Unpleasant Updates: Discussing Negative Project Performance with Executives

Project managers often have early indications that a project is performing poorly and potentially headed for failure. In such cases, reporting these warnings could prompt executives to provide essential support to mitigate and even prevent problems. However, project managers are frequently reluctant to share such information with executives. This research-in-progress aims to develop a model establishing antecedents that drive accurate status reporting between project managers and executives as well as identifying moderating variables impacting such reporting. The theory of planned behavior and information systems (IS) whistleblowing theory provide the theoretical lenses facilitating the identification of probable antecedents to such reporting intentions. A theoretical model including propositions has been developed

Understanding the Whistle-blowing Intention to Report Breach of Confidentiality

We examine the factors that encourage employees to whistle-blow wrongdoings in relation to confidentiality breaches. We investigate how their anticipated regret about remaining silent changes over time, how such changes influence their whistle-blowing intentions, and what employee characteristics and organizational policies moderate this relationship. Drawing on attribution theory, we develop three hypotheses. Our experiment findings show that: 1) employees’ perceptions of the controllability and intentionality (but not stability) of the wrongdoing act affect how their anticipated regret evolves, 2) anticipated regret increases employees’ whistle-blowing intentions, 3) anticipated regret has a stronger effect on whistle-blowing intentions when organizations implement policies that promote efforts to protect information confidentiality, and 4) employees with information technology knowledge have a stronger intention to whistle-blow. Theoretically, our study extends the organization security literature’s focus to individuals’ whistle-blowing and highlights an IS research agenda around whistle-blowing in relation to confidentiality breaches. Practically, it informs organizations about how to encourage employees to whistle-blow when they observe confidentiality breaches

Affect and Decision Making in Troubled Information Technology Projects

IT project failure is an enduring problem which has often been associated with bad news reporting and escalation of commitment. The literature in bad news reporting has focused on identifying factors (e.g., organizational climate of silence) that could influence one’s reporting decision. Similarly, the de-escalation literature has primarily investigated conditions or activities (e.g., changes in top management) which promote de-escalation. Nonetheless, what is missing in our understanding is how affect can influence bad news reporting and de-escalation decisions within IT projects. This represents a significant gap in bad news reporting and de-escalation research, as affect (i.e., mood and emotions) is recognized as a fundamental aspect of human life which strongly influences individual perceptions, judgment, and decision making. The aim of this dissertation to provide new insights regarding how affect can influence bad news reporting decisions and de-escalation of commitment within the context of troubled IT projects

An Empirical Examination of the Impact of Organizational Injustice and Negative Affect on Attitude and Non-Compliance with Information Security Policy

Employees’ non-compliance with Information Security (IS) policies is an important socio-organizational issue that represents a serious threat to the effective management of information security programs in organizations. Prior studies have demonstrated that information security policy (ISP) violation in the workplace is a common significant problem in organizations. Some of these studies have earmarked the importance of this problem by drawing upon cognitive processes to explain compliance with information security policies, while others have focused solely on factors related to non-compliance behavior, one of which is affect. Despite the findings from these studies, there is a dearth of extant literature that integrates both affective and cognitive theories that shed light on a more holistic understanding of information security non-compliance behaviors. This research developed a theoretical model of the relationship between negative affect and cognitive processes and their influence on employees’ ISP non-compliance at the workplace. Cognitive processes provide a significant foundation in understanding why employees show non-compliance behavior with ISPs and rules at the workplace. However, they do not completely explain the motivations behind the deviant employee’s non-compliance behavior. This research examined how the relationships between organizational injustice frameworks and negative affect influence attitude, which, in turn, influences behaviors that can be used to understand ISP non-compliance. Extant literature has explored theories like neutralization, deterrence, theory of planned behavior, rational choice theory, affective events theory, and work-related events as an outcome of neutralization, and organizational injustice, to explain cognitive reactions. The research model was empirically tested using the data collected from 115 participants who participated in a scenario-based survey. The results showed that negative affect has a significantly positive impact on employees’ attitude and ISP non-compliance behavior. Distributive, informational and interpersonal injustices were also found to influence ISP non-compliance in a significant but negative direction. The study contributes to both theory for IS research and practice for organizational management of security policies

Veteran Paramedics’ Experience of Managing Work-Related Trauma: A Qualitative Study

Paramedics throughout the world are trained to competently treat the physical injuries of patients requiring pre-hospital emergency medical care. The nature of this work exposes them to highly traumatic and often life threatening situations. As a result of working with this stress and trauma, they themselves can experience emotional, psychological, and physical trauma (Gayton & Lovell, 2012). Research suggests that they receive little education and training about how to effectively manage this trauma (Gayton & Lovelle, 2012) and that many paramedics experience symptoms of Burnout, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), or Depression (Beaton, 2006; Millar, 2004; Shakespeare-Finch, 2006). The impact of working with trauma affects individual paramedics, families, paramedic organisations, the paramedic profession, and members of the community who seek ambulance services around the world. Some studies suggest the implications of this impact contributes to an average five-year work life among the paramedic workforce in one Australian state (Streb, Haller & Michael, 2014) but veteran paramedics appear to be an anomaly of resilience among the paramedic population. The current qualitative study investigates the veteran paramedic’s experience of managing work-related trauma and aims to identify trauma management strategies that contribute to the longevity of their career. Interviews were conducted with twelve veteran paramedics and data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results identified five main themes, each with their respective sub-themes. The results of this study were expected to contribute toward strengthening paramedic resilience, to benefit the families of paramedics, paramedic organisations and contribute toward the improvement of care for patients