Moments of Meaningfulness and Meaninglessness: A Qualitative Inquiry Into Affective Eudaimonia at Work

2021 ◽  
pp. 105960112110473
Author(s):  
Suvi-Jonna Martikainen ◽  
Laura Kudrna ◽  
Paul Dolan

Meaningful work (MW) is an important topic in psychological and organizational research with theoretical and practical implications. Many prior studies have focused on operationalizing MW and distinguish between the attributes of a job that make it meaningful, such as task variety or significance, and the affective experience of meaning during work, such as the feeling that what one does at work is meaningful. However, most empirical research focuses on the former definition and utilizes quantitative scales with deductive questions that omit what people find important in their experiences. To address this, we conduct a qualitative investigation of psychological narratives focusing in-depth on the quality and content of feelings of meaningfulness and meaninglessness during experiences at work—crucially, without any framing around task attributes. We introduce the term affective eudaimonia to describe these experiences. Overall, our results corroborate many existing thematic findings in the MW literature, such as the importance of connecting and contributing to others and avoiding confinement. We also offer new findings: Although the way that people give language to meaningless narratives is more descriptive, vivid, and experiential in tone than meaningful narratives, meaningless narratives are also more structurally static and constrained. We use these results to inform practical suggestions to promote day-to-day experiences of meaning at work and provide a basis for further academic discussion.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anu Järvensivu

Purpose The purpose of this research is to explore the career development and workplace learning of Finnish multiple jobholders who are university graduates. Design/methodology/approach 45 in-depth interviews were conducted with graduate multiple jobholders in Finland. The transcripts were analyzed by abductive content analysis using the Chaos Theory of Careers. Research participants were recruited via social media, invitations, snowball sampling and through networks. Findings Meaningful work was the attractor, the central factor in the decision to be a multiple jobholder. Interviewees attempted to adjust to future changes through their learning and choice of jobs and reported on their role as creators of future working life. Interviewees regarded organizing of their work and timetable as a core competency with their identity closely linked to their competencies and networks. Research limitations/implications The author acknowledges that the national context of Finland is unusually favorable to those becoming multiple job holders. Practical implications The identification of meaningful work as the key attractor, the intention to adapt to future contexts and the specifying of organization of work and timetabling as core competencies in multiple jobholding have clear practical implications at the national, local, organizational and individual levels. Originality/value Little has previously been known of the role of multiple jobholding as a facilitator in skill development and limited knowledge of how the various jobs combine into one portfolio. Previous studies have focused on individuals who take a second job to earn more money. Elite multiple jobholding has attracted little research attention yet seems to have an important role in achieving changes in society.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 2681-2687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul-Majid Wazwaz

Purpose The purpose of this paper is concerned with developing a (2 + 1)-dimensional Benjamin–Ono equation. The study shows that multiple soliton solutions exist and multiple complex soliton solutions exist for this equation. Design/methodology/approach The proposed model has been handled by using the Hirota’s method. Other techniques were used to obtain traveling wave solutions. Findings The examined extension of the Benjamin–Ono model features interesting results in propagation of waves and fluid flow. Research limitations/implications The paper presents a new efficient algorithm for constructing extended models which give a variety of multiple soliton solutions. Practical implications This work is entirely new and provides new findings, where although the new model gives multiple soliton solutions, it is nonintegrable. Originality/value The work develops two complete sets of multiple soliton solutions, the first set is real solitons, whereas the second set is complex solitons.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nnedinma Umeokafor ◽  
Chioma Okoro ◽  
Ikechukwu Diugwu ◽  
Tariq Umar

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the critical opportunities for design for safety (DFS), the potential statutory (and non-statutory) health and safety (H&S) responsibilities of designers including DFS and its workability in developing countries.Design/methodology/approachInterviews were conducted among 28 multi-designers including Architects, Civil Engineers and Builders and the data was analysed thematically.FindingsThe study revealed that the likelihood of designers, clients, etc. inclining to change because of the infancy stage of H&S in developing countries, making it “fallow” for H&S was a barrier. The opportunities for DFS include the willingness of designers to develop DFS skills and knowledge, which results in a welcoming attitude towards DFS. Further, the success recorded by professional bodies on other regulatory matters and designers' greater inclination to comply with DFS when professional bodies are involved in the regulatory process of DFS remain key opportunities for DFS.Practical implicationsFor statutory-backed DFS to achieve the objective at the optimum level, the role of professional bodies in the regulatory and sensitisation processes, geographic differences in DFS legislation enforcement, nuanced and strategic design and enforcement of any legislation that will support DFS should be taken into consideration.Social implicationsA grassroots collaborative approach to developing and implementing DFS in the country and the exploitation of the zeal of designers to have DFS-related knowledge, is recommended.Originality/valueTo the knowledge of the authors, this is the first study that examines the opportunities for DFS in developing countries when it is (or not) supported by statute and the need to advance the understanding of DFS in developing countries through qualitative enquiry.


Author(s):  
Stephen Swailes

PurposeThis article addresses three concerns about the operationalization and possible effects of exclusive talent management; the core assumptions that underpin and shape talent practices, the problem of fair talent identification and potentially adverse employee reactions.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper that integrates empirical research on talent and talent management with ideas from business ethics.FindingsOrganizations should not simply assume that they meet the underlying assumptions of talent management. Where the assumptions can reasonably be shown to be valid, then a framework based on a set of principles is suggested to guide organizational approaches towards responsible talent management.Practical implicationsThe article provides talent practitioners with a set of principles, or at least some substantive suggestions, to be considered in the design of socially responsible talent management programmes and in programme evaluation.Social implicationsThe article provides guidance for organizations wishing to improve the care of their workforce in relation to strategies of employee differentiation based on performance and potential.Originality/valueDespite the burgeoning literature on talent management, the topic has not received much attention from an ethical and socially responsible viewpoint. This article adds to that literature and suggests further research particularly concerning the existence of real talent differences on which the entire talent management project is based.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 13-23
Author(s):  
Kosti Joensuu ◽  
Sanna Ryynänen

Games and play are increasingly significant in everyday life. Thus, a philosophical and theoretical consideration of these concepts is needed. This article uses phenomenological hermeneutics to discuss games, play, and gamification; it also addresses the development of gamifying planes within gamification studies. It hypothesizes that the academic discussion of gamification becomes more valid, ontologically, by focusing on the phenomenon and lived experience of play and playing from a phenomenological perspective. It presents an upcoming practical intervention, an empirical research design of case study of playing a virtual game, to demonstrate how the essence of play and the integrated spheres of virtual and real worlds could be approached. Thus, it could provide valuable information that is needed in the fast-developing domain of interventions in gamification and the game-business. On the basis of this study's theoretical findings, a broader ontological notion is suggested to overcome the subjectifying notion of player and the objectifying notion of games and play.


2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ozen Asik-Dizdar ◽  
Ayla Esen

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to take a closer look at the concept of meaningful work experience for individuals and organizations, and discuss the role of sensemaking in creating it. Design/methodology/approach – The main argument of the paper is that sensemaking efforts are among the fundamental tools that help create meaningful work experience for both individuals and organizations. The paper offers a conceptual framework that presents the interplay between sensemaking tools and enabling mechanisms in relation to internal and external organizational environments. Findings – It is proposed that job crafting is a sensemaking tool – enabled by empowerment – for individuals to make sense of the internal environment of the organization; and strategy crafting is a sensemaking tool – enabled by organizational learning – for organizations to make sense of the external environment of the organization. Originality/value – This paper attempts to converge micro- and macro-level concepts by bringing together individual- and organizational-level variables into a joint discussion. It places job crafting and strategy crafting in the context of sensemaking theory, and it reinforces the idea of proposing models that will consider the multi-level implications of organizational research.


2019 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 121-136
Author(s):  
Teresa Skalska

Purpose. Analysis of the method of using price as a marketing tool on the example of selected cities with strong tourist function (empirical study); indication of other non-price ways of gaining competitive advantage (e.g. quality, scope of additional services) – based on empirical research, secondary sources and market analysis. Method. The article was based on the deductive approach and the results of the empirical study of offers placed by: 3* hotels, Airbnb hosts and Interhome in three metropolitan centres with developed tourist functions (Warsaw, Krakow, Prague). On the basis of the average price for 1 night (μ) and the product utility index (ή), the synthetic coefficient was calculated showing the price-to-utility relationship and allowing comparison of the price of services including the elements contained therein. Findings. The results of the empirical study allow to use two measures of price competitiveness assessment and the use of price as a marketing tool by selected service providers: the average price per night spent by the guest (μ) and the product utility index for the customer (ή). The research allowed to show the use of price as a tool of marketing impact in the area of sharing economy in tourism. Research and conclusions limitations. The sample contains all offers that meet the established criteria. The study fully reflects the situation in three selected metropolitan centres. Practical implications. The article has no direct practical implications, although the presented method and formulated conclusions can be used to improve price analysis tools in the area of tourism, taking into account the sharing economy. Originality. In the current research, the problem of using prices as a marketing tool in the area of sharing economy in tourism is rarely undertaken. Type of paper. The article presents both theoretical concepts and the results of empirical research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 387-395
Author(s):  
Marten van der Meulen ◽  
Nicoline van der Sijs

Abstract The influence of prescriptivism on DutchWeerman (2003) unequivocally rejected the possibility for language to be malleable. At the time, there was little empirical research to challenge or support this claim. Over the last two decades, however, a fairly large body of research has delved into this issue. In light of this, we review some of Weerman’s views, and discuss new findings of the recent literature, both for Dutch and other languages. We show how new methods and insights have led to a re-evaluation of the effects of prescriptivism. We furthermore argue that, rather than categorically dismissing effects of prescriptivism, researchers should focus on case studies with different parameters, including linguistic level, prohibition strength and time period.


2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 652-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Langwell ◽  
Dennis Heaton

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how small- and medium-sized organisations that were already participating in recognised sustainability programmes in Iowa, USA, in how they were utilising activities normally associated with human resources (HRs) to implement sustainability – activities included communication, engagement, incentives and recruitment and retention. Design/methodology/approach – The authors were interested in how small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were utilising HR functions to implement sustainability. This was an exploratory, qualitative research study utilised semi-structured interviews to obtain data. Findings – Based on the findings, some of the functions are being utilised more than others, with some activities not being implemented at all. Research limitations/implications – This research offers empirical research on how sustainability is achieved in SMEs. Practical implications – This paper outlines some practical methods that any SME could utilise to help implement sustainability within an organisation. Originality/value – This paper adds empirical research on how SMEs are implementing sustainable practices into their operations by using activities normally associated with the HR department.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 404-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna-Maija Hietajärvi ◽  
Kirsi Aaltonen ◽  
Harri Haapasalo

Purpose Project alliancing – a project delivery model used in delivering complex projects – demands new organizational capabilities for successful project implementation. The purpose of this paper is to define the concept of project alliance (PA) capability and to identify the elements that constitute an organization’s PA capability. Design/methodology/approach This study provides empirical evidence of PA capability based on an investigation of participants’ experiences of Finnish construction and infrastructure alliance projects. The adopted research approach is qualitative and inductive. Findings The paper conceptualizes PA capability and defines the elements that constitute an organization’s PA capability, including important activities in the pre-formation, development and post-formation phases of PAs and the contractual, behavioral, relational, and operational skills that organizations need for successful alliance project initiation and implementation. Practical implications The identified alliance project activities are targets for routinization and best practices that organizations can deploy from one project to another. The identified skills indicate areas in which organizations should build and develop expertise. Originality/value There is limited empirical research on the elements defining an organization’s capability to bid, manage and operate in alliance projects. This study presents some preliminary thoughts to augment knowledge of the successful initiation and management of alliance projects and to suggest why some organizations may be more successful than others in alliance projects.


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