Mindfulness training in the workplace: exploring its scope and outcomes

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (4/5) ◽  
pp. 341-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen R. Johnson ◽  
Sunyoung Park ◽  
Sanghamitra Chaudhuri
Keyword(s):  
Human Resource Development ◽  
Professional Growth ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Mindfulness Training ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Distributed Information ◽  
Mindfulness Practices ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

Purpose As the concept of mindfulness gains popularity in the workplace, there is a need to understand the extent to which mindfulness-related practices are integrated into training and development activities and the impact of these practices on employees and organizations. The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the scope of mindfulness as an intervention in the workplace and to identify outcomes of mindfulness-related training activities at the individual, job/work, team/group and organizational levels. Design/methodology/approach Torraco (2005) and Briner and Denyer's (2012) four steps (search, selection, analysis and synthesis) for conducting an integrative literature review were used for this study. This method enabled us to compare and contrast relevant articles, integrate distributed information, create new knowledge and provide research directions on mindfulness practices in work settings. Findings Through a revision of 28 empirical studies, the authors found that mindfulness-based training is an effective intervention for organizations to improve mental health, wellbeing and performance of employees. A total of 51 significant outcomes of mindfulness-related training categorized at the individual (23), job/work (17), group/team (7) and organizational (4) levels were identified. Practical implications Despite the benefits of mindfulness training, according to the research, only a handful of organizations have rolled-out this program for employees. The authors recommend that industry leaders and managers take a proactive approach and incorporate mindfulness-related practices as part of their professional development training for employees at all levels to improve personal and professional growth and performance. Originality/value This paper extends the emerging literature on mindfulness by providing a comprehensive summary of the consequences of mindfulness training at a multilevel context within the human resource development domain.

Examining organizations’ continued use of open source technologies

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saggi Nevo ◽  
InduShobha Chengalur-Smith
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Business Value ◽  
Institutional Perspective ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Continued Use ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Value Of It ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Our knowledge of why organizations continue to use open source software (OSS) infrastructure technologies is relatively limited, and existing models appear inadequate to explain this continuance phenomenon given that they are set at the individual level and also do not take into account the unique characteristics of OSS. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Using an institutional perspective, this paper posits that coercive (business value of IT) and normative (open source ideology (IDEO)) factors may be credited with sustaining the continued use of OSS technologies. The study argues that organizations that subscribe to IDEO are more likely to continue using OSS technologies. Survey data are collected from organizations that have implemented an OSS infrastructure technology and a moderated multiple regression analysis is performed to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings In addition to the business value provided by OSS technologies, adherence to IDEO also impacts decisions to continue using those technologies. The results suggest that once an OSS is implemented in an organization, IDEO can enhance organizations’ intentions to continue using such technologies, directly, as well as indirectly, by amplifying the impact of the perceived business value of the technology. Originality/value Much of extant literature on continued use focuses on end-user technologies. This paper is one of the first to focus on infrastructure technologies and examine organizations’ intentions to continue using those technologies by developing a parsimonious theory-driven model for examining organizations’ continued use intentions toward infrastructure IT. Additionally, much of open source research to date has been inwardly focused, and this paper is one of few empirical studies to focus on the demand or consumption side of OSS technologies.

A review of work–life programs and organizational outcomes

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kohinur Akter ◽  
Muhammad Ali ◽  
Artemis Chang
Keyword(s):  
Selection Process ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Organizational Outcomes ◽  
Business Case ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

PurposeWork–life programs research has been conducted at the individual and organizational levels, yet one important question remains unanswered: Do work–life programs improve organizational outcomes?Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents a systematic literature review of the impact of work–life programs (bundles versus separate programs) on outcomes at the organizational level. A systematic selection process was adopted, resulting in a final sample of 35 articles published in 26 peer-reviewed journals from 1990 to 2019.FindingsThe findings suggest that these programs can result in positive, negative or no impact on organizational outcomes, depending on the study design, industry, organization size and country/region.Originality/valueThis review draws on quantitative and qualitative empirical studies to summarize, explain and refine the business case for work–life programs. The resulting framework provides directions for future research.

The impact of cognitive apprenticeship on the perceived growth of junior doctors

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 489-499
Author(s):  
Takuro Tsukube ◽  
Makoto Matsuo
Keyword(s):  
Professional Growth ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Cognitive Apprenticeship ◽  
Junior Doctors ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Clinical Supervisors ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Past Experiences ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Although cognitive apprenticeship has been widely used in various educational fields, few empirical studies have examined its effectiveness in a workplace context. This study aims to investigate the effects of cognitive apprenticeship on junior doctors’ perceived professional growth in hospitals. Design/methodology/approach A retrospective questionnaire survey was performed that asked surgeons (n = 87) and physicians (n = 92) to recall how they were instructed by their supervisors during the first five years after graduation from medical school. Findings The results of multiple regression analyzes showed that all dimensions of cognitive apprenticeship (modeling, coaching, scaffolding, articulation, reflection and exploration) had positive effects on each doctor’s perceived growth, regardless of the type of clinical practice (surgeon vs physician) or the period of supervision. It was also found that physicians experienced significantly more coaching and scaffolding, and opportunities for, articulation and reflection, than surgeons. Research limitations/implications Some of the data were collected through snowball sampling, and this study used a retrospective survey in which respondents were asked to recall past experiences. Practical implications Clinical supervisors in hospitals should adopt a cognitive apprenticeship model when supervising junior doctors. Surgical supervisors need to be more conscious of the benefits of cognitive apprenticeship. Originality/value This study confirmed that the six dimensions of cognitive apprenticeship had positive influences on the perceived growth of junior doctors, regardless of their clinical domains or period of supervision and that clinical domains influence the implementation of cognitive apprenticeship.

scholarly journals Enhancing operations management through smart sensors: measuring and improving well-being, interaction and performance of logistics workers

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Aloini ◽  
Andrea Fronzetti Colladon ◽  
Peter Gloor ◽  
Emanuele Guerrazzi ◽  
Alessandro Stefanini
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Operations Management ◽  
Material Handling ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Environmental Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe purpose of the research is to conduct an exploratory investigation of the material handling activities of an Italian logistics hub. Wearable sensors and other smart tools were used for collecting human and environmental features during working activities. These factors were correlated with workers' performance and well-being.Design/methodology/approachHuman and environmental factors play an important role in operations management activities since they significantly influence employees' performance, well-being and safety. Surprisingly, empirical studies about the impact of such aspects on logistics operations are still very limited. Trying to fill this gap, the research empirically explores human and environmental factors affecting the performance of logistics workers exploiting smart tools.FindingsResults suggest that human attitudes, interactions, emotions and environmental conditions remarkably influence workers' performance and well-being, however, showing different relationships depending on individual characteristics of each worker.Practical implicationsThe authors' research opens up new avenues for profiling employees and adopting an individualized human resource management, providing managers with an operational system capable to potentially check and improve workers' well-being and performance.Originality/valueThe originality of the study comes from the in-depth exploration of human and environmental factors using body-worn sensors during work activities, by recording individual, collaborative and environmental data in real-time. To the best of the authors' knowledge, the current paper is the first time that such a detailed analysis has been carried out in real-world logistics operations.

“Peaceful workplace” only a myth?

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 709-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayatakshee Sarkar ◽  
Naval Garg
Keyword(s):  
Human Resource Development ◽  
Spiritual Development ◽  
Psychological Capital ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Spirituality ◽  
Mindfulness Practices ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Though violence is very much prevalent in modern organizations, unfortunately, researchers and practitioners have given very little attention in creating an organizational culture based on nonviolence. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between individual spirituality and non-violence work behaviour. It also investigates the mediating role of four constructs of psychological capital (hope, optimism, resilience and self-efficacy). Design/methodology/approach Collected data is subjected to rigorous reliability, validity and common method biasness tests. Further mediation is analyzed with the help of hierarchical regression, Sobel test and bootstrapping estimates. Findings The results show that all four dimensions of psychological capital partially mediate the relationship of individual spirituality and non-violent behaviour at the workplace. The practical and theoretical implications of the study are also discussed. Research limitations/implications Although the study produces significant results, it has certain limitations, too, which can be addressed in future research. Firstly, as psychological capital is a state like construct, the responses of the participants may vary from time to time, leading to biases. Secondly, the study is confined only to manufacturing, IT/ITES and financial institutions. It can be duplicated to other sectors as well to assess its generality. Future researchers may adopt both quantitative and qualitative methodology to explore the field. Even experimental research may help to understand these work behaviours. Although the study has been conducted in business organization the purpose is not to limit it to the workplace context. It is relevant to all sectors and across all domains. Practical implications The findings have revealed individual spirituality as a significant predictor of nonviolence behaviour at the workplace. Thus managers, leaders, policymakers or organizational development practitioners need to facilitate spirituality at the workplace and introduce spiritual-based interventions such as meditation, yoga and several other mindfulness practices. Even organizational training, which is considered to be essential to human resource development, needs to develop a spiritual development program and also to examine the impact of such programs on organizational outcomes (Dent et al., 2005). Organizational interventions that facilitate mindfulness practices, yoga and meditation will enhance nonviolence communication through empathy and compassion-based listening, meaningful dialogues, through connecting employees with universal human values/needs. Social implications The primary objective of the study is to foster conflict prevention in society rather than conflict resolution. With the help of the study, the authors understand the importance of spiritual intervention and its impact on the elevation of people's values, beliefs and attitudes. Major organisations such as Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook have already started to develop spiritual interventions at their workplace. It is an excellent time to capitalize on India's rich spiritual tradition that honours unity in diversity. Besides, an organization's facilitation to connect to employee’s actions with spiritual values can overcome cultural conditioning that triggers violence and help in making a more meaningful place to work. Thus, impacting the society from a macro perspective. Originality/value This is one of the pioneer studies that tried to unlock the “black-box” of mechanism through which individual spirituality impacts non-violent work behaviour.

The impact of servitization on firm performance: a meta-analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (7) ◽  
pp. 1562-1588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weijiao Wang ◽  
Kee-Hung Lai ◽  
Yongyi Shou
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Superior Performance ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Quantitative Review ◽  
Content Type ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Servitization has been recognized as an effective means for manufacturers to achieve superior performance. However, the servitization-performance relationship is controversial since prior empirical studies have provided inconsistent and even contradictory results. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to provide a quantitative review on the servitization-performance relationship based on research findings reported in the extant literature. Design/methodology/approach Studies from 41 peer-reviewed journal articles were sampled and analyzed. A meta-analytic approach was adopted to conduct a quantitative review on the relationship between servitization and firm performance. Findings The results confirm a positive servitization-performance relationship. In addition, the results reveal that the observed servitization-performance relationship is influenced by the operationalization of constructs (servitization and performance) and control variables (industry and region). Originality/value As the first meta-analysis on the servitization-performance relationship, this study contributes to the servitization literature and provides future research directions.

scholarly journals A meta-analysis of the impact of privatization on firm performance

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 178-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Bachiller
Keyword(s):  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Public Offerings ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
The Common ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Despite the vast literature on privatization, the relationship between change of ownership and performance is not clear. The purpose of this paper is to understand why divergences are found between the empirical results of papers analyzed. Design/methodology/approach The author applies a meta-analysis to a sample of 60 empirical studies that analyze the performance of privatized companies. The author checks whether different results on performance can be explained by the method of privatization and the level of development of the country of privatized companies. Findings The findings indicate that companies privatized by public offerings obtain a better performance than companies privatized using other methods, such as private sale or voucher privatization, and do not support the common-place assumption that privatization in developing countries does not improve financial performance. Originality/value The study contributes to the literature on privatization because it adds new empirical evidence about the privatization programs and it first applies a meta-analysis to a sample about privatization on state-owned companies. The author discusses theoretical and managerial implications and offers suggestions for future research on privatization.

Increasing revenue and attendance in Canadian Baptist churches

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (12) ◽  
pp. 1071-1089
Author(s):  
Alan Chan ◽  
Bruce G. Fawcett ◽  
Shu-Kam Lee
Keyword(s):  
Church Health ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
Baptist Churches ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Simulation Exercises

Purpose – Church giving and attendance are two important indicators of church health and performance. In the literature, they are usually understood to be simultaneously determined. The purpose of this paper is to estimate if there a sustainable church congregation size using Wintrobe’s (1998) dictatorship model. The authors want to examine the impact of youth and adult ministry as well. Design/methodology/approach – Using the data collected from among Canadian Baptist churches in Eastern Canada, this study investigates the factors affecting the level of the two indicators by the panel-instrumental variable technique. Applying Wintrobe’s (1998) political economy model on dictatorship, the equilibrium level of worship attendance and giving is predicted. Findings – Through various simulation exercises, the actual church congregation sizes is approximately 50 percent of the predicted value, implying inefficiency and misallocation of church resources. The paper concludes with insights on effective ways church leaders can allocate scarce resources to promote growth within churches. Originality/value – The authors are the only researchers getting the permission from the Atlantic Canada Baptist Convention to use their mega data set on church giving and congregation sizes as per the authors’ knowledge. The authors are also applying a theoretical model on dictatorship to religious/not for profits organizations.

The reflexive turn in key account management

2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (11/12) ◽  
pp. 2071-2104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Vanharanta ◽  
Alan J.P. Gilchrist ◽  
Andrew D. Pressey ◽  
Peter Lenney
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Key Account Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Account Management ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Key Account ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Uk

Purpose – This study aims to address how and why do formal key account management (KAM) programmes hinder effective KAM management, and how can the problems of formalization in KAM be overcome. Recent empirical studies have reported an unexpected negative relationship between KAM formalization and performance. Design/methodology/approach – An 18-month (340 days) ethnographic investigation was undertaken in the UK-based subsidiary of a major US sports goods manufacturer. This ethnographic evidence was triangulated with 113 in-depth interviews. Findings – This study identifies how and why managerial reflexivity allows a more effectively combining of formal and post-bureaucratic KAM practices. While formal KAM programmes provide a means to initiate, implement and control KAM, they have an unintended consequence of increasing organizational bureaucracy, which may in the long-run hinder the KAM effectiveness. Heightened reflexivity, including “wayfinding”, is identified as a means to overcome many of these challenges, allowing for reflexively combining formal with post-bureaucratic KAM practices. Research limitations/implications – The thesis of this paper starts a new line of reflexive KAM research, which draws theoretical influences from the post-bureaucratic turn in management studies. Practical implications – This study seeks to increase KAM implementation success rates and long-term effectiveness of KAM by conceptualizing the new possibilities offered by reflexive KAM. This study demonstrates how reflexive skills (conceptualized as “KAM wayfinding”) can be deployed during KAM implementation and for its continual improvement. Further, the study identifies how KAM programmes can be used to train organizational learning regarding KAM. Furthermore, this study identifies how and why post-bureaucratic KAM can offer additional benefits after an organization has learned key KAM capabilities. Originality/value – A new line of enquiry is identified: the reflexive-turn in KAM. This theoretical position allows us to identify existing weakness in the extant KAM literature, and to show a practical means to improve the effectiveness of KAM. This concerns, in particular, the importance of managerial reflexivity and KAM wayfinding as a means to balance the strengths and weaknesses of formal and post-bureaucratic KAM.

Best-value supply chains and firms’ competitive performance: empirical studies of their linkage

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (12) ◽  
pp. 1688-1709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xun Li ◽  
Qun Wu ◽  
Clyde W. Holsapple
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Abnormal Returns ◽  
Competitive Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Best Value ◽  
Multiple Method ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – Best-value supply chains characterized by agility, adaptability, and alignment, have become a crucial strategic means for firms to create and sustain competitive advantage in today’s turbulent environment. The purpose of this paper is to investigate linkage between best-value supply chains and firms’ competitive performance. Design/methodology/approach – In Study 1, survey data from 76 firms is used to test the impact of the three qualities of best-value supply chains on firms’ competitive performance. In Study 2, to test if a firm’s competitive advantage can be sustained through building best-value supply chains, a long-run performance analysis is conducted, which is based on a stock portfolio of firms identified from the American Marketing Association’s annual list of “Supply Chain Top 25.” Findings – The results of Study 1 indicate that the three qualities of best-value supply chains are positively related to firms’ competitive performance. The results of Study 2 show that firms having best-value supply chains generate significant and positive abnormal returns for shareholders over time. Originality/value – This is a multiple-method research, providing two-level empirical evidence to the investigation of theoretical linkage between best-value supply chains and firms’ competitive performance.

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