 |
 |
Shamala Kumar and Hasini Gunawardana
Social achievement goals are introduced as useful in understanding the motivation of sales people. Further, although past research has indicated that avoidance based achievement goals are maladaptive, recent evidence suggests they are less harmful or may even be helpful in collectivist cultural contexts. Yet, this research has not been extended to work settings. The study tests the validity of social goals and the nature of avoidance based goals in predicting sales outcomes in Sri Lanka. Salespeople in a large organization were surveyed to examine their motivational goals and performance. Results indicated that social achievement goals were predictive of performance and that avoidance based social achievement goals were positively related or unrelated to sales performance. The findings highlight social achievement goals as useful to understanding the behaviour and motivation of salespeople and suggest that regional variations in culture may require motivational programmes that are very different in nature.
S. Riasudeen, P.T. Srinivasan and R. Venkatesakumar
This research focuses on identifying the relationship of task characteristics, task process and task structure with work and personal burnout of individuals working in a group. A sample comprising of Information Technology (IT) and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) professionals, working in group setting, were surveyed using a structured questionnaire measuring the constructs. A structural equation model was performed and fitness measures of the model confirm significant relationship among the task characteristics, process and structure with work and personal burnout. In particular, the study results suggest that the task characteristics affects work burnout rather than personal burnout, that task process explicate moderately both personal and work burnout and finally, task structure is strongly related to personal burnout relative to work burnout.
Reimara Valk, Marloes L. van Engen and Mandy van der Velde
This article presents a study on international careers and career success of Indian women in Science & Technology (S&T). We conducted interviews with 30 (upper) middle class Indian women in New Delhi and Bangalore (India) who pursued careers abroad as self-initiated expatriates (SIEs). Important elements of career capital competencies in international career pursuits and career success of Indian women SIEs in S&T were: (a) families who value higher education and careers of their female children, which motivated women to pursue international careers to elevate family class status (knowing-why); (b) the motivation to gain knowledge and skills in science and technology (knowing-how) and (c) the encouragement and support from family for women’s international career pursuits, and international networks (knowing-whom). Furthermore, findings show that patriarchy entrenched in Indian society and culture resulted in a lack of organizational capital, which impede career success of women in S&T. We advise organizations in India to implement HR policies and practices embracing the development of career capital to empower Indian women in S&T to be successful in their international careers.
Sumita Raghuram
Telecommuting, where individuals primarily work from sites that are miles away from central offices, is making inroads into India’s work practices. This practice carries several promises but also confronts many hurdles in its adoption. The advantages include reduced traffic congestion and commuter hassles, higher productivity and better work–family balance. The problems it confronts include structural and cultural issues such as lack of adequate infrastructure, societal resistance and organizational culture of command and control. This article proposes many possible solutions to enable telecommuting. These include information dissemination, redesign of jobs and appraisal systems and careful configuration of telecommute programmes.
Vaneet Kashyap and Santosh Rangnekar
The role of human resource management practices dealing with employee turnover has been widely explored and examined in the existing literature. The majority of human resource management researchers have focused on the role of policies and practices in different sectors related to employee retention. However, less attention has been given to identify the practices and policies common across all industries and sectors. The present study attempts to identify and examine the most important practices of employee retention management and proposes a comprehensive structural equation model to measure the impact of these practices on employee’s turnover intentions. After an extensive review of literature, compensation, job characteristics, training, career opportunities and work–life balance have been identified as five important practices dealing with employee turnover and are common across all industries. These practices constitute the component factors of an employee retention management predicting employee’s turnover intentions. A five-factor scale with a 33-item measurement model has been validated in the study. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed in the light of the findings.
Practitioner Perspective Section
Gopal P. Mahapatra
Gopal P. Mahapatra
Abinash Panda, Swati Karve and Dilip Mohapatra
Bradley Bowden
Mohan Thite
Book Reviews
Hermann Schwind
Shripad Pendse