The Complexity of Heavy Work Investment (HWI): A Conceptual Integration and Review of Antecedents, Dimensions, and Outcomes

Incorporating gendered analysis and flexibility in heavy work investment studies: a systematic literature review

Introduction

Significant impacts of heavy work investment on employee well-being and organizational performance have prompted its increasing importance as a research topic. The findings about good or evil of these repercussions are nonetheless inconclusive. The intersection of Heavy Work Investment construct with gender has not been explicitly addressed by previous literature review and research. Besides, the relevance of flexibility for women, as one of the key factors for successful work-family balance management, still remains to be analyzed.

Methods

A literature review on Heavy Work Investment was conducted using the SPAR-4-SLR protocol, wherein 83 articles were selected from a pool of 208 previously identified works. Bibliometric and content analysis techniques were employed, including co-word analysis, to evaluate research production, impact, and trends in the gender perspective within Heavy Work Investment.

Results

As a result, a strategic diagram illustrates thematic topics, providing a clear understanding of the field's structure and evolution. Six thematic groups were identified, around work-family conflict as the central theme.

Discussion

The explicit consideration of a gender perspective in literature involves nuanced differences regarding the conclusions of studies with a broader focus. First, the emerging prominence of studies on China and Japan becomes clear with gender as the specific focus of the review, aiming to clarify the experiences women face in more traditional societies with a more decisive division of roles. Second, there is a shift in interest regarding the analysis of Job Demands and Job Resources. Despite the apparent decline in interest in the former, the focus in gender literature clearly shifts toward the side of Job Resources, showing potential for the future. It could be understood that in a context of talent war and employee retention efforts, priority is given to better understanding of facilitating individual and organizational factors for work-life balance, especially for women. Future research areas are identified, including gender differences in organizational support and the impact of flexible work on the work-life balance, providing valuable insights for academia, practitioners, and organizations. The need for more comprehensive cross-cultural and gender research is also made clear.

From burnout to behavior: the dark side of emotional intelligence on optimal functioning across three managerial levels

Introduction

Burnout has been typically addressed as an outcome and indicator of employee malfunctioning due to its profound effects on the organization, its members, and its profitability. Our study assesses its potential as a predictor, delving into how different sources of motivation-autonomous and controlled-act as mediational mechanisms in the association between burnout and behavioral dimensions of functioning (namely, organizational citizenship behaviors and work misbehaviors). Furthermore, the buffering effects of emotional intelligence across three different managerial levels were also examined.

Methods

To this end, a total non-targeted sample of 840 Romanian managers (513 first-, 220 mid-, and 107 top-level managers) was obtained.

Results

Burnout predicted motivation, which predicted work behaviors in a moderated-mediation framework. Contrary to our initial prediction, emotional intelligence augmented the negative association between burnout and motivation, exhibiting a dark side to this intelligence type. These findings are nuanced by the three managerial positions and shed light on the subtle differences across supervisory levels.

Discussion

The current article suggests a relationship between multiple dimensions of optimal (mal)functioning and discusses valuable theoretical and practical insights, supporting future researchers and practitioners in designing burnout, motivation, and emotional intelligence interventions.

Personality and universal design for learning in management education

Purpose

This paper aims to improve the understanding of student readiness for universal design for learning (UDL), thereby reducing a barrier to its adoption by management faculty. It explores how students’ personality (conscientiousness and openness to experience) affects their readiness to embrace UDL and investigate how that relationship is mediated by self-directed learning (SDL).

Design/methodology/approach

Analysis uses survey data from students in management courses. From these data are created multi-item constructs and control variables. A mediated regression model that uses bootstrapping to estimate parameters and standard errors generates the results.

Findings

The findings were that SDL is strongly related to student readiness for UDL and that SDL fully mediates the relationship between conscientiousness and UDL. Openness to experience, however, directly relates to UDL without any mediation.

Research limitations/implications

This research applies only to one institution and two management courses. The methodology used in this study is limited to one part of the UDL model, which is a measure of student readiness to engage in choice. Future research can extend this model to other courses and institutions and other parts of the UDL model.

Practical implications

These findings provide insight into the student characteristics that enable them to gain empowerment and motivation from the UDL approach. Implementation of UDL in management education may require learning management strategies that accommodate student readiness for UDL. This study makes progress in identifying student characteristics that explain this readiness.

Social implications

UDL can improve management education by making it more accessible to students with different personalities and learning styles.

Originality/value

This study developed a method for analyzing the applicability of UDL in management education. It also devised and implemented a new survey measure for student readiness for UDL.

Association between workaholism, vital exhaustion, and hair cortisol concentrations among teachers: A longitudinal study testing the moderation effect of neuroticism

Introduction

Workaholism in teachers is characterized by the willingness to work until exhausted and may be associated with various adverse health outcomes as well as high economic costs. The present study examines the association between workaholism, vital exhaustion (VE), and hair cortisol concentration (HCC) as indicators of chronic stress. In addition, this study explores the moderating role of the personality trait neuroticism on the relationship between workaholism and chronic stress indicators, i.e., VE and HCC.

Methods

Forty-two Swiss teachers (28 females; M _age = 39.66, SD = 11.99) completed questionnaires assessing VE (Maastricht Vital Exhaustion Questionnaire), workaholism (Measure of Coping Capacity Questionnaire), and neuroticism (Big-Five Inventory). Together with VE, HCC was assessed twice, with a one year lag.

Results

Both workaholism and neuroticism were positively associated with VE at both time points but not with HCC. Moderation analyses revealed a positive relationship between workaholism and VE in teachers with high neuroticism, while no such association was observed in teachers with low neuroticism. No associations were found between self-reports and HCC.

Discussion

These findings emphasize the importance of considering individual characteristics when investigating VE. Further research is necessary to investigate the applicability of HCC as a biomarker of chronic stress in the context of work.

The motivations and their conditions which drive students to seek higher education in a foreign country

This article summarizes a vast literature tracing the plethora of motivations of international students to study abroad. We detail the push factors (i.e., personal goals) and pull factors (i.e., attracting elements) for this decision to pursue higher education overseas. To elaborate, the push factors are around the attainment and/or increase of three main capitals: human, financial and psychological. Pull factors are around the attracting capacity of three main entities: the destination country, the hosting city and the academic institution. Furthermore, the paper highlights the conditions that may enhance or inhibit student mobility for higher education abroad (for example, social networks, transportation accessibility, legal requirements and more). Special reference is given to the mobility of international students in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Special Issue “Rethinking the Subjective Wellbeing for a New Workplace Scenario”

From the public health policies’ view, promoting subjective wellbeing is a must because it positively influences employee health and longevity [...]

Psychometric Properties of Heavy Work Investment Measures: A Systematic Review

In recent years, the study of heavy work investment (HWI) has been diversifying greatly in the various fields of application in the organizational field, for example, occupational health, human resources, quality at work among others. However, to date, no systematic review has been carried out to examine the methodological quality of the instruments designed to measure HWI. Therefore, the present systematic review examines the psychometric properties of three main measures of HWI: Workaholism Battery (WorkBAT), Work Addiction Risk Test (WART), and Dutch Work Addiction Scale (DUWAS). Five electronic databases were systematically searched, selecting psychometric articles. Of the 2621 articles identified, 35 articles met all inclusion criteria published between 1992 and 2019. The findings indicated that most of the articles were focused on reviewing psychometric properties, analyses were conducted from classical test theory, collected validity evidence based on internal structure and relationship with other variables, and reliability of scores was obtained through the internal consistency method. Of the instruments reviewed, the DUWAS is the one with the highest methodological quality. Recommendations are made for future research to address the psychometric study of these instruments based on recent advances in the field of organizational measurement.

Transforming the Emotional Intelligence of the Feeders in Agribusinesses into the Development of Task Performance and Counterproductive Work Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Simple Summary

This research proposes a psychological model to describe how leadership can deal with the work burnout of feeders in livestock production agribusinesses to solve the important problems of mental health and well-being, thereby increasing the sustainable work of feeders. The empirical evidence comes from 240 livestock feeders from 80 Taiwanese livestock production agribusinesses. The research results can push the literature of emotional intelligence and implementation methods to livestock production agribusinesses.

Abstract

The present research poses a novel multilevel model to describe how transformational leadership can significantly affect task performance and counterproductive work behavior through intermediary effects of emotional intelligence, work engagement, and work burnout. The empirical data is from 240 livestock feeders from 80 Taiwanese livestock production agribusinesses. The empirical results demonstrate that leadership could indeed transform the emotional intelligence of livestock feeders into positive task performance and negative counterproductive work behavior. The research results can provide an implementation method for livestock production agribusinesses to achieve the sustainable work of feeders in agribusinesses through handling task performance and counterproductive work behavior of feeders.