Sensemaking of organizational innovation and change in public research organizations

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine through a sensemaking lens the transforming nature of scientists’ work role in public research organizations (PROs), resulting from organizational innovations in the form of collaborative culture. Design/methodology/approach Based on a symbolic-functionalist theory of work role transition, the paper uses interview data from a case study to explore scientists’ sensemaking of work role change. Findings Work role transition and identity processes among scientists in traditional PROs reveal tensions regarding organizational restructuring to the extent that organizational innovations are changing scientific work conflict with organizational norms, procedures and reward structures in hierarchical, bureaucratic PROs. Research limitations/implications As the paper is based on only one case study, further research should be carried out on the difficulties involved in transforming the nature of the scientific work role and the way scientists recognize, contradict and make sense of changes. Originality/value The novelty of this paper is in the un-discussed role of organizational innovations in enabling new work roles for scientists in public research centers and how scientists make sense of and react to these innovations. Therefore, this paper could be beneficial for PROs facing pressure to restructure.

Determinants of work role transition outcomes of Filipinos in Singapore

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the following questions: what factors affect work role transition outcomes of Filipino employees in Singapore? What is the influence of type of expatriation on work role transition outcomes? Two outcomes of interest are work adjustment and job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach – An e-mail containing the link to a web-based structured questionnaire was sent to Filipinos working in local and multinational organizations in Singapore, who were also encouraged to forward the link to other Filipinos working in Singapore. The number of respondents totals 106. We used regression analysis to address the research question. Findings – Work adjustment and job satisfaction do not share common factors, indicating differences in their dynamics. Work adjustment is singly explained by the individual factor: the self-efficacy beliefs of the global employees. It is not influenced by the content and context of work but by the disposition of the individual alone. On the other hand, job satisfaction is explained by job factors (role discretion and role conflict) and organizational or job context factors (supervisory support and perceived organizational support). It is not explained by self-efficacy belief. Both work role adjustment and job satisfaction are not influenced by whether or not the global employee is company assigned or self-initiated. Research limitations/implications – Given the nonprobabilistic sampling employed, results of the study, in a strict sense, apply only to the individuals who participated in the survey. In addition, cross-sectional nature of the study also limits inference on causality. Practical implications – The null results of gender, marital status, and age imply that these are not good indicators of success and are not a good basis for selection. However, one important dimension to consider in recruitment is self-efficacy belief. Managers also need to nurture self-efficacy of existing employees by enabling them to experience success and for the managers to consciously develop and maintain high self-efficacy belief themselves to serve as role model of employees. Moreover, organizations can enhance and manage job satisfaction by providing support from both the supervisor and the organization, and designing jobs that provide role discretion and less role conflict. In addition, the null result of type of expatriation suggests that pre-departure support erodes through time such that companies that send employees to foreign subsidiaries must continue to provide support beyond the pre-departure phase and highlight the role of host country operations in providing job content and context conducive to job satisfaction. Originality/value – This study furthers the understanding of work role transition outcomes of people from Asia and the developing world who work in countries other than their own. It also broadens our perspective of work role transition by looking at two outcomes: work adjustment and job satisfaction. Moreover, this study provides an important contribution to the literature by examining the differences in outcomes of company assigned and self-initiated global employees.

Violazione del contratto psicologico e socializzazione organizzativa: uno studio esplorativo

- The relationship existing between Psychological Contract (PC) and Organizational Socialization (OS) has been studied only focusing the effect of the latter on the former. The aim is to highlight the importance of the reverse relation (the effect of PC on socialization) and to evaluate a first reference model. It is hypothesized that PC violations during socialization can impact on the adjustment strategies and that this relationship is moderated by personal variables (career anchors). The results concerning a longitudinal survey conducted on 78 employees of a firm, via questionnaire, show mixed support to the proposed model. Considering the obtained results it is suggested a development of studies on this issue and critical facets aimed to conduct future researches are presented.Keywords: organizational socialization, work role transition, psychological contract violation, career anchors.Parole chiave: socializzazione organizzativa, transizione di ruolo, violazione del contratto psicologico, ŕncore di carriera.

Organizational Logics of Managerial Careers

A theoretical model of managerial careers is presented which links two organizational characteristics (structure and growth) to the pattern of managerial careers within an organization. Different combinations of these characteristics give rise to different organizational career logics (OCLs), which are the rationalities an observer imputes to the pattern of work role transitions within a firm. Each OCL is associated with its own distinctive pattern of work role transition, and a framework for classifying these transitions is described which allows the differences to be made manifest. Three ideal-type OCLs are described, and the perspective is illustrated by reference to work role transition patterns in four large British manufacturing firms. Additional sources of variance are discussed: some are predicted by the OCL perspective and some arise as the result of choices made by individual managers within the overall framework of their firm's OCL. A simple two-dimensional model of individual choice is presented. Each OCL and its associated pattern of transitions is also likely to develop different skills and expertise in its managers; the paper concludes by discussing what these different forms of expertise might be.