Susan Geertshuis

It’s Not What You Say, It’s The Way That You Say It: The Mediating Effect of Upward Influencing Communications on the Relationship Between Leader-Member Exchange and Performance Ratings

The quality of relationships between supervisors and their subordinates has been found to be predictive of subordinate performance. A number of explanatory mechanisms have been proposed, and the frequency and nature of dyadic communication have been posited as contributory. To further explore this potential mechanism, the authors tested the hypothesis that upward influencing communications mediate the relationship between relationship quality, as measured by leader-member exchange (LMX), and supervisor ratings of subordinate performance. In a study involving 107 supervisors, LMX was positively associated with reported frequencies of upward influences delivered as rational argument and negatively associated with ingratiatory and assertive communications. LMX was also positively associated with performance ratings, but this relationship was fully mediated by the frequency of upward influencing tactics, with rational argument being positively predictive of performance ratings and assertiveness being negatively associated with ratings of performance.

Approaches to learning in the workplace

Purpose – The aim of this study is to explore approaches to learning in the workplace.Design/methodology/approach – Computer based questionnaires are used with a sample of over 300 employees.Findings – Using a version of the Revised Approaches to Study Inventory (RASI) adapted to workforce development, the factor structure of deep, surface and strategic approaches was obtained. Differences in approaches to learning as measured by the RASI were associated with training and learning histories, reasons for engaging in training, perceptions of current skill level and self reported development needs. Practical implications – It is argued that the notion that approaches to learning impact on success in a given degree course and/or are context/teaching style dependent under represents the impact that approaches to learning may have on workplace learning. Originality/value – The study demonstrates that the adapted RASI can be used with employees and that its principal psychometric properties reflect those reporte...

Improving Decision Making for Sustainability: A Case Study from New Zealand.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe and evidence a means of improving decision making within a sustainable resource management context.Design/methodology/approach – A set of competencies required by effective decision makers is developed. Methods of improving decision making are reviewed and used to develop a continuing education programme that addressed each competency. Following piloting, 1,300 lay and professional decision makers are trained and assessed.Findings – It is possible to capture the skills required of decision makers and to develop decision‐making performance within relatively short courses.Practical implications – To be of any real value education for sustainability must not only increase awareness and knowledge but must also impact on decision making. The paper argues for an explicit consideration of decision making in learning design and describes the use of techniques that can be readily appropriated by others.Originality/value – The paper demonstrates the effectiveness o...

Paying for Community Education

Within New Zealand, Adult and Community Education providers are facing radical reductions in government support. Providers are reacting in different ways with many being forced to withdraw from offering non-credit education at affordable rates. This paper explores the likely consequences, in terms of changes in learner profile, of efforts to maintain the viability of programs through increased fees. The research explores strategies for maintaining student numbers and access despite substantial fee increases. The work is based on a survey of over 550 university community education learners and uses approaches derived from consumer decision-making research. The results suggest that fee increases will contribute to a shift towards community education being an activity limited to the better off but that measures are available that will go some way to safeguard learner numbers and access.

The Influential Subordinate: An Oxymoron or a Daily Necessity?

Naomi was recruited to restructure the administrative systems within a company- Her new’ line manager provided Naomi with the company’s vision lor how this should be done and provided her view on the system that would bring about the desired efficiency gains- Naomi’s manager did not have a background in administration but had been in the company for many years and so knew everyone and was an experienced user of the old systems. Over a period of months Naomi and her manager got to know each other and Naomi also built up her knowledge of the company’s systems and a network of her own contacts. Naomi was keen to make a good impression on her new boss, she worked hard, and discussed her evolving ideas for the restructure with her manager. Unfortunately, Naomi’s manager seemed to reject most of Naomi’s reasoning and ideas- She discounted the evidence Naomi provided and asked Naomi to stick with the original vision, Naomi felt that her boss had not given her, or her ideas, proper regard. She was concerned that her manager was wedded to solutions that would be expensive and inefficient. Can Naomi influence her boss? What should she do? Who should she involve?

University Continuing Education in New Zealand.

In New Zealand there are four university-based centres for continuing education which provide non-credit short courses. This paper presents data from a survey which was conducted with the intention of building understanding of the cohort of learners who attend short non-credit courses, to better understand their views and values and to determine whether there was a readiness or need to follow the trends apparent in overseas departments of continuing education. Policy and funding structures in New Zealand have favoured traditional delivery methods and non-credit learning. The survey of learners indicated a readiness for technology-enabled learning and interest in attaining recognition for learning. The study provides a valuable insight into an often invisible cohort of university learners and exposes important contrasts between common perceptions of adult ‘leisure’ learners and our survey results.