Chien-Chih Kuo

Gossip in the workplace and the implications for HR management: a study of gossip and its relationship to employee cynicism

Gossip is a common phenomenon in the workplace, but yet relatively little is understood about its influence to employees. This study adopts social information theory and social cognitive theory to interpret the diverse literature on gossip, and to develop and test hypotheses concerning some of the antecedents of gossip, with an aim of developing knowledge of the relationship between gossip and employee behaviour in the workplace. The study analysed survey data in a two-stage process, from 362 employees across a range of industries in Taiwan. The findings revealed that job-related gossip predicted employee cynicism and mediated the relationship between psychological contract violation and cynicism, and that non-job-related gossip showed a similar but weaker effect to employee cynicism. The contribution made by this paper is of value to both the academic subject domain and managers in Human Resources. First, we have identified two constructs of gossip, job-related and non-job-related gossip not previously reported and a validated scale has been created. Second, we have confirmed that these different constructs of gossip impact differently on employee behaviour and therefore HR managers should be cautious about gossip in the workplace, as it can cause cynical behaviour amongst employees.

The Impact of Workplace Gossip on Organizational Cynicism: Insights from the Employment Relationship Perspective

This study examined the effects of workplace negative gossip on organizational cynicism. Moreover, we explored the antecedents of workplace negative gossip based on the employment relationship perspective, tested the relationship between abusive supervision, psychological contract breach and workplace negative gossip. The data were collected from 455 employees in Taiwan. Three major findings manifest in the results. First, workplace negative gossip had a significant predictability for organizational cynicism. Compare to interpersonal-related negative gossip, the effects of task-related negative gossip on organizational cynicism were larger. Secondly, employment relationship (abusive supervision and psychological contract breach) had significant predictability for the employees’ workplace negative gossip. Thirdly, we found that employment relationship affects organizational cynicism through its impact on workplace negative gossip. In summary, workplace negative gossip mediates the relationship between employment relationship and organizational cynicism.

Message-related effects on consumer switching when the preferred product is out of stock

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the effect of retailers’ consumer communications in prompting the choice of an in-stock alternative to an out-of-stock first-choice product. Design/methodology/approach Four between-subjects experiments assessed the extent to which the likelihood of a retail customer switching to a similarly-priced alternative when a first choice was out-of-stock was affected by messages concerning stockout status (Studies 1a and 1b). They further examined the interaction effects on participants’ preference of messages comparing the available versus unavailable options and stating stockout status (Study 2) and those giving information on the reasons for the stockout and on its status (Study 3). Findings Participants maintained their original preference for an out-of-stock product unless an external restriction on choice prompted them to forsake it or they perceived a strong reason to opt for an in-stock alternative. There was a greater tendency to switch if the alternative offered a potential “gain” or the reasons given for a stockout were irrelevant to product performance, whether the participant was expecting imminent re-stocking. Switching was triggered when the available alternative was directly comparable to the original or the retailer’s explanation related to an attribute judged trivial, but only if short supply was expected to continue. Originality/value The studies add to current understanding of how shoppers respond to unavailability of a first-choice product by examining the effect on switching behavior of messages about the stockout situation that are communicated deliberately or inadvertently by retailers.

HR practice, organisational commitment & citizenship behaviour

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between HR practice (four aspects), organisational commitment and citizenship behaviour at primary schools in Taiwan. The four human resource (HR) aspects include: recruitment and placement (RP), teaching, education and career (TEC) development, support, communication and retention (SCR), and performance and appraisal (PA). Design/methodology/approach With the assistance from the school HR managers and using an anti-common method variance strategy, research data from 568 incumbent teachers in Taiwan are collected, analysed and evaluated. Findings Different from prior studies, highlighting the merits of HR practice, the study discovers that HR practice may not necessarily contribute to citizenship behaviour. Teachers with positive perceptions of RP and TEC are more likely to demonstrate citizenship behaviour, whereas teachers with positive perceptions of SCR and PA are not. In addition, the study finds three moderators: affective organisational commitment (AOC), rank of positions, and campus size. The analysis shows that teachers with more AOC, higher positions and from smaller campus are more likely to demonstrate organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB). Originality/value The study provides a closer look at the HR-OCB relationship in Taiwan. It reveals that a positive perception of HR practice may not necessarily contribute to OCB occurrence. In addition, the results indicate that teachers have different views about varying HR aspects. Specifically, aspects of RP and TEC development receive relatively higher levels of positive perception, whereas aspects of SCR and PA receive relatively lower levels of positive perception. Questions arise as to whether HR practice may lead to more OCB at primary schools. If this statement is true, school managers shall think further of how to promote OCB using other policies, rather than relying on the HR practice investigated here.

Safety Culture Evaluation in China Airlines: A Preliminary Study

Recently, the global aviation industry has started to promote Safety Management System SMS, and thus consider the enhancement of safety culture as an essential. To meet the growing demand of safety culture assessment, we cooperated with China Airlines CAL in Taiwan to develop a safety culture questionnaire using both qualitative and quantitative methods to meet the needs of their operation environment and to take the theoretical researches of safety culture into account. During the development process, we continuously integrated the opinions from the industry experts, and effectively established a safety culture assessment tool that not only conforms to the actual operation of the airline but also to the requirement of reliability and validity. Although the statistical results show both the strengths and weaknesses of CALs safety culture, the hidden reasons of the shortcomings or unstated ideas of workers are still remained undiscovered in this phase. In the following, we would use the focus group method to help examining the potential causes of those low score facets of safety culture, and to develop follow-up recommendations to improve CALs safety performance accordingly.

Safety culture evaluation in China Airlines: A preliminary study

Recently, the global aviation industry has started to promote Safety Management System SMS, and thus consider the enhancement of safety culture as an essential. To meet the growing demand of safety culture assessment, we cooperated with China Airlines CAL in Taiwan to develop a safety culture questionnaire using both qualitative and quantitative methods to meet the needs of their operation environment and to take the theoretical researches of safety culture into account. During the development process, we continuously integrated the opinions from the industry experts, and effectively established a safety culture assessment tool that not only conforms to the actual operation of the airline but also to the requirement of reliability and validity. Although the statistical results show both the strengths and weaknesses of CALs safety culture, the hidden reasons of the shortcomings or unstated ideas of workers are still remained undiscovered in this phase. In the following, we would use the focus group method to help examining the potential causes of those low score facets of safety culture, and to develop follow-up recommendations to improve CALs safety performance accordingly.