Employee fitness programmes, absenteeism and general well-being

Increasingly, European organizations are developing employee fitness programmes (EFPs) on the assumption that doing so will improve the health, well-being and work performance of employees. Although rigorous evaluation is not common practice among these organizations, this study represents an attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of an EFP at the headquarters of the ING bank in Amsterdam. The study focused on possible changes in absenteeism, general well-being, self-confidence and perceived physical condition among EFP participants and non-participants over a 12-month period. Data were collected from 152 white-collar employees subdivided into four groups on the basis of participation or non-participation in the bank's EFP. The results indicated that taking part in an EFP could lead to a significant decrease in absenteeism amongst both regular and irregular participants. With respect to employee general well-being, scores on the factor 'worn out' did not differ significantly among the four groups. Differences between a non-exercising group and both EFP and non-EFP exercising groups' scores on the general well-being factor 'up-tight' approached significance. No significant differences in self-confidence between the groups were obtained, but significant differences in perceived physical fitness were apparent.     

Investigating a long tail in retail vehicle sales

The concept of the long tail in demand distributions has generated significant research interest because of its potential importance for producers, distributors and retailers. Studies to date have focused on information goods sold through internet channels. Here we study long tail effects in vehicle sales sold through conventional car dealerships. The willingness of customers to compromise on, and/or wait for their requested vehicle specifications are identified as critical factors in vehicle purchases. An extensive empirically based simulation study is conducted to investigate these demand-side factors. The results show how the characteristics of the customer population affect the observed pattern in vehicle sales. The interaction effects of supply-side factors are also highlighted, in particular the effect of the replenishment policy used in the fulfillment system. The study also analyzes the distortion of the underlying demand signal in the sales distribution and the lead time and degree of compromise experienced by different customer populations. Significant managerial implications are highlighted, including the dangers of using the sales distribution as a definitive indicator of demand, the need for the order fulfillment process to align with the characteristics of the market, and the negative effects of focusing replenishment on a small subset of the most popular variants.     

On the Use of Paradox for Generating Theoretical Contributions in Management and Organization Research

Although research relating to paradox has burgeoned throughout the past decades, how paradox has been used in generating theoretical contributions remains largely tacit. Hinging on the systematic analysis of 476 publications, this literature review uncovers how scholars have leveraged paradox in demarcating theoretical contributions in the area of management and organization research. First, scholars can make use of paradox as a means to theorize, adding to the core conceptual conversation on paradox. Second, scholars can make use of paradox as a means to understand or advance insight on particular phenomena, drawing from paradox's conceptual knowledge to push forth discussions or debates in other strands of the management and organization field. Finally, scholars can make use of paradox as a way to verbalize something puzzling or surprising, supporting how readers are to appreciate or make sense of theoretical contributions advanced. Denoting approaches identified as highly complementary, this paper offers explicit handholds for academics to develop theoretical contributions through paradox, supporting the consolidation and further elevation of scholarly impact for the paradox community as such.     

Book-a-Book: Facilitating Access to Learning Materials for Students With Disabilities

Abstract

Until 2019, each higher education institution in Flanders had to develop their own workflows to handle requests for digital study materials for students with disabilities. At KU Leuven these requests are processed by KU Leuven Libraries Central Services. This unit, among other things, supports the core tasks of KU Leuven Libraries in the area of acquisitions and licensing negotiations with publishers. This article will focus on the creation and development of Book-a-Book, which has its origin in the service the KU Leuven Libraries Central Services has been providing for students with disabilities for KU Leuven students since 2011. Book-a-Book is a web application that facilitates access to learning materials for students with disabilities enrolled in Flemish higher education institutions. It is the first online tool to serve all higher education students with disabilities in Flanders and is the result of a collaboration between The Support Center for Inclusive Higher Education (SIHO), KU Leuven Libraries, and LIBIS (Leuven Integrated Library and Information System). SIHO is as a collaboration between the associations of the Flemish universities and colleges on the one side, and the Flemish government on the other side. The core responsibility of the SIHO lies in the support of all higher education institutions in realizing inclusive higher education for students with a disability. On September 12, 2019, Book-a-Book was launched on the international conference “Enhancing Student Experience: Innovative Support Tools for Students with Disabilities” in Brussels, Belgium.     

Signaling strength? An analysis of decision making in <Emphasis Type="Italic">The Weakest Link</Emphasis>

We analyze contestants’ behavior in the game show “The Weakest Link”. We focus on banking decisions, where a contestant chooses to secure an amount of money for the eventual winner, or to risk it on a general knowledge question. We find that contestants do not use the banking strategy that maximizes total expected prize money. Average earnings could be at least 17% higher. Our results suggest that contestants are not overconfident, but do try to convince other contestants that their ability is higher than it really is, in order to increase chances of winning the prize. We argue that this mechanism may also be applicable to other situations that are of economic interest.     

Welfarism and the multidimensionality of welfare state legitimacy: Evidence from The Netherlands, 2006

Oorschot W van, Meuleman B. Welfarism and the multidimensionality of welfare state legitimacy: evidence from The Netherlands, 2006 Is it possible that citizens who support a substantial role for government in the provision of welfare are, at the same time, critical about specific aspects of such provision? Based on confirmatory factor analyses, and using a 2006 Dutch survey, this study shows that welfare state legitimacy is indeed multidimensional, i.e. that opinions tend to cluster together in several dimensions referring to various aspects of the welfare state. There is partial evidence for the existence of a single, underlying welfarism dimension which consists basically of views regarding the range of governmental responsibility, as well as of the idea that these governmental provisions do not have unfavourable repercussions in economic or moral spheres. However, the separate dimensions cannot be reduced entirely to this overall welfarism dimension. This is illustrated by the finding that the various attitude dimensions are affected differently by socio‐structural position and ideological dispositions.     

The Model of Creative Ability in vocational rehabilitation

Occupational therapy literature has reported on the concept of motivation in great depth and it is evident that motivation has many constructs. Motivation is seen as a key indicator for success in rehabilitation. When assessing a client's vocational skills and performance, occupational therapists in South Africa have found the Model of Creative Ability to be a useful model to determine the quality and quantity of motivation. This article briefly describes the development of the Model of Creative Ability in South Africa and explains the fundamental concepts and terminology used in the model. Criticism of the model as well as the reasons for the popularity of this model are given. A case study is used as an example to illustrate the unique contribution of the levels of motivation and action to a medico-legal report.     

Adolescents' and parents' affect in relation to discrepant perceptions of parental warmth in daily life

The current study aimed to evaluate how adolescents' and parents' perceptions of daily parenting—and their discrepancies—relate to daily parent and adolescent affect. Daily parental warmth and affect were assessed using electronic diaries in 150 American adolescent–parent dyads (61.3% females, M_age = 14.6, 83.3% White; 95.3% mothers, M_age = 43.4; 89.3% White) and in 80 Dutch adolescents with 79 mothers and 72 fathers (63.8% females, M_age = 15.9, 91.3% White; M_age = 49.0, 97.4% White). Results of preregistered models indicated that individuals' affect may be more important for perceptions of parenting than discrepancies between parent–adolescent reports of parenting for affect, stressing the need to be aware of this influence of affect on parenting reports in clinical and research settings.