Leadership and team cohesiveness across cultures

This study examines the relation between leadership and team cohesiveness in different societal cultures. We expect direct effects of societal culture on leadership and team cohesiveness, as well as a moderating effect of culture on the relationship between leadership and cohesiveness. Data were collected from 29,868 managers and 138,270 corresponding team members in 80 countries. Multilevel analysis was used to test the hypotheses, relating societal individualism-collectivism (IC), with directive and supportive leadership, and with team cohesiveness. In individualistic societies managers use less directive and less supportive behavior, compared with collectivistic societies. Team cohesiveness is not directly related with IC. Directive leadership and supportive leadership are negatively and positively related with team cohesiveness respectively and these relations are stronger in individualistic societies. Implications for managerial education and practices are discussed. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Leadership and team cohesiveness across cultures journaltitle: The Leadership Quarterly articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2009.03.005 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.status: publishe

Associations among altruism, burnout dimensions, and organizational citizenship behaviour

Most studies of burnout have focused on lack of resources, prevalence of burnout, and negative outcomes. In contrast, this study examined the relationships among altruism, burnout and a positive outcome, namely, the engagement in organizational citizenship behaviour. Web questionnaires were distributed to employees in three professional organizations. The results from the 178 respondents indicated that altruism is related to organizational citizenship behaviour. Of the three dimensions of burnout, only reduced personal accomplishment was (negatively) associated with engagement in organizational citizenship behaviours. Implications of the results are discussed and directions for future research are offered

Who wants to be a mentor?: An examination of attitudinal, instrumental, and social motivational components

Purpose – This study investigates the influence of affective organizational commitment, career aspirations, and networking activities on propensity to mentor (serving as a mentor and desiring to become a mentor). Design/methodology/approach – Data from websurveys of 262 managerial employees of a Dutch bank are analyzed using logistic regression. Findings – Results indicate that affective organizational commitment is unrelated to propensity to mentor, whereas career aspirations are positively related, and networking activities are negatively related to serving as a mentor, but not desiring to be a mentor. Research limitations/implications – The study is limited by its reliance on self-report data and the Dutch culture may have influenced the results of the study to an unknown degree. Practical implications – Results of this study suggest that employees volunteering to be a mentor are clearly ambitious in terms of their own career, but are not necessarily highly committed to their organization nor do they perform exemplary behaviors in terms of extra role behavior or networking. Originality/value – Individuals are more likely to engage in mentoring activities and to desire to become a mentor if they have high career aspirations. This relationship may be the result of an instrumental perspective on the part of the mentor, who sees developing a cadre of loyal and supportive organizational members as having a positive effect on his or her own career advancement

Job insecurity and employee health: The role of workplace control

This study examined the direct and moderating effects of job control and job self-efficacy on the relationship between job insecurity and employee health. Based on survey data collected from a sample of 1368 workers, we found that only job control buffered the negative effects of job insecurity on employee health.status: publishe

Traditional and discretionary SHRM practices and team effectiveness: Examining the mediating role of team learning behaviors

To cater to the growing importance of teamwork, organizations have started to target their Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) practices toward teams. The present study distinguished traditional from discretionary SHRM practices and drew on social exchange theory (Blau, 1964). The study sample consisted of 237 teachers and 14 school management representatives from 14 secondary schools in The Netherlands. Traditional SHRM practices had a direct effect on team effectiveness, whereas the effect of discretionary SHRM practices on team effectiveness was mediated by team learning.status: publishe