Perceptions of organizational culture and organizational citizenship by faculty in U.S. colleges and schools of pharmacy

A comprehensive program in academic health professions to enhance faculty recruitment, mentoring, productivity, and retention: The case of RCSI's StAR program

Top faculty talent recruitment, mentoring, productivity, and retention are paramount for organizational success among institutions of higher learning. Programs would do well to treat these various aspects of faculty management/development as inextricably linked to one another, rather than viewing recruitment or retention in a vacuum. The Strategic Academic Recruitment (StAR) program at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dublin was founded to bear these things, along with best practices in faculty development, in mind to enhance organizational effectiveness. This paper provides some background, description, and outcomes of the program thus far, revealing positive trends in scholarly productivity, teaching, program faculty commitment, and the development of future leaders for the institution, even while further evaluation and continued quality improvement for the StAR initiative are called for. It is hoped that the details provided here can be helpful for other academic organizations as they consider any of various initiatives aimed to attract high-quality labor capital, position those faculty for success, and enhance organizational effectiveness and reputation.

Organizational culture and the individuals' discretionary behaviors at work: a cross-cultural analysis

Stating "how things are done here," organizations are defining their culture. Organizational Culture (OC) is the set of values, norms, goals, and expectations shared by all members of an organization that aids in improving their commitment and performance. On the organizational level, it impacts behavior, productivity, and long-term survival by influencing organizational capability. Due to employee behavior being a competitive differential, this study examines how specific OCs influence individual behavior. In particular, how the different cultures in the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) affect employees' main dimensions of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB). A descriptive-confirmative ex post facto research was conducted by surveying 513 employees from over 150 organizations worldwide. The Kruskal-Wallis H-test was used to validate our model. The general hypothesis was confirmed, showing that the predominant organizational culture type affects the level and the kind of OCBs individuals demonstrate. It is possible to provide organizations with a breakdown of their employees' OCBs based on their OC type and which changes they can make to their organization's culture to increase the employees' OCB and, consequently, the efficiency of their organization.

Assessment of Areas of Worklife Among Pharmacy Educators

Objective. To assess in pharmacy academicians the six domains of worklife (community, control, fairness, reward, workload, values) that have been associated with burnout and poor job satisfaction.Methods. We aimed to assess the Areas of Worklife Survey (AWS) among a sample of pharmacy academicians attending a national meeting to evaluate personal, environmental, or workplace factors that may influence the worklife environment. Data were analyzed using SPSS, descriptive statistics were identified, and Kruskal-Wallis and Pearson correlations were performed.Results. The participant response rate was 40% (n=49/121 attendees). Eighty-eight percent of participants reported working more than 40 hours per week. Mean AWS scores ranged from 2.7 to 3.9 (whereby 1 indicated a strong mismatch between person and work environment and 5 indicated a strong match). The workload and fairness domains had the lowest reported scores, whereas control had the highest. Higher mean scores were reported for control and reward in those with a mentor and for fairness in those having a hobby.Conclusion. Participants gave the lowest ratings to two worklife areas, workload and fairness. Developing targeted interventions, such as in mentorship, hobbies, and transparency in the work setting, may be important for preventing burnout in pharmacy academicians. Further studies in a larger population may help to determine factors associated with the areas of worklife that received low ratings.

Variability in perceptions of organizational culture across U.S. colleges and schools of pharmacy

BACKGROUND

Despite its importance on myriad outcomes, there is little information on the organizational culture of colleges and schools of pharmacy (CSOPs).

OBJECTIVES

This study sought to: (1) identify faculty and administrator perceptions across 5 dimensions of organizational culture in CSOPs; (2) describe differences in these perceptions among faculty varying in type of appointment and type of institution where employed.

METHODS

A questionnaire survey designed in Qualtrics was distributed via email link to a census sample of 3378 members within 2018 AACP list-servs. Dimensions of organizational culture were adapted from previously validated work describing such specifically within academic pharmacy. Reminders were employed to maximize survey responses. Frequency distributions and chi-square statistics were conducted to describe the data.

RESULTS

Responses from 463 faculty and administrators indicated perceived strength in several aspects of organizational culture in U.S. CSOPs, including their emphasis on quality, developing collaborations partnerships with external partners, and promoting personal development. Other facets of culture deemed to be less descriptive amongst CSOPs include their being innovative, managing conflict, and discouraging political maneuvering. There were relatively few differences in perceptions of culture among faculty varying by rank, discipline, or supervisory status. There were a number of differences among respondents varying by type of institution, with those from public and balanced/research-oriented institutions indicating their organizations are more likely to project positively certain components of culture such as empowering people to achieve, fostering innovation, remaining calm in turbulent times, and making employees feel secure in their employment.

CONCLUSIONS

This study highlighted aspects of organizational culture at CSOPs that might need to be addressed or communicated more effectively by program leaders. All CSOPs, and particularly those within private and teaching-oriented institutions might endeavor to assess and address aspects of their organizational culture, particularly related to their performance orientation, innovation and stability.

Exploring factors associated with scholarly writing among US pharmacy practice faculty

OBJECTIVES

This study explored intrinsic facilitators (i.e., grit, self-efficacy, and writing motivation) and barriers associated with scholarly output as measured by self-reported publications among US pharmacy practice faculty.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study design was used to gather information regarding scholarly writing output and intrinsic facilitators and barriers among US pharmacy practice faculty using an online self-reported survey. The survey link was distributed via email between October and November 2017. The Grit-S, New Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (NGSE), and Scholarly Writing Motivation Scale (SWMS) were used to measure grit, self-efficacy, and writing motivation, respectively. Perceived barriers, self-reported quantity of publications, and demographics were also collected. A structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was used to determine effects of perceived barriers and each intrinsic factor on self-reported total publications.

RESULTS

N = 208 participants were included in the analyses. The average number of self-reported annual publications was 1.88. Participants who reported having higher than average numbers of annual publications (n = 85, 40.9%) more frequently held a PhD degree and were more frequently in the tenure track, compared to those with annual publications less than the average (n = 123, 59.1%). The majority of both groups reported being employed in public institutions. Lack of time for scholarly writing was the highest perceived barrier and lack of knowledge about technical writing/English mastery was the lowest. All three SEM models consistently showed that perceived barriers were negatively associated with numbers of self-reported publications. However, only scholarly writing motivation according to SWMS was positively associated with the numbers of self-reported publications.

CONCLUSIONS

Writing motivation and barriers to scholarly writing are shown to have a significant impact on scholarly output. These factors can be identified and should be appropriately addressed by colleges/schools of pharmacy to enhance scholarly activities among pharmacy practice faculty.

Revisiting Faculty Citizenship

This commentary describes the significance of faculty citizenship in the broader context of institutional culture and defines faculty citizenship for use across all aspects of faculty roles in the Academy. The definition includes two key components (engagement and collegiality) that can be used to measure citizenship behaviors. Continued discussion and study of faculty citizenship will further the Academy's understanding and use of the concept.