John Milliman

Workplace spirituality and employee work attitudes

One important question in the field of workplace spirituality concerns the relationship of this construct with employee work attitudes. This study attempts to make a rigorous empirical examination of the relationship between workplace spirituality and five prevalent employee job attitudinal variables. It assesses the validity and reliability of the measures used and discusses the results of the analysis, which indicate that each of the three dimensions of spirituality used has a significant relationship with two or more of the five job attitude variables examined. While acknowledging that spirituality at work is an abstract concept, this study attempts to provide some of the first empirical support that there is a positive association between spirituality at work and employee job outcomes. The paper concludes with a number of implications and research directions for both academics and business managers, including the need to investigate the comprehensive impact of spirituality at work on individuals and organizations.

Thought Self-leadership Finding Spiritual Fulfilment in Organizational Life

Offers a number of insights into the nature of spirituality in organizations and how employees can gain greater spirituality and purpose in their work. Specifically, proposes that a recent leadership theory, thought self‐leadership, can assist employees in influencing or leading themselves towards experiencing more spirituality in their organizational life.

Spirit and community at Southwest Airlines

One important issue is whether spirituality in the workplace can be used only to benefit employees or can it be developed also to the advantage of organizations? The purpose of this article is to articulate a model of how spiritual values can be integrated into organizations and then assess how this model predicts organizational behavior in one company, Southwest Airlines (SWA). The application of this model provides insights into how and under what specific conditions spiritual values can positively impact both profitability and employee attitudes in organizations. Implications for both research and practice are discussed.

TOWARD A THEORY OF COMPARATIVE MANAGEMENT RESEARCH: AN IDIOGRAPHIC CASE STUDY OF THE BEST INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT PROJECT

Cross-cultural international management research is complex, costly, and frequently, nonrigorous. This idiographic study documents the evolution of a multinational, multicultural, interdisciplinary research consortium that sought to remedy this lack of rigor in a project investigating international human resource management practices. We identify key learning points derived from this project and conclude with the rudiments of a midrange theory of a comparative management research methodology.

In Search of ‘Best Practices’ in International Human Resource Management: Research Design and Methodology

The goal of this article is to describe and examine the research design and methodology that were employed by the Best International Human Resource Management Practices Project. The article briefly addresses the origins and goal of the project, including the research questions that the study was attempting to address. The methodology used for collecting the projects data is then presented, including the design and dissemination of the questionnaire and related data collection issues. Implications of the projects research design for interpretation of results, and for influencing the design and management of effective international human resource management practices, are discussed.

An Exploratory Assessment of the Purposes of Performance Appraisals in North and Central America and the Pacific Rim

While performance appraisals are considered important management tools in many countries, their purposes and practices vary significantly between countries. Unfortunately, there is little empirical data on the specific practices of appraisals across countries. The focus of this study is to empirically examine the current purposes of performance appraisals in ten different countries and regions in Asia, North America, and Latin America. The purposes of appraisals studied here include documentation, development, administrative (pay and promotions), and subordinate expression. This paper also examines how the respondents believe the purposes of appraisals should ideally be practiced. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Creating Effective Core Organizational Values: A Spiritual Leadership Approach

Abstract Core values have been viewed as one important way that both private and public sector institutions can improve organizational effectiveness and enhance employee attitudes and behaviors. Despite the strong case for the importance of values, many organizations have not gained their full benefits. In fact, core values poorly articulated and implemented can have a significant negative impact on both employees and organizations. This paper seeks to review the business literature to define core organizational values, discuss their impact on employees and organizations, and present the key reasons why most institutions have not developed effective values. Next, it is suggested that a spiritual leadership philosophy is needed for organizational executives to articulate, communicate, and implement truly meaningful and authentic core values. A number of applications of these core industry values to the public sector are provided as well as directions for future research.

Research and publishing issues in large scale cross‐national studies

Recently there has been a significant increase in the number of academic international research teams (AIRTs) which are conducting large scale cross‐national research studies. These efforts hold much potential to advance international comparative research. However, there are a number of issues associated with these studies that rarely occur in other research efforts. The purpose of this manuscript is to articulate a number of these issues which can be categorized into two main groups, research methodology and publishing. Research methodology issues include the comparability and matching of samples, the timing of data collection, and the comparability of research instruments. Publishing issues include manuscript length, the timing of publications, and cross‐cultural authorship issues. It is essential that these issues are addressed if the field is to reap the full benefits of these large cross‐national studies.

The relationship between workplace spirituality and hospitality supervisors’ work attitudes: A self-determination theory perspective

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which workplace spirituality (WPS) is related to hospitality supervisors’ organizational commitment (OC) and intention to quit (ITQ), examined through the lens of self-determination theory (SDT). Design/methodology/approach Based on survey data collected from 190 supervisors employed by a large US hospitality organization, the relationships were examined using confirmatory factor analysis, second-order factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings The results of this study suggest that three dimensions of WPS (i.e. meaning and purpose in their work, sense of community and alignment with organizational values) are positively related to OC and negatively related to ITQ. Moreover, these supervisors’ OC fully mediates the negative relationship of WPS to ITQ. Research limitations/implications This study tests the validity and reliability of three WPS dimensions in the hospitality environment. It also provides a theoretical perspective through SDT for explaining how WPS impacts employee work attitudes, which can be used to guide future studies. Practical implications Hospitality organizations can benefit from the insights of this research into how WPS can increase the commitment and retention of supervisors, who in turn positively impact front-line workers and customer service quality delivery. Originality/value This study provides additional implications for SDT and offers new insights into the emerging field of WPS scholarship. While other studies have tested relationships related to involving these WPS variables, a scarcity of research has been offered in hospitality or with a theory-based explanation of these relationships.

Hierarchical advancement in Korean chaebols: A model and research agenda

Abstract Because of the increasingly prominent role South Koreas workforce plays in the worlds economy, it is important to understand Korean organizational practices and employee attitudes. This is particularly true for promotion, a highly sought after reward in not only Korea, but also other countries such as the United States and Japan. This article investigates three aspects of promotion systems in Korea: cultural and social factors are examined to illustrate the context for hierarchical advancement in organizations; models of promotion aspiration and promotion criteria based on cultural, social, organizational, and individual factors are proposed; and emerging economic and population demographic trends which are likely to impact future employee opportunities for promotions are discussed. Comparisons to U.S. corporations and Japanese zaibatsus are utilized to further explain the unique nature of promotion systems in Korea and to predict future trends. Testable propositions are proposed to guide future research on promotion systems.