Wayne O'Donohue

Academic identity tensions in the public university: which values really matter?

Our study explores the relationship between values and academic identity in the public university. Framing the study is the proposition public universities face academic identity tensions arising from pressures to combine and sustain competing and contradictory managerial (economic) and academic (professional) values systems. Academic responses to an online survey indicated professors and lecturers shared a deep-seated antipathy to a market ethos that reduces higher education to a narrow economic function. Implications and challenges associated with academic identity tensions are considered.

Alienation: An old concept with contemporary relevance for human resource management

Purpose – This study aims to re-examine the concept of alienation, particularly from the perspective of existential psychology. While research interest continues to centre on links between human resource management (HRM) and organizational performance, such as in studies by Beer et al. (1984), Huselid (1995), Becker and Gerhart (1996) and Guest (2011), there is a growing interest in individual attributes such as employee well-being in addition to organizational performance, as mentioned in studies by Macky and Boxall (2007), Wood and de Menezes (2011) and Guest and Conway (2011). In this paper, we focus on issues related to the individual, and in doing so we suggest that HRM theory needs further development, as pointed out by Guest (2011). Design/methodology/approach – This is a paper in the tradition of critical theory that draws on both classical and modern research in the business and psychology literature. It outlines the development of the concept of alienation from its classic articulation by Marx through to the perspective offered by existential psychologists such as Blauner (1964). How alienation, thus, defined might manifest in the workplace is then discussed, as are its links to other concepts associated in the literature with positive and negative work experiences is presented. Findings – We argue that alienation needs to be addressed at two levels, namely, at the systemic level, in terms of factors external to the individual such as work and organizational systems and processes, and in terms of factors internal to the individual’s “state of mind”. We offer strategies for management to consider counterbalancing the negative effects of residual feelings of powerlessness, meaninglessness, isolation and self-estrangement that systemic change is unable to eliminate. Originality/value – The paper refocuses attention on the individual within the context of HRM, the effects of alienation and other outcomes of positive and negative work experiences such as work engagement and job burnout.

Understanding individual responses to failure by the organisation to fulfil its obligations: examining the influence of psychological capital and psychological contract type

This study advances both psychological contract (PC) and psychological capital (PsyCap) research by testing a novel theoretical model predicting likely worker response, as a joint function of an individuals level of PsyCap and PC type, to perceived failure by the organisation to meet its obligations to the worker–organisation relationship. With a large emergency services organisation using volunteer workers as the research context, the study presents the first empirical evidence from a sample of 592 volunteers that the integrated application of PC and PsyCap theory can contribute to a better understanding of individual responses to an organisations failure to affirm ongoing support for the volunteer–organisation relationship.

Special issue on expatriates and psychological contracts

It has been 25 years since the publication of Rousseau (1989) seminal article outlining the concept of the psychological contract (PC) which marked the beginning of a period of sustained academic interest in the concept and its application as ameans to better understand the employee–employer relationship. Although a large body of theoretical and empirical literature dealing with the PC in domestic business environments has been published in the intervening time, much less attention has been paid to the development and application of PC theory specifically in relation to expatriate management (Pate & Scullion, 2009). The year 2014 marks the 20th year since the first article (Guzzo, Noonan, & Elron, 1994) was published which dealt specifically with the development and application of PC theory for the management of expatriate employees. However, research interest in the expatriate PC since that time has, at best, been only sporadic, and the extant literature does not form a coherent thematic body of research upon which international human resource management (IHRM) researchers and management practitioners can draw to improve their understanding of how the expatriate experience (pre-, during and post-) can be fully maximized for the benefit of both the individual and the organization. An increasing body of literature within the field of IHRM has noted the changing nature of expatriation, with suggestions that there may be greater reluctance for individuals to accept international assignments for a mix of reasons, including dual career couples, concerns about security and career implications. Notable changes include a shift to shorter assignments and commuter assignments (see Collings, Scullion, & Morley, 2007), a growing number of self-initiated expatriates whose career capital may be differentiated from organizationally assigned expatriates (Jokinen, Brewster, & Suutari, 2008) and a changing expatriate profile with more women being represented (see Brookfield Global Relocation Services, 2013). It has also been argued that there is need to consider more fully the expatriation of people from developing countries and expatriates working in the not-for-profit sector (Hutchings & Michailova, 2014). The constantly challenging and changing contemporary environment within which expatriation occurs necessitates that researchers and management practitioners address the plethora of issues

Management of Basic Research and Development: Lessons from the Australian Experience

Management of science and related basic research and development by the state is not a new phenomenon. In this paper it is argued, on the basis of recent Australian experience, that the conventional approach which assumes that the research community is a simple system is deeply flawed. Specifically, it is argued that any pattern of government funding which assumes linear relationships between funding and scientific outputs is unlikely to be productive. Further, it is suggested that a quantitative approach to research management is counter-productive to innovation. A range of ideas is used in developing a more productive set of policies for basic research and development.