Using workplace changes as learning opportunities

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Hetzner ◽  
Helmut Heid ◽  
Hans Gruber

Purpose – This paper aims to contribute to an understanding of how individual characteristics and perceived contextual conditions shape reflection in professional work, particularly in workplaces that provide a variety of work experiences related to changes. The authors examine the effects of personal initiative, self-efficacy and perceived psychological safety in work relations with colleagues and supervisors on individuals’ reflection at work. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 84 client advisors who had recently been affected by major changes in retail banking workplaces participated in the study. The participants completed a questionnaire consisting of instruments to map their self-rated personal initiative, self-efficacy beliefs, reflection at work and perception of psychological safety in work relations with colleagues and supervisors. The data were analysed by performing correlation analyses and hierarchical regression analyses. Findings – The results revealed that both individuals’ personal initiative and self-efficacy significantly positively affect reflection at work. An individual’s perception of psychological safety – particularly among peers – positively predicts reflection. Originality/value – This paper enriches the research on reflection in professional work, particularly against the backdrop of workplace changes. This is done by emphasising the power of individuals’ proactive role and initiative-taking work behaviour; positive beliefs in their own capabilities, e.g. managing the various opportunities involved in workplace changes; and their perception of a psychologically safe environment within a work group that is characterised by interpersonal trust, mutual respect and supportive cooperation.

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 730-744 ◽  
Author(s):  
Swati Hans ◽  
Ritu Gupta

Purpose Shared leadership is characterized by exercising lateral leadership influence depending upon the task and the adroitness required for the task. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of job characteristics on shared leadership and explore the moderating effects of perceived self-efficacy, and psychological safety on the relationship between job characteristics and shared leadership. Design/methodology/approach The authors applied hierarchical regression and social network analysis using a sample of 23 teams consisting 219 employees from an Indian-based multinational BPO. Findings Results indicate that skill variety, task significance, autonomy and feedback are significant precursors for shared leadership, and psychological safety and perceived self-efficacy act as moderators. Research limitations/implications The study extends the literature associated with job characteristics in relation to shared leadership. Managers can encourage shared leadership using job design and by creating a psychologically safe environment to enhance performance of the team. The cross-sectional nature of the study and data from a single organization question the generalizability of the results. Originality/value The authors provide an initial understanding of the impact of job characteristics in a team for the development of shared leadership, which has not been studied so far. Also, psychological safety and self-efficacy of individuals in teams have not been explored in the past, moderating the job characteristics and shared leadership relationship.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 214-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benedetta Bellò ◽  
Veronica Mattana ◽  
Michela Loi

Purpose Although the role of creativity in the entrepreneurial process has long been analysed, only recently scholars have begun addressing its influence on entrepreneurial intentions, showing that complex dynamics characterise this relationship. The purpose of this paper is to understand the surrounding mechanisms (moderation and mediation) that connect creativity to entrepreneurial intentions, with a focus on social context and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Design/methodology/approach A structured questionnaire was administered to a sample of 507 students from 17 to 21 years old. The effect of creativity on entrepreneurial intentions and the moderating role of social context were tested with a three-step hierarchical regression, while the mediating effect of self-efficacy was tested by a multiple regression analysis based on the bootstrapping method. Findings The results reveal that: peers who encourage entrepreneurship moderate the relationship between creativity and entrepreneurial intentions by strengthening this relationship, and entrepreneurial self-efficacy mediates the relationship between creativity and entrepreneurial intentions. Research limitations/implications In light of these results, institutions should draw attention to how creative potential in students differs in order to provide new educational programmes to strengthen self-efficacy in entrepreneurial students and support encouraging social context of peers in which entrepreneurial intentions can be fostered. Originality/value The study, by responding to the suggestions of conducting research on the interface between creativity and entrepreneurship (Shane and Nicolaou, 2015), brings new empirical details regarding the mechanisms that link creativity to entrepreneurial intentions. Furthermore, it casts light on the interaction between dispositional and social variables, showing the crucial role of peers in enhancing the interaction between creativity and intentions.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amjad Iqbal ◽  
Tahira Nazir ◽  
Muhammad Shakil Ahmad

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to determine the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership and employee innovative behavior and examine mediating role of affective commitment, creative self-efficacy and psychological safety in this relationship.Design/methodology/approachUsing cross-sectional research design, data were collected from 343 employees of information technology (IT) service firms in Pakistan. Partial least squares–structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique was applied to test the proposed research model.FindingsThe findings reveal that entrepreneurial leadership is strongly and positively related to employee innovative behavior. Moreover, affective commitment, creative self-efficacy and psychological safety simultaneously mediate this relationship.Practical implicationsThis study uncovers the important role of entrepreneurial leadership in driving employee innovative behavior in high-tech services industry. Findings of this study suggest that by practicing entrepreneurial behaviors, managers can enhance employees' affective commitment, creative self-efficacy and psychological safety, which invoke employees to demonstrate innovative behavior leading toward improved innovation performance at organizational level.Originality/valueThis research makes novel contribution to entrepreneurial leadership theory by using competing theoretical perspectives and subsequently providing more nuanced picture of the contrasting mechanisms that transmit the impact of entrepreneurial leadership on employee innovative behavior.


2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-133
Author(s):  
Giang Hoang ◽  
Thuy Thu Thi Le ◽  
Anh Kim Thi Tran ◽  
Tuan Du

PurposeThis study aims to explore the mediating roles of self-efficacy and learning orientation in the relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions of university students in Vietnam.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected from an online survey of 1,021 university students in Vietnam. The authors conducted a hierarchical regression analysis to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe results of hierarchical regression analysis reveal that entrepreneurship education positively affects entrepreneurial intentions, and this relationship is mediated by both learning orientation and self-efficacy.Research limitations/implicationsThis study confirms the importance of entrepreneurship education in encouraging university students' entrepreneurial intentions.Practical implicationsThis study offers practical implications for universities and policy makers.Social implicationsThis study is one of the first to empirically examine the concept of entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intentions in an Asia-Pacific context.Originality/valueThis study emphasises the significance of entrepreneurship education and its effects on university students' entrepreneurial intentions. Furthermore, the findings confirm that self-efficacy and learning orientation play an important part in explaining how entrepreneurship education relates to entrepreneurial intentions.


2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 986-1002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soojin Lee ◽  
Yongsu Yoo ◽  
Seokhwa Yun

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify factors that facilitate individual knowledge sharing. Specifically, the authors investigated the roles of coworker support and individual characteristics, i.e., exchange ideology and learning orientation on knowledge sharing. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from questionnaires distributed to employees and their direct supervisors in two companies in South Korea. Hierarchical regression analyses and simple slope test were performed to test the hypotheses. Findings – Coworker support and learning orientation is positively but exchange ideology is negatively related to knowledge sharing. Furthermore, when coworker support is low, knowledge sharing is mainly dependent on each individual’s characteristics. However, when coworker support is high, employees showed high level of knowledge sharing irrespective of their individual characteristics. Research limitations/implications – This study suggested that the support from coworker as well as individuals’ characteristics plays an important role in determining their knowledge sharing behaviors. Moreover, the authors found the significant interaction effects of coworker support and individual characteristics on knowledge sharing, drawing on insights from trait activation theory. Practical implications – For organizations to encourage individual knowledge sharing behaviors, they may need to maintain the work environment that encourages the peer workers to support each other. Originality/value – Although many actions have been adopted to foster knowledge management in organizations, employees may still be reluctant to share their knowledge. This paper highlights not only the main effects of coworker support and individual differences but also the interaction effect between them in facilitating knowledge sharing.


2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 347-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam K. Baumgärtner ◽  
Stephan A. Böhm ◽  
David J.G. Dwertmann

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to follow the call of researchers to take intrapersonal resources into account when trying to understand the influence of interpersonal resources by investigating the interplay of social support and self-efficacy in predicting job performance of people with disabilities. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected in an Israeli call center employing mostly people with disabilities. The independent and moderator variables were assessed by an employee survey. To avoid common source bias, job performance was rated by the supervisors four weeks after conducting the survey. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Findings – The first main effect hypothesis, stating a positive relationship between social support and job performance was conditionally supported (p=0.06). The relationship between self-efficacy and job performance did not gain support. In line with the extended support buffer hypothesis, the job performance of low self-efficacious employees increased with higher levels of social support. The interference hypothesis, postulating a negative effect of social support under the condition of high levels of self-efficacy, was not supported. Practical implications – The results indicate that employees with disabilities differ in the level of social support they need in order to reach high levels of job performance. Instead of a one-size-fits-all-approach, organizations should take individual levels of self-efficacy into account and offer support accordingly in order to unleash the full working potential. Originality/value – This is the first known empirical investigation examining the role of individual differences in the need of social support among employees with disabilities.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 714-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zulqurnain Ali ◽  
Bi Gongbing ◽  
Aqsa Mehreen

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how a supply chain (SC) network helps small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to obtain liquidity and working capital for enhancing their performance while developing the relationships among SC members through information sharing. Moreover, this study also investigates whether a strong tie or bridge tie improves the availability of SMEs’ credit and performance. Design/methodology/approach Using a survey approach, data were collected from textile SMEs, located in Pakistan. Structural equation modeling and hierarchical regression model were run to validate the proposed model and the relationships. Findings Findings highlighted that strong tie and bridge tie of SMEs positively and significantly enhance the credit quality and SMEs’ performance. Furthermore, information sharing significantly moderates the relationship between SC network ties and SMEs’ credit quality. Credit quality significantly explains the indirect (mediation) association between the strong tie and the firm performance. Practical implications This study will help the SMEs’ entrepreneurs and SC executives to strengthen the liquidity position of SME and improve SMEs’ performance by developing the bridge ties. SMEs should share more information in their SC network while performing business transactions so that financers or lenders can easily access their operational capabilities and individual characteristics to offer them quality credit such as supply chain finance (SCF). Originality/value SMEs always face the issue of risk-free financing which adversely affects the firm performance. This study covered the hidden gap in SCM and SMEs’ financing literature by identifying the crucial role of SCF as quality credit in the development of SMEs. Moreover, SMEs can get benefits (e.g. quality credit=SCF) for better embedding in an SC network through information sharing.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 649-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Kolvereid ◽  
Espen John Isaksen

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the antecedents of business growth expectations and subsequent accumulated sales revenues and employment costs. Hypotheses are derived guided by the theory of planned behaviour. Design/methodology/approach The authors followed a sample of 207 incorporated businesses started in May/June 2002 over a ten-year period. The hypotheses are tested using hierarchical regression analysis. Findings The results suggest that the entrepreneurs’ need for social cohesion, subjective norm with regard to business growth and perceived self-efficacy with regard to opportunity recognition are positively and significantly associated with business growth expectations. These expectations, reported at the time of business registration, accurately predict subsequent short-term as well as long-term accumulated sales revenues and labour costs, but this is not the case for entrepreneurs with novel business ideas. Practical implications Since entrepreneurs’ attitude, subjective norm and self-efficacy are possible to change, the findings should interest policy makers and educators. Measures aimed at enhancing the antecedents of entrepreneurs’ growth expectations should be considered. The findings that growth expectations have a long-lasting effect on sales and employment stress the importance of entrepreneurs’ subjective expectations for outcomes in new businesses. Originality/value There is a lack of studies using a longitudinal design when investigating the link between initial business growth expectations and subsequent firm outcomes. This study contributes to the entrepreneurship literature in this regard by using high-quality secondary data to examine firm achievements.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Matošková ◽  
Ottó Bartók ◽  
Lucie Tomancová

Purpose Knowledge sharing becomes crucial in today’s competitive world to foster organizational performance. This paper aims to explore which employee characteristics facilitate knowledge sharing in the organizations and to examine the dimensions of these characteristics. Design/methodology/approach Opinion-based questionnaires among employees in Czech companies were applied. The research design in this study was cross-sectional. The hypotheses were tested by Pearson’s correlations and regression analyses. Findings The findings support the idea that specific individual employee characteristics increase knowledge sharing in the organization. Four categories of potentially appropriate employee individual characteristics were suggested: social and communication skills; positive work feelings; competences for problem-solving; and employee’s self-efficacy. However, only employee’s positive work feelings and self-efficacy significantly predicted the extent of knowledge sharing in the organization. Practical implications The findings offer a basis for future research. The results of the study can be used in recruiting new employees and managerial decision-making. The recruitment methods and the selection methods deployed should enable the firm to attract those whose values are in harmony with the organization’s values. Managers should build a work environment that promotes greater and more trusting ties among employees via organizing social activities for employees, a supervisor’s acceptance of an employee’s autonomy and responsibility and increasing employees’ confidence in their abilities. Originality/value This is one of the first studies to investigate dimensions of employee knowledge-oriented characteristics. It supports the idea that some individual employee characteristics boost spontaneous knowledge sharing behaviour.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 2635-2655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xingyu Wang ◽  
Priyanko Guchait ◽  
Aysin Paşamehmetoğlu

Purpose Hospitality work setting is error-prone, rendering error handling critical for effective organizational operation and quality of service delivery. An organization’s attitude toward errors can be traced back to one fundamental question: should errors be tolerated/accepted or not? This study aims to examine the relationships between error tolerance and hospitality employees’ three critical work behaviors, namely, learning behavior, error reporting and service recovery performance. Psychological safety and self-efficacy are hypothesized to be the underlying attitudinal mechanisms that link error tolerance with these behavioral outcomes. Design/methodology/approach This study relied on a survey methodology, collecting data from 304 frontline restaurant employees in Turkey and their direct supervisors. SPSS 25.0 and Amos 25.0 were used for analysis. Findings The results revealed that error tolerance had direct positive relationships with employees’ psychological safety and self-efficacy, both of which had positive impacts on learning behavior and error reporting. In addition, learning behavior positively influenced employees’ service recovery performance, as rated by the employees’ supervisors. Originality/value This study identifies error tolerance as an organizational distal factor that influences employees’ learning behavior, error reporting and service recovery performance; and identifies self-efficacy and psychological safety as mediators of the relationship between error tolerance and behavioral outcomes. The findings help clarify the longstanding debate over the relationship between an organization’s attitude toward errors and its employees’ learning behavior. The findings also shed light on the advantages of tolerating error occurrence for organizations, which is especially important as most hospitality organizations pursue perfection with aversive attitudes toward errors.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document