Alcohol use and misuse: What are the contributions of occupation and work organization conditions?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This research examines the specific contribution of occupation and work organization conditions to alcohol use and misuse. It is based on a social-action model that takes into account agent personality, structures of daily life, and macro social structures.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data come from a representative sample of 10,155 workers in Quebec, Canada. Multinomial regression models corrected for sample design effect have been used to predict low-risk and high-risk drinking compared to non-drinkers. The contribution of occupation and work organization conditions (skill used, decision authority, physical and psychological demands, hours worked, irregular work schedule, harassment, unionization, job insecurity, performance pay, prestige) have been adjusted for family situation, social network outside the workplace, and individual characteristics.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Compared to non-qualified blue-collars, both low-risk and high-risk drinking are associated with qualified blue-collars, semi-qualified white-collars, and middle managers; high-risk drinking is associated with upper managers. For constraints-resources related to work organization conditions, only workplace harassment is an important determinant of both low-risk and high-risk drinking, but it is modestly moderated by occupation. Family situation, social support outside work, and personal characteristics of individuals are also associated with alcohol use and misuse. Non-work factors mediated/suppressed the role of occupation and work organization conditions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Occupation and workplace harassment are important factors associated with alcohol use and misuse. The results support the theoretical model conceptualizing alcohol use and misuse as being the product of stress caused by constraints and resources brought to bear simultaneously by agent personality, structures of daily life, and macro social structures. Occupational alcohol researchers must expand their theoretical perspectives to avoid erroneous conclusions about the specific role of the workplace.</p

Corporate governance and employment relations

Using the 2004 United Kingdom Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS 2004), this paper examines the impact of corporate governance on HRM practices and employment relations outcomes within organizations in the UK. The analysis suggests that when a remote external stake-holder is assigned dominance, particularly in the case where their liability is limited and the organization is large, the conditioning of managerial commitments on the requirements of the dominant stake-holder has the potential to undermine the effectiveness of the HRM system in achieving its objectives

Self-esteem achievement through work and socio-demographic disparities in the labor market

We develop a model in which agents choose whether to achieve self-esteem through work. When they do, they develop an intrinsic motivtion to effort. Depending on the characteristics of the job to be filled, an employer may try, or not, to encourage this intrinsic motivation by an adequately designed contract. Although equally productive, assuming that agents from distinct socio-demographic groups differ in their propensity to achieve self-esteem through work, this may lead to unequal access to employment. We analyse the consequences of this model on labor market outcomes. The model can give an account of many important traits of socio-demographic disparities in the labor market (notably of vertical occupational segregation.Employment relation, self-esteem, intrinsic motivation, (seeming) hiring discrimination, occupational segregation, socio-demographic earnings gaps.

HRD - the shapes and things to come

There has been limited critical review and development of Human Resource Development (HRD) theory in the past two decades. It is change, and especially the rate at which change occurs, that largely influences the HRD hybrid that any organisation adopts. This paper will systematically consider the professional discussions in a number of countries to trace HRD through four key phases: the 'duet', the 'trio', the 'quartet' and concluding with the 'orchestra'. In the past, Human Resource Development (HRD) was often polarized as focusing primarily on either performance or learning - a 'duet'. The relationship between HRD and change was then developed once the integral nature of work to both performance and learning was recognised - a 'trio'. A significant addition to the exploration of learning at work then came about when authors tackled the issue of quality - a 'quartet' of learning, performance, work and quality. However, the future of HRD now lies squarely in the need for the profession to embrace fully the inextricably interrelated paradigms of movement (where people have developed from); change (and especially the rate of change); dynamism (provided from leadership); harmony and unity (resulting from cohesive partnerships) - the 'orchestra'

Comparing the impact of management on public and private nurses in Bangladesh

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to use conservation of resources (COR) theory as a lens for comparing the impact of line management on Bangladeshi public and private nurses’ perception of work harassment, well-being and turnover intentions where Anglo-American and European management models have been super-imposed on an existing different culture. Design/methodology/approach Survey data were collected from 317 Bangladeshi nurses’ (131 from the public sector and 186 from the private sector). Structural equation modelling was used for analysis. Findings High work harassment was associated with low-being, and together with management practices, it explained approximately a quarter of private sector nurses’ well-being. In total, management, work harassment and employee well-being explained approximately a third of the turnover intentions of public sector nurses, whereas only work harassment explained approximately a third of private sector nurses’ turnover intentions. The findings suggest a differential impact of management on work harassment across the public and private sector. Research limitations/implications Cross-sectional data are susceptible to common method bias. A common latent factor was included, and several items that were explained by common method variance were controlled. Further, the findings are limited by the sample size from one sector and the use of only one developing country. Practical implications It is a waste of resources to transplant Anglo-American and European management models to developing countries without understanding the impact on nurses’ outcomes. Originality/value Anglo-American and European management models are not easily transferable to the Bangladesh context probably because of the impact of ties and corruption. Line management is a positive resource that builds employee well-being for public sector employees only

Social Interaction, Co-Worker Altruism, and Incentives

Social interaction with colleagues is an important job attribute for many workers. To attract and retain workers, managers therefore need to think about how to create and preserve high-quality co-worker relationships. This paper develops a principal-multi-agent model where agents do not only engage in productive activities, but also in social interaction with their colleagues, which in turn creates co-worker altruism. We study how financial incentives for productive activities can improve or damage the work climate. We show that both team incentives and relative incentives can help to create a good work climate.social interaction, altruism, incentive contracts, co-worker satisfaction

Social Interaction, Co-Worker Altruism, and Incentives

Social interaction with colleagues is an important job attribute for many workers. To attract and retain workers, managers therefore need to think about how to create and preserve high-quality co-worker relationships. This paper develops a principal-multi-agent model where agents do not only engage in productive activities, but also in social interaction with their colleagues, which in turn creates co-worker altruism. We study how financial incentives for productive activities can improve or damage the work climate. We show that both team incentives and relative incentives can help to create a good work climate. We discuss some empirical evidence supporting these predictions.social interaction, altruism, incentive contracts, co-worker satisfaction

Synthesizing diverse evidence: the use of primary qualitative data analysis methods and logic models in public health reviews

Objectives: The nature of public health evidence presents challenges for conventional systematic review processes, with increasing recognition of the need to include a broader range of work including observational studies and qualitative research, yet with methods to combine diverse sources remaining underdeveloped. The objective of this paper is to report the application of a new approach for review of evidence in the public health sphere. The method enables a diverse range of evidence types to be synthesized in order to examine potential relationships between a public health environment and outcomes. Study design: The study drew on previous work by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence on conceptual frameworks. It applied and further extended this work to the synthesis of evidence relating to one particular public health area: the enhancement of employee mental well-being in the workplace. Methods: The approach utilized thematic analysis techniques from primary research, together with conceptual modelling, to explore potential relationships between factors and outcomes. Results: The method enabled a logic framework to be built from a diverse document set that illustrates how elements and associations between elements may impact on the well-being of employees. Conclusions: Whilst recognizing potential criticisms of the approach, it is suggested that logic models can be a useful way of examining the complexity of relationships between factors and outcomes in public health, and of highlighting potential areas for interventions and further research. The use of techniques from primary qualitative research may also be helpful in synthesizing diverse document types. (C) 2010 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved