Nostalgia in Organizations

Scholars have proposed that nostalgia plays various important roles in organizations. At present, there is no comprehensive overview of the role of nostalgia in this context. To help develop such an overview, we review research on personal nostalgia, insofar as it includes outcomes that are organizationally relevant, and research on organizational nostalgia. We propose a model that summarizes the processes through which nostalgia operates in organizations. In this model, we propose that threatening circumstances such as injustice or organizational change evoke organizational (and possibly personal) nostalgia, this evoked nostalgia subsequently counteracts the negative effects of threat on outcomes such as organizational identification and experienced work meaningfulness. We end by discussing implications and future research directions

When are workload and workplace learning opportunities related in a curvilinear manner? The moderating role of autonomy

Building on theoretical frameworks like the Job Demands Control model and Action Theory we tested whether the relationship between workload and employees’ experiences of opportunities for workplace learning is of an inverted u-shaped nature and whether autonomy moderates this relationship. We predicted that – at moderate levels of autonomy - workload was positively associated with learning opportunities at low levels of workload, but negatively at high levels of workload. Also, we predicted that low autonomy prevents positive effects of moderate workload from materializing whereas high autonomy makes high workload less destructive to the learning process. Furthermore, we examined whether learning opportunities increase particularly as a function of higher matched levels of workload and autonomy and whether mismatch between workload and autonomy is particularly detrimental to the learning process. We found support for these ideas in two large and heterogeneous samples of working adults using moderated and polynomial regression analysis and subsequent response surface methodology. These results integrate conflicting prior findings and extend Karasek's (1979) active learning hypothesis. They also have clear implications for job redesign practices aiming to promote workplace learning opportunities. For this study, the researchers made use of SERV-data from the Flemish Workability Monitor. Only the authors are responsible for the content of this article

Wanneer bevordert en wanneer hindert werkdruk het werkplek leren?

Building on theoretical frameworks like the Job Demands Control model we tested whether the relationship between workload and employees’ experiences of opportunities for workplace learning is of an inverted u-shaped nature. Furthermore we researched whether autonomy moderates this relationship. We predicted that at moderate levels of autonomy rising workload was associated with increasing learning opportunities at low levels of workload, but with decreasing learning opportunities at high levels of workload. Also, we predicted that low autonomy prevents positive effects of moderate workload from materializing whereas high autonomy makes high workload less destructive to the learning process. We found support for these ideas in a large and heterogeneous sample of Flemish working adults (FWM, 2010). These results integrate conflicting prior findings and extend Karasek’s (1979) active learning hypothesis. They also have clear implications for job redesign practices aiming to promote workplace learning opportunities

Question order in the assessment of misperception of physical activity

Abstract Background People often have misperceptions (overestimation or underestimation) about the health-related behaviours they engage in, which may have adverse consequences for their susceptibility to behavioural change. Misperception is usually measured by combining and comparing quantified behavioural self-reports with subjective classification of the behaviour. Researchers assume that such assessments of misperception are not influenced by the order of the two types of measurement, but this has never been studied. Based on the precaution adoption model and the information processing theory, it might be expected that taking the subjective measurement after a detailed quantified behavioural self-report would improve the accuracy of the subjective measurement because the quantified report urges a person to think more in detail about their own behaviour. Methods In an experiment (n = 521), quantified self-report and subjective assessment were manipulated in a questionnaire. In one version, the quantified self-report was presented before the subjective assessment, whereas in the other version, the subjective assessment came first. Results Neither subjective assessment nor overestimation of physical activity were biased by the order of the questions. Underestimation was more prevalent among subgroups of the group which answered the subjective assessment after the quantified self-report. Conclusion Question order in questionnaires does not seem to influence misperceptions concerning physical activity in groups relevant for health education (overestimators: those who do not meet the guidelines for physical activity while rating their physical activity as sufficient or high). The small order effect found in underestimators is less relevant for health education because this subgroup already meets the guideline and therefore does not need to change behaviour.</p

What value ethical leadership?

What is ethical leadership? What are the benefits of developing an ethical culture within an organisation? And how can leaders implement such a culture? These are just some of the issues that are discussed in the second RSM Discovery debate

Make me want to pay! A three-way interaction between procedural justice, distributive justice, and power on voluntary tax compliance

Tax compliance involves a decision where personal benefits come at the expense of society and its members. We explored the roles of procedural and distributive justice and citizens’ perceptions of the tax authority’s power in stimulating voluntary tax compliance. Distributive and procedural justice have often (but not always) been shown to interact in such a way that high distributive justice or high procedural justice is sufficient to predict positive responses to authorities and the social collective they represent. We examined whether this interaction predicts voluntary (but not enforced) tax compliance, in particular among citizens who perceive the tax authority’s power as high (vs. low). The results of two field studies among Ethiopian (Study 1) and United States (Study 2) taxpayers supported our pre

Can a leader be seen as too ethical? The curvilinear effects of ethical leadership

Ethical leadership predicts important organizational outcomes such as decreased deviant and increased organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). We argued that due to the distinct nature of these two types of employee behaviors, ethical leadership decreases deviance in a linear manner (i.e., more ethical leadership leading to less deviance), but we expected ethical leadership to reveal a curvilinear relationship with respect to OCB. Specifically, we expected that, at lower levels, ethical leadership promotes OCB. However, at high levels, ethical leadership should lead to a decrease in these behaviors. We also examined a mechanism that explains this curvilinear pattern, that is, followers’ perceptions of moral reproach. Our predictions were supported in three organizational field studies and an experiment. These findings offer a better understanding of the processes that underlie the workings of ethical leadership. They also imply a dilemma for organizations in which they face the choice between limiting deviant employee behavior and promoting OCB

Power, justice, and trust: a moderated mediation analysis of tax compliance among Ethiopian business owners

We explored the moderating roles of legitimate and coercive power held by the tax authority in the relationship between procedural justice, trust in the tax authority, and voluntary tax compliance. Drawing from fairness heuristic theory and the slippery slope framework of tax compliance, we predicted that procedural justice fosters voluntary tax compliance, particularly when legitimate power of the tax authority is low and when coercive power of the authority is high. Moreover, we predicted that these interactive effects are mediated by (cognition-based) trust. Finally, we predicted that coercive power of the tax authority is positively related with enforced tax compliance. The results of a field study among Ethiopian business owners supported most predictions. This research is among the first to integrate social-psychological and deterrence-related factors to understand tax compliance behavior in a developing country