of the Vietnamese public service outlines how performance management can work in public services. Some of the findings are probably very contextual and apply only to Vietnam. Others seem more global and likely apply here as well.
Despite the strong theoretical case for performance management (think goal-setting, expectancy, equity, reinforcement and social exchange theories), getting it to work is still a global challenge. Even in the most developed countries, the failure rate has been estimated at 56 percent (Haines III and St-Onge 2012). Irrespective of efforts devoted to improve this practice, “the formula for effective performance management remains elusive” (Pulakos and O'leary 2011 p1) and negative outcomes are still repeated (Azzone and Palermo 2011). In reality, employees and supervisors often dislike employee PM and see it as a control mechanism or an unnecessary administrative burden, and are sceptical about whether employee PM actually improves employee experiences and organizational performance. In the public sector implementation is even more challenging because of problems regarding conflicting goals, the need for transparency, inadequate budgets for incentives, and so on. Performance management is also largely a product of western countries. In government it appeals mainly to those attracted to new public management theories. We know that contextual factors such as institution, capacity and culture can’t be overlooked in the implementation of PM.
In order to provide a better understanding of if, and under what conditions employee PM in the public sector might work, this mixed method research investigated the implementation of five employee PM practices, including goal-based appraisal, feedback, reward for performance, addressing poor performers and employee participation. The data (interviews, survey and document analysis) was collected in 29 diverse public organizations within five central ministries and two provinces in Vietnam
Building people up: Leadership and employee resilience
No full textThis mixed method research, in the area of HR and leadership, explores leadership behaviours that foster employee resilience. Resilience is a key capacity in contexts where job demands and challenges are often dynamic and complex, such as in the public sector. This research uses a contemporary definition of resilience, one that views employee resilience as a set of behaviours that help people grow and develop in their jobs, even in the face of challenges. Two questions guide this research: 1. What leadership behaviours enable employee resilience in the public sector?, and 2. How do these behaviours enable employee resilience? This study is situated in the public sector context.
The research consists of five phases. The first phase was a cross-sectional survey of public servants’ views on whether paradoxical leadership behaviours, mediated by perceptions of organisational support, might foster resilience. These connections reflect the correspondence between paradoxical leadership and the dilemmas and paradoxes that arise in public sector work. Phases two and three concerned a series of qualitative studies which identified further leadership behaviours, as well as possible mechanisms and outcomes, and generated an explanatory framework to illustrate how managers can enable employee resilience. This led to the development of the construct resilience-enabling leadership. Phase four gathered feedback on the construct’s validity so that it could be tested quantitatively in a scale. The fifth and final phase tested the resilience-enabling leadership scale (RELS) as a predictor of resilience. It also tested psychometric properties of the scale, including factor structure, and discriminant and convergent validity.
Findings show that a unique combination of leadership behaviours that foster growth, trust and collaboration in employees, is likely to play a pivotal role in developing employee resilience. The RELS is an innovative contribution to organisational scholarship. It represents a leadership model that recognises the changing nature of leadership and responds to the development needs of employees
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Public service dynamics
No full textCreating High Performing Public Service Organisations – moving from problem ID to solutions
Date: Tuesday 14 April 2015
With an excellent line-up of presenters from across the Public Service this seminar brought together, senior executives, managers, policy and employment relations people and researchers to discuss high performance in the public sector. It looked at how the issues are currently being addressed, strategies and tactics for success, and the role of leadership
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