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Article
Publication date: 1 January 2012

Franz Josef Gellert and René Schalk

This paper seeks to examine age‐related perceptions of the quality of relationships at work and performance in mentally and physically demanding care service work settings.

2367

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to examine age‐related perceptions of the quality of relationships at work and performance in mentally and physically demanding care service work settings.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted in six residential homes for the elderly in Germany. Data of 150 respondents were analyzed using multiple hierarchical regression and mediation tests. The mediating role of relationship quality in the relationship between age and employee performance was examined.

Findings

It was found that older employees experienced better exchange relationships with their supervisors, and that this mediated the relationship between age and job satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

The sample is female dominated. Organizations are in transition from conventional organizational structure to team structure with employees' high company and job tenure.

Practical implications

A higher relationship quality suggests a higher quality of older workers' job appraisal, which might be a starting point for older followers to rethink career perspectives and start further individual development.

Originality/value

The findings extend earlier studies and provide more insight into the relationship between age, relationship quality, and employee performance from a follower's point‐of‐view.

Article
Publication date: 16 March 2012

Franz Josef Gellert and René Schalk

This paper aims to examine the influence of age and age‐related attitudes on relationship factors. In addition, it seeks to assess how both factors affect care service work…

3315

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the influence of age and age‐related attitudes on relationship factors. In addition, it seeks to assess how both factors affect care service work performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper explores the influence of age and age‐related attitudes on the relationship quality among employees, affecting performance in mentally and physically demanding work settings. The authors conducted the research in six residential homes for the elderly in Germany (152 respondents) and collected the data with questionnaires. Data are analyzed by multi‐hierarchical regression analyses.

Findings

Results show that age‐related attitudes (intergenerational cooperation and the perception of older employees' capabilities) are important factors influencing the perceived quality level of in‐group cooperation. Both age‐related attitudes and relationship factors influence perceived employee performance, and job satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

The findings contribute to understanding how age‐related attitudes influence relationships among employees, the relationship between employees and supervisor, and the effect on service performance. The mono‐cultural sample might be a limitation, as well as the composition of the sample: The majority of respondents were female.

Practical implications

For leaders, supervisors and managers the results contribute to understanding how employees' age‐related attitudes, in mentally and physically demanding work settings, influence the quality level of relationships and outcomes. This is relevant in the context of leaders/supervisors promoting followers' individual development and group/team development.

Originality/value

The paper shows that in care service work with an increasing number of older employees, the positive perception of age‐related attitudes influences relationship quality and performance positively.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 26 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 March 2008

Franz J. Gellert and Ben S. Kuipers

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of age in work teams on short‐term team consequences, such as satisfaction, involvement, mutual learning, decision making and…

3011

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of age in work teams on short‐term team consequences, such as satisfaction, involvement, mutual learning, decision making and feedback, and long‐term team consequences, such as quality, sick leave and burnout, and to consider their implications for team management and human resource management (HRM) policies in team‐based organizations facing an ageing work force.

Design/methodology/approach

The study elaborates on the framework of Milliken and Martins, further examining the effects of both average age and age differences. The authors collected objective data as well as data through questionnaires among 150 work teams with more than 1,500 white‐collar and blue‐collar workers from an automotive company in Sweden. With these data the authors conducted correlation and step‐by‐step hierarchical regression analyses.

Findings

The analyses showed significant positive effects of average age on both short‐term and long‐term consequences. No significant effects of age differences were found.

Research limitations/implications

Conducting a longitudinal study in an automotive company in Sweden resulted in monocultural findings. The use of a sample from one organization may limit the generalization of our findings. Future research should pay more attention to effects of age in teams, compared to individual age effects in organizations and to explore more advanced models that help to understand the dynamic processes of age in teams.

Practical implications

The results have implications for management of teams and HRM policy in organizations relating to recruitment, early retirement, training developments and team composition in general.

Originality/value

The paper suggests positive effects of age in work teams and contributes to the literature about the ageing workforce working in teams.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 October 2016

Frank Jan de Graaf

Using the global financial crisis as a critical event and based on institutional theory and stakeholder theory, this paper aims to explore the relationship between corporate…

4648

Abstract

Purpose

Using the global financial crisis as a critical event and based on institutional theory and stakeholder theory, this paper aims to explore the relationship between corporate governance and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The question is how stakeholders can influence corporate responses to societal change by using their position in the governance structure.

Design/methodology/approach

The analysis is based on a historical analysis of data collected mainly between 2002 and 2004. The historical perspective enables an understanding of the response of the company to environmental changes.

Findings

The approach enables researchers to relate the normative component of CSR to specific governance mechanisms. These governance mechanisms are specified in direct and indirect influence pathways. Historical data shed light on how, in the upbeat of the crisis, stakeholders have influenced the principles and policies of the ING Group, a Dutch financial company.

Research limitations/implications

The paper suggests that stakeholders influence principles – normative assumptions that guide corporate decisions – mainly in dialogue-based meetings (direct influence pathways). Companies are made accountable in indirect influence pathways such as regulations. The author also demonstrates that a historical approach enables an understanding of long-term historical developments and the linking of corporate policies to the normative assumptions of stakeholders.

Practical implications

If stakeholders wish to assess the social responsibility of a company, then they should assess the governance structure in relation to the principles and policies. The power structure within a company and that within the institutional framework in which the company operates (the governance system) strongly influences how a company executes its social responsibilities.

Social implications

The paper demonstrates how stakeholders can use the governance structure to influence a bank. If society – or a specific group in society – wants banks to play a different role, this paper points to what could be the levers of change in the governance system and the governance structure.

Originality/value

Insights into the complex relationship between corporate governance and the processes in which the social responsibilities of a company are developed.

Details

critical perspectives on international business, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-2043

Keywords

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