Job insecurity and work outcomes: The role of psychological contract breach and positive psychological capital

Job insecurity has received growing attention from researchers because it poses serious challenges for organisations and for society as a whole. However, there are insufficient studies about the processes through which job insecurity affects outcomes as well as potential ways to reduce its negative impact. This study focuses on the relationship between job insecurity and individual-level outcomes (in-role performance and organisational deviance) and examines if (a) job insecurity is positively and/or negatively related to work outcomes, (b) psychological contract breach acts as a mediator of the relationship between job insecurity and work outcomes, and (c) positive psychological capital (PsyCap) buffers the job insecurity–work outcomes relationship via psychological contract breach. With a sample of 362 employee–supervisor dyads, in which the outcome measures were collected from the supervisors, we found support for our hypotheses. Specifically, we found a moderated mediation effect, whereby PsyCap moderates the negative indirect relationship of job insecurity on outcomes through psychological contract breach.     

The adoption of multiple certification standards: perceived performance implications of quality,environmental and health & safety certifications

This study assesses the combined impact of multiple certifications (i.e. ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001) on perceived performance dimensions related to quality, environmental and occupational health and safety. Using survey data collected from 59 Irish manufacturing plants in 2014, we employed MANCOVA and regression analysis to test our proposed hypothesis. The results suggest that companies that are simultaneously ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certified are significantly better performers with regard to environmental and occupational health and safety compared to companies without multiple certifications. However, from a perceived quality performance perspective, having these multiple certifications doesn’t seem to be an effective performance improvement tool.     

Impact of customer loyalty and service operations on customer behaviour and firm performance: empirical evidence from UK retail sector

Abstract

Retail networks are striving to achieve competitive advantage by increasing value through loyalty and efficiency with a focus on service operations. As sales promotions have become an integral part of the retail supply chain planning, customer behavioural aspects based on loyalty and service operations have been challenged greatly. Subsequently, management capabilities, such as planning and timely replenishment, have become complicated tasks for many retail store managers. This study develops a model integrating retail network value and efficiencies with customer behaviour and performance. We validate the model using survey data from prominent U.K. retail store customers. Our data analysis shows that both loyalty and service operation attributes have positive significant impact on customer behaviour, while the service operation mediates the relationship between loyalty and customer behaviour. This result gives a new outlook to build managerial capability based on customer loyalty and service operations. Our results specifically show that the service operation attributes will indirectly influence the customers’ buying behaviour even in the presence of loyalty attribute such as promotion schemes. This result sends a strong signal to retail supply chain managers to offer customised promotions considering local community rather than having uniform sales promotion nationwide.     

中国电力产业市场化改革效果的实证研究

中国正处于电力产业市场化改革的关键阶段。中国电力产业市场化改革不仅仅是要引入竞争,而是要以此为基础,借助市场的力量既解决电力发展当中的效率问题,还要解决电力产业发展以及消费者福利等民生问题。因此,文章以此作为评价中国电力产业市场化改革的基点,从发电总量和电价两个方面,用计量经济学的方法对中国电力产业的市场化改革进行了检验,进而对市场化改革的绩效进行客观的评价。     

英国公务员绩效评估的实践及其启示

英国公务员绩效评估的内容、程序和标准经过多次改革,在实践中取得了良好的成效。相比较而言,我国的公务员绩效评估虽然取得了一定的成效,但仍存在着一些问题,需要借鉴英国公务员绩效评估的实践经验予以改进。     

股权激励绩效与股权结构关系

股权激励绩效与股权结构间的关系分析对股权激励制度的推行意义重大。运用分布滞后模型对中国上市公司中在相关的年份实施经营者股权激励的公司进行的全样本的动态研究发现：实施股权激励后．公司股权集中度降低;在注意提升内部人持股比例,加大激励力度的同时,提高了股票的流通性;上市公司实施股权激励当年的股权激励绩效与公司第一大股东、前五大股东、前十大股东持股比例均呈显著的负相关关系;股权激励绩效与国有股比例、非流通股比例呈显著的负相关关系,而与非国有股比例、流通股比例和内部人持股比例呈显著的正相关关系。     

Parental divorce, sibship size, family resources, and children’s academic performance

Using data from 19,839 adolescents from the National Education Longitudinal Study, this study investigates whether the effects of parental divorce on adolescents’ academic test performance vary by sibship size. Analyses show that the negative effect of divorce on adolescent performance attenuates as sibship size increases. On the other side of the interaction, the inverse relationship between sibship size and test performance is weaker in disrupted than in two-biological-parent families. Trends of such interactions are evident when sibship size is examined either as a continuous or a categorical measure. Finally, the observed interactions on adolescents’ academic performance are completely explained by variations in parental financial, human, cultural, and social resources. In sum, this study underlines the importance of treating the effect of parental divorce as a variable and calls for more research to identify child and family features that may change the magnitude of such an effect.     

基于战略视角的教学研究型大学绩效评估体系研究

本文分析了非营利组织绩效评估的概念与方法,总结了国内外学校绩效评估的理论与实践.在此基础上,从大学的使命和战略出发,提出了教学研究型大学的绩效评估模型,指出绩效评估应从学校的政府与社会满意度、师生满意度、内部流程绩效和战略绩效四个方面展开,且四个方面之间存在着内在的联系,最后提出了具有可操作性的绩效评估指标和内容.这将为中国高等教育管理与教学改革提供一种全新的思路和方法.     

在山沟村民与神灵共娱的艺术世界里思考(一)——甘肃环县道情皮影表演仪式及其剧目举隅

国家级扶贫的一个革命老区县,其首批国家级"非遗"代表作"道情皮影"红火不衰,足显其"文化遗产"的不菲.物质极度贫困,又何以保存、传承了传统民间文化的丰富?本文据近年数次田野工作,对所观察到的这一"事象"的生态与文化植被、生存与生活态度、神灵与人的谋略和智慧等,思考、描述,期以引发今天的我们对民俗学与人类学某些问题的联想,以挖掘一种深远意义的表述.