Gangaram Singh

Inclusion and Diversity in Work Groups: A Review and Model for Future Research

A great deal of research has focused on work group diversity, but management scholars have only recently focused on inclusion. As a result, the inclusion literature is still under development, with limited agreement on the conceptual underpinnings of this construct. In this article, the authors first use Brewer’s optimal distinctiveness theory to develop a definition of employee inclusion in the work group as involving the satisfaction of the needs of both belongingness and uniqueness. Building on their definition, the authors then present a framework of inclusion. Their framework is subsequently used as a basis for reviewing the inclusion and diversity literature. Potential contextual factors and outcomes associated with inclusion are suggested in order to guide future research.

Early Retirees As the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs

In this article, we combine perspectives from labor economics and entrepreneurship to examine early retirees’ decision to become self–employed. Many individuals leave career employment before the traditional age of 65 and return to the labor market for a period of time before they fully retire. This phenomenon is referred to in the labor economics literature as bridge employment. Initial research of bridge employment has identified entrepreneurial activities to be common. The authors argue that first early retirees have to make the decision whether to permanently retire or to continue their labor force participation. If they decide to return to work, then self–employment is one option. Using the theoretical foundations of entrepreneurship, the authors outline the factors that would influence the self–employment choice and the types of entrepreneurial paths emanating from that choice.

Are Articles in “Top” Management Journals Necessarily of Higher Quality?

This study investigates the appropriateness of using publication of an article in a top (specifically, top five) management journal as a proxy for its quality. Social Science Citation Index citation counts were collected over 7-year event windows for articles published in 34 management journals in 1993 and 1996. Overall, the authors found that articles published in the five journals most often considered to be the top ones in management tend to be cited more often than ones published in the other journals. Far more important, however, across three different criteria for placing articles into top versus non-top categories, there were substantial classification errors from using journal ranking as a proxy for quality. This finding suggests that both administrators and the management discipline will be well served by efforts to evaluate each article on its own merits rather than abdicate this responsibility by using journal ranking as a proxy for quality.

BURNOUT AND PERSONALITY: EVIDENCE FROM ACADEMIA

Using multiple theoretical perspectives (stress, conservation of resources, and deviance), we investigated the relationship between burnout and personality. Burnout is measured with the Maslach Burnout Inventory (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishments), and personality is captured with the Mini-Marker Inventory (extroversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness to experience, and emotional stability). Regression analyses controlling for demographic characteristics, based on 265 instructors of a large state university, indicated that emotional exhaustion is negatively related to extroversion and emotional stability and positively related to openness to experience. Depersonalization is negatively related to agreeableness and emotional stability. Personal accomplishments are positively related to extroversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability. Implications of the results are discussed.

Human Resource Management, Job Satisfaction, Morale, Optimism, and Turnover

ABSTRACT This article examines the usage of nine human resource management (HRM) practices among 46 hotels in San Diego. Results showed that the hotels in the sample use training and development to bring employees up to an acceptable level of performance, and then rely on allowing employee a voice to keep them engaged. Usage of HRM varied by hotel types (e.g., resorts vs. economy), and the practices had a statistically significant relationship with job satisfaction, morale, and optimism about the future of the hotel. These attitudes, in turn, were significantly related to turnover intentions. Implications of the results are discussed.

Work History and Later-Life Labor Force Participation: Evidence from a Large Telecommunications Firm

This study examines the relationship between later-life labor force participation and work history. Survey data on 1,805 Bell Canada early retirees show that 40% returned to work, of whom 17% took full-time employment, 51% took part-time employment, and 32% became self-employed. Return to work was positively related to work attachment and tenure in the last job, and negatively related to having been in a non-managerial occupation and lacking upward career mobility. Those with high attachment to work (as measured by responses to several survey questions) were more likely to return to full-time employment than to retire. Clerical workers were less likely than managers to choose part-time employment over retirement. Both lateral (versus upward) mobility in the last job and high work attachment were negatively related to the choice of self-employment over retirement.

RESEARCH: "Intrinsic Religious Orientation Among Minorities in the United States: A Research Note"

We developed and tested a refined version of the intrinsic religious orientation (IRO) component of the Religious Orientation Scale (ROS) using a lay sample of 4 minority ethnic groups (African Americans, Asian Americans, Filipinos, and Latinos) that are collectively now an increasing proportion of the population of the United States. We explored whether IRO is affected by ethnicity, religious affiliation, and gender, and also whether levels of IRO have implications for psychological acculturation of minority groups into White, Anglo American culture and alienation from society. Ethnicity, religious affiliation, and gender explained 41% of the variation of IRO. Relative to Asian Americans, African Americans and Filipinos were more likely to be intrinsically religious. In comparison to those who had no religious preference, Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Evangelical Christians were more likely to be intrinsically religious. Women showed a higher level of IRO than did men. IRO, in turn, was negatively correlated with psychological acculturation and positively correlated with alienation. The negative correlation between IRO and psychological acculturation held true for Asian Americans and African Americans, and the positive correlation between IRO and alienation applied to Asian Americans.

The Big Five Personality–Entrepreneurship Relationship: Evidence from Slovenia

Entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship are important for new wealth creation and economic development. Yet insufficient attention has been paid in entrepreneurship research to psychological characteristics such as the big five personality characteristics. In this study, we address this issue by investigating the psychological determinants of real‐life entrepreneurial start‐up decisions and intentions by contrasting entrepreneurs and non‐entrepreneurs as regards the big five personality factors (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism). Using data collected via face‐to‐face structured interviews with 546 individuals from lovenia, we tested hypotheses using multi‐nominal logistic regression (supplemented by ).

Global Pay Systems: Compensation in Support of a Multinational Strategy

Multinational companies have always faced challenges with respect to compensation. This article outlines two of the most widely used systems: the balance-sheet approach and the going-rate approach. Although the balance-sheet approach provides the benefits of equity for the expatriate between assignments and better facilitates repatriation, it generally comes at a high cost to the company. Another challenge with the balancesheet approach is the complexity in administering the program as more expatriates from different home countries are sent abroad. With respect to the going-rate approach, assignments to multiple locations likely result in variation of pay. This is particularly evident when an employee is transferred from an economically advanced location to a developing country. To address these challenges, an argument is advanced for a global pay system such as the one at Seagram Spirits and Wine Group. This article concludes that a global pay system must provide the ingredients to achieve the overall strategy of the multinational company.

National Culture and Union Density

Using data from 33 countries, the author shows that four dimensions of national culture explain 53% of the variation in union density. Union density is negatively correlated with both ‘masculinity’ and ‘power distance’. Implications of the results relate to institutional practices and public policy. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first article to examine the relationship between union density and national culture.