EXPRESS: Agile Work Practices and Employee Proactivity: A Multilevel Study

Several large organizations underwent agile transformation processes over the past few years, despite limited theory and empirical research on agile working. The present study draws from the taskwork-teamwork distinction and the proactivity literature to develop a new multilevel model of agile working. We tested this model in a sample of 114 teams (N = 476 individuals) undergoing an agile transformation at a large German transport and logistics organization. Teams at the end of the agile transformation scored significantly higher on agile work practices, proactivity norms, and team performance than teams at the beginning of the transformation. Results of multigroup structural equation modeling indicated that agile taskwork related indirectly to team performance through a positive relationship with proactivity norms. The positive relationship of agile teamwork with team performance was not mediated by proactivity norms, unlike hypothesized. Finally, we found that agile taskwork increased the likelihood that individual employees benefited from engaging in proactive behavior (specifically, employee intrapreneurship) in terms of in-role performance (i.e., cross-level interaction). This was presumably because of the favorable proactivity norms of teams practicing agile taskwork (i.e., mediated-moderation). We discuss the implications of our findings for the literature on proactive behavior in teams.

Value co-creation between consumers and distributors: the moderating effect of relationship characteristics

PurposeAlthough value co-creation has been widely analyzed in digital contexts and various types of services (tourism, healthcare, etc.), it has received less study in the area of retail distribution. This study proposes that trust in the retailer and perceived support can encourage co-creation behavior on various levels: a basic level related to communication of service errors and a moderate-high level related to participation in service innovation. This study also proposes modeling for two different segments according to the participation in a loyalty program and according to the relationship duration.Design/methodology/approachA survey (N = 644) was used to test the model in the context of the consumer goods retail industry. Confirmatory factor analysis and multigroup structural equation modeling techniques were used to assess the proposed model.FindingsThe results show differences in the formation of co-creation behaviors depending on the customers analyzed. To encourage communication of service errors, customers affiliated to the program and customers with the longest customer-firm relationships must trust the distributor. Perceived support is crucial in encouraging feedback on service errors among non-affiliated and new customers. For promoting service innovation, the most significant antecedent is perceived support, followed by trust, independently of whether or not the customer belongs to the loyalty program. Customers with the longest relationship participate in co-innovation motivated equally by trust and perceived support. Customers with shorter relationship duration only participate in co-innovation if they perceived support.Originality/valueThis study contributes to deepening knowledge of co-creation behavior in the field of retail distribution. To date, research in this context has not considered the existence of various levels of co-creation: the basic level related to feedback on service errors and the moderate/high level related to participation in service co-innovation. Nor have studies tested the influence of trust and perceived support on these co-creation behaviors. Further, this study is the first study to integrate two significant variables that moderate retailers' strategy in the same model: membership in a loyalty program and duration of customer-firm relationship.

Influence of Internal and External Controlling Teaching Behaviors on Students’ Motivational Outcomes in Physical Education: Is There a Gender Difference?

Purpose: Grounded in self-determination theory, this study examined gender latent mean differences in students’ perceptions of externally and internally controlling teaching behaviors, basic psychological need frustration, controlled motivation, amotivation, and oppositional defiance in the physical education context. Moreover, it analyzed the differentiated role that internal and external controlling behaviors play on these self-determination theory-related variables among girls and boys. Method: A sample of 1,118 students (Mage = 14.11 ± 1.50; 50.9% girls) participated in this research. A multigroup structural equation modeling approach was used to respond to the research questions. Results: Analyses revealed that girls reported more maladaptive outcomes in most self-determination theory-related variables than boys. Although externally and internally controlling behaviors of physical education teachers were positively related to maladaptive outcomes, the behaviors correlate differently between boys and girls. Conclusion: Findings highlight the importance of reducing externally controlling behaviors in boys and internally controlling behaviors in both genders, but particularly in girls.

The ADI-3: A Revised Neighborhood Risk Index of the Social Determinants of Health Over Time and Place

Since its development, Singh’s 2003 Area Deprivation Index (ADI) has been routinely used by researchers to measure a global construct of neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation and how living in neighborhoods of different levels of deprivation affects individuals’ health. We tested the ADI’s dimensionality and the stability of its performance across time and place. Factor analysis findings illuminated three distinct dimensions, the ADI-3, consisting of neighborhood financial strength, economic hardship and inequality, and educational attainment. The prior-assumed unidimensional ADI measure fails standard tests of construct validity. Findings from multigroup structural equation modeling across 2009 and 2017 and between New York and Minnesota suggest that the ADI performs with only partial stability across time and place. In order to most precisely understand the complex role of neighborhood socioeconomic position in health, public health researchers must integrate construct-valid and regionally- and temporally-relevant measures.

The Relationship between Alienation from Learning and Student Needs in Swiss Primary and Secondary Schools

Previous studies have shown that secondary schools are less successful than primary schools in responding to student needs. Simultaneously, students seem to detach themselves during secondary schooling. Based on this, the present study investigated alienation from learning and its relationship with students’ perception of needs support by teachers and peers by analyzing data from 486 primary and 550 secondary school students in Switzerland. Multigroup structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the relevance of each independent variable for alienation from learning within and across the two subsamples. Teacher injustice as an indicator for the teacher-student relationship was significantly associated with alienation from learning for both subsamples, whereas there was a significant effect for competence support only in secondary schools. The findings highlight the importance of just and supportive teachers in preventing students’ alienation from learning in school.

Causal Effects Based on Latent Variable Models

Building on the stochastic theory of causal effects and latent state-trait theory, this article shows how a comprehensive analysis of the effects of interventions can be conducted based on latent variable models. The proposed approach offers new ways to evaluate the differential effects of interventions for substantive researchers in experimental and observational studies while allowing for complex measurement models. The key definitions and assumptions of the stochastic theory of causal effects are first introduced and then four statistical models that can be used to estimate various types of causal effects with latent state-trait models are developed and illustrated: The multistate effect model with and without method factors, the true-change effect model, and the multitrait effect model. All effect models with latent variables are implemented based on multigroup structural equation modeling with the EffectLiteR approach. Particular emphasis is placed on the development of models with interactions that allow for interindividual differences in treatment effects based on latent variables. Open source software code is provided for all models.

Fathers’ Cognitive Engagement and Preschoolers’ Literacy Skills in Three Ethnic Groups in Trinidad and Tobago

Using the UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, this study assessed the associations between fathers’ cognitive engagement and preschoolers’ literacy skills in African Caribbean, Indo-Caribbean, and mixed-ethnic Caribbean families in Trinidad and Tobago. The sample consisted of 476 fathers and their preschool-aged children. Multigroup structural equation modeling indicated that paternal cognitive engagement was associated with children’s literacy skills in mixed-ethnic Caribbean and Indo-Caribbean families above and beyond maternal cognitive engagement activities. Across all groups, children’s age, number of hours in preschool, and number of children’s books in the home were associated with children’s literacy skills. Fathers’ residential status was associated with children’s literacy skills differently across ethnic groups. Findings are interpreted in terms of the importance and consistency of paternal engagement in the home environment for the acquisition of early language skills in developing countries.

Characteristics of Negative and Positive Mental Health Among Nursing Students in the United States

BACKGROUND: Researchers have documented significant psychological problems among nursing students, but findings have been inconclusive as to whether nursing students are “at-risk” for mental health problems compared with their non-nursing peers. AIMS: This study examined whether nursing students have unique mental health characteristics compared with students from other professions. METHOD: Undergraduates ( N = 18,312; nursing n = 1,399) were selected from the 2016-2017 National Healthy Minds Study. Participants completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (depression), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (anxiety), and the Flourishing Scale (positive psychology). RESULTS: Nursing students were equally likely to screen positive for depression and anxiety compared with their non-nursing peers. However, when controlling for gender, age, and year in school, multigroup structural equation modeling analyses revealed that female (but not male) nursing students reported significantly higher levels of specific anxiety symptoms and certain psychological strengths than female students from other professions. Nursing students are equally likely to screen positive for depression or anxiety as their non-nursing peers; however, anxiety disorders may reflect symptom profiles unique to nursing students. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest a need for tailored screening and interventions to reduce mental health problems and harness psychological strengths unique to nursing students.