Seeking traces of democracy in the workplace: effects on knowledge sharing

Purpose

This study aims to examine the role of organisational democracy (OD) in facilitating the knowledge sharing (KS) process within companies, thus considering the effect of different OD principles.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used data collected through a questionnaire on a sample of 254 employees at private universities and colleges to test the relationship between OD and KS. Data were analysed using the structural equation modelling technique.

Findings

Overall, OD has a direct and significant effect on facilitating KS in organisations. Also, the results showed that there are different degrees and intensities among the individual principles (sub-concepts) of OD and KS.

Practical implications

The findings highlight the important role of democracy in an organisation to enhance the organisational climate and employees’ behaviours, thus leading to higher KS outcomes. Also, results, provide an opportunity for managers to consider enhancing democracy in an organisation for improving internal collaboration effectiveness in KS.

Originality/value

This paper sheds light and adds new knowledge to embryonic studies that are directed towards the integration of democracy within the main concept of knowledge management (KM). This emphasises the need to use and stimulate OD and its principles for improving the effectiveness of KM practices with specific attention to KS.

Teacher trust in others and teacher commitment co-mediate the path from school leadership to students’ reading literacy in rural Chinese schools

This study aimed to understand how teacher trust in others (TTO) and teacher commitment (TC) co-mediate the path from school leadership (SL) to students’ reading literacy (RL). Altogether 1,223 Grade 8 students (female =647; male = 576, Mage = 15.35, SD = 1.28) and their 34 principals from 34 secondary schools in rural western China were sampled and matched. All the students completed the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA 2008) reading tests, and their principals completed the Leading and Teaching in Schools Survey Scale online which the variables of SL, TTO, and TC were evaluated. In addition, the “many to many” step was employed to match principals’ data with the students’ data by STATA analysis. The results indicated that: (1) there were direct and indirect effects of SL on student RL in the mediation model; (2) the serial mediation of TTO and TC was significant between SL and RL. This finding implies that enhancing TTO and TC in rural schools will help improve student’s RL.

The Effect of Organizational Trust on Turnover Intention of Rural Kindergarten Teachers: The Mediating Role of Teaching Efficacy and Job Satisfaction

Recent studies have focused on turnover among rural kindergarten teachers. However, none of these studies have shown a clear connection between turnover intention and organizational trust, although there are studies in other areas showing that organizational trust can affect turnover intention. Drawing on a sample of 330 kindergarten teachers in rural areas, this study explores the mechanism of influence between organizational trust and turnover intention with teaching efficacy and job satisfaction as mediators. We found that organizational trust negatively impacted teachers' turnover intention, and this relationship was mediated by a significant chain mediating effect of teaching efficacy and job satisfaction. The findings enrich knowledge about turnover among rural kindergarten teachers and inspire us to create a more supportive organizational environment against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic to improve job satisfaction and alleviate turnover among rural kindergarten teachers.

Does Servant Leadership Stimulate Work Engagement? The Moderating Role of Trust in the Leader

A positive leadership style can promote work engagement. Using social exchange theory, this study examines the impact of employee leadership styles on work engagement. In addition, the link also considered the mitigating role of trust in leaders. Preliminary data were collected from the educational and non-educational staff of the Business Management Sciences and Education Department at different universities. We collected responses from 242 employees from selected universities using the purposive sampling technique. We tested the proposed hypothesis using linear regression. Research has shown that there is a positive link between employee leadership and work engagement. When trust in leaders as facilitators was introduced, the relationship between leadership and work engagement was relaxed to increase trust in leaders. Practical and theoretical contributions to the study were provided with recommendations for further study.

Do different types of organizational trust matter to employees’ commitment? A case study from Oman

PURPOSE: Trust is vital to all positive relationships. This empirical study explores the effect of three facets of organisational trust (trust in supervisors, in co-workers and in the organisation) on employee commitment in Salalah Mills Co. in the food industry in the Sultanate of Oman. METHODOLOGY: Data were collected via an online survey sent to all employees working in Salalah Mills Co., Oman. The final sample consisting of 102 responses with a response rate of 54 percent were analysed using multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: The findings revealed that two facets of organisational trust (trust in co-workers and trust in supervisors) were found to have a significant positive effect on employee commitment, while trust in the organisation was found to have no significant effect. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Trust in supervisors and trust in co-workers directly affect employee commitment. Therefore, managers should consider promoting both of these forms of trust to enhance employee commitment. VALUE: Although previous studies have examined the link between organisational trust and employee commitment, a focus on Oman and the food sector has been particularly rare, so this study offers new insights. The findings will help decision-makers on design strategies and policies to improve employee commitment through trust.

Radiologist Opinions of a Quality Assurance Program: The Interaction Between Error, Emotion, and Preventative Action

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES

To investigate inter-relationships between radiologist opinions of a quality assurance (QA) program, QA Committee communications, negative emotions, self-identified risk factors, and preventive actions taken following major errors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A 48 question electronic survey was distributed to all 431 radiologists within the same teleradiology organization between June 15 and July 3, 2018. Two reminders were sent during the survey time period. Descriptive statistics were generated, and comparisons were made with Fisher exact test. Significance level was set at p < 0.05.

RESULTS

Response rate was 67.5% (291/431), and 72.5% of respondents completed all survey questions. A total of 64.3% of respondents were male, and the highest proportion of radiologists (28.9%, 187/291) had been in practice >20 years. Preventative actions following an error were positively correlated to a higher opinion of the QA process, self-identification of personal risk factors for error, and greater negative emotions following an error (all p < 0.05). A higher opinion of communications with the QA committee was associated with a positive opinion of the QA process (p < 0.001). An inverse relationship existed between negative emotion and opinion of QA committee communications (p < 0.05) and negative emotion and opinion of the QA process (p < 0.05). Radiologist gender and full time versus part time status had a significant effect on perception of the QA process (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Radiologist opinions of their institutional QA process was related to the number of negative emotions experienced and preventative actions taken following major errors. Nurturing trust and incorporating more positive feedback in the QA process may improve interactions with QA Committees and mitigate future errors.