Stephan Baraldi

The moderating role of employability on the relationship between job insecurity and commitment to change

The development of commitment to change is an underresearched area especially in non-western settings. The aim of the present study was to determine whether employability can moderate the negative effects of job insecurity on individuals’ commitment to change. A survey method approach was used to collect 149 responses from managers of a large public sector organization in Pakistan undergoing restructuring. Hierarchical multiple regression results suggest that employability is an important coping resource during organizational change as it helps mitigate the negative effects of job insecurity on the most desirable form of commitment to change, namely affective commitment to change. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.

Development of a new Clarity of Auditory Imagery Scale.

In the psychological study of auditory imagery, instruments for measuring vividness or clarity have existed for some time. The present article argues that existing scales are ambiguous, in that clarity and vividness of auditory imagery are addressed simultaneously, and that empirical validations of those scales suffer from inadequate methods. The aim of the present study was to develop a new psychometric scale, the Clarity of Auditory Imagery Scale, measuring individual differences in clarity of auditory imagery. Drawing on previous literature, 16 items were generated, forming an initial item pool that was presented to 212 respondents. The hypothesized single dimensionality inherent in the data was confirmed using Velicer’s (1976) minimum average partial test and parallel analysis. Also, data were factor analyzed, extracting a stable one-factor solution including all 16 items. The internal consistency of the final scale was satisfactory (coefficient alpha = .88). Other properties of the questionnaire, such as test-retest reliability, remain to be established.

The Difficulty of Implementing Union Mergers: Investigating the Role of Members’ Merger Orientation

The difficulty of implementing union mergers is reflected in the large proportion of unsuccessful planned mergers. In many cases, this is due to members opposing the merger proposal. Despite this problem, few studies have investigated the significance of members’ orientations in merger implementation. The ability to predict if members will support a merger proposition would be valuable to union leaders planning mergers. Using questionnaire data from members of four Swedish unions involved in an unsuccessful merger attempt, this study investigates predictors of members’ merger orientation - the members’ attitude towards union mergers in general, their expectations about specific merger outcomes, and their intention to vote in favour of a specific merger proposal. The analysis shows that union commitment, union tenure and being informed about a merger proposal significantly predicted merger orientation. Furthermore, the analysis revealed signs of officer opposition. This suggests that a committed and well-informed membership is a crucial precondition to successful merger implementation, and that a merger proposal stands little chance without the support of union leaders.

Getting members on board : Democratic issues in union merger negotiations

The purpose of this paper is to examine a failed union merger attempt from a democratic perspective. Although it is estimated that a majority of planned union mergers are never completed, the exist ...

Union Absorptions in Times of Restructuring: The Importance of Attitude Towards Merger in Predicting Post-Merger Attachment Levels

Unions frequently restructure through merger, most often in the form of absorptions involving one bigger union absorbing a smaller one. However, the individual-level effects of merger resulting in ...