Cynthia P. Ruppel

A socio-technical approach to improving the systems development process

Research on improving the systems development processes has primarily focused on mechanisms such as tools, software development methodologies, knowledge sharing and process capabilities. This research has yielded considerable insights into improving the systems development process, but the large majority of information systems development projects still continue to be over budget, late, and ineffective in meeting user needs. Together with the advent of software development moving offshore, or consisting of offshore team members, a more holistic approach is appropriate. Approached from a socio-technical perspective the software development process is viewed as a process embedded in a social and a technical subsystem. Drawing upon socio-technical work design principles, this paper suggests how capabilities of the development process can be improved. Data collected from a survey of software development practices in organizations indicates that organizations at different levels of process capabilities differ in work system characteristics as well as process performance. For example, the use of multi-skilled teams was found to be significantly related to the systems development process maturity level as well as significantly related to all the performance measures studied. This paper provides empirical support for the socio-technical approach and provides a theoretical foundation for designing software process initiatives in organizations.

A contingency theory of corruption: The effect of human development and national culture

Abstract Corruption is a world-wide problem that disproportionately affects those with the fewest personal and economic resources. It was hypothesized that human development restricts corruption, and the magnitude of such an effect is contingent upon the conditions of national culture. Measures were gathered for 68 countries that account for 80% of the worlds population. Support was found for the main effect of human development on corruption. Consistent with contingency theory, results also indicate that the relation between human development and corruption is moderated by power distance and individualism. Implications for policy making to reduce corruption are discussed.

Using communication choices as a boundary management strategy: How choices of communication media affect the work-life balance of teleworkers in a global virtual team

This study examines how members of a global virtual team chose communication media while managing multiple boundaries. The study is unique in that it considers the perspectives of U.S. managers who teleworked from domestic workplaces and virtual team members located in offices in India. It describes the complex dynamics of the decision-making processes that team members used in attempting to allocate their individual resources in order to meet the demands of a high-performance organizational culture. The findings suggest that managers chose media that met task requirements and maintained the boundaries between their work and personal lives rather than media that would provide the most satisfactory experience.

Leadership Constraints: Leading Global Virtual Teams Through Environmental Complexity

This research focused on the question: What leadership constraints contribute to the complexity of the working environment faced by global virtual team leaders and how do those leadership constraints impact the behavior of leaders when they are trying to meet team member expectations? This qualitative study of a high performing team within a multinational corporation MNC identified four constraints facing leaders: virtuality, globalization, the domestic workplace, and the matrix organizational structure. These constraints and their interactions contributed to the complexity that leaders faced when attempting to influence followers. While work/life roles have changed dramatically for leaders, team member expectations remain rooted in the past.

Emotional labor and its outcomes: A study of a Philippine call center

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether Western human resource (HR) theory is applicable to a call centre located in the Philippines. A call centre, due to the amount of emotional labour involved in this type of work, is an ideal environment to study stress related Western HR model where stress eventually leads to turnover. Turnover is a major concern in the call centre industry. Design/methodology/approach – The authors tested a model linking work stress to job satisfaction, organizational commitment and intention to turnover using data collected from 439 employees in the Philippines. Both correlation analysis and partial least squares analysis were used to test the theoretical Western HR components both individually and holistically. Findings – The findings indicate that these call centre employees reported emotional stress, leading to job dissatisfaction, reduced organization commitment and ultimately increased intention to turnover. Turnover is reported to be a serious and increasing...

Using Social Media and Targeted Snowball Sampling to Survey a Hard-to-reach Population: A Case Study

Response rates to the academic surveys used in quantitative research are decreasing and have been for several decades among both individuals and organizations. Given this trend, providing doctoral students an opportunity to complete their dissertations in a timely and cost effective manner may necessitate identifying more innovative and relevant ways to collect data while maintaining appropriate research standards and rigor. The case of a research study is presented which describes the data collection process used to survey a hard-to-reach population. It details the use of social media, in this case LinkedIn, to facilitate the distribution of the web-based survey. A roadmap to illustrate how this data collection process unfolded is presented, as well as several “lessons learned” during this journey. An explanation of the considerations that impacted the sampling design is provided. The goal of this case study is to provide researchers, including doctoral students, with realistic expectations and an awareness of the benefits and risks associated with the use of this method of data collection.

Employee Turnover in International Brand Hotels in Russia: A Comparison of Nationals and Foreign Nationals

ABSTRACT This empirical study tests the relations between employee turnover and the organizational dimensions of service climate, comparing nationals and foreign nationals in the international brand Russian hotel industry. This study extends the geographic scope of employee turnover to the undertested Russian context. Responses were analyzed using a partial least squares model. Results show that nationals’ and foreign nationals’ responses to model variables diverge. Job insecurity directly affects the turnover intentions of Russian nationals, while its effect for foreign nationals was indirect through organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Compounded indirect effects of turnover antecedents and service climate dimensions are also examined and discussed.

Individual adoption of HR analytics: a fine grained view of the early stages leading to adoption

Abstract High performing organizations are using analytics for evidence-based decision-making. However, the human resource (HR) function in many organizations has been slow to adopt this innovation. This study applies innovation theory, informed by the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), to examine the individual’s decision to adopt HR Analytics in an effort to identify why the adoption rate is lagging. We examined early stages of the individual decision process beginning from Stage 1 (knowledge) and leading to Stage 3, (the decision) to adopt or not to adopt the innovation. We found several points in the process that can act as barriers or facilitators. Organizations and champions of this innovation wishing to facilitate HR analytics adoption can take action to remove as many of these barriers to the individual’s decision as possible. Further research should focus on the best way to remove these barriers.