Ten Things Faculty Should Know Before Stepping Into Administration

Every year professors leave the ranks of the faculty and become members of the administration.  Yes, even jaded faculty sometimes become members of the administration and have to pursue charges and challenges previously unrecognized or unfathomed.  It is to these individuals the authors have prepared a list of ten items they feel all potential college and university administrators should be aware of before making the commitment. These items should not be construed to be a roadblock, but rather advance notice that the life of an administrator is very different from that of faculty member

Proactive and politically skilled professionals: What is the relationship with affective occupational commitment?

The aim of this study is to extend research on employee affective commitment in three ways: (1) instead of organizational commitment the focus is on occupational commitment; (2) the role of proactive personality on affective occupational commitment is examined; and (3) occupational satisfaction is examined as a mediator and political skills as moderator in the relationship between proactive personality and affective occupational commitment. Two connected studies, one in a hospital located in the private sector and one in a university located in the public sector, are carried out in Pakistan, drawing on a total sample of over 400 employees. The results show that proactive personality is positively related to affective occupational commitment, and that occupational satisfaction partly mediates the relationship between proactive personality and affective occupational commitment. No effect is found for a moderator effect of political skills in the relationship between proactive personality and affective occupational commitment. Political skills however moderate the relationship between proactive personality and affective organizational commitment

The Social Context of Interpersonal Citizenship Behavior: A Mid-Range Theory and Test of a Model.

Current day interest in acts of cooperation in organizations can be traced to classical writers such as Barnard (1938) and Roethlisberger and Dickson (1939), and more recently to Katz and Kahn(1966, 1978). Building on these foundations, considerable empirical research has examined what has been labeled organizational citizenship. Organizational citizenship behaviors are not specified in job descriptions or recognized by the organization\u27s formal reward system. Yet, they are generally held to be essential to organizations in that they contribute to efficiency and effectiveness (Organ, 1988). Recently, researchers have called for the development of specific, mid-range theoretical models of organizational citizenship behavior (e.g., Barr & Pawar, 1995; Schnake, 1991; Van Dyne, Cummings, & McLean-Parks, 1995; Van Dyne, Graham, & Dienesch, 1994). The current study\u27s focus is interpersonal citizenship behavior (ICB), which has been identified as one of several distinct classes of organizational citizenship behavior (Barr & Pawar, 1995; McNeely & Meglino, 1994; Williams & Anderson, 1991). Although interpersonal forms of citizenship behavior have been studied in the literature (e.g., Bateman & Organ, 1983; Organ, 1988; Smith, Organ, & Near, 1983; Williams & Anderson, 1991), a standard research framework and nomological network of antecedents and intervening processes have not been developed (Van Dyne et al., 1995). Based on a theoretically conceived conceptual framework, a model outlining the relationships among individual and situational variables, intervening variables, and ICB was proposed and tested. Results offered qualified support for the model. More specifically, relationships based on exchange and status issues were found to have the most consistent direct and indirect effects on ICB. Also, as predicted, felt empathy mediated the relationships between situational variables and ICB. A revised theoretical model is presented and directions for future research are discussed

Linking Distributive and Procedural Justice to Employee Engagement Through Social Exchange: A Field Study in India

Research linking justice perceptions to employee outcomes has referred to social exchange as its central theoretical premise. We tested a conceptual model linking distributive and procedural justice to employee engagement through social exchange mediators, namely, perceived organizational support and psychological contract, among 238 managers and executives from manufacturing and service sector firms in India. Findings suggest that perceived organizational support mediated the relationship between distributive justice and employee engagement, and both perceived organizational support and psychological contract mediated the relationship between procedural justice and employee engagement. Theoretical and practical implications with respect to organizational functions are discussed

Flexible Working, Individual Performance and Employee Attitudes: Comparing Formal and Informal Arrangements

In the context of a wider trend to individualize HRM, this paper examines the relationship between flexible working arrangements and individual performance. Drawing on a range of theories, it examines potential indirect effects on employee performance via job satisfaction and organizational commitment and analyses whether these relationships vary according to whether the arrangement was set up through a formal process, or negotiated informally between the employee and their line manager. Extant research has tended to focus on formal arrangements, however, informal arrangements are widespread and may better accommodate work-life preferences, thereby potentially fostering more positive attitudes from employees. Survey data from 2617 employees in four large organizations with well-established flexible working policies are analysed. Results from structural equation models show average positive indirect effects from informal, but also negative direct effects, from formal flexible working. When two forms of flexible working amenable to being set up by both formal and informal means are examined separately: formal arrangements for flexibility over working hours are found to be negatively associated with performance, but also a source of greater job satisfaction; informal remote working arrangements have positive indirect effects via organizational commitment and job satisfaction on worker performance

Human resource systems and helping in organizations: A relational perspective

We propose linkages among human resource (HR) systems, relational climates, and employee helping behavior. We suggest that HR systems promote relational climates varying in terms of the motivation and sustenance of helping behavior, and we expect HR systems to indirectly influence the nature of relationships and the character of helping within organizations. By considering HR systems and their respective relational climates together, researchers can gain a better understanding of expectations and dynamics surrounding helping behavior

What’s past (and present) is prologue : interactions between justice levels and trajectories predicting behavioral reciprocity

Much of organizational justice research has tended to take a static approach, linking employees’ contemporaneous justice levels to outcomes of interest. In the present study, we tested a dynamic model emphasizing the interactive influences of both justice levels and trajectories for predicting behavioral social exchange outcomes. Specifically, our model posited both main effects and interactions between present justice levels and past justice changes over time in predicting helping behavior and voluntary turnover behavior. Data over four yearly measurement periods from 4,348 employees of a banking organization generally supported the notion that justice trajectories interact with absolute levels to predict both outcomes. Together, the findings highlight how employees invoke present fairness evaluations within the context of past fairness trends—rather than either in isolation—to inform decisions about behaviorally reciprocating at work

A relational model of perceived overqualification : the moderating role of interpersonal influence on social acceptance.

Theories of perceived overqualification have tended to focus on employees’ job-related responses to account for effects on performance. We offer an alternative perspective and theorize that perceived overqualification could influence work performance through a relational mechanism. We propose that relational skills, in the form of interpersonal influence of overqualified employees, determine their tendency to experience social acceptance and, thus, engage in positive work-related behaviors. We tested this relational model across two studies using time-lagged, multisource data. In Study 1, the results indicated that for employees high on interpersonal influence, perceived overqualification was positively related to self-reported social acceptance, whereas for employees low on interpersonal influence, the relationship was negative. Social acceptance, in turn, was positively related to in-role job performance, interpersonal altruism, and team member proactivity evaluated by supervisors. In Study 2, we focused on peer-reported social acceptance and found that the indirect relationships between perceived overqualification and supervisor-reported behavioral outcomes via social acceptance were negative when interpersonal influence was low and nonsignificant when interpersonal influence was high. The implications of the general findings are discussed

When hospitals provide HR practices tailored to older nurses, will older nurses stay? It may depend on their supervisor

This longitudinal study tested a model of the mechanisms through which HR practices are linked to older nurses\u27 intention to remain with their hospital. The participants were 528 registered nurses aged 45 to 67 years. The study focused on two HR practices, flexible work options and performance evaluation practices, which are more directly under the influence of the immediate supervisor. Supervisor-related procedural justice mediated the relationship between the HR practices and perceived supervisor support (PSS), and in turn, PSS was associated with enhanced perceived organisational support (POS). POS partially mediated the relationship between PSS and affective commitment, and affective commitment fully mediated the relationship between POS and older nurses\u27 intention to remain with their hospital. The findings indicated that fostering older nurses\u27 commitment and ultimately retention requires HR practices relevant to older nurses, supportive and fair supervisors, and a hospital that values their contribution and cares about their well-being