Annual Conference of the Administrative Sciences Association of

ABSTRACTS / RÉSUMÉS
Does Voluntary Training Impact Workers’ Wages? An Empirical Investigation based on
Within-firm Data
Stéphane Renaud (Université de Montréal)
Lucie Morin (Université du Québec à Montréal)
The Factors Influencing Older Workers’ Employment Decisions
Marjorie Armstrong-Stassen (University of Windsor)
Andrew Templer (University of Windsor)
Julian Cattaneo (University of Windsor)
Leisure at Work: A New Perspective on the Causes and Effects of Presenteeism
Fiona A. E. McQuarrie (University of the Fraser Valley)
Who is Declining Training in Canada
James Chowhan (McMaster University)
Gordon B. Cooke (Memorial University of Newfoundland)
Developing a Taxonomy of the Antecedents of Test Anxiety: A Qualitative Investigation
using First-person Accounts
Silvia Bonaccio (University of Ottawa)
Charlie L. Reeve (University of North Carolina Charlotte)
The Effect of Tie-strength on Organizational Labour Search
Michael. J.B. Read (University of British Columbia)
De Nouvelles Compétences Humaines pour Contrer le Stress au Travail des Cadres
Jean M. Trudel (Université de Sherbrooke)
Annie Gosselin (Université de Sherbrooke)
Validation d’un Modèle de Compétences pour la Gestion du Changement Organisationnel
Abdelhadi Naji (Université de Moncton)
Roland Foucher (Université du Québec en Outaouais)
Wanted, but Haunted: The Paranormal Journey of Contingent Knowledge Workers in
their Quest for Cultural Rites
Natasha M. Koziol (University of Western Ontario)
La Fréquence de la Rémunération Alternative chez les Travailleurs Canadiens selon
l’Occupation et la Taille de l’Entreprise
Denis Morin (Université du Québec à Montréal)
Julie Cloutier (Université du Québec à Montréal)
Stéphane Renaud (Université de Montréal)
Justice Delayed is Justice Denied: A Survey of Unionized Healthcare Workers Concerning
their Grievance Management System
Stephanie Mandville (Memorial University of Newfoundland)
Travor C. Brown (Memorial University of Newfoundland)
Validation Préliminaire de l’Échelle d’Efficacité Personnelle des Évaluateurs de Bernardin
et Villanova (2005)
Édith Boyer (Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec)
Denis Morin (Université du Québec à Montréal)
ASAC 2009
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Stéphane Renaud
École de relations industrielles
Université de Montréal
Lucie Morin
École des sciences de la gestion
Université du Québec à Montréal
DOES VOLUNTARY TRAINING IMPACT WORKERS’ WAGES?
AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION BASED ON WITHIN-FIRM DATA
This study investigates the impact of workers‟ participation in voluntary training, delivered
in the form of credited education, on wages. Using time-series cross-sectional within firm
data, the sample comprises 1 923 workers the first year, thus providing us with 5 385
employee-year observations for the three-year period under investigation. These workers
were selected through a random probabilistic sampling procedure from a financial
institution‟s computerized personnel files. As anticipated by our general hypothesis, results
confirm that the wages of workers who participate in voluntary training are lower than those
of workers who never participate and this negative gap slightly increases over the period of
time under investigation, even after controlling for demographic characteristics and
productivity-related variables.
ASAC 2009
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Marjorie Armstrong-Stassen
Andrew Templer
Julian Cattaneo
Odette School of Business
University of Windsor
THE FACTORS INFLUENCING OLDER WORKERS‟ EMPLOYMENT DECISIONS
The purpose of this study was to identify factors that influence the decision of older workers to
remain in, or return to, the workforce and to explore gender differences across these factors. Unlike most
other studies of this issue, this study looked at different groups of older workers and gender differences
within each of these groups, rather than treating older workers as a homogeneous group.
The study was conducted in association with Canada‟s Association for the 50 Plus (CARP).
There were three sub-groups of participants aged 50 to 70: those employed in their career job (n = 395),
those employed in a bridge job (n = 195), and those who were fully retired (n = 492). Respondents in
each sub-group completed either a web or mailed questionnaire designed specifically for their situation.
For career-job and bridge-job respondents, financial reasons and keeping active physically and
mentally were rated as most important by both men and women. For fully retired respondents, flexibility
in work hours and schedule were rated as most important in influencing their decision to return to the
workforce. Although there was some similarity in the pattern of the importance ratings for men and
women, there were significant gender differences in the magnitude of the importance with women rating
the reasons as having a more important influence than men.
A limitation of this study is that the findings were based on cross-sectional, self-reported data.
Differences between sub-groups of older workers warrant further investigation.
An important practical implication of the study is that to recruit and retain older workers,
employers need to recognize that the employment decision of different groups of older workers is
influenced by work-related and personal reasons as well as by financial reasons.
ASAC 2009
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Fiona A. E. McQuarrie
Department of Business Administration
University of the Fraser Valley
LEISURE AT WORK:
A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF PRESENTEEISM
Presenteeism – the workplace phenomenon of employees being physically present but mentally or
behaviourally “absent” - has been the subject of research attention for several decades, but has recently
received more attention as employers become increasingly concerned with cost containment and
productivity.
Early research on presenteeism was primarily focused on medical-related causes of presenteeism,
such as employees coming to work while sick. More recent presenteeism research has broadened to
include considerations of presenteeism behaviour not related to illness, such as employees engaging in
non-work activities while at work. It has been suggested that such behavior is now more prevalent
because of such factors as workplace access to the Internet. However, regardless of the causes of
presenteeism, the characterization of the effects of presenteeism has been consistently negative.
This discussion proposes that, by paying more attention to the workplace effects of leisure outside
the workplace, the theoretical and practical implications of presenteeism could be more fully understood.
Conceptualizations and investigations of presenteeism have either not considered the effects of leisure
outside the workplace (a criticism that has been raised in relation to much “work-life” research in general),
and, when leisure has been incorporated into presenteeism research, it has been done using very broad
definitions that do not consider the potentially different impacts of different types of leisure. The research
on leisure itself suggests that individuals participate in leisure for different reasons and at different levels
of involvement, so it is entirely possible that leisure participation may not only relate to workplace
presenteeism but also cause it to be manifested in different ways. The relationship of leisure to
presenteeism may be particularly obvious in the case of individuals involved in “serious leisure” which
requires a significant commitment of time and resources. Such individuals may need to engage in some
presenteeism at work to facilitate their participation in their chosen activity outside of work.
This discussion also proposes that considering leisure‟s possible relationship to presenteeism may
expand the understanding of presenteeism in indicating that presenteeism may have positive effects.
While there is clearly a loss of productivity associated with presenteeism, since employers engaged in
tasks related to non-work activities are not doing what their employer is paying them to do at work, the
leisure literature provides extensive evidence that leisure generates considerable benefits for its
participants. This discussion suggests that the cost to employers of tolerating a certain degree of
presenteeism may be offset or exceeded by the benefits accruing to them from having healthy, productive
employees.
ASAC 2009
Niagara Falls, Ontario
James Chowhan (student)
MGD School of Business
McMaster University
Gordon B. Cooke
Faculty of Business Admin
Memorial University of Newfoundland
WHO IS DECLINING TRAINING IN CANADA?
This paper looks at the characteristics of workers that take and/or decline employer-provided
training. Three types of training provided by employers are included: on-the-job, classroom, and
„outside‟ training supported by the employer. Statistics Canada‟s Workplace and Employee Survey
(WES) 2005 data are used for the analysis.
Recent research shows that employer-provided training is not uniformly distributed across
organizations, or even among workers within organizations. Moreover, workers who have relatively poor
quality employment are likely to be the ones with poor access to training as well. That is, workers who
are female, immigrants, have low-tenure or non-standard employment status, have lower education or
occupational status, and/or are non-union tend to have lower access training from their employer.
Consistent with other recent research, we refer to those having some or all of these characteristics as
„vulnerable‟ workers, while those with the opposite characteristics are „privileged‟. We presumed that
vulnerable workers will be less likely to decline employer-supported training because they need it for
future employment opportunities and because they will be less willing to risk annoying their current
employer.
We found that 44% of workers neither took nor declined training, while 47% of workers took, but
did not decline, training. Thus, 9% of Canadian workers declined training offered by their employer over
a one year period. As expected, we found that females are more prevalent among those not taking or
declining training, while males are more prevalent among the workers who declined training. We also
found that more educated workers, those with regular full-time employment and/or those in
managerial/professional occupations were more likely to take and more likely to decline training from
their employer. Overall, the results confirmed that, in addition to having poorer access to employerprovided training, so-called „vulnerable‟ workers were less likely to decline training compared to their
more privileged counterparts.
ASAC 2009
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Silvia Bonaccio
Telfer School of Management
University of Ottawa
Charlie L. Reeve
Department of Psychology
University of North Carolina Charlotte
DEVELOPING A TAXONOMY OF THE ANTECEDENTS OF TEST ANXIETY:
A QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION USING FIRST-PERSON ACCOUNTS
Human Resources researchers have devoted substantial attention to understanding applicant
reactions to employee selection procedures. In spite of the substantial work conducted on the
consequences of test anxiety, much less attention has been paid to understanding the antecedents of test
anxiety. This paper is a first step toward creating a taxonomy of the antecedents of test anxiety.
We used a grounded theory approach that relied on test-takers‟ first-person accounts to explain,
from their own point of view, when and why they experience test anxiety. Extant literature was used to
guide the interpretation of these accounts and our expectations regarding the structure of the taxonomy.
Our sample was composed of 67 participants (56.72% were female, the mean age was 20.42; SD
= 1.80). The use of a student sample was indicated because they can be considered subject matter experts
given the frequency with which students take tests. Participants were asked to think about a recent test
and to describe all of the reasons for which they were anxious about the test. They then completed the
Worry and Emotionality subscales of the Reactions to Tests Questionnaire (Sarason, 1984).
Participants generated a total of 225 first-person accounts, which were analyzed separately by two
coders. The final hierarchical taxonomy was created after two iterations of coding and discussion. First,
test-takers reported that their perceptions of the test itself gave rise to test anxiety. Three sub-categories
were found: 1) test-takers were anxious because of the format of the test (i.e., they were uncertain of the
test format, they had no prior experience with the format, or they had a poor prior experience with the
format); 2) test-takers were anxious because of the test content (i.e., they were uncertain of the test
content, the content was too broad or too complex); 3) test-takers were anxious because of the
instrumentality of the test results (i.e., the test was an important determinant on their course grade, their
academic progression, or their job search). Second, self-perceptions gave rise to test anxiety. The three
sub-categories were: 1) test-takers were anxious because of their perceived readiness for the test (i.e., they
had had previous poor performance in the content area, they were under-prepared, or they felt they lacked
the requisite ability to do well); 2) test-takers were anxious because of a temporary deficit (i.e., illness or
exhaustion); 3) test-takers were anxious because of personality traits (i.e., an anxious personality,
performance-approach or avoidance goals, or an external locus of control). Finally, perceptions of the
test-taking environment gave rise to test anxiety. Again, three sub-categories were found: 1) test-takers
were anxious because of some situational uncertainty (i.e., unexpected changes to the test); 2) test-takers
were anxious because they did not want to disappoint others (i.e., teachers, parents); 3) test-takers were
anxious because of social contagion (i.e., overhearing other students‟ anxiety). Perceived readiness and
perceived instrumentality were the most commonly experienced antecedents. These two self-perceptions
also had the highest correlations with the Worry and Emotionality subscales.
ASAC 2009
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Michael. J.B. Read (student)
Sauder School of Business
University of British Columbia
THE EFFECT OF TIE-STRENGTH ON ORGANIZATIONAL LABOUR SEARCH
In his seminal 1973 article, Mark Granovetter brought forward the idea of tie-strength in an
attempt to reconcile micro and macro perspectives of social network theories. Citing the fact that most
previous studies had examined strong-ties and how they relate to dyads or friendship networks,
Granovetter chose to investigate the potential effects of weak-ties on social networks. This paper will
review the basic ideas around weak-ties versus strong-ties and discuss how Granovetter‟s argument about
the effect of weak-ties on job search can be applied at the interorganizational level in an organization‟s
search for labour.
An organization‟s performance is thought to depend on how well it manages its ties and position
in a network (Gulati et al., 2005). Considering that interorganizational network research also uses the
concept of tie-strength when discussing dyadic interorganizational ties, this study looks directly at
organizational ties between the focal organization and organizations providing human resource related
functions (temporary services, recruiting, head-hunting/poaching, etc.), using employees as the valueadded resource in the transactions.
It is suggested that simple knowledge (on standardized labour) is best transferred through weakties while strong-ties may lead to quicker information exchange and search behaviours if knowledge is
complex (on upper-level or unstandardized labour). This line of research is of importance both practically,
given challenging labour markets, and theoretically, as it makes several incremental advancements
originating from Granovetter‟s weak-ties argument. Weak-ties were found to provide job-seekers more
useful information in the job search, this study hopes to find out if this is true of labour-seekers
(organizations) in the labour search.
ASAC 2009
Niagara Falls, Ontratio
Jean M. Trudel
Annie Gosselin (étudiante)
Faculté d‟administration
Université de Sherbrooke
DE NOUVELLES COMPÉTENCES HUMAINES
POUR CONTRER LE STRESS AU TRAVAIL DES CADRES
La dernière décennie a été marquée par l‟apparition d‟une concurrence farouche qui force les
organisations à en faire plus avec moins, et tout cela, pour hier ! Ce contexte d‟immédiateté et de
renouveau exige entre autres du cadre, qu‟il soit performant, qu‟il assume plus de responsabilités et qu‟il
produise de façon croissante. Ceci engendre l‟apparition d‟un nouveau genre d‟individu «hypermoderne»
qui doit se dépasser et qui est sur le point d‟atteindre un point limite (Aubert, 2004). Ce nouveau cadre est
appelé à devenir un expert administratif, responsable de son espace d‟affaires et consultant interne tout en
étant capable et désireux de jouer un rôle de formateur/ mobilisateur auprès de ses employés.
Plusieurs études confirment l‟énoncé selon lequel le cadre moderne est appelé à jouer de
multiples rôles dont certains lui sont peu familiers et avec lesquels il se sentirait mal à l‟aise, ce qui
engendrerait chez lui un certain stress occupationnel. Alourdissement de sa tâche, complexification de son
rôle et contraintes des jeux politiques ne sont que des exemples d‟éléments stresseurs chez le cadre
nouveau. Par ailleurs, il est bon de noter que ce ne serait pas tant la charge de travail ou la
complexification de la tâche qui serait générateur de stress, mais plutôt le fait que cela amènerait un
manque de temps pour vaquer à ses occupations de façon satisfaisante.
Pour contrer les impacts d‟un tel stress, une littérature récente avance que le cadre aurait besoin
de développer de nouvelles compétences. Nous tentons donc dans ce travail de mieux comprendre
comment s‟articulent cette pression et cet état d‟urgence sur le cadre hiérarchique. Nous nous intéressons
aux nouveaux rôles que doit jouer le cadre dans ce contexte de compétitivité accrue et de changements à
répétition, de stress que suscitent ces nouveaux rôles et de nouvelles compétences recherchées pour ces
professionnels de la gestion, compétences dites «humaines» exigées du cadre hiérarchique en fonction de
l‟omniprésence du stress dans son milieu de travail. Cette réflexion tire son origine d‟une recherche
menée auprès d‟une population cadre du secteur parapublic (Trudel, 2005).
ASAC 2009
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Abdelhadi Naji
École des sciences de la gestion-UQAM (Étudiant)
Faculté d‟administration (Professeur)
Université de Moncton
Roland Foucher
École des relations industrielles
Université du Québec en Outaouais
VALIDATION D‟UN MODELE DE COMPETENCES POUR LA GESTION DU
CHANGEMENT ORGANISATIONNEL
La présente recherche a pour objectif la validation d‟un modèle de compétences requises par les
dirigeants des PME pour gérer efficacement le changement organisationnel. Elle est une recherche
essentiellement exploratoire. Le point de départ a été l‟identification d‟un modèle de compétences
structuré en compétences génériques dérivées et en compétences spécifiques qui leur sont rattachées. Le
modèle ainsi élaboré s‟apparente à une analyse de tâches (Catano et al., 2001) pour répertorier les
compétences requises par l‟exercice de fonctions diverses. Il s‟inscrit aussi dans la ligne de divers travaux
menés en Grande Bretagne (Calveley, 2005 ; Winterton et Winterton, 1999 ; Roger et Philip, 1997) et aux
États-Unis (Lucia et Lepsinger, 1999 ; Spencer et Spencer, 1993 ; Boyatzis, 1982) selon lesquels la
compétence est vue comme une exigence à satisfaire pouvant être établie à la suite d‟une analyse des
extrants à produire. Pour l‟atteinte de notre objectif, nous avons tout d‟abord recensé, dans la littérature
spécialisée, des compétences que divers auteurs ont retenues pour mieux piloter des projets de
changement. Par la suite, nous avons soumis ces compétences à une première validation dans le cadre de
la technique Delphi. Cette étape a été suivie d‟une deuxième validation dont les résultats sont exposés
dans ce travail. Pour ce faire, nous avons administré un questionnaire de recherche auprès d‟un
échantillon de dirigeants de PME. L‟objectif était de recueillir leur perception quant à l‟importance des
compétences retenues et la conception choisie pour structurer notre modèle de compétences. Les résultats
montrent que la structure des compétences proposée a été largement confirmée. Les analyses statistiques
ont confirmé une bonne partie du contenu de notre modèle. En revanche, le contexte particulier des PME
a permis d‟ouvrir le débat sur certaines de ses dimensions. Sans pour autant clore le débat sur les résultats
obtenus, et en raison des limites de cette recherche, nous avons suggéré des pistes de recherche pour
consolider les résultats ainsi obtenus.
ASAC 2009
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Natasha M. Koziol
Faculty of Information and Media Studies
The University of Western Ontario
WANTED, BUT HAUNTED: THE PARANORMAL JOURNEY OF CONTINGENT KNOWLEDGE
WORKERS IN THEIR QUEST FOR CULTURAL RITES
This paper highlights the lack of recognition given to the escalating use
of contingent knowledge workers and their unrealized potential to dilute
the strong cultures required for knowledge management. In order to
truncate the opportunities for conflict, propositions are suggested to
determine the differences in cultural rites for permanent and contingent
employees.
ASAC 2009
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Denis Morin, Ph.D.
École des sciences de la gestion
Université du Québec à Montréal
Julie Cloutier, Ph.D.
École des sciences de la gestion
Université du Québec à Montréal
Stéphane Renaud, Ph.D.
École de relations industrielles
Université de Montréal
LA FRÉQUENCE DE LA RÉMUNÉRATION ALTERNATIVE CHEZ LES
TRAVAILLEURS CANADIENS SELON L’OCCUPATION ET LA TAILLE DE L’ENTREPRISE
Compte tenu de ses effets présumés sur le rendement des employés et la performance
organisationnelle, la rémunération alternative figure parmi les pratiques de gestion des
ressources humaines à valeur-ajoutée. La rémunération alternative comprend notamment
les pratiques de rémunération variable individuelle et collective et la rémunération basée
sur les compétences. Ces régimes présentent des caractéristiques distinctes et la décision
d‟offrir l‟un ou l‟autre de ces régimes aux employés dépend notamment de la nature de
l‟emploi qu‟ils occupent. Après avoir présenté un bilan des connaissances au sujet des
effets de chacun de ces régimes, nous utilisons des données nationales canadiennes afin
de déterminer le taux de participation des employés à ces régimes et ce, en fonction de
leur catégorie professionnelle et de la taille de leur employeur. Notre étude contribue à
l‟avancement des connaissances en ce qu‟elle est la toute première étude du genre à
brosser un portrait représentatif de la proportion de travailleurs canadiens qui reçoit de la
rémunération alternative, plutôt que de se pencher sur le pourcentage d‟entreprises offrant
ces régimes à certains de leurs employés.
ASAC 2009
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Stephanie Mandville (student)
Travor C. Brown
Memorial University of Newfoundland
JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED:
A SURVEY OF UNIONIZED HEALTHCARE WORKERS CONCERNING THEIR GRIEVANCE
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
While people often associate unionization with industrial workplaces, many of the workplaces in
the new economy, particularly those in the broader public sector, are heavily unionized (Hebdon &
Brown, 2008). In these workplaces, the terms and conditions of the employment relationship are
determined through collective bargaining. Once negotiations have concluded, the application of the
collective labour agreement (CLA) is often the main source of labour relations conflict (Tjosvold &
Morishima, 1999) and the grievance process is the primary system utilized to resolve this conflict
(Peterson & Lewin, 2000). Thus, grievance management systems are integral to unionized workplaces:
not only do they provide organizations a mechanism for resolving disputes without a work stoppage, but
they also foster a sense of equality and fairness in the workplace.
Therefore, determining system
effectiveness is not just a measure of grievance rates, but is also based upon employees‟ perceptions of
the process.
Despite the benefits of a grievance process, there are several gaps in the research literature. In
particular, we could find no study that examined Canadian worker reaction to such systems and no study
that examined the relationship between organizational commitment and unionized grievance processes.
Moreover, we could not few, if any, studies that examined: employee views concerning system
effectiveness when considering (a) direct experience with the process and (b) the issue of pursuing a
grievance opportunity. Thus, our purpose was to address each of these gaps using HRM concepts and
measures to explore the perceptions of unionized employee‟s of their grievance management system and
its impact on their commitment to the organization.
This research study was quantitative in nature and was based on a survey of unionized health care
professionals (n=207). Pearson correlations determined that general perception of the grievance system
(i.e. how fair they viewed the process) was positively correlated with organizational commitment,
indicating that as employees‟ perceptions of the fairness of the grievance system increased so to did their
commitment levels. This study also helps to tease out the relationship between grievance initiation and
system effectiveness. We found that having the opportunity to file, and choosing to, was positively
correlated with overall grievance system effectiveness. Independent t-tests concluded that participation
in the grievance process does not adversely affect perceptions of the grievance process or commitment.
However, the present study did show that grievance resolution was negatively correlated with employees‟
perceptions of the grievance system. Similarly, regression testing indicated that grievance status affects
employee‟s perceptions of the grievance process itself but not their perceptions of the overall grievance
system. More specifically, the longer an employee‟s grievance remains outstanding, the more likely (s)he
will view the process for handling his/her grievance inadequate. These findings indicated that it is not the
filing of a grievance that the firm needs to be concerned with, but rather, how the grievance is processed
once it is filed. These results also indicated that service and gender impact both employees‟ perceptions
of the overall system and of the process.
ASAC 2009
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Édith Boyer, Ph.D.
Direction rémunération, avantages sociaux et conditions de travail
Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec
Denis Morin Ph.D.
École des sciences de la gestion
Université du Québec à Montréal
VALIDATION PRÉLIMINAIRE DE L’ÉCHELLE D’EFFICACITÉ PERSONNELLE
DES ÉVALUATEURS DE BERNARDIN ET VILLANOVA (2005)
L‟objectif de l‟étude est de traduire et de valider l‟échelle d‟efficacité
personnelle des évaluateurs de Bernardin et Villanova (2005). Les
informations sur la qualité psychométrique de l‟instrument de mesure reposent
sur la validité de construit à l‟aide d‟une analyse factorielle exploratoire, la
consistance interne et la validité critériée (avec une mesure d‟indulgence ou de
surévaluation des cotes du rendement des subordonnés). Dans l‟ensemble, les
résultats démontrent une consistance interne satisfaisante. La structure
factorielle est différente des dimensions conceptuelles proposée par Bernardin
et Villanova (2005). Toutefois, l‟instrument de mesure bénéficie d‟une validité
critériée enviable puisqu‟il permet de prédire la propension des évaluateurs à
surévaluer le rendement de leurs employés.