Co-workers’ perceptions of and reactions to employee’s involuntary demotion

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 740-757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Hennekam ◽  
Subramaniam Ananthram ◽  
Steve McKenna

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how individuals perceive and react to the involuntary demotion of a co-worker in their organisation. Design/methodology/approach The authors draw on 46 semi-structured in-depth interviews (23 dyads) with co-workers of demoted individuals. Findings The findings suggest that an individual’s observation of the demotion of a co-worker has three stages: their perception of fairness, their emotional reaction and their behavioural reaction. The perception of fairness concerned issues of distributive, procedural, interpersonal and informational justice. The emotional responses identified were feelings of disappointment/disillusion, uncertainty, vulnerability and anger. Finally, the behavioural reactions triggered by their emotional responses included expressions of voice, loyalty, exit and adaptation. Originality/value Perceptions of (in)justice perpetrated on others stimulate emotional and behavioural responses, which impacts organisational functioning. Managers should therefore pay attention to the way a demotion is perceived, not only by those directly concerned, but also by co-workers as observers.

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Zubair Alam ◽  
Shazia Kousar ◽  
Nyla Shafqat ◽  
Aiza Shabbir

Purpose This paper aims to explore the way tacit knowledge (TK) sharing occurred among automotive workshop (AW) employees. Challenges and drivers of TK sharing (TKS), including stakes of experienced employees that hinder the smooth transfer of TK, have been explored. Design/methodology/approach In-depth interviews have been conducted with experienced technicians using open-ended questions to gain deep insights on the issue of TKS. Data coding has been done for thematic analysis to extract themes. Findings This study explains the way TK is shared and transferred among employees in the AW sector. Various drivers and challenges in the smooth transfer of TK have been found. Various stakes of employees in the sharing of TK have been explored. Originality/value To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that explored stakes of experienced employees in TKS by exploring challenges in the TKS process among employees. Automotive repair is a complicated technical job that integrates various trade persons for the successful execution of jobs for customer satisfaction. TK is a core value and a sensitive issue among employees, which makes the job of researchers challenging, resulting scarcity of literature on this vital issue.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 41-44
Author(s):  
Amrina Piroos ◽  
Carolin Neffe ◽  
Frank Lattuch

Purpose This study aims to reinforce the importance of taking HR beyond administrative activity leading to stronger market orientated performance and the greater use of its people. Many organizations underestimate the effects of deliberately combining market orientation with internal communication demands. As a strategic partner, HR can offer support for designing effective workplace concepts that address such a challenge. Design/methodology/approach Using in-depth interviews, the authors explore aspects of effective workplace designs in high-performing German firms. This work is taken from a wider study of commercial office solutions completed in 2017. Findings Workplace designs need to be carefully developed to meet firm-specific needs dedicated to a market orientation strategy. Originality/value Practical lessons are drawn for helping HR professionals to better facilitate market orientation and communication needs from inside the organization.


2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 1067-1086 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Pereira Heath ◽  
Caroline Tynan ◽  
Christine Ennew

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a contextualized view of participants’ accounts of self-gift consumer behaviour (SGCB) throughout the consumption cycle, from the motivations to the emotions that follow. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses an interpretive approach, focused on participants’ constructions of meanings, using 99 critical incident technique interviews, which followed 16 in-depth interviews. Findings – This paper identifies the following self-gift motivations: To Reward Myself (and Others); To celebrate; To remember or get closer; To forget or part; To feel loved or cheered up; and To enjoy life. It also uncovers a compensatory/therapeutic dimension in most self-gifts. The authors identify changes in emotional responses to SGCB over time, and suggest a relationship between these emotions and the contexts that drive self-gifts. Self-gifts are conceptualized as pleasure-oriented, symbolic and special consumption experiences, which are self-directed, or both self- and others-directed; perceived by the consumer to be justified by the contexts in which they occur; and driven and followed by context-dependent emotions. Originality/value – This manuscript offers novel insights into participants’ uses of both SGCB and the act of labelling purchases “self-gifts”. It uncovers how consumers are concerned with accounting for indulgent spending and how this problematizes the concept of “self-gift”. It challenges the idea of a single context for SGCB, showing how interacting motivations explain it. It also introduces a temporal dimension to self-gift theory by considering emotional responses at different times. Finally, it offers a new conceptualization of and theoretical framework for SGCB.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-471
Author(s):  
Jorge Cruz-Cárdenas ◽  
Jorge Guadalupe-Lanas ◽  
Ekaterina Zabelina ◽  
Andrés Palacio-Fierro ◽  
Margarita Velín-Fárez ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand in-depth how consumers create value in their lives using WhatsApp, the leading mobile instant messaging (MIM) application. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts the perspective of customer-dominant logic (CDL) and uses a qualitative multimethod design involving 3 focus groups and 25 subsequent in-depth interviews. The research setting was Ecuador, a Latin American country. Findings Analysis and interpretation of the participants’ stories made it possible to identify and understand the creation of four types of value: maintaining and strengthening relationships; improving role performance; emotional support; and entertainment and fun. In addition, the present study proposes a conceptual model of consumer value creation as it applies to MIM. Practical implications Understanding the way consumers create value in their lives using MIM is important not only for organizations that offer MIM applications, but also for those companies that develop other applications for mobile phones or for those who wish to use MIM as an electronic word-of-mouth vehicle. Originality/value The current study is one of the first to address the topic of consumer behavior in the use of technologies from the perspective of CDL; this perspective enables an integrated qualitative vision of value creation in which the consumer is the protagonist.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-124
Author(s):  
Chunchun Wang

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the transformations of prosthetic practices in China, as well as the daily experiences and dilemmas arising from the everchanging practices since 1949. On the basis of materials, this paper explores an everyday perspective to review the history of technology.Design/methodology/approachEthnography was collected with the application of participant observations, informal interviews and in-depth interviews during a 13-months study at a rehabilitation center in Chengdu, China. The literature on prosthetic manufacturing was also reviewed for this paper.FindingsChina's prosthetic technology seems to evolve from traditional to modern. However, this progressive narrative – innovation-based timeline (Edgerton, 2006, xi) – has been challenged by daily practices. Due to institutional pressures, prosthetists are in a dilemma of selectively using their knowledge to create one kind of device for all prosthesis users with a certain kind of disability, thereby regulating the physical and social experiences of prosthesis users. Besides, prosthesis users are accustomed to prostheses made with old techniques, and must correct themselves from old experiences to the daily practices recognized by the selected techniques.Originality/valueThis paper provides a cross-cultural case to reexamine Edgerton's criticism of the progressive and orderly innovation-centric technological narrative. More importantly, it reviews the history and practices of China's prosthetics from daily experiences rather than Edgerton's concentration on technology; therefore, it provides an everyday perspective for future research on technological transformations.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Benavides-Salazar ◽  
Cristina Iturrioz-Landart ◽  
Cristina Aragón-Amonarriz ◽  
Asunción Ibañez-Romero

Purpose This paper aims to investigate how entrepreneurial families (EFs) influence the development of entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs) by using the family social capital (FSC) approach. Design/methodology/approach For this paper, the authors analyzed the Manizales EE as a case study. The authors used a variety of data collection procedures, including in-depth interviews with 26 entrepreneurs and mentors. Findings The authors established how EFs affect EE development, identifying how the FSC bridging mechanisms impact the EE’s social and cultural attributes, boosting entrepreneurial dynamics. Originality/value The results indicated the relevance of EFs’ embeddedness and the degree of the FSC institutionalization in promoting of entrepreneurship within the EEs.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pei Xu ◽  
Joonghee Lee ◽  
James R. Barth ◽  
Robert Glenn Richey

PurposeThis paper discusses how the features of blockchain technology impact supply chain transparency through the lens of the information security triad (confidentiality, integrity and availability). Ultimately, propositions are developed to encourage future research in supply chain applications of blockchain technology.Design/methodology/approachPropositions are developed based on a synthesis of the information security and supply chain transparency literature. Findings from text mining of Twitter data and a discussion of three major blockchain use cases support the development of the propositions.FindingsThe authors note that confidentiality limits supply chain transparency, which causes tension between transparency and security. Integrity and availability promote supply chain transparency. Blockchain features can preserve security and increase transparency at the same time, despite the tension between confidentiality and transparency.Research limitations/implicationsThe research was conducted at a time when most blockchain applications were still in pilot stages. The propositions developed should therefore be revisited as blockchain applications become more widely adopted and mature.Originality/valueThis study is among the first to examine the way blockchain technology eases the tension between supply chain transparency and security. Unlike other studies that have suggested only positive impacts of blockchain technology on transparency, this study demonstrates that blockchain features can influence transparency both positively and negatively.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Suman Choudhary ◽  
Kirti Mishra

Purpose This paper aims to explore the implications of virtual work arrangements on employee knowledge hiding (KH) behaviour and the different strategies of KH used by employees in these arrangements. Design/methodology/approach Following a grounded theory approach to understanding KH, 21 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with employees engaged in virtual working setups. The data collected from these informants were then analysed using qualitative methods. Findings The study revealed that virtual work arrangements increase employee KH behaviour because of three reasons: ease of hiding, digital burnout and loss of control. Further, the study found that rationalized hiding is the most commonly adopted strategy by employees engaged in virtual work arrangements, while inclinations towards evasive hiding strategy decrease in this arrangement. Originality/value This is the first study in knowledge management literature that seeks to explain KH in the virtual work context.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 476-494
Author(s):  
Ömer Torlak ◽  
Müjdat Özmen ◽  
Muhammet Ali Tiltay ◽  
Mahmut Sami İşlek ◽  
Ufuk Ay

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to theorize and empirically investigate the formation of consumer’s consumption ritual experiences and discourses associated with Feast of Sacrifice. Design/methodology/approach The authors have approached the data from assemblage theory perspective. By use of ethnographic participant observation and in-depth interviews, seven themes are uncovered and discussed: meaning of Qurban, preparation of the ritual, Qurban choice, meat, Qurban ritual, marketplace and framing of discourses. Findings This study provides a theoretical development in which it depicts that assemblage theory can be used in the context of religious rituals such as the Feast of Sacrifice. This suggests that parts forming the social phenomena include different meanings and functions in different assemblages to the ritual, which has a structure with a particular process, roles and content scenario. This implies that even the most structured social phenomena as religious rituals can be accepted as social assemblage where every individual experiences his/her own ritual with the parts that have ever-changing material and expressive roles. Originality/value This study will contribute to the literature on religious rituals and practices through viewing ritual as an assemblage including material and expressive features as well as human and non-human actors. Besides, this study aims to find out whether there is a constant consumer and the concept of ritual by focusing on buying experiences of consumer in Feast of Sacrifice in Turkey.


2018 ◽  
Vol 67 (9) ◽  
pp. 1854-1881 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mangesh Gharfalkar ◽  
Zulfiqur Ali ◽  
Graham Hillier

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to identify and analyse existing resource efficiency (RE) and resource effectiveness measures and indicators (REMIs); and second, to identify gaps and develop a new indicator of “operational resource effectiveness” (OREft) suitable for manufacturing units. Design/methodology/approach Research methodology consists of three stages: gap identification, development and testing. Through review of academic literature, 40 REMIs are identified and analysed. A survey of manufacturers is carried out to validate the hypothesis and seek inputs on the development of the new indicator. The proposed indicator is tested by comparing OREft index of two manufacturing units with each other, with resource intensity per unit (RIPU), waste intensity per unit (WIPU) and with four other REMIs. Findings Analysis of 40 REMIs clearly points towards the absence of a hypothesised REMI. In total, 78 per cent of manufacturers surveyed in north England substantiate the hypothesis. Inverse correlation established between the proposed OREft indicator, RIPU, WIPU and other comparisons is likely to validate the output generated by the proposed indicator. Research limitations/implications Testing of this indicator is limited to two dissimilar manufacturing units that shared data. Practical implications The proposed indicator is useful for comparing the operational resource effectiveness of individual factories over a period as well as with other factories. RIPU and WIPU captured in this indicator also represent operational RE that can be used to initiate improvement action. Originality/value Inclusion of both, the resource consumption and the waste generation along with discount/multiplying factors that capture the circularity aspects is likely to be the distinguishing feature of this indicator.


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