Hong T.M. Bui

Creating Learning Organizations: A Systems Perspective.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer a theoretical contribution to explicate the various factors and aspects that influence Senges five disciplines and their outcomes.Design/methodology/approach – The paper develops a conceptual framework for the analysis of antecedents and outcomes of Senges five disciplines, and offers moderators to explain the prospect associations, employing a multi‐level analysis to explore issues, from the individual level (personal mastery) through the collective level (team learning, mental model) up to the organizational level (shared vision, systems thinking). Based on this theoretical framework, the paper offers a set of propositions in the shape of a causal model that links the constructs of the model together.Findings – The development of the model manifests wide areas of relevance to the learning organization and points out significant interdependences and interactions among the various constructs associated with Senges five disciplines of the learning organiza...

Top Management Team Diversity A Systematic Review

Empirical research investigating the impact of top management team (TMT) diversity on executives’ decision making has produced inconclusive results. To synthesize and aggregate the results on the diversity-performance link, a meta-regression analysis (MRA) is conducted. It integrates more than 200 estimates from 53 empirical studies investigating TMT diversity and its impact on the quality of executives’ decision making as reflected in corporate performance. The analysis contributes to the literature by theoretically discussing and empirically examining the effects of TMT diversity on corporate performance. Our results do not show a link between TMT diversity and performance but provide evidence for publication bias. Thus, the findings raise doubts on the impact of TMT diversity on performance.

Learning organizations in higher education: an empirical evaluation within an international context

We proposed and examined a learning organization framework in higher education within an international context. Using a sample of 687 employees in the UK and Vietnam, we tested the relationships between personal mastery, mental models, team learning, shared visions and systems thinking with their antecedents and outcomes. Our findings support the suggested learning organization model. As predicted, these five variables partially mediate the relationship between the antecedents and outcomes. We also found that employees in a collectivist culture were more likely to be committed to the process of becoming learning organizations compared with those from an individualistic culture.

Creating learning organizations in higher education: applying a systems perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer an application of a system model for Senges five disciplines in higher education (HE) institutions.Design/methodology/approach – The paper utilizes a conceptual framework for the analysis of antecedents and outcomes of Senges five disciplines, focusing on specific factors unique to the HE sector.Findings – The explication of the model manifests its relevance and applicability for the HE sector: it represent how universities operate as learning organizations and posits the anticipated interactions among specific constructs associated with Senges five disciplines within the HE sector.Practical implications – The paper manifests a causal model that links variables in the learning organization, a perspective that would be instrumental for HE institutions to achieve competitive advantage.Originality/value – The paper provides added value both for academics and executives interested in the analysis of the complexity of Senges five disciplines for HE institutions.

Perceptions of HR practices on job motivation and work-life balance:mixed drives and outcomes in a labor-intensive sector

Purpose Based on regulatory focus theory and social exchange theory, the purpose of this paper is to explain how care service workers’ job attitudes, such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment and perceived organizational support, help form their promotion-focus or prevention-focus perceptions of firms’ HR practices. Design/methodology/approach A survey study of 709 residential care service workers was used to test the developed framework with structure equation modeling analysis. Findings The empirical results show that the adoption of HR practices in the British care service sector can simultaneously enhance workers’ job motivation and help to correct their work-life imbalance, which have different effects on workers’ job attitudes. Research limitations/implications Perceptions of HR practices can create both promotion- and prevention-focussed perceptions from the workers’ perspective. The mixed perceptions about HR practices trigger both perceptions of job motivation and perceptions of work-life imbalance that can then lead to different outcomes with regard to job attitudes. Practical implications This study helps practitioners apply HR practices suitably, to certain types of employees in order to drive positive, rather than negative impacts. It is important for managers in the care service industry to take into account the conditions that determine the impacts of HR practices on workers’ job attitudes when deciding to adopt HR practices. Originality/value This study contributes to the management literature by providing empirical evidence of the critical role played by job motivation and work-life imbalance in the perceptions of HR practices and job attitudes link.

Adaptation to Externally Driven Change: The Impact of Political Change on Job Satisfaction in the Public Sector

This article uses a quasi-natural experiment to investigate the adaptation of job satisfaction to externally driven political change in the public sector. This is important because democratic government bureaucracies often experience changes in leadership after elections. The analyses are based on data drawn from a large longitudinal data set, the British Household Panel Survey. Findings indicate that the impact of political elections is largely weak and temporary and is only present for men. For women, the internal processes of the organization tend to be more important. These findings suggest that changes in political leadership may not be associated with fundamental changes in policy.

Group Effects on Individual Attitudes Toward Social Responsibility

This study uses a quasi-experimental design to investigate what happens to individual socially responsible attitudes when they are exposed to group dynamics. Findings show that group engagement increases individual attitudes toward social responsibility. We also found that individuals with low attitudes toward social responsibility are more likely to change their opinions when group members show more positive attitudes toward social responsibility. Conversely, individuals with high attitudes do not change much, independent of group characteristics. To better analyze the effect of group dynamics, the study proposes to split social responsibility into relative and absolute components. Findings show that relative social responsibility is correlated with but different from absolute social responsibility although the latter is more susceptible than the former to group dynamics.

The role of person-job fit in the relationship between transformational leadership and job engagement

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between transformational leadership and employees’ work engagement based on fit theory. The paper reports an investigation into the way in which employees’ perceptions of transformational leadership and person-job fit affect their work engagement. Design/methodology/approach To test the authors’ hypotheses, the authors performed structure equation modeling with maximum likelihood estimation on Mplus with bootstrapping proposed by Hayes (2009) with data from 691 full-time employees in China. Findings The results indicate that transformational leadership has as significant influence on employees’ work engagement as person-job fit in China. Moreover, employees’ perception of person-job fit is found to partially mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and employees’ work engagement. Research limitations/implications There is a possible bias arising from the use of cross-sectional data. However, certain methods were implemented to minimize it, including survey design and data analysis. Practical implications The paper proposes a number of practical implications for policy makers, HR managers and transformational leaders relating to issues associated with improving levels of employee engagement. Originality/value The study contributes to developing leadership and engagement theory by examining a previously unexplored mediator – person-job fit – in a neglected cultural setting. This study promises to open new research avenues in this area.

Involuntary Wellness Programs: The Case of a Large US Company

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate recent healthcare reform in the USA, which allows insurance companies to proactively intervene in improving the long-term health of employees, by providing wellness programs as part of their benefits package. Design/methodology/approach – The authors present and analyze data on how employees of a large US Midwest “media and education” company (n=154) perceive economic incentives toward well-being. Data are collected using survey methods and analyzed with a logistic regression. Findings – This study suggests that fairness, accessibility, intention to switch to a healthier lifestyle and desire to see more health-related initiatives affect the way employees seek to participate in the new involuntary wellness programs. By contrast, satisfaction, participation, and income to not affect how these new programs are perceived. Research limitations/implications – These findings suggest that human resource managers should pay attention to employees who are not ac...

Student–Supervisor Expectations in the Doctoral Supervision Process for Business and Management Students

Abstract This research explores whether, and if so, how an effective relationship is created from both supervisor and doctoral student perspectives in the context of internationalisation of business and management studies in higher education. Interviews were conducted with 12 supervisor–student dyads, totalling 24 interviews, to explore both student and supervisor perspectives on their own lived experiences of their expectations during the journey through the PhD. The research revealed four main dimensions that the interviewees expressed during the interview process: (a) their perceptions of the role of the primary supervisor on the doctoral students work; (b) what they expect from their counterparts in terms of intellectual capacity; (c) in terms of emotional intelligence; and (d) in terms of resources or logistics. New findings related to intellectual capacity and emotional intelligence will be useful for both doctoral students and supervisors.