scholarly journals Emotions in leaders’ enactment of professional agency

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Päivi Hökkä ◽  
Katja Vähäsantanen ◽  
Susanna Paloniemi ◽  
Sanna Herranen ◽  
Anneli Eteläpelto

Purpose Although there has been an increase in workplace studies on professional agency, few of these have examined the role of emotions in the enactment of agency at work. To date, professional agency has been mainly conceptualised as a goal-oriented, rational activity aimed at influencing a current state of affairs. Challenged by this, this study aims to elaborate the nature and quality of emotions and how they might be connected to the enactment of professional agency. Design/methodology/approach Data are collected in the context of a leadership coaching programme that aimed to promote the leaders’ professional agency over the course of a year. The participants (11 middle-management leaders working in university and hospital contexts) were interviewed before and after the programme, and the data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Findings Findings showed that emotions played an important role in the leaders’ enactment of professional agency, as it pertained to their work and to their professional identity. The study suggests that enacting professional agency is by no means a matter of purely rational actions. Practical implications The study suggests that emotional agency can be learned and enhanced through group-based interventions reflecting on and processing one’s own professional roles and work. Originality/value As a theoretical conclusion, the study argues that professional agency should be reconceptualised in such a way as to acknowledge the importance of emotions (one’s own and those of one’s fellow workers) in practising agency within organisational contexts.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anwar Sadat Shimul ◽  
Matthew Barber ◽  
Mohammad Ishmam Abedin

Purpose This paper aims to examine the role of religiosity on consumers’ forgiveness when celebrities get involved in transgression. The celebrity’s reaction and its impact on consumers’ forgiveness is tested as well. In addition, consumers’ attitudes towards the brand and celebrity as well as purchase intention for the endorsed brand are examined both before and after the transgression. Design/methodology/approach Data (n = 356) were collected through a self-administered online survey and analysed though structural equation modelling in AMOS 26. Findings The results show that consumers’ attitude towards celebrity, brand and purchase intention gets weaker once the celebrity gets into transgression. Consumers tend to forgive more if the celebrity apologises (vs denies) for the wrongdoing. The hypothesised relationship between attitude towards celebrity and purchase intention did not sustain after the transgression. In addition, consumers’ intrinsic religiosity strengthens the relationship between attitude towards the celebrity and purchase intention. Practical implications The findings of this research present valuable implications for brands practitioners. Brands should formulate actionable contingency plans to mitigate the negative ramifications of celebrity transgressions. Specifically, intrinsic religiosity and celebrity apologies should assist consumers in forgiving the transgression and negate the implications that could have arisen if the celebrity instead denied the transgressions. Originality/value This research extends the previous research by examining religiosity and forgiveness within the context of celebrity transgressions. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first few research studies to consider the role religiosity plays in consumers’ intention to forgive celebrity transgressions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 176-191
Author(s):  
Peter Omondi-Ochieng

Purpose Guided by the resource-based theory, the purpose of this study was to predict the role of football talent in the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) rankings of the men’s national football teams in the Copa America zone. Design/methodology/approach The study used archival data of Copa American national football teams. The dependent variable was FIFA rankings, and the independent variables were football talent (measured by the stocks of amateur footballers, professional footballers and football officials). Statistical analysis was performed using Kendall tau statistic and binary logistic regression. Findings The binary logistic regression results indicated that FIFA rankings were statistically and significantly associated with the stock of football officials and professional footballers – but not amateur footballers. The predictive model explained 80 per cent of the variance. Research limitations/implications The study focused exclusively on the stock of football talent in each nation, and not alternative determinants of national football team competitiveness as economic power and quality of professional football leagues, among others. Practical implications The stocks of professional footballers and football officials are valuable sources of competitive advantage (CA) in national football team rankings. Originality/value The study highlighted the uniqueness and distinctiveness of a nation possessing large stocks of professional footballers which can boost the CA and rankings of Copa American national football teams.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Siti Raba’ah Hamzah ◽  
Siti Nur Syuhada Musa ◽  
Zulaiha Muda ◽  
Maimunah Ismail

Purpose This study aims at investigating the relationship between the quality of working life and career engagement of cancer survivors and the mediating role of the effect of disease and treatment. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 cancer survivors in Malaysia. The participants, aged between 18 and 40, were Malaysian citizens undergoing follow-up sessions at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital and the National Cancer Institute of Malaysia. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation coefficient and regression analysis that implemented Baron and Kenny’s method for mediation were used for analyses. Findings The effect of treatment and disease was found to significantly mediate the relationship between quality of work-life and career engagement of cancer survivors. Research limitations/implications The instrument for this study was a self-reported questionnaire, with participants responding to specific items on a five-point Likert scale under the supervision of the researchers. As results from the survey were subjective in nature, the bias in the participants could not be eliminated completely. This study was also limited to the two main parameters, namely, quality of working life and career engagement and a mediator, namely, effects of the disease and treatment. Moreover, as the survey was conducted in only two hospitals in the Klang Valley area, the results cannot be generalized to other cancer survivors in other regions of Malaysia. Practical implications The results of this study indicated that the mediating role of the effects of disease and treatment on the relationship of the quality of working life subscales with career engagement. Practical implications, cancer survivor consciousness of the effects of disease and treatment is very important and should be addressed and could be notable to improve the quality of working life. Originality/value This study gives valuable insight to managers and practitioners by investigating the relationship between the quality of working life and career engagement and mediates by the effects of disease and treatment. The findings highlight the challenges cancer survivors face on their return to working life. The findings also highlight the need for management to take steps to help cancer survivors cope with career engagement for better work performance.


2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rick Brown ◽  
Samantha Gillespie

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the problems that arise when undertaking a financial investigation that involves tracing assets in foreign jurisdictions. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a secondary analysis of data collected as part of a qualitative study of the role of financial investigation in tackling organised crime. This was based on interviews with investigating officers, financial investigators and Crown Prosecution Service representatives associated with 60 cases. Of the 60 cases, 36 were found to have an international dimension. Findings – The study found a number of problems with undertaking overseas financial investigations. These included problems with the letter of request process, difficulties tracking assets in some countries and problems with tracing funds transferred through money service bureaux. Informal contact on a police-to-police basis was generally considered an effective means of improving the quality of information received. Research limitations/implications – This study is based on just 60 cases of organised crime in which financial investigation was used. The extent to which these findings can be generalised to other cases is unclear. Practical implications – The study highlights the most common obstacles to overseas financial investigation that should be addressed. In addition, the importance of informal contact with overseas police jurisdictions may highlight a means of improving requests for assistance. Originality/value – This paper provides an important insight into the views of operational staff undertaking overseas financial investigations and as such highlights the particular difficulties in this work.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 169-172
Author(s):  
Stacy Clifford Simplican

Purpose This paper challenges the value of consensus within the field of learning disability. In this commentary, the author argues that consensus threatens to silence multiple viewpoints, hides how power operates and stifles creativity. Design/methodology/approach The author focuses on two articles within this special issue to suggest that the consensus celebrated is more about a set of shared values, rather than a set of shared practices. This should make us question the depth of the field’s consensus. Findings The presumption that multiple paradigms can be “unified” actually hides how power operates to resolve disagreements among positive behaviour support, active support and human rights approaches. A similar erasure occurs in the language of “capable environments,” which the author argues obscures the role of individuals, relationships and organizational cultures in impacting quality of life. Research limitations/implications We need to create and build a new interdisciplinary field of challenging behaviour studies that is willing to embrace conflict and disagreement in research, policy and practice. Practical implications The author believes that this approach is more likely to empower people, including people with learning disabilities whose behaviour challenges, family members, and direct support workers because it is more likely to recognize their experiences and expertise. Originality/value A new multidisciplinary field of challenging behaviour studies may encourage more theoretical diversity that makes us challenge the value of consensus and embrace creativity.


2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 396-408
Author(s):  
Mohit Yadav ◽  
Santosh Rangnekar ◽  
Anugamini Priya Srivastava

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of quality of work life (QWL) on organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) of employees. Also, the paper examines the role of demographic variables, i.e. gender, position and type of organization as moderators of relationship between QWL and OCB. Design/methodology/approach A survey with sample of 375 was used in this study. PROCESS tool by Hayes (2013) was used to analyze the relation between QWL, OCB and demographic variables. Findings QWL was found to positively influence OCB. Gender and type of organization were found to moderate the relationship, whereas position failed to moderate the relation significantly. Practical implications The study reinforced the significance of QWL practices by organizations to improve extra-role behaviours of employees. Also, importance of considering gender and the industry you are in is emphasized in using and designing the QWL programme for employees. Originality/value While many antecedents have been studied in relation to OCB, QWL is rarely discussed. The paper attempts to reemphasize QWL’s importance in doing so in light of demographic variables as moderators.


2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasaman Gholami ◽  
Seyed Hassan Taghvaei ◽  
Saeid Norouzian-Maleki ◽  
Rouhollah Mansouri Sepehr

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to quantitatively evaluate the role of landscape values and factors in urban parks experimentally based on neuroscience.Design/methodology/approachIn the first step, ten major parks were selected out of 59 regional and trans-regional parks in Tehran for field study analysis. Next, considering the diversity and abundance of landscape elements in the selected parks, Mellat Park was chosen for the case study.FindingsThe fixation duration of the factors has an average correlation coefficient of 0.5865, −0.5035 and −0.5125 for the overall sketch map, quality and accuracy, respectively. The results indicated that the “quality of people's cognitive maps” has a direct relation to fixation duration on “human-made factors” and an inverse relation to fixation duration on “natural factors” and “human activities and behavioral factors” in the park.Practical implicationsThe results can pave the way for further research in the interdisciplinary fields of landscape architecture and neuroscience.Originality/valueLegibility is a superior quality of urban spaces that profoundly affect how people perceive and behave.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chien-Chih Kuo ◽  
Chih-Ying Wu ◽  
Chia-Wu Lin

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of supervisor gossip in the workplace. This paper proposes a hypothetical model in which supervisor gossip has an effect on leader-member exchange (LMX), in turn resulting in perceived supervisor ostracism among subordinates. Design/methodology/approach A dyadic research design was applied to collect data from Taiwanese employees. Supervisors participated in a survey containing measures of supervisor gossip and control variables, whereas subordinates responded to a questionnaire on LMX, perceived supervisor ostracism, and control variables. Findings The results indicated that positive supervisor gossip significantly affected LMX. Furthermore, healthy LMX reduced subordinates’ perceptions of supervisor ostracism. Research limitations/implications All participants were recruited in Taiwan, which is a limitation for generalising the research findings. Future studies should investigate multiple societies of various cultural profiles. Practical implications To improve the quality of the supervisor-subordinate relationship, supervisors should adopt a positive informal communication style, and organisations should provide supervisors with information regarding the implications of workplace gossip, illustrating the substantial benefits of positive gossip and the potential drawbacks of negative gossip. Originality/value The present study highlighted the role of supervisor workplace gossip in the field of leadership and empirically investigated the impact of supervisor gossip on subordinates’ reactions.


2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. 1317-1331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Rubino ◽  
Filippo Vitolla ◽  
Antonello Garzoni

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze, through an empirical study, the Italian network agreements in order to evaluate how the activities and attitudes of the network managers impact on export intensity. Design/methodology/approach Using the data of a questionnaire survey from 182 Italian firms that have joined the network in 2012; regression analysis was applied to test the hypotheses related to the network managers. Findings The results indicate that planning activity performed by the network manager is the most significant variable that positively influences the export intensity. Also the international experience and social and relational activities performed by the network managers influence the level of exports. Network managers’ perceived advantages and barriers have a different impact on the dependent variable. Practical implications The analysis of the role played by network managers helps to increase the awareness that the success of the network depends on the quality of the network managers’ activities and their attitudes and characteristics. The results suggest that in every network should be present the figure of the network manager. Originality/value This research is one of the first studies to analyze the Italian network agreements and role of network managers. Second, from a theoretical standpoint, the authors add to the existing literature a specific analysis that relates primarily to small firms, showing that, in this context the results are not always consistent with prior studies.


2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minna Stenius ◽  
Nelli Hankonen ◽  
Niklas Ravaja ◽  
Ari Haukkala

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of motivation for knowledge sharing (KS) by assessing how four qualitatively different motivation types, as per self-determination theory (SDT), predict KS, its quality and its undesirable counterpart, knowledge withholding. Design/methodology/approach The study was carried out as a survey (n = 200) in an expert organization. The analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling. Findings Autonomous type of extrinsic motivation (identified motivation) was the strongest predictor of KS (in work meetings) and its quality, whereas the other motivation types (intrinsic, introjected and external) had no independent contribution to variance in KS. Knowledge withholding was negatively associated with identified and positively with external KS motivation. Research limitations/implications Single organization limits the generalizability of the results. Future studies should further investigate the role of identified motivation for various KS behaviors. Practical implications The findings suggest that autonomy-supportive management practices known to facilitate self-determined behavior can improve KS. Fostering external motivation by incentivizing KS may be both ineffective and have undesirable consequences. Originality/value Few prior studies investigate KS motivation beyond external and intrinsic motivation or apply SDT to KS using SDT-based scales. This study distinguishes between four different motivation types and is the first to investigate their differential impact on KS and its quality. It is also the first to demonstrate the importance of identified motivation for KS. It further elucidates how the quality of KS motivation is reflected in knowledge withholding, an overall underinvestigated behavior.


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