Homesickness: a comparative study of defense and civilian employees and individual differences

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Naval Garg ◽  
B.K. Punia ◽  
Vanshikha Kakkar ◽  
Sarika Kumari

Purpose Most of the studies in the field of homesickness are confined to students; this study aims to explore the feeling of homesickness among working professionals. Also, it tends to examine individual differences in the experience of homesickness across employees of different gender, ages, experience, family type, etc. The study also aspires to compare homesickness among military and civil employees. Design/methodology/approach The study explores five dimensions of homesickness, namely, missing family, missing friend, rumination about home, feeling lonely and adjustment problems. The collected data is subjected to reliability, validity and confirmatory factor analysis. Further, t-test and analysis of variance are used to explore homesickness differences across soldiers and corporate employees. Findings The study reveals that homesickness is significantly higher for employees in the male, unmarried, nuclear family, above the age of 45 years, and below the graduation category. Also, defense people experience more homesickness than civilian employees. Originality/value This study is one of the pioneer studies that compare homesickness among defense and civilian employees. Also, variables such as type of family, the experience of employees and marital status have hardly been explored in the literature of homesickness.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xujia Wang ◽  
Billy Sung ◽  
Ian Phau

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate how exclusivity and rarity (natural versus virtual) influence consumers' perceptions of luxury. Further, it examines whether exclusivity and rarity can function as distinct marketing strategies in today's luxury market environment.Design/methodology/approachOnline questionnaires were administered by adapting developed scales from prior research. Research stimuli were chosen from three luxury categories including bags, wine and cruise. Confirmatory factor analysis and multiple regressions were used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results confirmed that exclusivity, natural rarity and virtual rarity were perceived as relatively distinct constructs among our sample. Findings also highlighted that perceived natural rarity (PNR) has consistently emerged as a positive and significant contributor to consumers' perceptions of luxury across all three luxury categories. The influence of perceived exclusivity (PE) on perceptions of luxury has also shown to be significant for two product categories (luxury bag and luxury wine), whereas perceived virtual rarity (PVR) did not show any significant effects across all three categories.Practical implicationsThe results indicate that consumers perceive natural rarity, virtual rarity and exclusivity as relatively distinctive marketing strategies. This suggests that luxury businesses can adopt each strategy independently to achieve desired marketing outcomes.Originality/valueThis study offers theoretical support for the proposition that exclusivity and rarity may have different functions in luxury marketing implementations. It provides empirical evidence showing the distinctiveness of perceived exclusivity and perceived rarity, which have not be done in previous research.


Author(s):  
Aviv Kidron ◽  
Shay S. Tzafrir ◽  
Ilan Meshoulam

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a scale for measuring internal integration within human resource management (HRM) departments, which is developed and validated in this paper. Thus far, no valid, comprehensive operational instrument for measuring HRM internal integration has been introduced in the literature. Design/methodology/approach The scale items were developed on the basis of a qualitative analysis. The authors recruited 233 HRM professionals from 29 organizations to participate in the survey. In this paper, the authors present evidence of content validity, internal consistency reliability and construct validity that provides support for the use of an HRM internal integration scale. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to determine the underlying factors that comprise HRM internal integration, while confirmatory factor analysis was used as a confirmatory test of the scale. Findings The results of this study led to the development of a standardized 34-item instrument that can be used for measuring HRM internal integration. Originality/value The use of the scale opens up a new research avenue by focusing on the nature of integration processes, particularly within HRM systems. The scale will allow studies to be compared across various contexts.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Joana Gadotti dos Anjos ◽  
Jéssica Vieira de Souza Meira ◽  
Melise de Lima Pereira ◽  
Pablo Flôres Limberger

Purpose Some recent research studies in tourism have focused on the quality of the destination. The purpose of this paper is to identify and test the quality attributes of the destination of Jericoacoara, Brazil, in order to contribute to theoretical and empirical knowledge of the subject. Design/methodology/approach This study is exploratory and descriptive in nature, with a quantitative approach, and uses questionnaires administered to 391 tourists in Jericoacoara. Data were analyzed through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Findings Results showed that the most important factor in assessing the quality of the destination is service, followed by the factors accommodation, management, destination, and, lastly, attractions. Originality/value This study is a theoretical and empirical contribution to the debate on destiny quality and a management tool for strategic planning.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 1020-1032
Author(s):  
Teena Bharti ◽  
Santosh Rangnekar

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to validate the short version of personal optimism and self-efficacy optimism scale developed by Gavrilov-Jerkovic et al. (2014) on a sample of 398 employees working in private and public sector organizations in India. Design/methodology/approach The study needs to test the psychometric properties of the Indian version of scale by using exploratory factor analysis, convergent validity, discriminant validity and confirmatory factor analysis. Findings The results supported for the two-dimensional factor-structure of optimism in consonance with Gavrilov-Jerkovic et al. (2014). Research limitations/implications The findings will benefit both the management and the employees. Also, the study expands the existing literature on the variable in the Indian context. Originality/value The work validates and provides a unique instrument to measure the employee optimism that can help the management and the employees to focus on themselves to increase the positivity to provide an innovative and creative environment. Also, the work supplements the existing literature on positive attitude or outcome expectancies and helps in establishing the bi-dimensional nature of the construct of optimism.


2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 430-459
Author(s):  
Hisham Hamid Hawass

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a scale to empirically measure the self-centered leadership SCL pattern in Arab organizations. Design/methodology/approach This paper depends on two Egyptian samples. It has conducted exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and multiple regression analyses to generate the proposed SCL measurement scale. Findings The analyses have revealed that the new measurement scale is valid and reliable. They have also confirmed the multidimensional structure of the self-centered leadership construct. Originality/value The Arab leadership literature is in short of scales which take into consideration the specialties of the Arab cultures. Therefore, this study fills a lacuna in international research which examines Arab leadership behaviors from a culture-bound perspective.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Salaheldeen ◽  
Mohamed Battour ◽  
Muhamad Azrin Nazri ◽  
Ummi Salwa Ahmad Bustamam ◽  
Azreen Jihan Che Mohd Hashim

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how Halal entrepreneurs perceive success and accordingly develop a novel scale to measure Halal entrepreneurship success. Design/methodology/approach A sequential mixed methodology was used to develop the Halal entrepreneurship success scale (HESS). The qualitative phase began with a literature review to gain insights into (Halal) entrepreneurship success and identify gaps. Ten respondents were then interviewed to understand how they perceive success. The scale items were then generated based on insights from the literature and the interview findings. The quantitative phase was carried out in two cycles. In the first cycle, a questionnaire was developed and pilot data were collected from a representative sample of 100 respondents. In the second cycle, the revised scale was tested on 300 respondents to confirm its final items and dimensions. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used in the quantitative phase. Findings The final HESS scale contains 24 items divided into four dimensions: Islamic success (seven items), economic success (six items), social success (five items) and environmental success (six items). Originality/value This scale is perhaps the first to measure entrepreneurial success in its association with religion. It is expected to be a useful contribution to entrepreneurship theory and the Halal industry. The paper presents a foundation for future works on how to define the measures of success of Halal entrepreneurs.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaganpreet Singh ◽  
Neeraj Pandey

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the celebrity-brand association from a different perspective. Design/methodology/approach This study uses exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and binary logistic regression. Findings This study conceptualizes celebrity-owned brands (COBs). It statistically validates the complimentary and synergistic effects of six inter-related but distinct factors that are likely to influence a buyer’s willingness to pay price premium for COBs. Originality/value This study makes a novel attempt by analysing the celebrity-brand relationship from a different perspective. The paper deviates from the traditional and widely researched linkage of a celebrity with a brand through endorsement.


Author(s):  
Aristides I Ferreira ◽  
Luis F. Martinez ◽  
Cary Cooper ◽  
Diana M. Gui

Purpose – Some underlying mechanisms regarding presenteeism still remain unclear, namely, the construct of “presenteeism climate” and the importance of “leadership” Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) for presenteeism. In order to shed some light into this phenomenon, the purpose of this paper is to develop and apply a new scale of presenteeism climate. Design/methodology/approach – In Study 1, the authors identified a pool of items from the literature and, in Study 2 (n=147) the authors tested 26 items that were pilot studied with exploratory factor analysis. In Study 3 (n=293) the authors tested a three-factor model – extra-time valuation, supervision distrust and co-workers competitiveness – with confirmatory factor analysis. Findings – Results showed that LMX has a negative correlation with presenteeism climate. Study 3 also showed that this structure remained invariant with additional samples from employees working in hospitals from Ecuador (n=90) and China (n=237). Finally, the authors included suggestions for future studies to overcome the limitations of this research. Practical implications – This study has implications for managers and academics, as it emphasizes the importance of favorable behaviors between leaders and employees in order to decrease presenteeism and its adverse consequences. Originality/value – The main contribution consists of identifying dimensions of presenteeism climate and developing measures. Additionally, the authors contribute to the literature on leadership by studying the influence of LMX on presenteeism climate.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-287
Author(s):  
Thea Vinnicombe ◽  
Yu Chen Wu

PurposeTo date, researchers examining the motivations of volunteers at festivals and events have used a range of measurement indexes, most of which appear to have common antecedents in the psychology literature. It is not clear if different events actually require different scales, or if individual scales are more generalizable than is currently recognized so that the proliferation of scales is largely an academic exercise. The current study takes a preliminary step in exploring this issue by using an existing scale developed to measure the motivations of volunteers at western sporting events to examine the motivations of volunteers at a music festival in China.Design/methodology/approachThe Volunteer Motivation Scale for International Sporting Events (VMS-ISE) is administered to volunteers at the Midi Music Festival in China. The 467 respondents are divided into two subgroups. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is applied to the first subsample to explore the factor structure of the index. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is then applied to the second subsample to test the factor structure of the resolved scale.FindingsThe results of the EFA are promising, yielding a resolved factor structure, which is very close to the hypothesized index. The resolved scale is reasonably well supported by the subsequent CFA.Originality/valueThe findings suggest it may be possible for researchers to use a smaller number of scales on a larger range of festivals leading to a better understanding of similarities and differences in motivations across event volunteers. The results should also be helpful to festival organizers in their continuing efforts to recruit volunteers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 1571-1590
Author(s):  
Preeti Dwivedi ◽  
Vijit Chaturvedi ◽  
Jugal Kishore Vashist

PurposeThis research aims to examine the influence of transformational leadership on employee efficiency. The research also examines the role of knowledge sharing as a mediator between transformational leadership and employee efficiency.Design/methodology/approachThe research is based on the survey conducted among 200 employees of logistics firms. Exploratory Factor analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) approaches are used for the evaluation.FindingsThe study found that transformational leadership has positive and significant influence on employee efficiency. The research also demonstrates that after introducing knowledge sharing, it fully mediated the influence of transformational leadership on employee efficiency. The study suggests that, if leaders share their knowledge and expertise among the team, employees have a propensity to be highly effective and efficient than without knowledge sharing.Research limitations/implicationsBlue collar staff and unskilled labors of the firms are not included in the study. So, the study is limited to white collar staff only which can further be expanded by considering other ground staff. Also few or no such researches have been conducted in logistics firms, particularly in Indian logistics firms. So, the result of this study can be used as reference to explore the area. This study can be replicated in the logistics firms of other regions also.Practical implicationsThe finding of the study will help the top management of the organizations to formulate strategies to enhance its senior-subordinate relationship through knowledge sharing. The study also suggests that regular dissemination of knowledge among the team improves the efficiency of the team members and hence the performance of the organization.Originality/valueThis research examines the degree to which knowledge sharing acts as a mediator between transformational leadership and employee efficiency, which has not been found in previous studies.


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