Kathi J. Lovelace

Serving with spirit: an integrative model of workplace spirituality within service organizations

Service organizations are uniquely subject to the effects of emotional labor. To address these impacts, we examine workplace spirituality (WPS) as a valuable resource within the emotional labor context of service organizations and propose an integrative model that encompasses the effects of WPS on employees, customers, and the organization. We posit that organizations that possess the WPS values of respect, humanism, and integrity, and an ethical organizational climate can buffer the negative effects of emotional labor through increased employee satisfaction and organizational commitment. Similarly, we propose that WPS can positively influence customer satisfaction and loyalty and also organizational performance and sustainability directly through its WPS values and ethical climate, and indirectly through employee satisfaction and commitment and customer satisfaction and loyalty. Our conceptual integrative model provides testable propositions related to WPS within the emotional labor context of service organizations. Implications for theory and practice are outlined.

The Role of Career Growth in Chinese New Employee’s Turnover Process

This study addresses the role of career growth in the turnover process among Chinese new employees. Based on reviews of the background of Chinese new employee combined with the Theory of Work Adjustment, we focus on career growth, person–organization fit (P-O fit), and job satisfaction as potential predictors. We examined career growth’s mediating effect between P-O fit and job satisfaction and its role in predicting turnover intention. Questionnaires were sent out through e-mail to Chinese new employees graduated within the past 3 years. Results of 323 valid cases showed that (1) career growth was positively correlated to job satisfaction and negatively correlated to turnover intention, (2) job satisfaction fully mediated career growth’s effect on turnover intention, (3) P-O fit positively predicted career growth, (4) career growth fully mediated P-O fit’s effect on job satisfaction, (5) P-O fit, career growth, and job satisfaction jointly explained 40% of the turnover intention’s total variance. Implications for individuals and organizations are discussed.

Finding a Fit With Fitness: Applying Intentional Change Theory in Worksite Health Promotion Programming

This article presents evidence on the effectiveness of worksite health promotion programs and the correspondingly low participation rates in such programs. To address this gap, Boyatziss Intentional Change Theory (ICT) is offered as an integrative theory for increasing good health practices. Generally accepted health promotion guidelines are applied to each of the five discoveries of ICT to assist employees in finding their own fit with fitness and thus increase their individual participation in health promotion. To explain the differing contexts for ICT engagement, complexity theory is used to contrast the Positive Emotional Attractor (PEA) and the Negative Emotional Attractor (NEA). The physiological changes that occur when people are in either the PEA or NEA condition are also identified. Last, the elements of each condition are examined, the health promotion applications for each of ICTs five discoveries are summarized, and specific employee actions for each discovery that ignite sustained, desired change are identified.

Virtual team fitness: Enhancing team performance through team member health

Virtual teams have received increased attention in both the practitioner and academic literature, yet little attention has been given to the development of individual team member physical health as a way to improve virtual team performance. While some recent research has examined the role of physical health on managerial andlor employee performance (e.g. Frew & Bruning, 1988; Neck & Cooper, 2000; Shephard, 1999), we argue the role of physical health on an organizational team is equally important. Consequently, this chapter specifically examines the benefits of physical fitness on virtual team performance, and suggests that there is a positive relationship between team member physical fitness and overall team performance.

The effect of applicant political skill on the race dissimilarity-recruiter recommendations relationship

The importance of recruiting minority candidates is increasing due to legal and strategic concerns. Although the majority of research in the area investigating race dissimilarity has been found to have significant negative effects on interviewing outcomes, the results have been inconsistent. Integrating our model into that proposed by Huffcutt, we attempt to better understand some of these inconsistencies by introducing political influence compatibility as a mediator between race dissimilarity and recruiter hiring recommendations. We further integrate political skill as a moderator to neutralise the negative impact of being racially dissimilar on political influence compatibility. The model was tested using data collected from actual interviews conducted in unstructured settings, and support was found for the hypotheses.

Realtime: An Intergroup Problem-Solving Exercise

This article presents a practical exercise that demonstrates the complexity and richness of intra- and intergroup relations to students. In this exercise, students are divided into teams to solve a puzzle for which they lack full information. The teams are dependent on each other for information to complete their puzzles and are challenged with varying restrictions in interteam communications as they seek necessary information. Variations on the exercise and materials to run the exercise successfully are also presented.

Experiencing Organizational Change Through the Change Management Simulation: Power and Influence

This resource review describes the web-based Change Management Simulation: Power and Influence by Harvard Business Publishing and discusses its application in both undergraduate and graduate courses. The simulation focuses on personal and organizational change factors that influence the adoption of a sustainability initiative within a manufacturing firm. Students experience leading strategic change in different contexts given the instructor’s ability to assign different authority levels and change urgencies. We provide an overview of the simulation and suggestions for introducing, playing, and debriefing the simulation. We also briefly discuss the strengths and limitations of this supplemental pedagogy.

Predicting Readiness for Diversity Training

Using data collected from 160 employed professionals in the US, we performed multivariate and univariate multiple regression analyses to examine the joint effect of perceived ethnic discrimination and ethnic dyadic dissimilarity on trainee readiness for diversity training (pre-training motivation to learn, self-efficacy, intention to use, and perceived utility). A significant interaction effect showed that individuals displayed stronger pre-training motivation to learn, intention to use, and perceived utility when they perceived discrimination based on ethnic background and when they were ethnically dissimilar to their supervisor. However, perceived ethnic discrimination was not associated with these three readiness variables when subordinate-supervisor ethnic backgrounds were the same. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

MTR’s First Year: Learning, Defining, and Progressing

Learning is at the core of the Management Teaching Review (MTR). MTR is the source for management educators to turn to for student-centered learning activities as well as reviews of pedagogical resources that enhance classroom learning. It is also the source for provocative conversations centering on teaching—both in terms of how published research on a particular topic influences our teaching practice and also how our experiences in the classroom help shape research in the management domain. In this Editors’ Corner, we reiterate our commitment to learning and provide an “iceberg” analogy of MTR’s five sections to clarify the types of articles published in MTR and further motivate authors to submit pedagogical contributions. MTR’s first year illustrates the passion our community has for management education. Indeed, it has been a first year of learning, defining, and progressing! Fink (2013) reminds us that providing value to the learner is at the heart of creating significant learning experiences. As management educators we diligently apply the tenets of learning theory (e.g., Bandura, 1977; Gagné, Briggs, & Wager, 1988; Kolb, 1984), ensuring that we gain the learner’s attention, enhance retention through experimentation and feedback, and include time for reflection on the learning experiences. We have gone from writing on the chalkboard to preprepared PowerPoint and Prezi presentations, and from using mimeographed copies to online postings and formal Learning Management Systems (e.g., Blackboard, Moodle). We have embraced the challenges of millennial learners with their reliance on structure, preference for positive feedback, and dependence on digital technologies (see, e.g., Journal of Management Education August 2016 issue). In fact, the millennial generation learning environment has provided us with many opportunities to hone our craft and take it to the next level. Implicit in MTR’s mission is the expectation that we do progress and rise to the occasion of providing value to the learner, not only to our student learners but also to our colleague learners through the dissemination of new methods and approaches to teaching.

Building Community Through the Management Teaching Review

It is with great joy that we assume the role of editors for Management Teaching Review (MTR). We sincerely thank the Organizational Behavior Teaching Society and especially Jeanie Forray and Kathy Lund Dean as founding coeditors for their vision of reenergizing our commitment to student learning and excellence in the classroom through MTR. We also acknowledge the immensity of the role of establishing a journal that truly builds on our Society’s roots and mission to “enhance the quality and promote the importance of teaching and learning across the management disciplines,” and we embrace this mission with MTR. MTR provides an exciting online platform for sharing “immediately useful resources for teaching and learning practice” in the management domain, whether in the classroom or in an organizational setting. As such, MTR is not only relevant to college educators but also trainers, coaches, and those individuals committed to teaching and learning. We view MTR as a conduit for strengthening our community around this shared passion for teaching. Our online platform is enabled with an interactive “Reader Responses” function (see Figure 1) where readers can submit comments for particular articles and read the comments submitted by others. We anticipate that this function will create a collaborative space for fostering conversations around teaching and learning. Please visit our website (http://mtr.sagepub.com/), take advantage of the free access period for MTR, and see what all the excitement is about! The pedagogical resources in MTR are organized in five main sections: Experiential Exercises, Research-to-Practice Insights, Practice-to-Research Connections, Resource Reviews, and Format Translations. We commonly see short, targeted, and immediately useful classroom activities in our Experiential Exercises section. The implications of how current disciplinary research can be applied to the classroom constitutes the