Distinctly lonely: how loneliness at work varies by status in organizations

Purpose This paper aims to study the differing pathways to loneliness in managers and their employees. Literature on emotions in organizational life, organizational management and leadership and loneliness are explored to develop and test hypotheses regarding the differential prototypical scripts that can be generative of loneliness in managers and employees. Design/methodology/approach A total of 28 managers and 235 employees from a horticultural company based in Mexico were surveyed, using measures of perceived connection quality, loneliness and meaningful work to test three hypotheses. Findings Data from 28 managers and 235 staff indicate that while loneliness scores do not significantly differ between managers and their subordinates, the predictors of loneliness differ between managers and employees, with emotional connection and mutuality predicting loneliness in employees but not in managers. Originality/value This paper adds specification to the literatures on workplace loneliness, the loneliness associated with management roles, emotions in organizational life and emotions and leadership. The findings are discussed in relation to the literature on manager-subordinate relationships.

CHANGE IN COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT ROLES DUE TO GLOBALIZATION: A CASE OF COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES MAPPED BY INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONAL PUBLIC RELATIONS ASSOCIATIONS (2015–2020)

Research background: The role of communication has now become much more critical than during previous periods, not only to compete with other organisations in the stream of communicating messages but also to develop and implement organisational strategies and support the organisation’s top-level managers and decision-makers. The goal of public relations (PR) associations is to develop PR professionals’ competencies. Comprehensive research at the European level signals the need for constant improvement of competencies, especially business development and technologies (Zerfass et al., 2020; Adi, 2019). A vast majority of practitioners across Europe highlight the importance of digitalising stakeholder communications and building a digital infrastructure to support internal workflows (Zerfass et al., 2021). However, instead of technical and managerial training, PR practitioners continue to overwhelmingly offer communication training and development opportunities (Tench et al., 2013; Zerfass et al., 2018; MacNamara et al., 2017; Feldman, 2017; The USC Annenberg Centre for Public Relations, 2017; Communicating AI, 2019). There are discrepancies between the perceived importance of competencies and the current qualifications of professionals due to digital transformation and changes impacted by globalisation. Purpose: To identify changes in PR specialists' competencies due to the impact of globalisation. Methods: Content analysis of information provided in the webpages of international professional PR associations for the period 2015–2020. Findings and value added: The study results show that professional PR associations do not respond to the challenges of the changing environment in a timely manner by providing training, but present and discuss relevant topics with the help of specialists from other fields while encouraging the sharing of good practices. Such a functioning position occupied by professional PR associations in developing the model of competence for PR specialists reveals that PR associations are engaged in strengthening or maintaining competencies, but not developing them.

Expertise Coordination for Agile Software Development Projects

<p>Agile software development projects rely on the diversity of team members’ expertise. This expertise, however, is not adequate on its own: it is important to leverage available expertise through expertise coordination. Expertise coordination requires team members to rely on each other for recognizing who has particular expertise, when and where they are needed, and how to access the expertise effectively. Agile teams also need to rely on outside expertise such as user experience designers, architects, and database administrators. This thesis presents a theory of expertise coordination in Agile Software Development projects. We employed semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analysis in a Grounded Theory study involving 48 Agile practitioners and external specialists. This study discovered three main categories of expertise coordination: processes of expertise coordination, strategies of managing external expertise, and management roles in supporting expertise coordination. The theory provides a new insight into how Agile teams coordinate internal and external expertise, how they utilize external specialists and outsourcers’ expertise, and how management can support expertise coordination.</p>

Expertise Coordination for Agile Software Development Projects

<p>Agile software development projects rely on the diversity of team members’ expertise. This expertise, however, is not adequate on its own: it is important to leverage available expertise through expertise coordination. Expertise coordination requires team members to rely on each other for recognizing who has particular expertise, when and where they are needed, and how to access the expertise effectively. Agile teams also need to rely on outside expertise such as user experience designers, architects, and database administrators. This thesis presents a theory of expertise coordination in Agile Software Development projects. We employed semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analysis in a Grounded Theory study involving 48 Agile practitioners and external specialists. This study discovered three main categories of expertise coordination: processes of expertise coordination, strategies of managing external expertise, and management roles in supporting expertise coordination. The theory provides a new insight into how Agile teams coordinate internal and external expertise, how they utilize external specialists and outsourcers’ expertise, and how management can support expertise coordination.</p>

Sister Are You out of Place on Top?: Indigenous Perspectives on Women in Top-Management from New Zealand and South Africa

<p><b>This thesis examines the interactions between issues of race and gender as they affect top-management positions. Specifically, it asks how these issues affect access to top jobs and experiences in those positions for ethnic „minority‟ women. In response to this question, I conducted empirical research with Māori and Black indigenous women in two former British settler States, New Zealand and the Republic of South Africa. I investigated issues, lessons and strategies for indigenous women entering top-management roles. I investigated the experiences and perceptions of these women within their own historical and political contexts to interpret my findings.</b></p> <p>I drew on the management literature which theorises issues of race and gender for women in top-management positions. In the broad context of theorising the interactions of race and gender in top-management, I focused in particular on studies which developed the metaphor of the „concrete ceiling‟ to explore the issues facing ethnic „minority‟ women trying to reach top-management roles and to succeed in them. To carry out this research in a way that was culturally appropriate, I developed a combination of methodologies, which drew on Māori and African cultural protocols, as well as western paradigms. I explored the experiences of 15 Māori women (10 in the public sector and 5 in the private sector) in New Zealand, and 12 Black women in the private sector in South Africa through qualitative interviews.</p> <p>My findings added new perspectives to the „concrete-ceiling‟ literature, while also confirming some familiar themes. The „concrete-ceiling‟ theory focuses on barriers to accessing top positions, but, by contrast, the women in my study were actively recruited. In my findings I discuss how my participants used strategies, such as mentoring, which are familiar in the literature, from new perspectives based on their cultural and political backgrounds. The lives of the women I interviewed were part of a historical and political moment of change in both countries, where political struggles led to new opportunities for indigenous women. These changes included the post-apartheid Broad-Based Economic Programmes (BEE) in South Africa and the ratification of the Treaty of Waitangi as well as Government sponsored Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) programmes in New Zealand. The effects of these policies were that my participants were „head-hunted‟ in South Africa and „shoulder-tapped‟ in New Zealand without actively seeking new roles. My participants entered their initial top-management roles through these initiatives and they believed that they were perceived as tokens by their organisations, upon initial entry. They encountered familiar „concrete-ceiling‟ challenges based on negative stereotyping in terms of „racialised-gender‟. But in most cases my participants were able to go beyond token positions to become genuinely influential as top managers.</p> <p>My project contributes primarily to studies focusing on ethnic „minority‟ women in top-management. The existing literature is based mainly on studies conducted in the United States of America and Europe. These studies therefore embed historical and political contexts of issues such as slavery and migration, present in these countries. In contrast, by studying indigenous women in Settler States, my project provides different perspectives and also highlights the importance of local context for any such research.</p>

Sister Are You out of Place on Top?: Indigenous Perspectives on Women in Top-Management from New Zealand and South Africa

<p><b>This thesis examines the interactions between issues of race and gender as they affect top-management positions. Specifically, it asks how these issues affect access to top jobs and experiences in those positions for ethnic „minority‟ women. In response to this question, I conducted empirical research with Māori and Black indigenous women in two former British settler States, New Zealand and the Republic of South Africa. I investigated issues, lessons and strategies for indigenous women entering top-management roles. I investigated the experiences and perceptions of these women within their own historical and political contexts to interpret my findings.</b></p> <p>I drew on the management literature which theorises issues of race and gender for women in top-management positions. In the broad context of theorising the interactions of race and gender in top-management, I focused in particular on studies which developed the metaphor of the „concrete ceiling‟ to explore the issues facing ethnic „minority‟ women trying to reach top-management roles and to succeed in them. To carry out this research in a way that was culturally appropriate, I developed a combination of methodologies, which drew on Māori and African cultural protocols, as well as western paradigms. I explored the experiences of 15 Māori women (10 in the public sector and 5 in the private sector) in New Zealand, and 12 Black women in the private sector in South Africa through qualitative interviews.</p> <p>My findings added new perspectives to the „concrete-ceiling‟ literature, while also confirming some familiar themes. The „concrete-ceiling‟ theory focuses on barriers to accessing top positions, but, by contrast, the women in my study were actively recruited. In my findings I discuss how my participants used strategies, such as mentoring, which are familiar in the literature, from new perspectives based on their cultural and political backgrounds. The lives of the women I interviewed were part of a historical and political moment of change in both countries, where political struggles led to new opportunities for indigenous women. These changes included the post-apartheid Broad-Based Economic Programmes (BEE) in South Africa and the ratification of the Treaty of Waitangi as well as Government sponsored Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) programmes in New Zealand. The effects of these policies were that my participants were „head-hunted‟ in South Africa and „shoulder-tapped‟ in New Zealand without actively seeking new roles. My participants entered their initial top-management roles through these initiatives and they believed that they were perceived as tokens by their organisations, upon initial entry. They encountered familiar „concrete-ceiling‟ challenges based on negative stereotyping in terms of „racialised-gender‟. But in most cases my participants were able to go beyond token positions to become genuinely influential as top managers.</p> <p>My project contributes primarily to studies focusing on ethnic „minority‟ women in top-management. The existing literature is based mainly on studies conducted in the United States of America and Europe. These studies therefore embed historical and political contexts of issues such as slavery and migration, present in these countries. In contrast, by studying indigenous women in Settler States, my project provides different perspectives and also highlights the importance of local context for any such research.</p>

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Working Lives and Retirement Timing of Older Nurses in Ireland

COVID-19 profoundly affected Irish citizens. The effects have been especially pronounced for nurses in front-line, clinical and management roles. This article discusses the national and employer policy context relevant to nurses in Ireland. There have been staff and bed shortages in public hospitals since austerity policies were introduced following the global financial crisis. Government measures responding to the pandemic include initial ‘cocooning’ of older citizens, travel restrictions, changed working conditions and restricted availability of childcare. This article draws on interviews with 25 older nurses in 2021, sixteen women and nine men, aged 49 or over in Ireland. It explores older nurses’ experiences of COVID-19 and asks what are the implications for their working conditions and retirement timing intentions. A gendered political economy of ageing approach and thematic analysis reveals that while some nurses responded positively to the pandemic, some experienced adverse health impacts, stress and exhaustion; some reported a fear of contracting COVID-19 and of infecting their families; several women nurses decided to retire earlier due to COVID-19. The implications of the findings for employer and government policy and for research are discussed.

Basic Training of Teachers and Public Health Nurses for Communication with Residents for Smooth Shelter Management: A Pilot Study

In Japan, schools are commonly used as disaster evacuation centers. Teachers have evacuation center management roles; however, there is no established training for teachers to balance their management roles and teaching activities. We evaluated the effectiveness of simulation training that we designed to help teachers fulfill their roles in disaster situations while minimizing educational interruptions. A total of 42 teachers completed pre- and post-simulation questionnaires. Qualitative data were collected based on their free-response evaluations. The average scores showed significant increases in the cognitive (p < 0.001), affective, (p = 0.001), and psychomotor (p < 0.001) domains. The participants expressed acceptance of the others, confirmation of evacuation center rules, and a capacity to handle personal information. The study displayed what had happened at the shelters, and highlighted consensus building and job conflicts among the evacuees. Participating teachers learned a clear idea of what would happen in the workplace if it became a shelter after a disaster. They were accepting evacuating residents to their workplace and understood that cooperation was essential to ensure the education and safety of their school children.

How equal is access to senior management and leadership roles in the NHS?

In 2015, the NHS was named the fifth largest employer in the world, comprising clinical and non-clinical staff from varying backgrounds, all of whom impact lives on a daily basis through their work. In 2020, over 20% of this workforce identified as Black, Asian or minority ethnic, yet less than 13% of senior positions in the NHS, including band 8A and higher, are held by individuals in this group. Although the Workforce Race Equality Standard was introduced in 2015 to help address this issue, there is still work to be done. Therefore, this article highlights racial and ethnic discrepancies in positions of leadership and management in the NHS, and explores the programmes available and the steps that Black, Asian and minority ethnic employees can take to help them progress to senior management roles.

681 Increasing Representation in Surgical Careers – the First Cut Mentorship Programme for Medical Students

Background Surgical specialties in the medical literature are described as having low workforce diversity. Classically underrepresented groups among surgeons include women, trainees from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds and those possessing visible or hidden disabilities. As advocates for underserved communities, increasing the representation of these groups is vital to ensure that their values and perspectives influence the progression and practice of surgery. A mentorship programme was created to address this need and help break down the reported barriers which often deter medical students from pursuing surgical careers. Method A 6-month mentorship programme for students from underrepresented groups in surgery was designed and co-developed by four medical students and three university faculty members: a consultant HPB surgeon, a professor of medical education and an educational enhancement manager. Results 30 medical students received one-to-one mentorship from consultant surgeons. All participants (mentors and mentees) were from underrepresented groups in surgery. Students were provided with exposure to the life of a surgeon, personal development, and careers advice by their mentors. Opportunities for professional development in academic, educational and management roles were also offered to go beyond the scope of the standard clinical responsibilities of surgeons. This descriptive case study offers an approach to implementing this within a large medical school. Conclusions The First Cut project is currently in its pilot phase. Feedback will be collected and analysed at the end of the programme for evaluation and improvement. These results will demonstrate the value of mentorship programmes to students from underrepresented groups.