The role of social support and coping behaviour in nursing work: Main or buffering effect?

In the field of stress research it is often assumed that social support as well as coping behaviour contributes to feelings of health and well-being. However, until now it has not been altogether clear whether a main-effect model or a buffer model was the more appropriate for explaining the role of these factors in response to stressful situations. In this paper, a research project is described in which both the direct and indirect effects of social support and coping were studied in the work situation of nurses. The results offer more support for a main-effect model than for a buffer or moderating-effect model, especially with regard to the coping strategies 'active problem-solving' and 'palliative behaviour'. However, some moderating effects on nurses' reactions to their work situation were found for social support and for 'comforting cognitions' as a coping strategy.     

Das Team in der Ohnmacht Was kann Supervision in ausweglosen Situationen leisten?

Sometimes in the course of a team supervision it becomes obvious, that the team is stuck in a predicament that cannot be influenced. We can even realize downright double-bind-constellations. With three case examples the author dwells on the question if it makes sense to uncover and explore the situation nevertheless, even if there seems to be no scope of action. Which kind of support supervision can offer the team at all in this situation? Which ethical, pragmatical and methodical questions are implied?     

制销供应链安全责任的消费者驱动研究

从企业社会责任的一个方面--产品的安全性能对消费者偏好的影响入手,运用博弈论的基本思想,对消费者驱动的制销供应链安全责任决策进行了研究。结果表明:g类制销联盟较好地履行安全责任,能提高消费者对g类产品的支付意愿,从而获得较高的利润,这将对g类制销联盟进一步较好地履行安全责任产生激励驱动;若g类制销联盟未能较好地履行安全责任,消费者会用抵制购买(这种抵制行为会造成g类制销联盟的利润损失)的惩罚方式来驱动其较好地履行安全责任。g类制销联盟的最优决策是在控制成本的基础上较好地履行安全责任。本文的研究成果对供应链各成员的决策均有重要的指导意义。     

Book reviews and books received

Abstract

In the field of stress research it is often assumed that social support as well as coping behaviour contributes to feelings of health and well-being. However, until now it has not been altogether clear whether a main-effect model or a buffer model was the more appropriate for explaining the role of these factors in response to stressful situations. In this paper, a research project is described in which both the direct and indirect effects of social support and coping were studied in the work situation of nurses. The results offer more support for a main-effect model than for a buffer or moderating-effect model, especially with regard to the coping strategies ‘active problem-solving’ and ‘palliative behaviour’. However, some moderating effects on nurses‘ reactions to their work situation were found for social support and for ‘comforting cognitions’ as a coping strategy.     

Depression and coping mechanisms in prisoners

In an attempt to identify the number, nature, and effectiveness of coping mechanisms used by long-term prisoners to cope with stress, a sample of inmates was administered scales measuring depression, coping strategies, and sensation-seeking. It was found that the prisoners' depression scores were very high, placing several inmates into the category of severe clinical depression. However, the number of coping mechanisms used by prisoners to deal with a stressful situation was not reflected by the depression scores. Extensive use of coping mechanisms was, if anything, associated with an increased level of depression. The expected relationship between sensation-seeking and proneness to depression in prison failed to emerge.     

Fostering Risk Taking in Research and Development: The Importance of a Project's Terminal Value

Large firms face a conflict in managing a portfolio of high-risk projects. When an ongoing project is thought to have a low likelihood of success, project team members take risks to improve its chances of success. However, upper-level managers who allocate resources tend to withhold resources from a project with a low likelihood of success in favor of others in the portfolio that look more promising. Because this paucity of resources influences project team members to avoid risk, the total effect of success likelihood on risk taking is conflicted. The influence on risk taking of a project's terminal value—defined as the value that remains in the firm in the event of project failure—is unequivocally positive, because both senior management resource allocation and project team risk-taking propensity are encouraged by terminal value. Thus, firms can override the ambivalent effect of likelihood of success on project decision making by focusing attention on a project's terminal value.     

项目团队成员怠工行为修正的理论模型

项目团队并不总能实现预期目标,项目团队中存在的某些问题属于怠工行为的表现,项目团队中怠工行为修正亟待研究。采用定性研究方法,按照行为修正分析模式,以行为修正理论、态度改变理论、态度与行为理论、认知平衡理论等为理论基础,经理论与文献研究提出:项目团队成员怠工行为与项目团队绩效的关系、工作态度在工作情境认知与怠工行为之间中介作用关系、团队文化认知在工作情境认知与工作态度之间调节作用关系,从而构建起项目团队成员怠工行为修正的理论模型。     

The impact of project team characteristics and client collaboration on project agility and project success: An empirical study

Although many companies pursue agile projects, extant literature reveals a lack of research on project agility determinants. This study examines the project team characteristics' impact on project agility and success using cross-sectional survey data from 292 agile projects. Using agile principles and complex adaptive systems theory, we find that project team autonomy, team diversity, and client collaboration have significant positive relationships with project agility. Project agility, in turn, has a significant positive relationship to project success. We measure project success by on-time completion, on-budget completion, specifications' attainment, and success rating by the project sponsor, client, and project team members. We find that project team members' adaptive performance partially mediates the relationship between project agility and success. These results guide agile project managers while facilitating team members to independently schedule their work, determine effective work methods, and develop innovative solutions. Moreover, they help agile managers recruit team members with relevant, diverse skill sets, domain knowledge, and expertise. Agile project managers must emphasize client collaboration in requirements gathering, designing, testing, and project reviews.     

顾客参与公司治理与公司相互持股的比较研究

通过顾客参与公司治理与公司相互持股的比较研究,从企业战略联盟的角度,得出了顾客参与公司治理实质上是代表了一种新型的企业战略联盟类型——治理权战略联盟——的结论,它与现有的包括公司相互持股在内的股权型战略联盟和契约型战略联盟相比更具生命力和优越性。在当前经济总体上由短缺经济过渡到过剩经济、卖方市场变成买方市场的背景下,通过顾客参与公司治理的形式在供需双方间建立治理权的战略联盟必将成为越来越多企业的现实选择。     

Creative Leadership Processes in Project Team Development: An Alternative to Tuckman's Stage Model

We propose that theories of project team development and of creativity can be integrated into a new conceptual framework. The framework proposes two structural barriers that bear on team performance, and modifies the well-established team development model of Tuckman. Creative leadership is suggested as an important means of breaching the barriers. Its differentiating feature seems to be its effectiveness in establishing protocols that sustain the creative efforts of team members. We have designated the protocols 'benign structures'. Empirical evidence is provided from a range of studies of project teams in industrial settings.     

Task Design,Team Context,and Psychological Safety: An Empirical Analysis of R&D Projects in High Technology Organizations

High technology organizations need to develop new products or processes that address the dual goals of exploration and exploitation. The competing viewpoints and the asymmetric nature of market returns associated with these goals in R&D projects can heighten stress levels among project team members and reduce their psychological safety. While current research calls for greater focus on task design for improving psychological safety, we know little about how team contextual factors affect this relationship. This study develops and tests a conceptual framework that examines the moderating role of R&D team contextual factors, namely, relative exploration and project‐organization metric alignment on the relationship between a key task design variable, namely, team autonomy, and psychological safety. Relative exploration captures the extent to which exploration goals are emphasized over exploitation goals in an R&D project, while project‐organization metric alignment measures the extent to which project metrics are aligned with broader organizational metrics. Furthermore, we examine the performance consequences of psychological safety in R&D projects. The empirical analysis is conducted using primary data collected from multiple informants across 110 R&D projects in 34 high technology business units. Our results indicate that relative exploration and project‐organization metric alignment have contrasting moderating effects. Furthermore, the effect of psychological safety on project performance is found to be indirect and mediated through team turnover. Implications of the study findings, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.     

Integration team members' approaches to uncertainty management in M&A

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are associated with various uncertainties. Often, large companies designate integration team members to organize post-acquisition integration. However, little is known about what integration team members do in the post-acquisition integration process. This study examines how integration team members deal with uncertainties in post-acquisition integration, specifically how they manage tensions that require different and conflicting approaches. The research is based on an in-depth qualitative case study that examines the post-acquisition integration phase in real-time in the context of two Nordic firms. The study offers three main findings. First, among various uncertainty reduction, coping and balancing approaches observed in this study, the balancing approach emerged as a new method to face uncertainty. The second finding illustrates that the choice among various uncertainty management methods and their approaches is a dynamic process, in which integration team members from both buying and acquired firms are actively involved. Lastly, the study identifies that integration team members use collaboration as the way to address tensions in uncertainty management.     

Team flexibility's relationship to staffing and performance in complex projects: An empirical analysis

We examine the role of flexibility in project team effectiveness. Specifically, we hypothesize that (1) it will mediate the relationship between staffing quality and effectiveness and (2) its relationship with team effectiveness will be moderated by project complexity, where more flexibility will be required when projects are complex. Hypotheses are tested using data collected from 60 cross-functional project teams. The results indicated that flexibility mediates the relationship between staffing quality and team performance (goal achievement and cohesion, but not project efficiency). Additionally, we find that two-dimensions of project complexity moderate the flexibility–performance relationship. Specifically, the more alternatives a team must consider, the stronger the negative relationship between flexibility and project efficiency is. The flexibility–cohesion relationship also was moderated, such that the relationship is more positive when the project is more ambiguous and more negative when the project team faces many alternatives. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

What makes an effective team? The role of trust (dis)confirmation in team development

Most newly formed teams manage to function in spite of the fact that their members do not know each other. Over time, teams progress into successful units; however, sometimes, they regress into a situation where morale is worse than when the team was created. We explain how such opposing group outcomes can arise by examining team members’ (dis)confirmation of expectations in line with the development of trust. We argue that the process of (dis)confirmation of expectations created based on early swift trust is crucial in defining the direction of team development (progression or regression) because it gives rise to emotions which further underpin (dis)trust. We present six sets of propositions which taken together construct a framework for understanding the role of (dis)confirmation and subsequent emotions during the process of trust updating and of team development. We provide a conceptual view of individuals’ experiences within a team and their impact on team dynamics in a way which could form the basis of future empirical testing.     

Exploring the nature of control and its role in the appraisal of workplace stress

The concept of control is a prominent component of theories of stress. From a transactional framework, appraisal of control is seen as important in influencing coping behaviour. However, little attention has been paid to the measurement of the appraisal of control in a work-related situation. In this paper it is argued that situational control should not be reduced to a simple assessment of whether or not an individual has control over a given situation. Instead it is believed that it is important to identify the factors that an individual strives to have control of, as well as the perceived degree of control over those factors. A major component of the present study was the use of a measure that viewed control in this way and that examined control as a multifaceted construct (task control, predictability, self-control and general control). This paper reports on an analysis that examines the multifaceted nature of perceived control with other situational appraisals in the process of coping with workplace stress. A total of 134 employees from four public sector organizations in New Zealand took part in this research. Having control over work tasks was for this sample considered to be less important in giving a sense of control than either predictability or self-control. When it came to reporting how much control they actually had, respondents reported higher levels of self-control than other aspects of control. However, in general respondents reported lower levels of actual control than what they perceived it was important for them to have. This research emphasizes the importance of having a sense of self-control, particularly when it comes to the use of different coping strategies. Overall these findings point to the need to better understand the nature and type of control and its importance if we are to advance our knowledge of work stress.     

Exploring the nature of control and its role in the appraisal of workplace stress

The concept of control is a prominent component of theories of stress. From a transactional framework, appraisal of control is seen as important in influencing coping behaviour. However, little attention has been paid to the measurement of the appraisal of control in a work-related situation. In this paper it is argued that situational control should not be reduced to a simple assessment of whether or not an individual has control over a given situation. Instead it is believed that it is important to identify the factors that an individual strives to have control of, as well as the perceived degree of control over those factors. A major component of the present study was the use of a measure that viewed control in this way and that examined control as a multifaceted construct (task control, predictability, self-control and general control). This paper reports on an analysis that examines the multifaceted nature of perceived control with other situational appraisals in the process of coping with workplace stress. A total of 134 employees from four public sector organizations in New Zealand took part in this research. Having control over work tasks was for this sample considered to be less important in giving a sense of control than either predictability or self-control. When it came to reporting how much control they actually had, respondents reported higher levels of self-control than other aspects of control. However, in general respondents reported lower levels of actual control than what they perceived it was important for them to have. This research emphasizes the importance of having a sense of self-control, particularly when it comes to the use of different coping strategies. Overall these findings point to the need to better understand the nature and type of control and its importance if we are to advance our knowledge of work stress.     

What drives contract design in alliances? Taking stock and how to proceed

We collect and assess prior empirical evidence on contract design in alliances that has been published since Parkhe’s (1993) seminal study on inter-firm contracts. We elaborate on the effects of transaction-related factors, experience gained from prior relationships, and deliberate learning efforts on contracts. Our paper offers three contributions. First, we systematically review the existing literature on alliance contracts and summarize our findings. Second, while prior research has traditionally focused on contractual complexity, we place the content of contracts center stage and identify three contractual functions. While existing studies on contractual functions predominantly refer to safeguarding as a response to appropriation concerns, we also consider coordination and contingency adaptability as outcomes of adaptation concerns. Third, we disentangle the differential influences of previous experiences on distinct contractual functions and show that experience gained from prior relationships has different effects on safeguarding and contingency adaptability than on coordination. Overall, we add to the systematization of the current debate on alliance contract design and trace promising avenues for future research on the impact of transaction- and experience-related factors on the complexity and content of alliance contracts.     

Housestaff coverage in a nonteaching community hospital

In August 1992, a project team of senior medical and administrative personnel was formed (Housestaff Coverage Project Team) at the Park Ridge Health System, Rochester, N.Y.. The team was given a mandate to address housestaff coverage, primarily from an economic standpoint. Through total quality management (TQM), the project team sought to develop a house coverage plan that was sustainable, efficient, and effective. A plan was developed that includes three layers of service. A minimum "standard hospital coverage" would be available to all physicians and their patients and cover the basic needs of admission, crisis intervention, and issues of length of stay. A complete level of service would be available under the title of "case management" and would consist of total patient management, under the direction of the attending physician, from admission through discharge. The third level of service available to both "standard" and "case managed" patients would be a "consultative service." The latter would function as a traditional in-house medical service and would bill for its services. Park Ridge Hospital believes it has developed a system of housestaff coverage that is sustainable, efficient, and effective. An evaluation mechanism, primarily addressed at length of stay, will tell if we are correct in this assumption.     

It's Only Temporary: Time Frame and the Dynamics of Creative Project Teams

The success of many knowledge‐intensive industries depends on creative projects that lie at the heart of their logic of production. The temporality of such projects, however, is an issue that is insufficiently understood. To address this, we study the perceived time frame of teams that work on creative projects and its effects on project dynamics. An experiment with 267 managers assigned to creative project teams with varying time frames demonstrates that, compared to creative project teams with a relatively longer time frame, project teams with a shorter time frame focus more on the immediate present, are less immersed in their task and utilize a more heuristic mode of information processing. Furthermore, we find that time frame moderates the negative effect of team conflict on team cohesion. These results are consistent with our theory that the temporary nature of creative projects shapes different time frames among project participants, and that it is this time frame that is an important predictor of task and team processes.     

内生溢出效应、技术能力与企业技术联盟方式选择

溢出效应是影响企业技术联盟稳定运行的重要决定因素,是企业技术联盟方式的重要影响因素。技术能力是溢出效应的主要影响因素,基于技术能力的内生溢出效应能够有效地反映企业的资源和能力状况。通过A-J模型的拓展,对技术能力的互补性进行深入的探讨,分析内生溢出效应对技术联盟运作方式的影响,结果显示:企业的技术能力决定着溢出效应,决定着企业参加技术联盟的创新结果,当企业具有同质的技术能力时,成本共享型联盟方式显得更有效率;当企业的技术能力较高并互补时,企业倾向于组建技术共享联盟;当企业的技术能力比较低并互补时,企业倾向于组建成本共享型联盟。