A longitudinal field study of group work redesig

The paper describes an action research project on group work redesign which involved blue-collar employees in a confectionery company. A theoretical framework, derived from previous research on semi-autonomous work groups and the Job Characteristics Model modified to apply to group working (Hackman, 1977), was used as a guide to diagnosis, redesign and evaluation. Hie findings, based on a short term evaluation after six months and a longer term evaluation after eighteen months, reveal that substantial increases in group autonomy and group work identity were achieved, and were followed, as predicted, by increased work motivation, performance, job satisfaction and mental health, as well as reduced labour turnover. Of particular interest to subsequent theoretical development is the sensitivity of mental health as an outcome variable, and the existence of differential rates of change in the dependent variables.     

A longitudinal study of the relationship between career management and organizational commitment among graduates in the first ten years at work

This paper reports the findings of a two‐wave longitudinal study investigating relationships between organizational and individual career management activities and organizational commitment in the early years of graduate careers. Several hypotheses are tested and receive mixed support. High organizational commitment predicts the practice of career management activities by graduates to further their career within the organization while low commitment is closely associated with behaviour aimed at furthering the career outside the organization. Graduates who manage their own careers also receive more career management help from their employer. This suggests that there may be the potential for employers to create a ‘virtuous circle’ of career management in which individual and organizational activities complement each other. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Correlates of career-oriented mentoring for early career managers and professionals

This study examines several different kinds of correlates of career-oriented mentoring experiences among early career managers and professionals. Survey data were collected from 416 respondents employed in a wide variety of jobs, organizations, and industries. The respondents averaged 30 years of age, and 28 per cent were women. Results indicated that younger, more work-involved respondents from higher socioeconomic origins received more career-oriented mentoring. In addition, managers received more mentoring than professionals, as did those who were higher in the organization hierarchy. While gender of the protégé was unrelated to the amount of career mentoring received, reasons are offered for this result. Various boundary conditions likely to affect mentoring processes are discussed and several directions are recommended for future research on mentoring.     

Antecedents of early career stage mentoring among Chinese employees

This study examined the mediating influence of protege‐initiated mentoring relationships on the relationship between personality and situational characteristics and mentoring received. Data were obtained from Hong Kong Chinese graduate employees (N=184) in their early career stage. Results of the regression analysis showed that protege‐initiated mentoring relationships mediated the relationship between the personality (extraversion) but not the situational (individual development culture and opportunities for interactions on the job) characteristics and mentoring received. In other words, extraversion was indirectly related to mentoring received through protege‐initiated mentoring relationships but individual development culture and opportunities for interactions on the job were directly related to mentoring received. Additionally, opportunities for interactions on the job indirectly influenced mentoring received through protege‐initiated mentoring relationships. Limitations of the study, implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of career stage on the work attitudes of male and female accounting professionals

The present study compared work commitments, overall job satisfaction, intrinsic and extrinsic rewards satisfactions, and organizational and professional turnover intentions of 718 male and female accounting professionals at different career stages. Career stage was measured by professional tenure. The results indicate that there are some differences in work attitudes across career stages for male accounting professionals. Job involvement, organizational commitment, and intrinsic and extrinsic rewards satisfaction are positively related to professional tenure. Organizational turnover intentions are negatively related to professional tenure for male accounting professionals. There are no significant differences in work attitudes across career stages for female accounting professionals. An examination of reasons for differences in work attitude patterns between male and female accountants suggests the need for research to determine whether later career stages (advancement and maintenance) differ for men and women. The results also suggest that future research should consider defining career stage in terms of the overlap between stages defined using alternate career stage measures.     

Going beyond work and family: A longitudinal study on the role of leisure in the work–life interplay

Going beyond the relation of work and family, the present three‐wave longitudinal study spanning one year assessed different forms of conflict and facilitation between leisure and the life domains work and family and their relation to subjective well‐being. A sample of N = 277 employed men and women reported their perceived conflict and facilitation between leisure, work, and family and subjective well‐being. Results suggest that leisure is a source of facilitation for work and family, and, at the same time, a major recipient of conflict from work and family. Moreover, leisure conflict was negatively correlated and leisure facilitation was positively associated with concurrent subjective well‐being. Both conflict and facilitation between all three life domains remained highly stable over the course of one year. Only few and non‐systematic lagged effects were found, indicating that the variance of the stability of the constructs and their relations over time leave little room for longitudinal predictions. Taken together, the study demonstrates that, similar to work–family relations, conflict and facilitation with the leisure domain are also associated with subjective well‐being and remain highly stable over the course of a year in the lives of young and middle‐aged adults. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predicting early career research productivity: the case of management faculty

We used a longitudinal design to examine the predictors of early career research productivity for 152 management professors over the first six years of their career. Results revealed early career research productivity to be a function of dissertation advisor research productivity, pre‐appointment research productivity, and the research output of a faculty member's academic origin and academic placement. However, the effects of these predictors varied over time in terms of strength. The findings are discussed in terms of guiding the evaluation and hiring of new researchers in knowledge‐based industries. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparing the work values of engineers with managers,production, and clerical workers: A multivariate analysis

Engineers and scientists have been compared in previous research on their work attitudes. Conceivably the interest in comparing these two groups of professionals was a result of the joint work they often do in research and development departments. The present framework suggests that engineers who work in production departments would have work values and attitudes which would be more similar to those of managers. Survey data was collected from 432 employees in two industrial corporations in Israel. Profile analysis showed that the work values of engineers were similar to those of managers and different from those of production and clerical workers. Furthermore, work values were also related to behavioral outcomes such as performance and tardiness. Implications regarding the study of engineering as a profession and the use of work values in organizational research are discussed.     

A longitudinal analysis of the impact of workplace empowerment on work satisfaction

A longitudinal predictive design was used to test a model linking changes in structural and psychological empowerment to changes in job satisfaction. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed a good fit of the data from 185 randomly selected staff nurses to the hypothesized model. Changes in perceived structural empowerment had direct effects on changes in psychological empowerment and job satisfaction. Changes in psychological empowerment did not explain additional variance in job satisfaction beyond that explained by structural empowerment. The results suggest that fostering environments that enhance perceptions of empowerment can have enduring positive effects on employees. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relocation attitudes and adjustment: A longitudinal study

This study identified correlates of attitude toward an impending employer-initiated relocation, then followed up by predicting post-transfer attitude and adjustment difficulty in the same sample. Predictors suggested by past research on mobility attitudes (i.e. demographic characteristics and attributes of the pre-move location) were less important in explaining pre-move attitude toward the transfer than were expected attributes of the new location. After the move, experienced aspects of the new location such as role ambiguity, degree of advancement, and community and job satisfaction were the strongest predictors of overall post-move attitude and adjustment difficulty. In many cases, pre-move expectations about attributes of the new location were not related to affect or adjustment after the move, suggesting that pre-move expectations may have been inaccurate. Implications for theory, research, and organizational practice are discussed.     

Stigma at work: The psychological costs and benefits of the pressure to work safely

Introduction: Workplace accidents and injuries can be quite costly to both individual employees and their organizations. While safety climate (i.e., perceptions of policies and procedures related to safety that should reflect an organization's value of safety) has been established as a predictor of safety behaviors, less research has considered the possible negative pressures that could result from an environment that emphasizes safety. Though organizations may intend to create a positive safety climate, concerns about being treated differently if an employee were to be involved in a safety incident may result in unintended, but detrimental safety and health outcomes. Method: This study investigated the stigma associated with being involved in a safety-related incident in relation to self-reported safety behaviors and psychological health outcomes. The data were acquired through a two-wave prospective design, surveying workers from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk; N = 528) who indicated they were exposed to at least one physical work stressor (e.g., heavy lifting; air quality; standing for extended periods) a few times each month or more. Results: When controlling for safety climate, safety stigma was related to decreased safety compliance and poorer psychological health. There was a marginally significant interaction between safety stigma and safety motivation in relation to safety compliance. Conclusions: These findings suggest that experiencing pressure to work safely, for fear of being evaluated negatively, may actually come at the cost of employees' safety compliance and psychological health. Practical applications: These results may be useful in assessing and intervening to improve an organization's safety climate. Organizations should closely examine the climate for safety to ensure that positive aspects of safety are not undermined by a stigmatizing pressure associated with safety in the work environment.     

Energy at work: A measurement validation and linkage to unit effectiveness

We introduce the notion that the energy of individuals can manifest as a higher‐level, collective construct. To this end, we conducted four independent studies to investigate the viability and importance of the collective energy construct as assessed by a new survey instrument—the productive energy measure (PEM). Study 1 (n = 2208) included exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to explore the underlying factor structure of PEM. Study 2 (n = 660) cross‐validated the same factor structure in an independent sample. In study 3, we administered the PEM to more than 5000 employees from 145 departments located in five countries. Results from measurement invariance, statistical aggregation, convergent, and discriminant‐validity assessments offered additional support for the construct validity of PEM. In terms of predictive and incremental validity, the PEM was positively associated with three collective attitudes—units' commitment to goals, the organization, and overall satisfaction. In study 4, we explored the relationship between the productive energy of firms and their overall performance. Using data from 92 firms (n = 5939_employees), we found a positive relationship between the PEM (aggregated to the firm level) and the performance of those firms. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamics of calling: A longitudinal study of musicians

The dominant view of calling among management scholars is that it is a stable construct that does not change. This view has resulted in a research void about calling's early development and subsequent evolution. Insight into the dynamic process through which callings develop is fundamental to understanding its role in people's careers and lives. In this study, I focus on the antecedents of calling, a consuming, meaningful passion people can experience toward a domain. I propose a dynamic model in which calling can change over time and can be shaped by antecedent factors, specifically, through people's ability, behavioral involvement, and social comfort in the area toward which they feel a calling. I tested these ideas in a seven‐year, four‐wave prospective longitudinal survey study of 450 amateur musicians. Multilevel analyses indicate individuals who were more behaviorally involved and felt higher social comfort in the calling domain (e.g., music) experienced higher levels of calling early on but experienced a decline in calling over time. Individuals' ability in the calling domain was not related to initial calling or change in calling. I discuss the implications for theory and research on calling, meaning of work, and the dynamics of careers. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Managing the career deal: the psychological contract as a framework for understanding career management,organizational commitment and work behavior

This paper reports the findings of a study that investigated the relationship between different kinds of career management activities, the psychological contract, and outcomes of psychological contract fulfillment. The study tested a series of linked hypotheses which propose that individual career management behavior is associated with the experience of organizational career management help, which is related to fulfillment of the psychological contract. Fulfillment of the psychological contract in turn is linked to organizational commitment and is associated with behaviors at work, including absenteeism, turnover, and independent ratings of job performance. The findings provide some support for these proposed links. As a result, the paper makes four contributions to the psychological contract and careers literature: first, it shows that both individual and organizational career management behaviors are linked to psychological contract fulfillment; second, organizational career management help is associated with affective commitment and job performance; third, psychological contract fulfillment plays a key role in mediating the relationship between career management help and such attitudes and behaviors; and fourth, organizational commitment may mediate between psychological contract fulfillment and individual career management behavior aimed at furthering the career outside the organization. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Work‐related flow and energy at work and at home: A study on the role of daily recovery

In this diary study, we aimed to examine the moderating effects of the following: (i) recovery efforts at work and (ii) detachment from work on the relationship between work‐related flow and energy after work. Specifically, we hypothesized that flow would be beneficial for energy after work when employees failed (versus managed) to recover during work breaks. Additionally, we predicted that when employees experience flow at work, they would be more vigorous (and less exhausted) at the end of the day when they detached from work in the evening compared with days when they failed to detach. The study tracked 83 participants who completed daily surveys over four consecutive days. Results of multilevel analyses indicated that some characteristics of flow, such as absorption and enjoyment, were significantly associated with energy after work. Recovery at work and detachment from work moderated the relationship between flow (specifically the enjoyment component) and after‐work energy. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Potential moderating influence of career growth opportunities on careerist orientation and work attitudes: evidence of the protean career era in Singapore

The emerging transactional or protean employment contract appears to have precipitated the development of a careerist orientation on the part of employees. This study examined the generalizability of the construct in a collectivist culture and the potential moderating influence of career growth opportunities on the careerist orientation–work attitude relationships. The results tend to support the generalizability of careerist orientation across cultures and, importantly, showed an absence of a moderating influence for career growth opportunities, suggesting that organizations cannot effectively counter the negative effects of careerist orientation on work attitudes. Limitations of the study, directions for future research, and implication of the findings for organizational dependence on employees as a competitive resource are discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of a new scale to measure subjective career success: A mixed‐methods study

Career success is a main focus of career scholars as well as organizational stakeholders. Historically, career success has been conceptualized and measured in an objective manner, mainly as salary, rank, or number of promotions. However, the changing nature of work has also necessitated a change in the way many employees view success, adding a more subjective component. Although there has been theoretical discussion and calls to develop a comprehensive measure of subjective career success, no contemporary comprehensive quantitative measure exists. The goal of this study was to create and validate a measure of subjective career success, titled the Subjective Career Success Inventory (SCSI). The SCSI includes 24 items that address subjective career success via eight dimensions. The scale was developed and validated through four phases of data collection, beginning with interviews and focus groups, followed by item sorting tasks, then item refinement through confirmatory factor analysis, and finally convergent and discriminant validity quantitative analysis. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hand tool injuries at work: A surveillance perspective

This paper reports results of a surveillance study of work injuries caused by power and nonpower hand tools. Analyzing 129,399 case reports of hand tool injury compensation claims from the 1983 Supplementary Data System of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the authors determined that nonpower hand tool injury rates were highest in agriculture, followed by construction, mining, and retail trades. For power hand tool injury rates, the order was: construction, agriculture, manufacturing, and mining. Among nonpower hand tools, hand knives were prominent, causing large proportions of injuries to workers in the food preparation occupations and farm laborers. Power hand tool injuries were most often associated with saws, which accounted for large proportions of injuries to lumbermen, carpenters, and miscellaneous laborers. Most injuries could be described as acute trauma involving upper extremities, but musculoskeletal injuries were also documented in substantial numbers. The authors provide suggestions for focused investigations to follow the surveillance effort reported here.