scholarly journals What do we know about the relationship between internet-mediated interaction and social isolation and loneliness in later life?

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roser Beneito-Montagut ◽  
Nizaiá Cassián-Yde ◽  
Arantza Begueria

Purpose Social isolation and loneliness are recognised social, health and wellbeing problems that particularly affect later life. They have been the subject of many recent studies. Studies examining the role of the internet in addressing these problems have multiplied. However, it is still not known whether internet-mediated social interaction has any role in mitigating social isolation and or loneliness. To address this gap, the purpose of this paper is to review previous research that investigates the relationship between internet use for communication and social isolation and loneliness. Design/methodology/approach This paper reviews the empirical literature published since 2000 and expands on previous literature reviews by including a variety of research designs and disciplines. Findings Despite the recent increase in studies, there is still little evidence to show internet effects on social isolation and loneliness. It is concluded that future research programmes aimed at reducing them by the use of the internet should include more robust methodological and theoretical frameworks, employ longitudinal research designs and provide a more nuanced description of both the social phenomena (social isolation and loneliness) and internet-mediated social interaction. Originality/value Previous reviews are not restricted to internet-based studies and include several types of interventions aiming at reducing social isolation and/or loneliness. They do not attempt to disentangle the internet effects of social isolation and loneliness.

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 948-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linlin Chai ◽  
Jin Li ◽  
Thomas Clauss ◽  
Chanchai Tangpong

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the antecedents and the conditions of coopetition at the inter-organizational level. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on survey research methodology and analyzes the data from 138 companies regarding the antecedents and the conditions of their coopetition. Findings The results indicate that the interdependence between partners (i.e. the antecedent) positively affects interfirm coopetition, and that this relationship is contingent on the joint occurrence of opportunism (a behavioral condition) and technology uncertainty (a contextual condition). Specifically, highly interdependent firms are more likely to be involved in a coopetitive relationship when both opportunism and technology uncertainty are high. Interestingly, the authors’ data also show that opportunism or technology uncertainty alone may not be adequate in moderating the interdependence–coopetition relationship. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the current literature in two meaningful ways. First, it empirically examines interdependence as a potential antecedent of interfirm coopetition. Second, it improves our understanding of the behavioral and contextual conditions that facilitate the formation of coopetitive relationships by examining the moderating roles of opportunisms and technology uncertainty in the relationship between interdependence and interfirm coopetition. The limitations of this study lie in its confined method of cross-sectional survey from the focal firm’s perspective. Future research may advance beyond this study through experimental and/or longitudinal research designs. Practical implications This study provides managers with two important practical insights in coopetition management. First, the findings suggest a two-step approach to help a firm assess and manage the level of coopetition in its relationship with a business partner. In addition, the findings provide a counterintuitive suggestion to managers that the joint conditions of high opportunism and high technology uncertainty indeed prime the relationship for the rise of coopetition, provided that managerial efforts are made to somewhat increase the level of interdependence in the relationship. Originality/value Despite the growing number of studies on coopetition, research still lacks knowledge about the antecedents and the conditions of inter-organizational coopetition, and this study aims to fill this gap.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-145
Author(s):  
Yu-Chen Wei ◽  
Chiung-Wen Tsao

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the moderating effects of employee commitment, customer loyalty and corporate reputation on the relationship between family influence and international expansion. Design/methodology/approach A cross-national research design was conducted using both survey and secondary data of 119 firms taken from the top 1,000 Taiwanese enterprises. Findings This study found moderating effects in the positive impact of family influence on international expansion. Specifically, the study found the relationship between family influence and international expansion stronger for companies with greater relational support from employees, customers and the public. Research limitations/implications Multi-level data collection and a longitudinal research design in future research could help in further understanding the relationships between the variables in this study. Practical implications This paper suggests that family business should establish enduring relationship with their employees and customers and have a plan to improve family reputation that will benefit international market expansion. Originality/value This study draws on the relational perspective to investigate how family influence results in different international expansion.


2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 977-1000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khuram Shahzad ◽  
Pia Arenius ◽  
Alan Muller ◽  
Muhammad Athar Rasheed ◽  
Sami Ullah Bajwa

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the black box between high-performance work systems (HPWS) and innovation performance in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Through application of the ability, motivation and opportunity (AMO) framework, the study examines the mediating roles of innovation-specific ability, motivation and voice behaviors between HPWS and SMEs’ innovation performance. Design/methodology/approach The hypotheses are tested on data collected through a self-administered questionnaire from 237 SMEs in Pakistan. Findings Findings indicate that human capital, motivation and employee voice fully mediate the relationship between HPWS and innovation performance in SMEs. Research limitations/implications The cross-sectional research design and self-reported measures warrant caution for the interpretation of findings. Future research may consider a longitudinal research design and objective measures. Practical implications SMEs need to invest in the adoption and implementation of HPWS that will develop innovation-specific abilities, motivation and voice behaviors simultaneously among employees that will lead to higher innovation performance. Originality/value This is the first study of its kind utilizing an AMO framework to investigate the underlying mechanism through which HPWS affect innovation performance in SMEs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 350-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Rabetino ◽  
Willem Harmsen ◽  
Marko Kohtamäki ◽  
Jukka Sihvonen

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to organize and connect past research from different servitization-related scholarly communities. Design/methodology/approach This study reviews more than 1,000 articles by combining author co-citation and qualitative content analyses. Findings The structure and boundaries of the field are mapped, and the characteristics of the three identified servitization-related communities are assessed qualitatively. These three communities are product-service systems, solution business, and service science. The findings demonstrate that a narrow range of theories and qualitative methods dominate in existing research. Originality/value Through the lens of the sociology of science, this review critically evaluates servitization-related research and offers a list of themes that are considered important to the future development of the field. Regarding future research, the main recommendations are as follows: increasing the use of well-established theories from adjacent mature fields, borrowing ideas from different research communities to stimulate knowledge accumulation within and across communities, and reducing the level of description while increasing the number of confirmatory, quantitative, and longitudinal research designs. Finally, the development of formal structures for socialization (e.g. conferences and special issues) could allow the field to achieve a greater degree of scientific maturity and would influence the direction and pace of the development of servitization-related research.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 36-50
Author(s):  
John Ofori Damoah ◽  
Alex Ntsiful

Purpose – This study aims to investigate the effect of childcare demands on the work performance of mothers. It examines the moderating influence of team support on the relationship between childcare demands and employee performance. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 217 working mothers in various companies in Ghana. Hierarchical linear regression analysis was used to estimate the research model. Findings – The results indicate that childcare demands negatively relate to performance of working mothers at workplace. Further, team support moderates the negative relationship between childcare demands and employee performance such that the relationship is positive and significant. Research limitations/implications – The study adopted a cross-sectional data collection method that prevented casual inferences among the variables. Longitudinal research design will be more beneficial in future research endeavours. Further research should test the influence of personality characteristics of individuals in the moderating influence of team support on the relationship between childcare demands and employee performance. Practical implications – The study suggests that when team support is well taken care of in organisations, managers can turn the negative effect of childcare demands on employee performance into improved performance outcomes. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first in Sub-Saharan Africa to examine the moderating influence of team support on the childcare demands – employee performance linkage.


2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 693-707 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaun Pichler ◽  
Arup Varma ◽  
Andrew Yu ◽  
Gerard Beenen ◽  
Shahin Davoudpour

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop and test hypotheses about the independent relationships between high-performance work systems (HPWS) and high-performance work cultures (HPWC) and employee turnover. Given the growth of women in the workforce, the authors also develop competing predictions about how organizational gender demography (i.e. a higher percentage of women) may either strengthen or weaken the relationship of HPWSs to turnover. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 171 human resource (HR) executives across organizations of various sizes and industries in the Chicago metropolitan area in the USA was conducted. Findings – The authors found that HPWS and HPWC are associated with lower turnover, though the relationship between HPWC and turnover was stronger. Results also indicate that HPWS are more strongly related to lower turnover among organizations that employ relatively more women. Research limitations/implications – The results indicates that HPWS may not be universalistic in terms of their effectiveness specifically as related to turnover. This was a cross-sectional study; it would be useful for future research to use a longitudinal research design. Practical implications – The findings suggest that organizations should consider how their cultures, use of high-performance work practices, and gender demography are related to important HR metrics such as turnover. Social implications – This paper represents an important contribution to understanding the importance and implications of changes in the workforce demographic characteristics. Originality/value – This is the first study to integrate an organizational demography perspective with HPWS.


2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ling Ling ◽  
Tao Qing ◽  
Peng Shen

Purpose – This paper aims to provide theoretical analysis and empirical study on the relationship between training and organizational commitment; analyze the mediating role of employability and the moderating role of expectation value in their relationship; and draw from both of these to suggest practical implications to organizations aiming to effectively train and retain employees, and for employees themselves. Design/methodology/approach – First, the paper reviews the literature regarding training, employability, organizational commitment and expectation value. Second, it develops a theoretical model linking training, employability, organizational commitment and expectation value, and proposes a series of research hypotheses. Third, drawing on samples of 405 Chinese employees, it tests hypotheses based on a series of measurement and statistical analyses. Last, it discusses the analysis results and puts forward related suggestions for management practice. Findings – The paper tests and verifies the applicability of Western training and employability scales in China from a self-perception perspective. Training is positively related to organizational commitment and employability. Further, employability partly mediates the relationship between training and organizational commitment, and expectation value moderates the relationship between employability and organizational commitment. Research limitations/implications – First, the cross-sectional design prevents the making of causal statements. Future research should adopt an experimental (quasi experimental) research method or longitudinal research to study the casual relationship between variables. Second, data are from employees’ self-report, giving rise to concern about possible common source bias. Future research should allow supervisors to rate employees’ employability or provide evaluation of employees’ expectation value to collect multi-source data. Originality/value – The paper first introduces Western scales of training and employability into a Chinese context, and then tests and verifies the two scales' applicability in China. To explain the action mechanism of training to the employee – organizational commitment in a boundaryless career, the paper constructs a moderate mediation model to test the direct effect of training on organizational commitment, the mediating effect of employability and the moderating effect of expectation value. This study complements past research by investigating both the mediating and moderating mechanisms in training organizational commitment.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Aboramadan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the empirical literature on the relationship between the characteristics of the top management teams (TMTs) and the performance of entrepreneurial firms. Design/methodology/approach A literature review was carried out on 33 empirical studies related to TMTs and performance through analyzing and summarizing the quantitative studies conducted in this area. Findings The results of the literature review show that the relationship between TMTs (demographics and heterogeneity) and the performance of entrepreneurial firms is not straightforward and further investigation is still needed in this area. Practical implications The author maps the theoretical and empirical research of TMT demographics and heterogeneity in relation to firms’ performance and possible moderators and mediators, which govern the relationship between TMT composition and firms’ performance. Originality/value The author presents a detailed future research agenda for the purpose of advancing the theoretical and empirical knowledge on TMT-performance links. The review provides a comprehensive picture of TMT-firms’ performance literature and what should be done to enrich the literature.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-347
Author(s):  
Jing Li

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors that lead to the controversy within the existing empirical literature on the relationship between land tenure and agricultural investments in China. Design/methodology/approach This study conducts a meta-regression analysis (MRA) based on 265 samples from 29 selected studies. These studies are collected from different regions and populations; therefore, this study utilizes a random-effects meta-regression model to control between-study heterogeneity. Findings The empirical results show that the variable “land-related long-term investments” significantly affects the relationship between land tenure and agricultural investments. The variables: “ration land,” “land titling” and “land transfer rights” all have significant effects on this relationship, but at different levels. The study area (e.g. “western China,” “central/inland China,” “two regions contained”), “plot level,” “panel data,” “sample size,” “considered endogeneity” and “off-farm employment” variables all significantly influence the relationship. Additionally, the results show that the relationship is significantly affected by the survey time. Practical implications Policymakers should treat the existing research conclusions with caution and pay more attention to defining land tenure. The relationship between land tenure and agricultural investments also depends on regional resource availability. Therefore, land property rights policies should be region-specific in order to successfully encourage agricultural investments. Originality/value In this study, the author collectively examines existing empirical studies to investigate whether their inconsistent results are affected by research characteristics. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that analyzes land tenure and agricultural investments in China using MRA. Future research should refine the definition of land tenure, the selection of agricultural investment types, the research method and the method of data collection.


2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerome Choy ◽  
Darcy McCormack ◽  
Nikola Djurkovic

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between leader-member exchange (LMX) and job performance and the utility of delegation and participation as mediators of the aforementioned relationship. Methodology – A survey approach was used in this research. Regression analyses, including mediation analyses, on data from 268 employees in a large public sector organisation were conducted. Findings – The findings revealed that both delegation and participation were significant mediating variables of the relationship between LMX and job performance. Research limitation – The limitations of the study include the use of self-report and cross-sectional data. Future research could include multi-source data, and a longitudinal research design. Practical implication – The implications of the findings for theory and management are discussed, including the use of delegation and participation as effective instruments for developing and maintaining strong manager-employee relationships to improve social capital and enhance job performance. Originality value – This paper enhances understanding of LMX, and sheds some light on how LMX and participative decision making can influence employee job performance.


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