113 research outputs found
Making sense of mistakes in managerial careers
Purpose:
The paper provides initial findings on the causes and consequences of problematic midâcareer workârole transitions â selfâreported career mistakes described by individuals in terms of a mismatch between expectations and reality.
Design/methodology/approach:
This exploratory study uses inâdepth interviews based on critical incident technique (CIT) to elicit accounts of problematic workârole transitions.
Findings:
Participants reported mismatches arose because their expectations were based on their prior experience, rather than upon information provided by the organisation during the course of the recruitment process. These mismatches stimulated very active sense making on the part of participants, largely focused on finding ways to make their continuation in the role tolerable.
Research limitations/implications:
The present study, which is exploratory in nature, involved a small sample size, and the use of retrospective accounts. The findings are therefore preliminary and may not be representative of midâcareer managers' experience with problematic work role transitions. However, they confirm the relevance of career mistakes to organisations and individuals and indicate a need for further research on the subject.
Practical implications:
The study suggested managers moving post in midâcareer bring to their new role a range of expectations based upon prior experience, rather than the recruitment process. Further study is needed, but these findings have significant implications for organisations, in that they suggest recruitment processes must provide information in a manner which might overcome or correct these prior assumptions.
Originality/value:
The subject of career mistakes has received little treatment in the organisational side of the careers literature, and yet is of everyday concern to organisations and individuals
Using Citizen Science to Collect Coastal Monitoring Data
Coastal monitoring is becoming increasingly important as coastal hazard risks increase due to factors such as climate change. Traditional survey methods are often expensive and require technical skills and special equipment which restricts the amount of data that can reasonably be collected. Results from two citizen science projects are presented to assess what data can be extracted from imagery collected by the public. Schemes which incorporate members of the public in the data collection phase of a project offer the opportunity to engage local groups/communities with important coastal issues, while collecting valuable scientific data which can be used by coastal managers to assess the vulnerability of the coast to coastal hazards
âHey GRINGO!â: the HR challenge of graduates in nonâgraduate occupations
Purpose:
The purpose of this paper is to examine the phenomenon of growing numbers of graduates in non-graduate occupations (GRINGOs), and to explore the HR issues and complexities that arise as a consequence. The article also suggests avenues for future research.
Design/methodology/approach:
A case study methodology was used to gather data from four companies employing significant numbers of graduates in non-graduate jobs.
Findings:
The case studies suggest that GRINGOs can bring significant benefits to organisations, but are also challenging to manage: organisations which cannot offer them opportunities for career development risk having an able but resolutely uncommitted group of staff.
Research limitations/implications:
The research is based on a relatively limited sample, and the respondents were in management, so the findings were not triangulated with the perceptions of GRINGOs within the organisations. There is a paucity of literature examining the consequences of the GRINGO and the challenges that they pose for organisations, and this paper seeks to explore these issues and prompts further research in this area.
Practical implications:
The paper suggests that organisations are not fully utilising the potential of their GRINGO staff, and identifies ways in which HR departments might respond to this issue.
Originality/value:
The article makes an original contribution to the literature on graduate under-employment, by examining the issue from an organisational perspective
What about leadership?; Comment on âcultures of silence and cultures of voice: The role of whistleblowing in healthcare organisationsâ
In their valuable discussion of whistleblowing in healthcare organisations Mannion and Davies highlight the importance of organisational culture in influencing whether people raise concerns, and whether these concerns are listened to and acted upon. The role of leadership in shaping organisational culture is well established and in this commentary we will examine the influence of leaders in creating cultures of silence or cultures of voice
Identity work in the transition from manager to management academic
The phenomenon of current practitioners moving into academia is generally welcomed in terms addressing recruitment problems and the perceived benefit of bringing practical experience into the academic setting. Yet the individual practitioner may encounter considerable difficulties with this career transition. This paper identifies the different sources and discourses of credibility â management experience versus academic knowledge â as particularly relevant, and considers the ways in which these âemergent management academicsâ manage their selfâidentities in their dayâtoâday interactions
Lost in translation? Culture, language and the role of the translator in international business
Purpose:
Issues of language in international business have been the focus of a growing body of theoretical and empirical work. This paper aims to contribute to this literature, focusing specifically on issues of translation. The role of translator will vary depending on the language strategy adopted, with strategies linked to differing perspectives on language in international business â mechanical, cultural and political. The paper examines these perspectives through the lens of a specific problem for transnational communication â âuntranslatableâ words and concepts.
Design/methodology/approach:
Interviews were conducted with professional linguists (translators and interpreters) to explore how they dealt with issues of untranslatable but cultural salient words in their dayâtoâday work with international businesses, using the problems of translating the Farsi word tarouf into English as a case in point.
Findings:
The linguists agreed that tarouf was an untranslatable word, and described their strategies to deal with this problem. The commonest strategy was avoidance, stemming from linguists' concern to maintain their professional standing with clients, a finding which reflects an emerging emphasis on the importance of context and relationships for understanding interâcultural communication.
Practical implications:
The study highlights the crucial role of the translator in international business, and draws attention to the potential for crossâcultural communication problems arising from mutual lack of awareness of culturallyâsalient but inherently untranslatable words or phrases.
Social implications:
Effective interâcultural communication is an issue of great importance to wider society, and business has historically been the commonest site of such communication. The study highlights an issue of considerable importance for improving interâcultural communications, contributing to a growing interâdisciplinary literature in this area.
Originality/value:
Much of the research on language in international business has focused on the emergence of English as a lingua franca, but the present study focuses on specific issues of translation and does so in an underâresearched location, Iran. It draws attention to a problem of translation not widely discussed, and shows how important this issue can be for international business
External Whistleblowersâ Experiences of Workplace Bullying by Superiors and Colleagues
The purpose of this study was to investigate external whistleblowersâ experiences of workplace bullying by superiors and colleagues, and to analyze how the bullying was influenced by factors such as the support they received from government or NGOs, and whether colleagues understood the reasons for the whistleblowerâs actions. For bullying by colleagues we also examined to what extent this was influenced by superiorsâ behavior towards the whistleblower. We reviewed the relevant literature on workplace bullying and whistleblowersâ experiences of negative or retaliatory actions and developed three hypotheses, which we tested using data gathered from Korean external whistleblowers. Results revealed that external whistleblowers experienced work-related bullying by superiors and social relation-related and person-related bullying by colleagues more frequently, and found it more distressing, than other types of workplace bullying. Superiorsâ bullying was a dominant factor affecting bullying by colleagues. Colleaguesâ understanding of the reason for the whistleblowerâs actions was significant in reducing bullying frequency while support from government and NGOs was not significant in reducing it. Based on these findings, practical implications are discussed
Narrative as an emotion-focused coping strategy in career
PhD ThesisThis thesis develops a theoretical framework for studying the impact of emotion on
career, following Kidd's lament that emotion is `an absent presence in career theory'
(Kidd, 1998). In the proposed framework, career is treated as a narrative construction
(Bujold, 2004) and viewed as a significant component of an individual's identity
(McAdams, 1995). Events which disrupt the career narrative will be experienced as
disruptive to identity and to the achievement of the individual's goals, and will
therefore stimulate emotion which in turn leads to sensemaking aimed at repairing the
disruption (Weick et al, 2005). This sensemaking produces a revised career narrative,
which the individual subsequently enacts.
This proposition is explored through the use of autoethnographic case studies, and the
use of this methodology is itself one of the major contributions of this thesis;
autoethnography (Ellis, 2004) is an uncommon methodology in social science
generally and its use is unheard of within organisational psychology. The case studies
allow for theory development, though do not represent an empirical test of the
framework, so following the autoethnographic analyses, a refined framework is
outlined, together with proposals for research to test the framework.
The thesis concludes that narrative coping is the dominant response to emotion in
career, and outlines a number of implications for this proposition, including important
directions for future research
Can we release the brake on the career re-entry of mothers? A UK perspective
While there are many reasons for career inequalities between men and women, becoming a mother is one of the most important life events affecting the career paths of women. In particular, decisions on whether, when and how mothers return to work have a significant influence on their later career development. Therefore, in this article, we review the literature regarding challenges and determinants of mothersâ return to work after a child-related career break. Subsequently, we compare the context of returning mothers in the UK and India and present the legal, infrastructural and cultural specificities of both countries to better understand the influence of context on decision making of mothers. Building on this, we turn toward mechanisms to reduce barriers of re-entry and provide recommendations how to support the transition of mothers back to work
Crowdsourcing for Sustainable Urban Logistics: Exploring the Factors Influencing Crowd Workersâ Participative Behavior
With crowd logistics becoming a crucial part of the last-mile delivery challenge in many cities, continued participation of crowd workers has become an essential issue affecting the growth of the crowd logistics platform. Understanding how people are motivated to continue their participation in crowd logistics can provide some clarity as to what policies and measures should be undertaken by the industry to support its further growth. Using the Push-Pull-Mooring (PPM) theory, we developed a research model to explain the factors influencing crowd workers' participative behavior. Survey data from 455 crowd workers were analyzed using SmartPLS3.0 software. The results show monetary rewards and trust have a significant positive impact on the willingness of crowd workers to continue participating in crowd logistics, while work enjoyment from previous work and entry barriers for work have a significant negative impact. Trust plays an intermediary role between monetary incentives and crowd workers' willingness to continue participating. Based on the findings of this study, we recommend that crowd logistics platforms should offer reasonable monetary incentives and keep these under constant review, build a high degree of trust and cooperation with their crowd workers, and initiate activities geared towards promoting satisfaction at work
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