Department of Organizational Behaviour, Human Resources Management and Management
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Item Emotional labor in public libraries: leaders’ perspectives on organizational support(2026) Erickson, Norene; Rodger, JoannePublic libraries in Canada face growing social pressures that intensify the emotional labor required of staff—defined as managing emotions in professional contexts. This qualitative study explores how leaders at three large urban public libraries perceive and enact support for emotional labor. Through interviews, it examines policies, practices, and organizational structures such as hiring, training, and wellness initiatives. Findings reveal a disconnect between policy and staff experience: emotional labor is rarely acknowledged formally, and support is often framed as individual self-care rather than systemic change. Leaders expressed tension between their values and the lack of emotionally engaged leadership from upper management. The study calls for comprehensive interventions—policy reform, leadership development, and infrastructure investment—to ensure psychologically safe and sustainable library workplaces.Item Role of leaders’ positive mindset in mitigating the effects of crises on organizations: the case of Canadian organizations(2025) Ouakouak, Mohammed Laid; Ouedraogo, Noufou; Hewapathirana, Gertrude I.; Zaitouni, MichelMaintaining a positive mindset is important for leadership effectiveness and may even be more important in times of a crisis because such a mindset contributes to organizational survival and resilience. In this study, we examined whether leaders’ positive mindset helped to mitigate the harmful effects of the COVID-19 crisis on organizations and if so, how. To address this issue, we conducted an empirical study through LinkedIn with 165 participants working in various organizations in Canada. The results show that leaders’ positive mindset positively impacts leaders’ innovative behavior. However, leaders’ innovative behavior did not attenuate the negative effects of the COVID-19 crisis on organizations, except when we introduce the use of information and communication technology (ICT) and the provision of psychological support to employees as moderators. The implications of these findings for both theory and practice, as well as some future research directions are discussed.Item Effects of market pressure on organisational innovation performance: mediating roles of commitment to innovate, resource to innovate and manager innovation capability(2025) Ouedraogo, Noufou; Wei, William X.; Muhammad , Ali; Ouakouak, Mohammed LaidPurpose The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of market pressure on organisational innovation performance through commitment and resource to innovate and manager innovation capability. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative study was conducted with 273 participants working in different organisations. These participants were drawn from the LinkedIn network of one of the researchers. The data were collected using a survey questionnaire uploaded onto www.surveymonkey.com. The data were analysed using SPSS and AMOS, and structural equation modelling techniques were used to test the hypotheses. Findings We found that market pressure has a positive effect on both commitment to innovate and resource to innovate. In turn, both commitment to innovate and resource to innovate influence manager innovation capability. We also found that manager innovation capability positively affects organisational innovation performance. Furthermore, manager innovation capability is a mediator in the relationship between commitment to innovate and organisational innovation performance as well as in the relationship between resource to innovate and organisational innovation performance. Finally, the relationship between manager innovation capability and organisational innovation performance is moderated by both extrinsic and intrinsic motivations to innovate. Practical implications Our study provides empirical evidence of the roles of commitment to innovate, resource to innovate and manager innovation capability in enhancing the innovation performance of organisations. Therefore, organisations should show their commitment to innovate, provide resources to innovate, develop managers’ capabilities to innovate and use a mix of intrinsic and extrinsic motivators to boost their innovation performance. Originality/value This study offers new insights into the dynamics of how market pressure leads to innovation within organisations.Item Role of leaders’ positive mindset in mitigating the effects of crises on organizations: the case of Canadian organizations(2025) Ouakouak, Mohammed Laid; Ouedraogo, Noufou; Hewapathirana, Gertrude I.; Zaitouni, MichelMaintaining a positive mindset is important for leadership effectiveness and may even be more important in times of a crisis because such a mindset contributes to organizational survival and resilience. In this study, we examined whether leaders’ positive mindset helped to mitigate the harmful effects of the COVID-19 crisis on organizations and if so, how. To address this issue, we conducted an empirical study through LinkedIn with 165 participants working in various organizations in Canada. The results show that leaders’ positive mindset positively impacts leaders’ innovative behavior. However, leaders’ innovative behavior did not attenuate the negative effects of the COVID-19 crisis on organizations, except when we introduce the use of information and communication technology (ICT) and the provision of psychological support to employees as moderators. The implications of these findings for both theory and practice, as well as some future research directions are discussed.Item Canadian perspectives: a content analysis of selected English language LIS research(2024) Shamchuk, LisaTo support evidence based decision making, for updating and enhancing authentic Library and Information Studies (LIS) curriculum, or supporting services, programs, and other evaluative practices within various library settings, this exploratory quantitative content analysis examined the scope of Canadian LIS research. In total, 4354 peer reviewed research articles from 25 LIS journals published between 2015-2022, were coded for Canadian content, author affiliation, and sector representation. Percentages of Canadian content and authorship from this point in time analysis align with previous studies, showing that Canadian content and authors are less prevalent compared to those from the USA, with a strong emphasis on academic libraries and academic affiliated authors. A shortlist of key academic journals with significant Canadian representation was also compiled and shared to aid in gathering evidence about Canadian libraries.Item Leadership perspectives on emotional labour in large urban public libraries(2025) Rodger, Joanne; Erickson, NoreneThe demands of public library work have intensified, placing strain on both frontline staff and the leaders responsible for supporting them. Emotional labour—the regulation of emotions required in daily work—remains underexplored in library and information sciences research, particularly regarding how leaders manage their own emotional labour while supporting front-line staff. This study examines what library leaders know about emotional labour and how that knowledge influences their leadership and support for staff. Interviews with 27 leaders from three large Canadian public libraries reveal that leaders play a crucial role as middle managers, balancing staff well-being with organizational expectations. As authentic leaders, they strive to build meaningful emotional connections with their teams—often successfully—but at a personal cost. Despite their dedication, they have limited power to address systemic challenges such as precarious work, chronic understaffing, and the increasing pressure of societal issues, all of which intensify emotional labour demands. Addressing these challenges requires a collective effort. Libraries must adopt a proactive approach to emotional labour, emphasizing leadership development, shared responsibility, and comprehensive organizational support.Item Experiences with experiential learning: learning from our own experiential and conceptual insights(2025) Kriz, Tiffany; Mack, LindaUniversities have been moving for decades toward experiential learning, evidenced by the rise of co-operative education programs, study abroad, and the integration of community partners into university course projects. Yet, experiential learning can also be enacted by faculty and students on a smaller scale. Immersing students into new experiences is an excellent base for learning, but it must be supported by other learning elements as well (e.g., critical reflection, integration with abstract concepts, application of new insights). According to experiential learning theory, it is the process of navigating dialectical tensions in connecting and transforming insights from both experience (feeling) and thinking (abstract concepts) that lies at the heart of learning. The experiencing and applying aspects of the learning cycle can be accomplished in many different ways, as can the reflection and thinking aspects of the cycle, and the process of moving through all four modes can be supported by faculty who can flexibly adapt and join students in a learning journey. In this SOTL conversation, we, a mature student with rich life experiences and diverse educational experiences (Linda) and a faculty member educated in experiential learning theory (Tiffany), explore some of our own experiences enacting experiential learning and reflect on what we’ve found contributes to an integrative learning experience. Along the way, we discuss our views on how emotional and social intelligence competencies can support the learning process.Item Leaders’ political skills and organizational change(2024) Ouedraogo, Noufou; Ouakouak, Mohammed Laid; Hewapathirana, Gertrude I.We studied the impact of leaders’ political skill on employee support for organizational change and the effect of the latter on change fatigue and change outcomes. Drawing from the theoretical characterization of the political skill construct domain proposed by Ferris et al. (2007), we posited that leaders’ political skill during organizational change plays an important role in garnering employee support for change and, ultimately, in achieving positive change outcomes. To conduct the study, we used survey data collected through SurveyMonkey on 197 participants working in Canadian organizations and used structural equation modeling techniques to analyze the data. We found that two dimensions of leaders’ political skill—their networking ability and apparent sincerity—positively affected employee support for change, which, in turn, positively affected change outcomes. However, neither of the other two dimensions examined (interpersonal influence and social astuteness) had a significant relationship with employee support for change. We also found that employee support for change and change fatigue were not significantly related, although change fatigue itself negatively affected change outcomes. From a theoretical perspective, this study is among the first to empirically test and confirm the impact of different dimensions of leaders’ political skill on employees’ change support. We also contribute theoretical knowledge by showing the detrimental effect of change fatigue on change outcomes. From a practical perspective, our findings imply that change leadership roles should be assigned to people who exhibit networking skills and apparent sincerity. Moreover, change leaders should prioritize seeking and securing employees’ support for change.Item Listening and supporting during times of transition and sorrow(2025) Kriz, Tiffany; Radwell, Theresa; Harder, Bill; Bouchal, Shelley Raffin; Minaker, JoanneThis panel discussion focuses on the role of listening and compassion in supporting people through times of sorrow and change. Panelists include Theresa Radwell, CEO of Bow Valley Palliative (formerly known as Palliative Care Society of the Bow Valley/ PCSBV), Bill Harder, Program Manager at Bow Valley Palliative, Dr. Shelley Raffin Bouchal, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary, and Dr. Joanne Minaker, Associate Dean, Student Health and Wellness, MacEwan University. Dr. Tiffany Kriz is the organizer and moderator. Dr. Kriz is a listening researcher and Associate Professor of Management & Organizations at MacEwan University.Item Too much of two good things: the curvilinear effects of self-efficacy and market validation in new ventures(2024) Chen, Xi; Zhang, Stephen X.Interacting with customers to validate new product offerings is a crucial step in entrepreneurship, yet it requires resources that are limited in new ventures. The issue of when and how entrepreneurs allocate limited resources to acquire market information is new for marketing research, which has mainly focused on the impacts of market information acquisition. This paper investigates how entrepreneurs’ self-efficacy influences resource allocation to acquire market information and how resources allocated to market information acquisition influence new venture performance. Building on social cognitive theory and perceptual control theory, we propose that entrepreneurs with moderate marketing self-efficacy spend the most resources on market information acquisition. Since acquiring market information consumes resources, we hypothesize that a moderate level of market information acquisition is optimal for new venture performance. Regression analyses of a multi-informant three-wave survey with 210 new ventures from Canada, Chile, and China supported our hypotheses. The findings hold important implications for self-efficacy theories, information acquisition research, and lean startup.Item Revisiting the relationship between justice and extra-role behavior: the role of state ownership(2018) Chen, XiState ownership is an important phenomenon in the world economy, especially in transition economies. Previous research has focused on how state ownership influences organizational performance, but few studies have been conducted on how state ownership influences employees. I propose that different ownership structures trigger different relational models among employees who pay attention to organizational justice consistent with their model to guide their extra-role behavior. Specifically, state-owned organizations reinforce employees’ relational concern and direct employees’ attention to procedural justice, whereas privatized organizations highlight employees’ instrumental concern and direct their attention to distributive justice. I leverage a sample of organizations in China to explore how different ownership structures activate different relational models among employees and alter the relationship between organizational justice and employees’ extra-role behaviors. I find that state ownership attenuates and even reverses the positive relationship between distributive justice and extra-role behaviors. Conversely, state ownership exaggerates the positive relationship between a critical procedural justice dimension (participation in decision making) and employee extra-role behaviors. Implications for the micro-foundations of corporate governance and institutional change, organizational justice literature, and cross-cultural research are developed. This study also generates new insights for transition economies such as China.Item Belief in a COVID-19 conspiracy theory as a predictor of mental health and well-being of health care workers in Ecuador: cross-sectional survey study(2020) Chen, Xi; Zhang, Stephen X.; Jahanshahi, Asghar Afshar; Alvarez-Risco, Aldo; Dai, Huiyang; Li, Jizhen; Ibarra, Verónica GarcíaObjective: Our aim was to provide the first evidence that belief in conspiracy theories regarding the COVID-19 pandemic is a predictor of the mental health and well-being of health care workers. Methods: We conducted a survey of 252 health care workers in Ecuador from April 10 to May 2, 2020. We analyzed the data regarding distress and anxiety caseness with logistic regression and the data regarding life and job satisfaction with linear regression.Item The state-owned enterprise as an identity: the influence of institutional logics on guanxi behavior(2020) Chen, XiPrevious research has debated whether guanxi persists or declines with the development of formal institutions. This study addresses this debate by investigating how the development of formal institutions in China's state-owned organizations influences employees’ guanxi behavior. Building on institutional logics theory, I propose that guanxi behavior is a reaction to the socialist institutions adopted by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and is associated with the collective identity of SOEs. Thus, employees’ identification with SOEs is the mechanism that influences their guanxi behavior. A survey of 721 employees from 12 organizations compared guanxi behavior across three types of organizations with different degrees of state ownership: SOEs, public firms, and joint ventures. The results showed that the employees of joint ventures identify less with SOEs and engage in less guanxi behaviors than do SOE employees. The employees of public firms still identify with SOEs, and their guanxi behavior did not differ from that of SOE employees. Identification with SOEs mediated the effect of organizational type on guanxi behavior, whereas formalization did not. Therefore, the development of formal institutions does not necessarily decrease guanxi behavior, and its effect depends on whether the collective identity underlying guanxi is changed. This study has important implications for guanxi research, institutional logics theory, and transition economies.Item Cognitive abilities predict safety performance: a study examining high-speed railway dispatchers(2021) Lei, Shi; Guo, Zizheng; Tan, Xi; Chen, Xi; Li, Chengen; Zou, Jiaming; Cao, Shi; Feng, GuoCognitive abilities are good predictors of safety performance in many occupations. However, this correlation has not been studied from the perspective of high-speed railway (HSR) dispatchers who play a vital role in ensuring the safety and punctuality of HSR transportation system. Therefore, studying factors affecting HSR dispatchers’ safety performance is not only of great importance in filling the theoretical gap, but also conducive to the selection and training of dispatchers, contributing to the reduction of human errors and the prevention of railway accidents. In this study, a total of 118 HSR dispatchers from a branch of China Railway were recruited to complete the tests that examined their cognitive abilities related to the dispatching job, including logical reasoning, visual multiobject tracking, working memory, task switching, and cognitive flexibility. Safety performance, including both the safety evaluation score obtained from the dispatchers’ monthly safety performance record of the Railway Bureau and the emergency disposal performance indicated by train delay time, was evaluated with a dispatch simulator. The results suggested that better abilities in visual multiobject tracking, working memory, task switching, and cognitive flexibility were correlated with higher safety evaluation score (reflecting daily safety performance) and shorter train delay time (reflecting safety and efficiency in emergency disposal). No significant correlation was found in logical reasoning. These findings support the recommendation that cognitive abilities investigated as predictors of safety performance could be useful for the selection and training of HSR dispatchers.Item Mental health symptoms and coping strategies among Ukrainians under the Russia-Ukraine War in March 2022(2023) Xu, Wen; Pavlova, Iuliia; Chen, Xi; Petrytsa, Petro; Graf-Vlachy, Lorenz; Zhang, Stephen X.Objectives: To provide the prevalence rates of symptoms of psychological distress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia; and to link them with Ukrainians’ productive coping strategies during the war. Design, setting, and participants: Online survey conducted in Ukraine during the initial period of the Russian invasion (March 19–31, 2022), using a quota sampling method, of 1,400 Ukrainians aged 18 years or older, with a total of 801 valid responses for a response rate of 57.2%.Item Research recast(ed): S3E12 - The power of in service-learning for students, faculty and local community members(2024) Leschyshyn, Brooklyn; Smadis, Natalie; Chika-James, TheresaIn this episode, we interview Dr. Theresa Chika-James, who shares her research and involvement in service-learning. Dr. Chika-James defines what service learning is and the benefits it offers to the community. We explore how involving community partners and business practitioners in academic programs can lead to positive outcomes for both students and businesses. Additionally, we discuss the advantages and challenges of service-learning. For more information see citation below: Chika-James, T. A., Salem, T., & Oyet, M. C. (2022). Our Gains, Pains and Hopes: Community Partners’ Perspectives of Service-Learning in an Undergraduate Business Education. SAGE Open, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211069390Item Research recast(ed): S1E7 - A conversation with Dr. Eloisa Perez(2021) Ekelund, Brittany; Cave, Dylan; Perez-de-Toledo, EloisaToday we learn a little about cryptocurrency, a lot about financial literacy, and we talk about how you can, and should, start saving now. Joining us in the studio today we have Dr. Eloisa Perez, an associate professor in the Department of Accounting and Finance at MacEwan University, who received her Ph.D. in entrepreneurship from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Her most recent research involves the creation of online courses, modules and resources aimed at improving the financial literacy of young adults.Item Mathematic achievement of Canadian private school students(2014) Cadigan, Françoise; Wei, Yichun; Clifton, Rodney A.Very little Canadian research has examined the academic achievement of private school students. 2003 data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) were used to examine the achievement of private school students, which is similar to a recent study examining Canadian public school children's academic achievement (Wei, Clifton, & Roberts, 2011). The current study found that private school students outperformed their public school peers. In addition, the students' morale, motivation, interest in mathematics, expected education, the effort invested in doing well on the PISA test, and socioeconomic status were significantly and positively related to their academic performance. Surprisingly, the cost of their tuition fees, reported hours spent on math homework, sense of belonging, and higher ratio of instructional time on mathematics were significantly, but negatively, related to the students' math performance.Item Prevalence and predictors of disability management programs(2023) Annett, MichaelDisability management programs are shown to speed the rate of employee returns to work, decrease recidivism, reduce the administrative costs of employee absences, and increase compliance with legislative requirements. However, formal programs are not universal - they are present in a minority of organizations. This article examines the relationship between a formal diversity management program and both organizational characteristics, and business conditions, to explain the operating contexts in which diversity management programs emerge. To answer the research questions, data from Statistica Canada's Workplace Employee Survey was analyzed. Findings include evidence of positive relationships for union density, operating excellence business strategy, and high involvement work practices. Negative relationships were identified for manufacturing firms, and external growth business strategy. This study provides grounding for further research on several topics, including Union-Management Collaboration, Industry Interconnectedness, and Legislation and Public Policy.Item The westernization of the East: an opportunity for development or a fallacy?(2022) Bocatto, Evandro; Perez-de-Toledo, EloisaThe paper re-conceptualizes the terms West and East, arguing that West is related to development whereas East is in development. From the westernization metaphor, the article asks: Does the East intend to become the West? Content analyses and comparison of cases allow for the interpretation of countries’ intentions regarding economic, political, social, and environmental orientations of governments, institutions, and businesses. The paper concludes that the East is unlikely to find the ‘right’ model of growth by replicating the West because the Western model has mistakenly assumed unlimited resources for growth, among other reasons. To benchmark Western development is a fallacy to the East. Tradeoffs occur as the East chooses the Western economic model as its benchmark. The paper discusses the role of social and technological innovations in business and society as possible, albeit limited, solutions.