Job demands,job resources,and their relationship with burnout and engagement: a multi‐sample study

This study focuses on burnout and its positive antipode—engagement. A model is tested in which burnout and engagement have different predictors and different possible consequences. Structural equation modeling was used to simultaneously analyze data from four independent occupational samples (total N = 1698). Results confirm the hypothesized model indicating that: (1) burnout and engagement are negatively related, sharing between 10 per cent and 25 per cent of their variances; (2) burnout is mainly predicted by job demands but also by lack of job resources, whereas engagement is exclusively predicted by available job resources; (3) burnout is related to health problems as well as to turnover intention, whereas engagement is related only to the latter; (4) burnout mediates the relationship between job demands and health problems, whereas engagement mediates the relationship between job resources and turnover intention. The fact that burnout and engagement exhibit different patterns of possible causes and consequences implies that different intervention strategies should be used when burnout is to be reduced or engagement is to be enhanced. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The impact of self-appraisals on reactions to feedback from others: the role of self-enhancement and self-consistency concerns

This study examined the usefulness of self-appraisal (SA) as a technique designed to enhance the motivational and developmental impact of feedback from others. Drawing from research on self-enhancement and self-consistency motives, it was hypothesized that individuals would agree with and incorporate feedback that is consistent with their SA, whereas they would be more satisfied and perform better if feedback is more favorable than their SA. A field study was conducted with 122 MBA students as participants. On average, students were 25 years old and had 1.8 years of work experience. Seventy per cent of students were male and 82 per cent were white. The findings supported all of the hypotheses except the hypothesis concerning satisfaction. Implications for improving the impact of performance appraisal feedback are discussed.     

Sex segregation of work in Finland and the quality of women's work

The Finnish labor market is sharply segregated by sex. This is a statistically well-documented fact and holds true for all Western European market economies. The aim of this article was to find out whether women profit (regarding the quality of their work) from performing the same sort of work as men. The qualitative aspects of work were the following: autonomy at work; lack of routinization of work; the compulsory rhythm of work; and the demands for social skills. We also analyzed monthly pay and its variation according to functional segregation of work. The empirical data came from the Finnish Study on Working Conditions (1984) which is a representative sample of the Finnish wage-earning population with 4502 persons of whom 48 per cent were women and 52 per cent men. Our results indicate that women often profit from the fact that they perform the same sort of work as men. This profit was more apparent for white-collar than for blue-collar women. For men the effects of segregation on job characteristics were the opposite. They often profit from sex segregated work. Social status played a major role regarding the qualitative aspects of work.     

An investigation of the willingness of managerial employees to accept an expatriate assignment

Data obtained with the aid of structured questionnaires from a Singaporean managerial sample (N = 228) were used to examine receptivity to an expatriate assignment in terms of the cultural similarity or dissimilarity of the country of relocation. Results of a paired t-test indicated that respondents were significantly more receptive to an expatriate assignment in a culturally similar location than in a culturally dissimilar location. Results of hierarchical regression analyses revealed mixed support for the study's propositions and explained only modest amounts of the variance in the culturally similar (R² = 22 per cent) and dissimilar (R² = 20 per cent) models. Limitations of the study, directions for future research and implications of the findings are discussed.     

Two roads to effectiveness: CEO feedback seeking,vision articulation,and firm performance

Humble leadership is attracting increased scholarly attention, but little is known about its effects when used in conjunction with less humble leadership behaviors that rely on a perception of the leader as confident and charismatic. This study contrasts the effects on top management team (TMT) potency and organizational performance of a more humble (feedback seeking) and a less humble (vision) CEO leader behavior. We hypothesize that CEO feedback seeking increases TMT potency and firm performance by communicating to TMT members that the organization values their input and encouraging their own feedback seeking, whereas CEO vision articulation influences these outcomes by fostering greater clarity about the firm's direction, and an enhanced ability to coordinate efforts within the TMT. CEOs who have not developed a vision can achieve a similar positive impact on TMT potency and firm performance by seeking feedback. In a sample of CEOs and TMT members from 65 firms, both CEO feedback seeking and vision articulation exhibit positive direct relationships with firm performance. However, only feedback seeking displays an indirect effect on performance via TMT potency. Finally, CEO feedback seeking has its strongest effects on firm performance and TMT potency for CEOs who are not seen as having a vision.     

Violating the psychological contract: Not the exception but the norm

The occurrence and impact of psychological contract violations were studied among graduate management alumni (N = 128) who were surveyed twice, once at graduation (immediately following recruitment) and then two years later. Psychological contracts, reciprocal obligations in employment developed during and after recruitment, were reported by a majority of respondents (54.8 per cent) as having been violated by their employers. The impact of violations are examined using both quantitative and qualitative data. Occurrence of violations correlated positively with turnover and negatively with trust, satisfaction and intentions to remain.     

Utility estimates of job performance as related to the Data,People, and Things parameters of work

The purpose of this study was to investigate the applicability of the Schmidt–Hunter global estimation method of assessing utility across a broad range of jobs. Ninety-five industrial/organizational psychologists estimated the utility of performance in 24 carefully selected jobs. The utility estimates were compared to the Data, People, and Things worker function parameters from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. The majority of jobs (62.5 per cent) produced significantly positively skewed distributions of dollar-valued job performance. The Data, People, and Things parameters accounted for 46 per cent of the variance in the non-symmetry of the utility distributions and 33 per cent of the variance in the inter-rater reliability of the utility estimates. The implications of the results were discussed for utility assessment, and explained from a decision theoretic perspective. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

无机包覆聚苯乙烯泡沫板烟气产生规律研究

聚苯乙烯泡沫板在建筑节能中具有重要应用,其阻燃防火性能影响建筑火灾安全。应用UL-94垂直燃烧性能测试方法研究无机包覆聚苯乙烯泡沫板在垂直状态下的燃烧情况,结果表明包覆后的聚苯乙烯试样的等级可达到V-1以上;应用烟密度仪和气体分析仪研究无机包覆聚苯乙烯泡沫板燃烧烟气产生规律,结果表明MgSO_4/MgO、α-石膏、无机黏结剂、无机粘结剂/膨润土均对聚苯乙烯泡沫起到阻燃效果,并对烟气产生抑制作用,抑烟能力由大到小为MgSO_4/MgO,α-石膏、无机黏结剂/膨润土、无机黏结剂。同时能不同程度地影响聚苯乙烯泡沫燃烧时产生CO_2、CO有毒有害气体的体积分数,其中CO_2的最大体积分数分别为2.09%、1.79%、1.52%、1.62%;CO的最大体积分数分别为434×10~(-6)、340×10~(-6)、358×10~(-6)、369×10~(-6),从数据分析可知,4种无机包覆聚苯板中,无机黏结剂在4种包覆剂中对CO_2生成的影响效果更佳,α-石膏在4种包覆剂中对CO生成的影响效果更佳。     

Lower health risk with increased job control among white collar workers

Associations between increased job control and health status were tested with questionnaire data from a random sample of full-time workers (n = 8504) from the national Swedish white collar labor federation, TCO (representing 25 per cent of the Swedish work force). Of these subjects, 1937 had undergone a company-initiated job reorganization during the previous several years. Workers in the job reorganization group who had influence in the reorganization process and obtained increased task control as a result had lower levels of illness symptoms on 11 of 12 health indicators controlling for age and sex (11 of 12 associations significant for males, four of 12 associations significant for females). A previously validated measure of coronary heart disease was significantly lower in circumstances of increased job control for males (8.6 per cent symptom frequency with decreased control versus 3.4 per cent with increased control; p = 0.05). Absenteeism was lower: 10.7 per cent versus 5.0 per cent (0.01). Depression was lower 27.8 per cent to 13.7 per cent (0.001). However, smoking was significantly higher for women 11.0 per cent versus 23.5 per cent (0.01). All illness indicators showed that the process of job reorganization itself was associated with significantly higher symptoms (‘change stress’). However for males (only) symptoms levels when reorganization was accompanied by increased control were often as low or lower than symptom levels for no reorganization at all. Unfortunately, job reorganizations involving employee influence and increased task control were less frequent than job reorganizations involving reduced influence and no increased control, especially for women and older workers.     

Evaluating the effectiveness of a logger safety training program

INTRODUCTION: Logger safety training programs are rarely, if ever, evaluated as to their effectiveness in reducing injuries. METHOD: Workers' compensation claim rates were used to evaluate the effectiveness of a logger safety training program, the West Virginia Loggers' Safety Initiative (LSI). RESULTS: There was no claim rate decline detected in the majority (67%) of companies that participated in all 4 years of the LSI. Furthermore, their rate did not differ from the rest of the WV logging industry that did not participate in the LSI. Worker turnover was significantly related to claim rates; companies with higher turnover of employees had higher claim rates. Companies using feller bunchers to harvest trees at least part of the time had a significantly lower claim rate than companies not using them. Companies that had more inspections per year had lower claim rates. CONCLUSIONS: High injury rates persist even in companies that receive safety training; high employee turnover may affect the efficacy of training programs. The logging industry should be encouraged to facilitate the mechanization of logging tasks, to address barriers to employee retention, and to increase the number of in-the-field performance monitoring inspections. Impact on industry There are many states whose logger safety programs include only about 4-8 hours of safe work practices training. These states may look to West Virginia's expanded training program (the LSI) as a model for their own programs. However, the LSI training may not be reaching loggers due to the delay in administering training to new employees and high levels of employee turnover. Regardless of training status, loggers' claim rates decline significantly the longer they work for a company. It may be that high injury rates in the state of West Virginia would be best addressed by finding ways to encourage and facilitate companies to become more mechanized in their harvesting practices, and to increase employee tenure. Increasing the number of yearly performance inspections may also be a venue to reduce claim rates. Future research could investigate in better detail the working conditions of West Virginia loggers and identify barriers to job tenure, particularly for workers whose primary job task is chainsaw operation. A larger-scale study of the effect of performance monitoring inspections on claim rates is also warranted.     

Work and non-work correlates of illness and behaviour in male and female Swedish white collar workers

Four broad classes of dependent variables (psychological strain, physical illness symptoms, health-related behaviour and social participation) were associated with eleven categories of stressors and stress moderators from work and family life, using multiple logistic regression analysis for a random sample of 8700 full-time male and female members of T.C.O., a major Swedish white-collar labour federation (covering 25 per cent of the Swedish labour force). Our goal was to find broad patterns of associations by comparing relative magnitudes of effects for (a) stressors and stress moderators; (b) work and family activities, and (c) males and females. Fifty per cent of the associations between environmental factors and dependent variables were significant in the predicted direction at the 5 per cent level. However, only 5 per cent of the associations are as strong, for example, as average smoking/heart disease associations. Our primary conclusion is that job factors are the next strongest set of predictors of health and behaviour after age. Job factors are stronger than family factors for both men and women; proportionally increasing the explained variance by over 60 per cent versus roughly 20 per cent for family factors (over the 25 per cent of explanation due to demographic factors). The overall pattern of stressor/outcome associations is quite similar for men and women, although both job/outcome and family burden/outcome associations are stronger for women than for men. We failed to find a clear linkage between particular stressors and particular physical illnesses. Among the job factors, control and work load have the strongest associations; with the former predicting behaviour patterns and job satisfaction (along with social support), and the latter predicting mental strain symptoms. Family problems are associated with increased health risks (stronger for men) and family responsibilities and constraints affect health behaviour (stronger for women). Job satisfaction is the most successfully predicted outcome in the study, and is similarly affected for men and women.     

Unraveling the mysteries of gender differences in intentions to leave the organization

The anticipated labor shortages of the 1990's will intensify organizational needs to retain their existing employees. Women represent an increasingly important segment of the labor force and their turnover rates are thought to exceed men's. Earlier studies of turnover and its psychological antecedent, the behavioral intention to leave, suggest that work-related factors may contribute to women's relatively higher turnover rates. The current paper reports the results of a study of the intentions of male and female executives, managers and professionals to leave their organizations. The results support the pattern of findings in earlier studies that gender differences disappear when job satisfaction is controlled in the analysis. Further analysis highlights the importance of two components of job satisfaction — meaningful work and opportunities for promotion. The authors conclude that organizations might improve their retention rates of female managers through job enrichment and by enhancing their advancement opportunities.     

Loss prevention in turnaround maintenance projects by selecting contractors based on safety criteria using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP)

Turnaround maintenance (TAM) is a usual plant shutdown that is done by process industries to perform asset inspections, repairs, and overhauls. TAM engineering projects are needed on a periodic basis to optimize a plant's performance. Process industrial plants usually don't have enough in-house manpower to carry out needed TAM jobs; it is not uncommon for a process industrial plant to outsource its TAM manpower supply to external contractors. This will create a peculiar management challenge regarding how to assure orientation of safety practices for the newly hired labor. Although accidents during process plant shutdowns may have severe consequences, the safety management systems in place for many companies only cover normal operations and few explicitly address TAM projects. Usually, contractors are evaluated from a safety perspective after handling the project by monitoring safety indicators such as number of injuries, incidents, etc. This paper emphasizes safety attributes to be included in selecting contractors at the bidding stage to assure loss prevention and better safety orientation during TAM implementation. The paper starts with reviewing TAM literature and defining main needed safety attributes to prequalify contractors. It develops an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model that is applied to rank TAM contractors' selection. A case study is presented for a petrochemical plant in Saudi Arabia to demonstrate the AHP model.     

疫情管控期间公共场所火灾疏散研究*

为探究新冠疫情管控期间公共建筑安全出口开放状态对人员疏散影响,通过实地调研了解公共建筑疏散管理及安全出口开放状态,利用Pathfinder模拟疫情管控前后某高校办公楼人员火灾疏散,分析人员疏散过程中个人拥堵总时长、最长连续拥堵时长、人员疏散路径,提出3种推荐出口开放方案,并通过Pathfinder模拟得到最优方案。研究结果表明:疫情管控期间,各公共建筑均关闭部分安全出口,以便于体温检测;疫情管控期间人员拥堵时长显著增大,常规情况下人均拥堵时长为16.01 s、个人拥堵时长最大为120.45 s,疫情管控期间人均拥堵时长为23.92 s、个人拥堵时长最大为168.23 s;区域A部分人员汇合至区域B中,导致楼梯2人员密度增大,在2~3层楼梯发生拥堵;同时开放出口Ⅰ和Ⅳ的方案Ⅲ为最优开放方案。     

Organization–environment adaptation: A macro‐level shift in modeling work distress and morale

We theorized that organization–environment adaptation, the interaction between external demands and personnel resources, predicts distress and morale. We tested this hypothesis in 29 stations within one state police department, and combined three data sources. We measured environmental demands for policing via census data pertaining to the station precinct (e.g., per cent unemployed; per cent in public housing). We assessed resources via personnel numbers within stations. Outcomes were employee's perceptions of staff distress and morale at the station (N = 247), assessed twice, 14 months apart. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we found that environmental demands predicted perceptions of workgroup distress and morale and that the relationships were moderated by personnel resources. For distress, when resources were low, demands were positively associated with distress; when resources were high, demands were negatively associated with distress. For morale, when resources were high, demands were positively associated with morale; there was no relationship when resources were low. Results show that aversive and pleasurable reactions at work may be traced to how resources are employed to manage external demands. Results support a macro‐level shift in modeling distress and morale, incorporating external demands, and strategic management decisions regarding personnel resourcing. Our research suggests that rather than being a result of individual failure to adapt, compromised work ability may result from an organizational failure to adapt to the environmental context. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

大型公共场所多源疏散的控制流模型研究

以现有的单源最快流控制算法为基础,考虑人员在大型公共场所中的实际分布状况,遵循最大限度利用各出口的原则,提出针对多源疏散的全局最优化算法。根据此算法可以得出各疏散源点经过各出口的疏散人员数量以及人员的行走路径、从源点出发和完成疏散的时刻。将算法应用于某百货公司的案例研究表明,在多源疏散的情况下,各源点依次按照单源最快流控制算法进行独立疏散,能够保证每个源点的最优疏散,但整体的疏散效率并非最优;而应用全局最优化算法进行疏散,可以充分利用疏散过程中不同出口的疏散时间差,取得减少整体疏散时间、提高疏散效率的效果。     

机械排烟系统优化设计数值模拟研究

本文以一超市建筑为例,运用火灾模拟软件FDS对排烟口位置、排烟口数量、排烟量、排烟口面积等对机械排烟效果的影响进行了研究。研究表明顶棚排烟优于侧壁排烟;排烟口应尽量远离疏散出口;排烟量达到一定数值之后,再增加排烟量,对排烟效果影响不大;增加排烟口数量,并合理分布其位置,可以得到良好的排烟效果。     

火灾情况下某单洞双层盾构隧道人员疏散分析

对于火灾情况下单洞双层超大断面双层盾构隧道人员疏散问题,在现有的规范中,没有相关条文说明给出明确要求。主要针对火灾情况下某单洞双层盾构隧道人员疏散进行分析,对我国某水下盾构隧道开展了火灾情况下人员疏散的模拟研究。利用Pathfinder模拟疏散软件,通过模拟计算获得该双层盾构隧道发生一起火灾情况下人员逃生所需的时间,验证其疏散通道的疏散能力,以及疏散楼梯尺寸、疏散逃生洞口间距的有效性。在模拟中,将火源设置在隧道的下层,人员从隧道下层往上层疏散。结果表明,基于隧道内疏散楼梯最大的有效宽度,当疏散逃生洞口间距设置为36m时,方可将人员疏散至未失火层隧道的时间控制在6 min以内,从而满足"6 min原则"要求。     

Procedural justice's relationship with turnover: explaining past inconsistent findings

Despite arguments for a significant negative relationship, there have been ambiguous findings on the empirical relationship between procedural justice and turnover behavior. This study attempts to clarify these past findings by examining the effects of multiple dimensions of procedural justice on the voluntary turnover behavior of nurses in a work‐scheduling context (N = 190). The advance notice and consistency dimensions were significantly and negatively correlated with turnover behavior. Two dimensions of procedural justice had divergent effects on actual turnover behaviors in a logistic regression model. Advance notice was negatively related to turnover, while representativeness of views was positively related to turnover. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.