Adm. Sci., Volume 13, Issue 11 (November 2023) – 17 articles

The research objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of workplace bullying and to find out whether there is a relationship between workplace bullying and psychological wellbeing among employees in Portugal working in different sectors. A cross-sectional study and a survey were conducted with 205 employees to gather the data. The findings indicate that the prevalence of bullying ranges from 28.8% to 9.96% when applying different measurements. The results also revealed that, in the context of the possible influence of different forms of bullying on mental wellbeing, person-related bullying had the strongest effect on mental restlessness, sadness, impulsivity, and anxiety, while it showed the weakest effect on depression. In all cases, the presence of person-related bullying decreased the level of psychological wellbeing. The results of this study hold practical implications for organizations, as they emphasize the crucial role of managers in being aware of and implementing strategies to prevent workplace bullying. By prioritizing mental health among employees, managers may enhance their overall wellbeing and foster positive work relationships, ultimately contributing to a healthier and more productive work environment. Full article

Teece asserts that competition policy is so outdated that it now significantly degrades the ability of Big Tech firms to bring socially beneficial innovations to market. He suggests that strategic management research is essential in the struggle to update such policies. We counter that none of these assertions are accurate, let alone backed by evidence. While the larger goal of improving laws and policies through scientific research is a worthy one, the specific focus on doing so to aid a set of powerful firms that have allegedly caused—directly or indirectly—great societal damage is quite unappealing. To balance his pro-Big Tech perspective, we provide logical and theory-based arguments and evidence that indicates Big Tech has often been bad for innovation and society while their regulation has been good, and that more oversight—specifically tailored to digital platforms—would be better. We then offer three alternative paths for us, as management scholars, to take that leverage our distinctive skills and that fulfill our ethical and professional mandates, in the pursuit of improving the strategic decisions and actions that policymakers and firms take. Full article

(1) Background: In a competitive and globalised world, retaining immigrants in entrepreneurial universities is an underutilised asset, one that allows economic development to be better enabled. Thus, studying the entrepreneurial intention (EI) of students enables the development of practices and public policies. (2) Purpose: Although the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) is not a recent approach, its theoretical framework was considered consistent to understand the entrepreneurial intention (EI) of university students, considering the geographic region of origin. (3) Methods: This article is an integrative literature review. The database consulted was the Web of Science. Works available in full until 2022 that addressed at least two TPB antecedents were included. Works that were not articles that included university students were excluded. (4) Results: The articles analysed confirm the predictive power of the theory. However, more standardised studies need to address the role of variables. The African results showed a greater entrepreneurial attitude; Americans and Asians perceived greater behavioural control; and the subjective norm was stronger among Africans. (5) Originality: This work contributes to fomenting attention to this field, providing the development of theories, and suggesting avenues for future research. The authors did not find a literature review on the subject. Full article

Decentralization holds a significant role in the context of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), with its nature being not a fixed value but a comparative spectrum. Prior research investigating the measurement of decentralization in nations’ governance system provides a foundation for our current study. This research aims to integrate these insights to define dimensions and indicators, tailored explicitly for assessing decentralization levels within DAOs. Then, the article undertakes an examination of the suitability of traditional decentralization measurement approaches within the unique DAO context, employing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) as our analytical tool based on a total of 44 DAOs. Hence, the results suggest that DAOs have three dimensions for measuring decentralization, ‘political decentralization as a participatory engagement’, ‘economic decentralization as a resource distribution’, and ‘administrative decentralization as the self-governing execution of decisions’. By substantiating the applicability of established decentralization measurement frameworks within the unique context of DAOs, the findings not only enhance the understanding of this emergent governance paradigm but also provide DAO practitioners, policymakers, and researchers with invaluable insights. Full article

The aim of the study is to analyze the communication management strategies of the top 40 hotel companies, in terms of turnover, using their corporate accounts on social networks during the Easter holiday campaign in 2021 and 2022. By using apps such as “Data Analytics” and “Content Analytics” from Welovroi, a comparative, quantitative and qualitative study, using content and discourse analysis, was designed. The comparative study seeks to identify possible changes and offers data on activity, impact and the published content. The results reveal a considerable difference—both quantitative and qualitative—from one period to the other in terms of behavior and networking on social media of the brands studied. Despite the increase in publications from 2021 to 2022, the level of engagement falls, the frequency of publications and content varies and, in addition, the importance of Instagram and Facebook, as networks which generate more interaction with the public, can be noted. The conclusions reached may also serve to improve the management of social media communication for hotel companies. Full article

This article presents the first comprehensive, multi-year study of the Gender Pay Gap (GPG) for a single higher education institution in Ireland. University of Galway has reported on its GPG annually since 2018. It identifies the key findings of these reports, focusing particularly on the 2022 report, while also highlighting trends and learnings from other years’ data. Staff cohorts are disaggregated, and details on the mean and median GPG are provided for each. The major contributors to the GPG at University of Galway are identified. These contributors also apply to the Irish Higher Education system more broadly. This study reveals that the mean GPG at University of Galway is driven by academic grades and the median GPG is driven by Professional Managerial and Support Service Staff grades, and that long-term sustained interventions will be required to narrow the gender pay gap at University of Galway. Full article

The main objective of this bibliometric review is to analyse and synthesise the evolution of the field of black tourism through an extensive analysis of the scientific literature. To this end, the article carries out a bibliometric analysis and systematic review that will provide information on the most studied topics, the most influential authors and publications, and the areas that require further research. The findings and conclusions of this study represent a valuable contribution to the literature on dark tourism by providing an intrinsic and comprehensive analysis of the field’s current state. The analysis provides a better understanding of the theoretical and conceptual framework of the articles published to date, which is essential to lay the groundwork for future research and enrich the academic debate on dark tourism. Full article

The primary aim of this paper is to identify key similarities and differences in the conceptualization of culture across the major theories of regional socioeconomic science, including economic, business, administrative, social, cultural and political dimensions acting at the regional and local scales. The second goal is to present an overview of the knowledge base and third to cohesively examine and partially recreate the topic using the semi-systematic review method. The final objective of examining the aforementioned issues is to clarify the dynamic correlation in the structuring of business and innovation culture, as well as to identify the characteristics that contribute to the sustainable culture of business and regional innovation systems, including long-term sustainable development. The research shows that the coexistence and combination of innovative culture at the business and regional levels should be perceived as a dynamic and co-evolutionary process involving a variety of factors. Local organizations and institutes that foster entrepreneurship are among the elements that enhance the innovation culture; however, having all of the resources in isolation is insufficient for an efficient ecosystem. This study proposes the establishment of a framework that will enhance the growth of innovation, cultural evolution and regional ecosystem performance. The Institutes of Local Development and Innovation (ILDI) are a policy idea that might give effective micro–meso-level solutions for the region. These policy proposals will diagnose the regional business culture under the prism of strategy, technology, and management levels. The specific investigation attempted in this paper demonstrates that several converging fruitful paths have already been created in the relative international literature. These paths could be combined and deepened further by studying the close evolutionary interconnection between business and regional innovation culture as it emerges at a global scale in the present. Full article

The proposed study aims to investigate the digital transformation of Greek small and medium enterprises (SMEs), with a particular focus on their digital maturity and the strategic and organizational factors contributing to digital transformation. The research issue of digital transformation has been attracting considerable interest among academics and business practicians since COVID-19 accelerated the procedure of implementing Industry 4.0 principles all over global economies. Quantitative research on 147 Greek SMEs revealed the most important issues on how these businesses implement digital transformation, factors accelerating or decelerating the process, barriers and expected outcomes. The results indicate that digital maturity, digital transformation strategy and digital business models are strongly interconnected, while the main barriers of successfully implementing them is a lack of funding, cultural issues and the management’s engagement with the whole procedure. Greek SMEs are regarding digital transformation as a part of their customers’ satisfaction rather than as a holistic procedure of reshaping their operation. In almost 20% of Greek SMEs, there is no person who is responsible for the digital transformation procedure, while key drivers are suppliers and customers rather than competitors and the government. The results can be valuable for stakeholders who are enabled to the digital transformation process from both the business and academic points of view, while there exist aspects that can contribute to policy makers/motivation developers on the state’s level as well. Full article

The aim of this article is to investigate two external flexible forms of employment—the leasing of workers through Temporary Work Agencies (TWAs) and the contracted workers employed through Business Service Providers (contractors). Undoubtedly, these two forms of employment are complex and often give rise to confusion. First, this article reviews the characteristics of these types of workers and the operation of these businesses. Second, it presents the results of a mixed method of empirical research (quantitative and qualitative) regarding contracted workers. Our sample was 365 contracted workers from the cities of Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras, Greece. In particular, quantitative research is conducted using a methodology called RDS (Respondent Driven Sampling) that is innovative in the field of labour economics and labour relations. Some significant findings of our qualitative research are used to improve, extend, and interpret the quantitative results. Our research proves that contracted workers, who are employed at the premises of the banks, are leased workers, and the contracting undertakings usually operate unlawfully as TWAs. Our research proves that Banks in Greece are using “pseudo-contracting” to circumvent the European Directive 2008/104/EC and the Greek Laws 4052/2012 and 4254/2014, both of which provide institutional protection to workers leased through TWAs. In more detail, the relevant European Directive and the Greek Law 4052/2012 provide salary equality and equal labour rights for the leased workers in Greece and the EU, when they share the same qualifications as the permanent employees of the user undertakings. The employers’ aim in adopting this policy is mainly to pay lower salaries to contracted workers, who in practice have the characteristics of leased workers. Full article

The present study aimed to analyze the current state of the art regarding brand hate with the main intention of identifying possible gaps to be explored in future studies. Brand hate can be described as a set of negative emotions on the part of consumers concerning a certain brand, whose implications involve a reduction in the profitability of companies, as well as of their market shares. From the research carried out in the Scopus and Web of Science databases, 90 publications related to the theme were identified, of which 25 were selected and read in full. The analyzed literature points out that research on the subject has focused almost exclusively on the development of the phenomenon and its consequences from the perspective of consumer behavior. Therefore, the emphasis has been on identifying its direct antecedents, on the effects of its mediators in a set of behaviors such as complaints, negative word of mouth, protests, sponsorship reduction and assignment, brand change, and wishes for revenge, among others. Few studies have been dedicated to understanding the direct effects of brand hate on consumer behavior, its evolution over time in different industries and contexts, who its mediators are, and how the phenomenon is perceived and managed from the perspective of the companies involved in this phenomenon, providing opportunities for future research. Full article

This empirical study on employee perspectives of latent leader value orientations (LVOs), employee psychological job states, and work intentions deployed an online survey to 944 employees within global organizations. Empirical analysis using structural equation modeling confirmed that employee job state positive affect fully mediated relations between LVOs and employee work intentions more so than employee job state negative affect and cognitive-based and affective-based trust in leader. LVO1 (low self-concern and high other-orientation) triggered positive employee psychological job states of greater magnitude than LVO2 (high self-concern and high other-orientation). This finding offers new insight relating to the influence of high leader other-orientation on employee psychological experiences of work considering LVO2 had been reported as ideal. LVO3 (high self-concern and low other-orientation) had the strongest differential associations with employee psychological job states implying that leaders who are perceived by employees to be driven by high self-concern, even in the presence of low other-orientation, evoke strong negative employee psychological responses. Implications for theory and practical strategies to develop leader other-orientation in organizations are presented. Full article

The objective is analyzing the trends in Social Entrepreneurship Education as a multidisciplinary research field. A systematic review of the literature on the intersection: Education and Social Entrepreneurship, with the support of scientific literature and a careful search methodology. It collects articles from the WOS Core collection database published between 2000 and 2022. A total of 367 articles are analyzed to answer the three research questions. The results of the analysis are twelve dimensions identified according to the literature in the field of social entrepreneurship education; after using lexicometric analysis and Iramuteq software, the main trends on the topics are found and discussed and the relationship of terms and concepts in the abstract and title text of the analyzed articles is shown, showing the frequency, importance of linkage, and co-occurrences of lexical units. Six clusters of nodes and related terms are confirmed: entrepreneur, development and innovation, education, entrepreneurial university, context, and types of study. These clusters show the concern for the field of study of social entrepreneurship education and the need to find a consensus on the concept of an entrepreneur and on what is social entrepreneurship in education. The wide range of topics, dispersed and fragmented, continues to offer opportunities for specificity. Full article

Despite the high potential of artificial intelligence (AI), its actual adoption in recruiting is low. Explanations for this discrepancy are scarce. Hence, this paper presents an exploratory interview study investigating HR professionals’ beliefs about AI to examine their impact on use cases and barriers and to identify the reasons that lead to the non-adoption of AI in recruiting. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 HR professionals from 21 companies. The results revealed that HR professionals’ beliefs about AI could be categorised along two dimensions: (1) the scope of AI and (2) the definition of instruction. “Scope of Al” describes the perceived technical capabilities of AI and determines the use cases that HR professionals imagine. In contrast, the “definition of instruction” describes the perceived effort to enable an AI to take on a task and determines how HR professionals perceive barriers to Al. Our findings suggest that HR professionals’ beliefs are based on vague knowledge about AI, leading to non-adoption. Drawing on our findings, we discuss theoretical implications for the existing literature on HR and algorithm aversion and practical implications for managers, employees, and policymakers. Full article

Over the last few years, in a continuous and growing way, the motivation of employees has been studied and it is currently agreed that it is an important work factor that significantly influences productivity and individual performance in an organisational context. As an influential factor for this motivation, we can find psychological empowerment in the sense that it gives employees freedom and confidence. This study aimed to understand the role of psychological empowerment in employee motivation. Empowerment can be translated, in a business context, into the training and valorisation of collaborators with a sense of their commitment to better the individual and, consequently, global performance of the organisation. In this research, empowerment was considered a motivational factor in achieving organisational objectives. The methodology used was of a quantitative nature based on a questionnaire survey that aimed to analyse psychological empowerment and the motivation of 620 individuals working in Portuguese organisations in the industry and services sectors. The results obtained, which were based on a structural equation model, show that psychological empowerment at work positively influenced employee motivation, with the meaning and self-determination dimensions contributing the most to motivation. The results obtained in the study have the potential to benefit both employees and organisations, contributing to a more productive and healthy working environment. Full article

The Menor Preço Brasil application, based on a version developed in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, was launched in 2019 with the aim of expanding digital services to citizens. This application provides information on the nearest establishments and their product prices based on issued invoices. With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, this application adapted its service to facilitate access to prevention products. We are not aware of any other similar government application that uses individual invoice data to support citizens in finding products closer to them at better prices. This study aims to verify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of the Menor Preço Brasil app service. To this end, it investigates both the correlation between confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Brazil and the changes in the application’s functionalities with the variation in citizens’ queries to the application. It is a quantitative approach. For this purpose, Bai and Perron’s method of identifying multiple structural breaks and regression models are employed. The results indicate five structural breaks in the number of queries to the application, and that a 1% increase in COVID-19 cases led to a 0.2% increase in queries. These results confirm that user behavior related to the Menor Preço Brasil application was influenced not only by changes in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases but also by those in the app’s features and inflation rates. The literature also tends to consider the relevance of the relative effects of risk aversion on behavior, especially in the relationship with the tax authorities. This study reinforces the position of the initial relevance of risk aversion and when trust gradually strengthening the aversion to losses diminishes. The public sector has progressively increased the availability of digital services over time, and the results of this study underscore their significance in coping with extreme situations, such as pandemics, natural disasters, and other challenges to accessing goods and services. Full article

In today’s digital era, where communication is primarily conducted using computers and other technological devices, an agile mindset is not enough to be sustainable. Given the significant influence of human behaviour in agile environments, it is common for emotions to come into play among team members, particularly when they seek to assert their opinions or perspectives. Having digital emotional intelligence (DEQ) is crucial for agile team members in the current digital age, as it allows them to comprehend the emotions of their fellow team members using digital tools and technologies. This study focused on determining the reciprocal influence for team members between DEQ and an agile mindset in an agile environment. Qualitative research was implemented using semi-structured interviews. The identified participants were industry agnostic and were the team members working in agile projects, transitioning to agile and working in hybrid projects. The findings revealed that the intersection of agile mindset and DEQ is self-awareness. Self-awareness includes psychological empowerment, communication and collaboration, and respect. Possessing an agile mindset and DEQ in an agile environment has advantages, including improved virtual collaboration, faster adaptation to new technologies, better management of digital distractions, enhanced customer focus in digital channels, and improved data literacy. Full article