Temporary contracts, participation in decision making and job satisfaction in European workers

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 875-892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salomé Goñi-Legaz ◽  
Andrea Ollo-López

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to establish to what extent temporary contract and participation in decision making impact on employees job satisfaction and to propose a model whereby participation in decision making mitigates against the negative impact that temporary work has on job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach The authors use data for a representative sample of 14,778 employees in 23 European countries. In order to test the hypotheses, the authors use regression models and the Chow test. Findings The results show that while temporary contracts decreases job satisfaction, participation in decision making increases it. However, autonomous teams, job autonomy, and job involvement buffer against the negative effect that temporary contract has on job satisfaction. Research limitations/implications The use of secondary data and the non-longitudinal nature of the data set. Practical implications The effect of participation in decision making in job satisfaction is greater for temporary workers than for permanents. Participation in decision making should not be restricted to permanent workers. Originality/value Participation in decision making and temporary contracts has been considered incompatible practices. The paper contributes to enrich the understanding of the relationship between these practices and job satisfaction. Sample representatives support the results obtained.

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 687-706
Author(s):  
Olaug Øygarden ◽  
Espen Olsen ◽  
Aslaug Mikkelsen

PurposeThis paper aims to fill gaps in one’s knowledge of the impact of organizational change on two outcomes relevant to hospital service quality (performance obstacles and physician job satisfaction) and in one’s knowledge of the role of middle manager change-oriented leadership in relation to the same outcomes. Further, the authors aim to identify how physician participation in decision-making is impacted by organizational change and change-oriented leadership, as well as how it mediates the relationships between these two variables, performance obstacles and job satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a cross-sectional survey design including data from Norwegian hospital physicians (N = 556). A hypothetical model was developed based on existing theory, confirmatory factor analysis was carried out in order to ensure the validity of measurement concepts, and the structural model was estimated using structural equation modelling.FindingsThe organizational changes in question were positively related to performance obstacles both directly and indirectly through participation in decision-making. Organizational change was also negatively related to job satisfaction, both directly and indirectly. Change-oriented leadership was negatively related to performance obstacles, but only indirectly through participation in decision-making, whereas it was positively related to job satisfaction both directly and indirectly.Originality/valueThe authors developed a theoretical model based on existing theory, but to their knowledge no other studies have tested these exact relationships within one model. These findings offer insights relevant to current and ongoing developments in the healthcare field and to the question of how hospitals may deal with continuous changes in ways that could contribute positively towards outcomes relevant to service quality.


2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 620-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Ollo-López ◽  
Alberto Bayo-Moriones ◽  
Martin Larraza-Kintana

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study how high-involvement work systems (HIWS) affect job satisfaction, and tries to disentangle the mechanisms through which the effect occurs. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use data for a representative sample of 10,112 Spanish employees. In order to test the mediation mechanism implied by the hypotheses, the authors follow the procedure outlined in Baron and Kenny (1986). Given the nature of the dependent variables, ordered probit models were estimated to study the effect of HIWS on the mediating variables (job interest, effort and wages), and regression models were estimated to analyze the effect of HIWS on the final attitudinal variable (job satisfaction). Findings – Empirical results show that HIWS results in higher levels of effort, higher wages and perceptions of a more interesting job. Moreover, greater involuntary physical effort reduces job satisfaction while higher wages, greater voluntary effort, involuntary mental effort and having an interesting job increase job satisfaction. The net effect of these opposing forces on job satisfaction is positive. Research limitations/implications – The use of secondary data posits some constrains in aspects such as the type of measures or the failure to control for personal traits. Additionally, the non-longitudinal nature of the data set implies that some relationships cannot be considered causal in the intended direction. Practical implications – Managers should implement HIWS since in general they increase job satisfaction. A significant portion of this positive effect is channeled through perceptions of interesting job, higher wages and increased effort demands. Managers should pay attention to implementation issues. Originality/value – The paper contributes to enrich the understanding of the relationship between the HIWS and job satisfaction, proposing a model that aims to disentangle the mediating mechanisms through which HIPWS affect job satisfaction. Unlike previous attempts, this model integrates opposing views about the positive or negative effects associated with HIWS.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaheh Behravesh ◽  
A. Mohammed Abubakar ◽  
Cem Tanova

PurposeAlthough there is general agreement that employee participation in decision-making (PDM) has individual and organizational benefits, an important question remains about the possibility that it may also have certain individual and organizational costs as well. This article presents an “episodic process model” that accounts for both the bright and possible dark sides of participation. The model explains how PDM might boost employee hope and self-efficacy, which in turn may lead to two distinct work outcomes–job satisfaction and behavior.Design/methodology/approachIn order to test the model, data (n = 269) were collected from bank employees in two waves. A variance-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was utilized to analyze the data.FindingsResults from variance-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) show that employee PDM indeed exerts a positive impact on positive psychological resource capacities: hope, self-efficacy and job satisfaction. Hope, in turn, has a positive influence on job satisfaction and a negative influence on job-search behavior. Bias-corrected bootstrapping analysis demonstrated that the relationship between employee PDM and job satisfaction is mediated by hope.Originality/valueInsights for practitioners in a developing economy and possible areas of future research are highlighted.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 671-690
Author(s):  
Arunima Rana ◽  
Ravi Shankar

Research methodology The case is written using secondary data sources (namely, research documents, press information, journal articles and published interviews). Publicly declared company information has further been leveraged to augment case facts. All information sources have been duly acknowledged in the reference section. Case overview/synopsis The case is written in the backdrop of COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the Indian retail industry, revolving around scenarios in which a multinational retailer has to decide on its long- and short-term strategy in such an economic crisis. The case story has been developed around Marks and Spencer’s retail venture in the Indian market. With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting business at various levels, with countries moving to lock down and economies shrinking to recessionary levels, one of the worst affected sectors is retail. The teaching case builds upon Mark and Spencer’s initial decision of not entering and extending its food/grocery business in India. While it remained a dominant player in Indian fashion retail for almost two decades, it needs to re-think its decision of entering food retail owing to a pandemic situation affecting its offline sales/store footfall and increasing competition from global fashion brands such as Zara and H&M that had flooded the Indian fashion retail sector. The case provides a context for students to perform environmental factor and competitor analysis for a sector, with special focus on decision making in a changing crisis scenario. Complexity academic level This case could be used in undergraduate and MBA classroom programme, across subjects such as retail management, marketing management, international business, international business environment and strategic business management. This case fits while discussing topics such as business environmental factors, competitor analysis, decision-making under crisis, market entry decision, omnichannel retail strategy, consumer behaviour and brand management.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 481-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geunpil Ryu ◽  
Seong-Gin Moon

Purpose This study aims to examine the effect of workplace learning experience and intrinsic learning motive on job satisfaction and organizational commitment. In addition, the study examined the moderating effect of intrinsic learning motives on the relationship between learning experience and job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Design/methodology/approach The current research used the Human Capital Corporate Panel survey data set, which aimed to explore how human resource development practices influence corporate performance. In all, 10,003 samples from 441 companies were used for data analysis. Findings Results indicate that taking part in workplace learning programs positively affects job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Likewise, intrinsic learning motives are also positively related to work attitudes. However, no interaction effect between the intrinsic learning motive and the learning experience was found, which may imply that an autonomous extrinsic learning motive is a better predictor for explaining job satisfaction than is a purely intrinsic learning motive within an organizational context. Originality/value Little research has examined the actual effect of workplace learning programs on employees’ attitudes regarding job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Furthermore, to the authors’ knowledge, no research has examined the moderating effect of intrinsic learning motive with workplace learning experience on employees’ positive work attitudes.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mayuree Sengupta

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand how Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the National Research Development Corporation, India, Hanumanthu Purushotham had facilitated a turnaround of the organization and ensured profitability during his tenure there. This is one of the series of interview-based studies that focuses on a South Asian CEO, with the goal of ascertaining his leadership and management style in a volatile situation. This brief paper expounds how leader traits and transformational leadership can positively impact an organizational turnaround and fuel growth.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses primary interviews and complements the findings with secondary data sources such as annual reports and management literature on leadership trait, transformational leadership and organizational turnaround.FindingsThe study found that socioeconomic factors have a bearing on leadership attributes. In this instance, the CMD's early years, diverse work experiences, bright traits and transformational leadership positively impacted organizational performance. Therefore, not only the qualifications but also the qualities of a leader are pivotal in shaping success of an organization.Originality/valueThe narrative provides an instance of how decision-making driven by strategic leadership can change firm performance. The rich experiences of the India-educated CMD, a government job holder all-through, provides a veteran's view to decision-making in a state-controlled firm and helps us understand how an organization can be transformed in a limited time and with scarce resources.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giri Aryal ◽  
John Mann ◽  
Scott Loveridge ◽  
Satish Joshi

Purpose The innovation creation literature primarily focuses on urban firms/regions or relies heavily on these data; less studied are rural firms and areas in this regard. The purpose of this paper is to employ a new firm-level data set, national in scale, and analyze characteristics that potentially influence innovation creation across rural and urban firms. Design/methodology/approach The authors use the 2014 National Survey of Business Competitiveness (NSBC) covering multiple firm-level variables related to innovation creation combined with secondary data reflecting the regional business and innovative environments where these firms operate. The number of patent applications filed by these firms measures their innovation creation, and the paper employs a negative binomial regression estimation for analysis. Findings After controlling for industry, county and state factors, rural and urban firms differ in their innovation creation characteristics and behaviors, suggesting that urban firms capitalize on their resources better than rural firms. Other major findings of the paper provide evidence that: first, for rural firms, the influence of university R&D is relevant to innovation creation, but their perception of university-provided information is not significant; and second, rural firms that are willing to try, but fail, in terms of innovation creation have a slight advantage over other rural firms less willing to take on the risk. Originality/value This paper is one of the first to analyze the 2014 NSBC, a firm-level national survey covering a wide range of innovation-related variables. The authors combine it with other regional secondary data, and use appropriate analytical modeling to provide empirical evidence of influencing factors on innovation creation across rural and urban firms.


2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (12) ◽  
pp. 1702-1721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanqiong He ◽  
Hongyi Sun ◽  
Wenbin Ni ◽  
Stephen C.H. Ng

Purpose The importance of supplier integration (SI) in improving firms’ performance has been previously identified but the effects of SI are complicated, as the relationship between supplier and buyer is full of uncertainty. The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the effects of SI on operations performance from a relational view. Design/methodology/approach Two strategies of integrating suppliers are theoretically presented: information sharing and joint decision making. Hypotheses are then developed on when SI influences operations performance, using product complexity and competitive intensity as moderating factors. The hypotheses are tested using a global survey data set, made up of 763 manufacturing firms from 22 countries. Findings The results indicate a positive relationship between SI and operations performance and that the moderating roles of product complexity and competition intensity are significant, but product complexity does not have significant moderation effects on the relationships between joint decision making and product quality/cost reduction. Research limitations/implications The moderators of product complexity and competitive intensity are not comprehensive. Future study into how and under what circumstances SI has the greatest effect will be of benefit. Originality/value This study makes theoretical contributions by exploring the strategies of SI through a relational view, and examining the effects of SI through the moderating roles of product complexity and competition intensity.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 337-362
Author(s):  
Gwyneth Edwards ◽  
Abdulrahman Chikhouni ◽  
Rick Molz

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the relative institutional distance of the subsidiary from the multinational enterprise (MNE) headquarters influences job satisfaction in the subsidiary. The authors argue that job satisfaction in the MNE subsidiary will be influenced by the institutional distance between the firm’s home (headquarter) and host (subsidiary) countries, such that the greater the institutional distance, the less satisfied the subsidiary employees. The authors also argue that the degree of function interdependence (global vs local roles) will moderate this relationship, such that high interdependence will result in lower job satisfaction as distance increases. Design/methodology/approach Using data from a global high-tech Canadian MNE, consisting of over 15,000 employees located in 19 subsidiaries, the research undertakes an empirical investigation that identifies if and how job satisfaction varies between countries and tests the influence of subsidiary-level institutional distance from the headquarters on subsidiary-level job satisfaction, using a multilevel model. Findings The results demonstrate that subsidiary distance from the headquarters has a complex effect on subsidiary-level job satisfaction; in some distances, no effect is found, while in others, either some or all job satisfaction facets are affected (depending on the distance and facet) in both positive and negative ways. Unlike much of the past research on distance, which has treated distance as a barrier to be overcome or reduce (Stahl et al., 2016), the paper’s finding demonstrate that “negative” distance operates independently (and at varying strengths and significance) than “positive” distance, due to underlying mechanisms. Research limitations/implications There is a real opportunity to push ahead on linking international business strategy research with organizational theory and organizational behavior research. To do so, it requires not only a positive organizational scholarship approach (Stahl et al., 2016) but also methods that will allow researchers to study the influence of distance on mechanisms and processes, as opposed to stand-alone variables. The authors therefore suggest that future work in this area pursue qualitative methods as called for by Chapman et al. (2008). Practical implications Findings are surprising, in that results vary across job facets and distances. Practitioners need to therefore focus on the mechanisms that influence job satisfaction, not just differences and their potential negative impact. Originality/value The firm-level study provides a rich perspective on the complex way in which country-level differences influence subsidiary-level job satisfaction.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 1000-1013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Awais Bhatti ◽  
Norazuwa Mat ◽  
Ariff Syah Juhari

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of work engagement (vigor and dedication) between job resources (job characteristics, supervisor and co-worker support, participation in decision making and job security) and job performance (task and contextual) rated by the supervisor. Design/methodology/approach A sample of 364 nurses and their supervisors was used. Structural equation modeling with Amos 17 was used to obtain a model fit with path significance of work engagement as the mediator between job resources and job performance. Findings The results found support for the proposed conceptual claim and confirm that work engagement with a two-factor model (vigor and dedication) mediates the relationship between job resources (job characteristics, supervisor and co-worker support, participation in decision making and job security) and with a multidimensional construct of job performance (task and contextual performance) rated by the supervisor. Practical implications The findings of this research will help human resource managers and professionals to further develop the working environment, provide job security and opportunities for employees to participate in decision making in a way that enhances employee work engagement, which, ultimately, improves employee job performance. Originality/value Past studies have not previously tested the two-factor model of work engagement (vigor and dedication) as the mediating variable between job resources (job characteristics, supervisor and co-worker support, participation in decision making and job security) and job performance rated by the supervisor.


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