Ascertaining the interaction effects among organisational citizenship behaviour, work overload and employees’ performance in the Ghanaian construction industry

Work intensification: A systematic review of studies from 1989 to 2022

BACKGROUND

Work intensification can lead to both work-related and non-work-related outcomes that positively and negatively affect the employee, organization, and job in question. The criticality of this phenomena necessitates conducting a systematic review to capture the essence of the extant literature.

OBJECTIVE

This paper presents a systematic review of the literature on work intensification from 1989 to 2022. It reviews the conceptualization of the construct, explores the factors influencing work intensification, identifies its outcomes, moderators, and mediators, and provides a review of the theories that have been used to support the phenomena of work intensification.

METHODS

The systematic review employed the PRISMA approach to screen 2823 records from the Web of Science database and extract 74 quantitative studies for final examination.

RESULTS

Firstly, work intensification has primarily been conceptualized through various constructs such as workload, long work hours, and time pressure. Secondly, there are well-established positive and negative outcomes associated with work intensification, either directly or through mediators. Thirdly, both the conservation of resource theory and the job-demands resource theory are widely utilized to support models related to work intensification.

CONCLUSION

The study urges practitioners to enhance their efforts in effectively managing employees' intensified work demands, particularly in relation to work overload, working hours, and time pressure. By addressing these factors, organizations can minimize negative outcomes and promote positive consequences.

Performance shaping factors for future sustainable energy management: A new integrated approach

The current literature suggests that a lack of integration between engineering for performance shaping factors (PSFs) and workplace energy management (WEM) is a significant barrier to improving energy management practices (EMP) and power plant efficiency. The study identified three research objectives in response to this research gap: (1) conduct a systematic literature review to analyze current studies; (2) develop a novel integrative model capable of predicting EMP; and (3) test the novel model's validity and reliability through an empirical study in thermal power plants. In this study, a group of academic and energy experts designed research instruments to achieve the study's objectives, which were then pilot-tested. Partial least square structural equation modeling was utilized to analyze the data in this study. The study successfully developed a new model for future sustainable energy management in power plants and a new model integrating the PSFs and WEM to predict power plant energy performance, aiming to enhance communication between operators and EMP in power plants. The model exhibited exceptional explanatory and predictive abilities, yielding a strong fit. Furthermore, the incorporation of success factors associated with PSFs positively influenced the EMP. The data set followed a normal distribution, confirming the model's reliability and validity. Significantly, this study achieved a breakthrough by being the first to integrate success factors for PSFs and WEM in thermal power plants, thus effectively addressing an unexplored area of research. However, the inconsistencies in the current studies emphasize the necessity for additional investigations into the strategy of PSFs in EMP within power plants.

The role of leadership skills in organisational citizenship behaviour at Vietnamese libraries: organisational culture as a mediator

Purpose

This research aims to explore the influence of leadership skills (technical, human and conceptual) on organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) with the mediating role of organisational culture in Vietnamese libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative methodology was selected to achieve the objective of this research. Data were gathered through paper/pencil surveys from 201 participants working in various Vietnamese libraries. The convergent validity, consistency reliability and discriminant validity of measures were validated challenged via Stata 15.1 software. The findings of the proposed hypotheses were examined via regression analysis.

Findings

The results partially supported the hypothesis that leadership skills significantly predict OCB. Regarding the relationship between leadership skills and organisational culture, only human skill significantly affected bureaucracy culture. In turn, only bureaucracy culture significantly affected the OCB of individuals (OCBI) and OCB of organisations (OCBO). Finally, bureaucracy culture significantly mediated the relationship between human skill, OCBI and OCBO.

Originality/value

This study opens the scope of research on leadership skills in Vietnamese libraries by exploring three main gaps in the extant studies of leadership approach, namely, the influence of three leadership skills on OCB, the role of leadership in promoting organisational culture and the underlying mechanism through which leadership skills contribute to OCB with the mediation of organisational culture. The implications of the research are discussed.

Identifying the key areas for benchmarking towards the improvement of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) construction firms in developing countries: the case of Ghana

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to identify key areas for benchmarking (BM) towards the improvement of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) construction firms in developing countries.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employed the use of the quantitative research method in the collection and analysis of primary data collected from field surveys using a piloted close-ended questionnaire created following a review of available literature on BM. Based on 63 solicited views of professionals with SMEs (quantity surveyors, project managers and architects) data collected were statistically analysed using a one-sample t-test.

Findings

The findings of the study indicate that the key areas for BM towards the improvement of SME construction firms in developing countries in order of relevance are “Financial Performance”, “Competitiveness”, “Customer Satisfaction”, “Technology Advancement”, “Communication Skills”, “Collaboration”, “Employee Satisfaction” and “Product orientation”.

Practical implications

The study has given more insight into the areas that need more attention for SMEs BM to achieve improvement. It can therefore be suggested firms that adapted identified areas will derive the benefits of BM. It is further opined that more BM education should be provided to various SMEs construction firms to facilitate an effective and efficient BM regime aiming at performance enhancement in project delivery.

Originality/value

This forging research attempts to identify the key areas for BM towards the improvement of SMEs construction firms in developing countries. Although there have been several efforts to create BM tools for the construction industry.

Theorising an organisational citizenship behaviour model for managerial decision-making: from history to contemporary application

Purpose

This study aims to expand the theory of organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) to include “exterior” behaviours. By advancing the work of Blake and Mouton (1964) and remapping the performance/OCB dimensions offered in the historical literature, a new holistic model of organisational performance is proposed. As a further step, a decision-making tool is proposed for managerial decision-making and to help predict employee performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts a critical review and conceptual approach to explore historical OCB theories and task performance (TP) taxonomies. It then used Blake and Mouton’s managerial grid to construct a contemporary conceptual tool for managerial decision-making.

Findings

Despite the performance literature not lacking in quantity, a few of such research have led to a pragmatic managerial tool. The review reveals several confusions regarding the accurate classification of what actually constitutes OCB and what constitutes TP – this gap is filled by the introduction of the OCB model for managerial decision-making (OMMD).

Research limitations/implications

The current work expands our thinking on OCBs that can occur outside the organisation. These exterior behaviours can influence the organisation’s performance and must be managed just like any other performance metric. The OMMD, primarily based on OCB and TP, provides an initial framework for exploring different typologies of employees. Despite being based on several cogent performance literatures, the proposals have not been tested empirically.

Practical implications

Like the Blake and Mouton model, the new OMMD can be useful in estimating the proportions of employee OCBs and TP.

Social implications

Culture and social exchange theory can be seen as playing a role in separating TP from OCB.

Originality/value

This study extends the work of Bateman and Organ (1983) by suggesting that some work behaviours can occur outside the organisation. Besides, a decision-making proposal is offered based on the managerial grid framework (Blake and Mouton, 1964).