Can job insecurity be managed? Evaluating an organizational-level intervention addressing the negative effects of restructuring

Although downsizing and reorganisation are recognised as serious threats to the psychological well-being of employees, intervention strategies for addressing these events are limited. This study evaluated the effects of a participatory organisational-level intervention in which employees and managers chose to address the psychosocial consequences, specifically job insecurity, of restructuring. The intervention was conducted among postal service letter carriers in Denmark and was evaluated based on quantitative and qualitative data. Using interviews (N?=?24) and observations, the programme theory of the intervention and to what extent the intervention had been implemented were assessed. Using survey data (N?=?238), repeated measures ANOVAs were conducted to test for differences in the development of job insecurity between the intervention group and a comparison group. The results indicate that the intervention group had a significantly smaller increase in one dimension of job insecurity as compared to the comparison group. Therefore, we conclude that employees’ experiencing of job insecurity, which typically follows in the wake of restructuring, can be addressed by planned efforts at the workplace level.     

Out of sight and out of mind? A literature review of occupational safety and health leadership and management of distributed workers

Distributed workers – those who work autonomously and remotely from their organisation’s main locations for at least some of their work-time – are an important and growing proportion of the workforce that share common characteristics of temporal and spatial distance. Yet, many leadership styles and management practices assume face-to-face interaction, potentially rendering them less helpful in trying to ensure good occupational safety and health (OSH) outcomes for distributed workers. We conducted a systematic literature review to examine the leadership and management of OSH for distributed workers. Twenty-three papers were identified. Eleven papers identified established leadership styles, including leader-member exchange, (safety specific) transformational and considerate leadership. Twenty papers examined management. Findings from these 20 papers were interpreted as representing resources, deployed through management and utilised by managers to ensure OSH for distributed workers, including communication technologies, social support and a good safety climate. Despite limited research in this area, findings indicate the importance of both leadership and management in ensuring OSH for distributed workers. Findings suggest a fertile area for future enquiry.     

All I want for Christmas is recovery – changes in employee affective well-being before and after vacation

Abstract

Transformational leaders employ a visionary and creative style of leadership that inspires employees to make independent decisions and develop in their work. There is some evidence that the transformational (inspirational) leadership style is linked to employee burnout and stress. However, little research has focused on the psychological mechanisms that could explain this link, nor has there been a focus on positive affective well-being. We propose that transformational leaders influence their followers' self-efficacy, thereby affecting affective well-being in followers. This study extends previous work by examining the direct link between leadership and well-being both cross-sectionally (N=447) and longitudinally (N=188), and testing the mediating effects of self-efficacy. The study was carried out within parts of an elderly care department in a Danish local government. A theory-driven model of the relationships between leadership, self-efficacy and affective well-being was tested using Structural Equation Modelling. The results indicated that followers' self-ratings of self-efficacy mediated the relationship between transformational leadership style and positive affective well-being. Only limited evidence for a direct path between leadership behaviour and positive affective well-being was found. These findings have implications for how organizations may promote employee well-being, through interventions directed at supporting transformational leadership behaviours.     

In sickness and in health: An exploration of spousal support and occupational similarity

Abstract

While many studies of interventions have focused on their content and immediate effects, less research has focused on the processes that may explain these effects. The purpose of this study was to show how process evaluation can be used to interpret the results of an intervention study in four industrial canteens in Denmark. Two canteens acted as intervention groups and two as comparison groups. Effects were measured by surveys before and after interventions, and observations and interviews were conducted to provide an in-depth understanding of processes. Analyses were conducted based on the responses from 118 employees. Results showed, contrary to expectations, improvements in working conditions and well-being in one intervention group and in one comparison group, whereas no improvements were found in the two remaining groups. Data from the process evaluation enabled a meaningful interpretation of these results, raising the possibility programme failure rather than theory failure, and thereby constituting an example of how process evaluation can shed light over the factors that may influence outcomes in controlled intervention studies.     

Low socioeconomic status increases effects of negative life events on antenatal anxiety and depression

Problem

Low socioeconomic status and prior negative life events are documented risk factors for antenatal anxiety and depression, preterm birth and birth weight. We aimed to asses whether the adverse effects of prior negative life events increase with lower socioeconomic status and which aspects of socioeconomic status are most relevant.

Residential Segregation of European and Non-European Migrants in Sweden: 1990–2012

In this paper, we analyse how a migrant population that is both expanding and changing in composition has affected the composition of Swedish neighbourhoods at different scales. The analysis is based on Swedish geocoded individual-level register data for the years 1990, 1997, 2005, and 2012. This allows us to compute and analyse the demographic composition of neighbourhoods that range in size from encompassing the nearest 100 individuals to the nearest 409,600 individuals. First, the results confirm earlier findings that migrants, especially those from non-European countries, face high levels of segregation in Sweden. Second, large increases in the non-European populations in combination with high levels of segregation have increased the proportion of non-European migrants living in neighbourhoods that already have high proportions of non-European migrants. Third, in contrast to what has been the established image of segregation trends in Sweden, and in an apparent contrast to the finding that non-European migrants increasingly live in migrant-dense neighbourhoods, our results show that segregation, when defined as an uneven distribution of different populations across residential contexts, is not increasing. On the contrary, for both European migrants from 1990 and non-European migrants from 1997, there is a downward trend in unevenness as measured by the dissimilarity index at all scale levels. However, if segregation is measured as differences in the neighbourhood concentration of migrants, segregation has increased.     

Long-Term Effects of a Cult Childhood on Attachment,Intimacy, and Close Relationships: Results of an In-Depth Interview Study

Clinical Social Work Journal - Cults are religious organizations requiring total commitment and submission from their members. They form a highly controlling environment with rigid structures to...     

The Co-Integrated Vector Autoregression with Errors–in–Variables

The co-integrated vector autoregression is extended to allow variables to be observed with classical measurement errors (ME). For estimation, the model is parametrized as a time invariant state-space form, and an accelerated expectation-maximization algorithm is derived. A simulation study shows that (i) the finite-sample properties of the maximum likelihood (ML) estimates and reduced rank test statistics are excellent (ii) neglected measurement errors will generally distort unit root inference due to a moving average component in the residuals, and (iii) the moving average component may–in principle–be approximated by a long autoregression, but a pure autoregression cannot identify the autoregressive structure of the latent process, and the adjustment coefficients are estimated with a substantial asymptotic bias. An application to the zero-coupon yield-curve is given.     

Nature and role of customer satisfaction in the solution business

The paper focuses on the solution business. Here we argue that the strategy can only lead a company to perform better if it encompasses a direct and positive effect on satisfaction with a supplier’s consulting capabilities. Hence we introduce the concept of consulting satisfaction, identify antecedents and analyze its consequences. To do so, we apply a mixed-methods approach. Content analysis from open interviews with company professionals yields a list of antecedents of consulting satisfaction used to devise a set of hypotheses. The latter was translated into a questionnaire based measurement instrument in order to first collect and then analyze data from a larger sample survey. Since three of the antecedents could not be supported by our study, possible explanations are presented. With our approach we tap new dimensions of solutions research. First, we inaugurate research on buying behavior within the field of solutions. Second, we stress the role of capabilities in this field and extend service–profit chain thinking. And third, we present consulting satisfaction as a lever to translate the S-D logic of marketing into more practical applications. To our knowledge this is a novel insight and can help industry decision makers better prepare for the solution business.     

Subtle, Pervasive, Harmful: Racist and Sexist Remarks in Public as Hate Speech

Using field observations and 100 in-depth interviews with participants recruited from public places in Northern California, this article documents the experience of being the target of hate speech in public places. Focusing on racist and sexist hate speech (as participants define the phenomenon), I show that there is a range of experiences with hate speech and that it is often quite subtle, leaving all but intended victims unaware that it occurs. These data also show that such interactions occur with regularity and leave targets harmed in significant ways. There can be little doubt that members of traditionally disadvantaged groups face a strikingly different reality on the street than do members of privileged groups. Although the legal status of hate speech remains ambiguous, its harms are not.