Measuring organizational play in small businesses

Although traditionally seen as antinomic to work, play has always existed in work organizations. Recently, as organizations increasingly and openly embrace play, research indicates the positive effects of play, such as on employees’ well-being, attitude to work, and creativity. However, the difficulty in conceptualizing the different types of play in organizations and the absence of measurement tools have hindered large-scale study of play. In the present paper, we develop two measurement scales for two types of organizational play—diversionary and serious play. We use two datasets of French small businesses to develop and test the scales. We pre-test our initial set of items in a first dataset (N = 78). We perform correlation, reliability, and exploratory factor analyses on a second dataset (N = 278) using the items adjusted after the pre-test. Our final scales consist of ten items for diversionary play and seven for serious play. We assess construct validity by selecting a range of constructs pertaining to organizational members’ attitude and perception, as well as to the characteristics of the organization. Our measurement scales demonstrate good reliability and validity. The scales developed in the present study aim to contribute to the literature on play at workplace, the changing nature of modern work and research in entrepreneurial health.</p

Measuring organizational play in small businesses

Although traditionally seen as antinomic to work, play has always existed in work organizations. Recently, as organizations increasingly and openly embrace play, research indicates the positive effects of play, such as on employees’ well-being, attitude to work, and creativity. However, the difficulty in conceptualizing the different types of play in organizations and the absence of measurement tools have hindered large-scale study of play. In the present paper, we develop two measurement scales for two types of organizational play—diversionary and serious play. We use two datasets of French small businesses to develop and test the scales. We pre-test our initial set of items in a first dataset (N = 78). We perform correlation, reliability, and exploratory factor analyses on a second dataset (N = 278) using the items adjusted after the pre-test. Our final scales consist of ten items for diversionary play and seven for serious play. We assess construct validity by selecting a range of constructs pertaining to organizational members’ attitude and perception, as well as to the characteristics of the organization. Our measurement scales demonstrate good reliability and validity. The scales developed in the present study aim to contribute to the literature on play at workplace, the changing nature of modern work and research in entrepreneurial health.</p

The role of family support in work-family balance and subjective well-being of SME owners

Drawing on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, we examine the role of two types of family support—emotional and instrumental support—in work-family balance and subjective well-being of small and medium enterprise (SME) owners. Using a sample of French SME owners, our results show that work-family balance mediates the relationship between family support and subjective well-being of SME owners. Surprisingly, while emotional support has a positive association, instrumental support has a negative association with the subjective well-being of SME owners via work-family balance. We provide a theoretical explanation by integrating COR theory with the threat to self-esteem model

The role of affect in entrepreneurial orientation

Although the literature on affect (i.e., the extent to which an individual subjectively experiences feelings and emotions) is burgeoning in the field of entrepreneurship, affect has not received sufficient attention with respect to an important antecedent to entrepreneurial success—entrepreneurial orientation. In this paper, we investigate the role of both positive and negative affect in entrepreneurial orientation (i.e., the strategic posture of a firm/individual with respect to innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk taking) and entrepreneurial success. The results of our analysis, based on two samples (337 Dutch sole proprietors and 254 French small business owners), show that positive affect is positively associated with entrepreneurial orientation, whereas negative affect is negatively associated with entrepreneurial orientation for sole proprietors. With respect to entrepreneurial success, results are mixed. The present study contributes to the understanding of the role of affect in entrepreneurial orientation. It also contributes to the literature on entrepreneurial success, the ultimate objective in the field of entrepreneurship

Risk of burnout in French entrepreneurs during the COVID-19 crisis

The COVID-19 crisis presents manifest threats for entrepreneurs since their business survival is often directly at stake given the alarming economic downturn. This existential threat, together with their crucial role in the economy, is the reason for the plethora of public financial support schemes being implemented throughout the entire world. However, support schemes for mental health are lacking. We aim to investigate, first, whether burnout levels have increased during the crisis and, second, whether burnout levels during the COVID-19 crisis depend on the threat of becoming ill, having to stay at home due to the lockdown, and/or having to file for bankruptcy due to the economic downturn. We do so using seven data sets of French entrepreneurs with a temporal comparison of averages and two data sets of French entrepreneurs with a cross-sectional analysis of individuals. Our findings show that indeed, the risks of burnout have increased during the pandemic and that the threat of bankruptcy is the dominant threat. As an increasing number of studies in the entrepreneurship literature indicate that entrepreneurs’ mental health influences their activities, as well as the growth and sustainability of their ventures, our study is important and timely in its contribution, as it takes a close look at the perception of burnout in general and more specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic

Hygiene and Social Distancing as Distinct Public Health Related Behaviours Among University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Prevailing research on individuals’ compliance with public health related behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic tends to study composite measures of multiple types of behaviours, without distinguishing between different types of behaviours. However, measures taken by governments involve adjustments concerning a range of different daily behaviours. In this study, we seek to explain students’ public health related compliance behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic by examining the underlying components of such behaviours. Subsequently, we investigate how these components relate to individual attitudes towards public health measures, descriptive norms among friends and family, and key demographics. We surveyed 7,403 university students in ten countries regarding these behaviours. Principal Components Analysis reveals that compliance related to hygiene (hand washing, coughing behaviours) is uniformly distinct from compliance related to social distancing behaviours. Regression analyses predicting Social Distancing and Hygiene lead to differences in explained variance and type of predictors. Our study shows that treating public health compliance as a sole construct obfuscates the dimensionality of compliance behaviours, which risks poorer prediction of individuals’ compliance behaviours and problems in generating valid public health recommendations. Affecting these distinct behaviours may require different types of interventions

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and academic entrepreneurial preference: is there an association?

Although commercialization of research activities has drawn some research attention, more studies are warranted to clearly understand the drivers behind academic entrepreneurship. The present paper investigates the association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and academic entrepreneurial preference. ADHD symptoms have typically been associated with impaired occupational functioning among wage employees. Recent studies, however, indicate that the same symptoms of ADHD that are a liability for wage employees may work out differently for entrepreneurs. Building on previous studies that link ADHD symptoms to entrepreneurship, and using the theoretical lens of person-environment fit, we hypothesize that ADHD symptoms (at the so-called subclinical level) are associated with academic entrepreneurial preference. Results of our data from academic researchers in France, Spain, and Italy (N = 534) show that there is a negative association between attention-deficit symptoms and academic entrepreneurial preference. However, there is no link between hyperactivity symptoms and academic entrepreneurial preference

Work, play and ride the storms : an ethnography of sustained innovation

Cette thèse est composée de trois essais empiriques issus d’une enquête ethnographique conduite dans une entreprise innovante en Inde, et étudie les processus permettant l'innovation durable. Cette recherche aborde le rôle du jeu dans les processus de travail innovant, ainsi que le rôle de l'identité organisationnelle comme une réponse de l'organisation aux menaces extérieures. Cette thèse montre comment le jeu se déroule dans les organisations, sa nature et son rôle dans les processus de travail créatifs. Les résultats indiquent que le jeu a plusieurs effets sur les tâches et les relations qui affectent les processus collectifs de travail créatif qui soutiennent l'innovation durable. Je montre aussi les transitions entre le travail intense et jeu intense et expose un modèle incluant des conditions initiales, des mécanismes et des signaux qui facilitent les transitions. Ce faisant, cette thèse construit les bases d'une théorie du travail et du jeu. Cette recherche décrit un nouveau genre de jeu dans les organisations, différent de ceux observés et étudiés précédemment. Elle contribue aux théories du jeu et au travail créatif dans l'organisation. Prenant en compte le fait que l'innovation durable dépend aussi de la capacité de l'organisation à faire face aux menaces extérieures, cette recherche montre également comment l'identité organisationnelle joue un rôle crucial dans l'élaboration des méthodes de travail pour faire face aux menaces extérieures. Ainsi, cette étude contribue à la littérature sur la formation de l'identité organisationnelle, et son rôle dans les pratiques organisationnelles, la survie et l'innovation durableThis dissertation consists of three empirical essays based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in an innovation-based firm in India, and investigates the processes enabling sustained innovation. More specifically, it addresses the role of play in innovative work and its processes, as well as the role of organizational identity in organization’s response to external threats. I show how playfulness unfolds in work organizations, its nature, and its role in the creative work processes. Results indicate that play has several task and relationship related effects on group creative work processes on which sustained innovation rests. It also show how people transition between intense work and intense play – and explicate a model of initial conditions, mechanisms and cues for such transitions. By doing so, this study starts to lay the grounds for a theory of work and play, and provides an answer to how innovative work gets accomplished amidst playfulness in organizations. This study describes a new kind of play in work organizations, different to those observed and investigated in previous organizational studies and contributes to theories of play and creative work in organization. Mindful of the fact that sustaining innovation also depends on organization’s ability to cope with external threats, this study also shows how organizational identity play a crucial role in shaping its work practices for responding to external threats, and how threat can even lead to the formation of an organization’s initial identity. Thus, this study also contributes to the literature on organizational identity, and its role in organizational practices, survival, growth and sustained innovatio

Health perception of French SME owners during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has immense impact on the conditions and behaviours of people and on those of small business owners in particular. Using two samples of some 3700 French business owners, collected before and during the pandemic, this study finds that on average, health perceptions in terms of physical and mental health differ: while perceptions of good mental health declined, those of good physical health improved. We also find that the size of business and the growth of turnover are mechanisms that contributed to the decline of the total health score. This novel finding implies that during the pandemic, business size and growth of turnover are seen as liabilities rather than assets by business owners. The results of our study have strong implications both for business owners as well as for policy makers

Techno-overload and well-being of French small business owners:: identifying the flipside of digital technologies

Technostress is an important by-product of information and communication technologies (ICT). The technostress literature suggests focusing on specific dimensions of technostress, such as techno-overload, which describes when ICT usage demands to work faster and longer. However, only a few studies have dealt with the technostress of small business owners, let alone techno-overload. This is surprising since work overload in general has been identified as an important dimension of job stress for small business owners, and technostress has been identified as an important impediment for workers in general. The aim of the current study is to investigate the effect of techno-overload on well-being outcomes (as a composite measure consisting of physical well-being, mental well-being, sleep quality, burnout, and loneliness) using three data sets of French small business owners. Our results indicate a strong negative correlation between techno-overload and our composite measure of well-being for all three data sets. We interpret our findings for several different disciplines: information systems, small business owners and entrepreneurship, health and well-being, psychology and organization studies. Our data also allow for the identification of contextual effects–the COVID-19 pandemic–since one survey was conducted before, one at the start of, and one during the pandemic