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The human resource function has undergone dramatic change, owing, it would seem, to greater use of rapidly evolving information technology. This study presents the results of an empirical investigation into the associations between the use of information technology and the roles and effectiveness of the human resource function. The results support relationships between information technology use and greater involvement in the strategic HR roles of business partner and change agent. Positive associations between information technology use and technical and strategic effectiveness also revealed the transformational potential of information technology–supported human resource management applications. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Art history cannot be sealed off in cultural isolation as our innate forms of life; language, and human nature, cultural diversity is only skin deep. Attempts to define artworks recursively lead to the absurdity, that everything in the present might be art because of unknown art antecedents in earlier human cultures, which later would lead to chaos.

Despite the widespread use of computer-based human resource information systems (HRIS), previous research has not identified the conditions that support successful systems. This article presents the results of a survey of users who interact directly with a computer-based HRIS to do their work. The relationships between individual/task, organizational, and system conditions, plus two measures of systems success are examined. The results indicate that system conditions were the most important antecedents of success. The availability of internal support for users also represented a critical condition. Overall, the findings of this study provide support for a model of HRIS success and present a basis for planning, designing, and implementing successful systems. Finally, this study brings with it new questions for HRIS research. INSET: Appendix: User Information Satisfaction Scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tested a differential exposure explanation of the association between sex categories and work–family conflict. It addresses the question of why men and women may experience similar or dissimilar levels of work–family conflict and tests whether differences are due to their different gendered demands and resources. Drawing from a sample of 1,751 employed adults from 63 workplaces, the results suggest that women spend less time in paid employment than do men; a gendered response that is associated with lower work-to-family conflict, but higher family-to-work conflict. Women were also found to be less involved in irregular work schedules, which is associated with lower work-to-family conflict. The differential exposure explanation was also supported by indirect effects involving commute time, family income, and social support outside work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the associations between health and stress management (HSM) practices and mental‐health disability claims. Data from the Salveo study was collected during 2009–2012 within 60 workplaces nested in 37 companies located in Canada (Quebec) and insured by a large insurance company. In each company, 1 h interviews were conducted with human resources managers in order to obtain data on 63 HSM practices. Companies and workplaces were sorted into the low‐claims and high‐claims groups according to the median rate of the population of the insurer's corporate clients. Logistic regression adjusted for design effect and multidimensional scaling was used to analyse the data. After controlling for company size and economic sector, task design, demands control, gratifications, physical activity and work–family balance were associated with low mental‐health disability claims rates. Further analyses revealed three company profiles that were qualified as laissez‐faire, integrated and partially integrated approaches to HSM. Of the three, the integrated profile was associated with low mental‐health disability claims rates. The results of this study provide evidence‐based guidance for a better control of mental‐health disability claims. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study examined the contribution of work, non-work and individual factors on workers' symptoms of psychological distress, depression and emotional exhaustion based on the multilevel determinants of workers' mental health model. Methods: Data from the SALVEO Study were collected in 2009-2012 from a sample of 1,954 employees nested in 63 workplaces in the province of Quebec (Canada). Multilevel regression models were used to analyse the data. Results: Altogether, variables explain 32.2 % of psychological distress, 48.4 % of depression and 48.8 % of emotional exhaustion. Mental health outcomes varied slightly between workplaces and skill utilisation, physical and psychological demands, abusive supervision, interpersonal conflicts and job insecurity are related to the outcomes. Living in couple, having young children at home, family-to-work conflict, work-to-family conflict, strained marital and parental relations, and social support outside the workplace associated with the outcomes. Most of the individual characteristics also correlated with the three outcomes. Importantly, non-work and individual factors modulated the number and type of work factors related to the three outcomes. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest expanding perspectives on occupational mental health that fully recognise the complexity of workers' mental health determinants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- In response to the conclusions of a meta-analysis of career success studies (Ng et al, 2005), the purpose of this paper is to expand the range of variables being examined as predictors of career success by weaving the person-organization fit and external marketability perspectives into current career success frameworks. Design/methodology/approach -- A survey was administered in partnership with an association of human resource professionals located in Canada. The questionnaire was transmitted electronically to human resource professionals. The final sample included 546 full-time, permanent, human resource professionals from multiple organizations. Findings -- Confirmatory factor analysis supported the measurement model. In the final structural model, external marketability exerted a significant direct effect on career success. Person-organization fit was strongly associated with organizational sponsorship. Organizational sponsorship, in turn, exerted a significant effect on subjective career success. Originality/value -- This study contrasted and tested two theoretical perspectives on career success. The mediated indirect association between person-organization fit and career success provided support for the rationale of the sponsored mobility model of social advancement. The direct association between external marketability and career success suggests that success can be achieved even without organizational sponsorship on the basis of expressions of one's human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first objective of this paper is to explore the psychometric qualities as well as the usefulness of an employee assistance program client satisfaction scale. The responses obtained from 82 clients of an external service provider permitted a validation of the satisfaction scale and ultimately the selection of five items showing stronger convergent validity as well as high reliability (alpha = .89). The second objective is to explore the possible relationships between demographic (gender, age), treatment (referral-type, type of problem, urgency, degree of resolution) and organizational variables (unionization, job category, sector, size), and variations in client satisfaction levels. The results of bivariate analysis indicate that the type of referral, the type of problem, and the degree of resolution of the problem are related to client satisfaction. This study provides some support for the inclusion of treatment variables in a comprehensive explanatory model of client satisfaction. It is further argued that client satisfaction is an adequate measure of the success of an employee assistance program. Finally, some methodological issues surrounding the use of such surveys are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Responds to the paper `How Can Tragedy Matter For Us?,' by Richard Eldridge, published in the `Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism.' Eldridge's description of Hegel and Aristotle's conception of tragedy; Views on modern tragedy; Discussion of the changing nature of guilt.

Background: This study advances a measurement approach for the study of organizational culture in population-based occupational health research, and tests how different organizational culture types are associated with psychological distress, depression, emotional exhaustion, and well-being.Methods: Data were collected over a sample of 1,164 employees nested in 30 workplaces. Employees completed the 26-item OCP instrument. Psychological distress was measured with the General Health Questionnaire (12-item); depression with the Beck Depression Inventory (21-item); and emotional exhaustion with five items from the Maslach Burnout Inventory general survey. Exploratory factor analysis evaluated the dimensionality of the OCP scale. Multilevel regression models estimated workplace-level variations, and the contribution of organizational culture factors to mental health and well-being after controlling for gender, age, and living with a partner.Results: Exploratory factor analysis of OCP items revealed four factors explaining about 75% of the variance, and supported the structure of the Competing Values Framework. Factors were labeled Group, Hierarchical, Rational and Developmental. Cronbach's alphas were high (0.82-0.89). Multilevel regression analysis suggested that the four culture types varied significantly between workplaces, and correlated with mental health and well-being outcomes. The Group culture type best distinguished between workplaces and had the strongest associations with the outcomes.Conclusions: This study provides strong support for the use of the OCP scale for measuring organizational culture in population-based occupational health research in a way that is consistent with the Competing Values Framework. The Group organizational culture needs to be considered as a relevant factor in occupational health studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Although fairness is a pervasive and ongoing concern in organizations, the fairness of human resource management practices is often overlooked. This study examines how individual differences in justice sensitivity influence the extent to which human resource management practices are perceived to convey principles of organizational justice., Methods: Analysis was performed on a matching sample of 283 university students from three academic units in two countries having responded at two time points. Justice sensitivity was measured with the 40-item inventory developed and validated by Schmitt et al. (2010). Respondents were instructed to indicate to what extent each of 61 human resource management practices generally conveys principles of organizational justice., Results: Justice sensitivity was positively associated with subsequent assessments of the justice contents of human resource management practices. The distinction between self-oriented and other-oriented justice sensitivities was helpful in determining perceptions of these human resource management practices and of a subset of pay-for-performance practices., Discussion: The findings inform current research about the meanings borne by human resource management practices, and also increase understanding of entity judgment formation as an important aspect of systemic justice., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Haines, Patient and Guerrero.)