Browsing by Author "Forsyth, Darryl"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Determiners of accuracy when making an expected duration estimation: The role of ‘past’ event/task saliency
    (Massey University. Department of Management and International Business, 2006) Forsyth, Darryl
    One of the important ‘skills’ which is associated with effective time management is the ability to accurately estimate the probable duration of a to-be-scheduled event or task. The present study explored the effect that presenting a highly salient, similar to-be-estimated task had on a subsequent task estimate. Participants in this experiment tended to allocate significantly less time to the completion of a task if they had previously estimated the expected duration of a similar, shorter task. Conversely, they tended to allocate significantly more time to the completion of a task if they had previously estimated the expected duration of a similar but longer task. The results are discussed in relation to future developments in scheduling/time management software.
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    Doing engagement : a study within the context of independent professionals’ everyday work : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2023) Wittenberg, Hadas
    Engagement is a popular topic in current management research, generally accepted as a positive phenomenon related to well-being and performance. However, in the thirty years since the concept was introduced, results experienced by organisations and individuals are mixed, questioning the relevance of engagement in everyday work. This current qualitative multiple-case study, conducted during 2021 and 2022, aims at understanding why and how independent professionals (IPros) engage and disengage with their work. The study provides an in-depth analysis of data gathered from twelve cases based in New Zealand. The study is underpinned by a process lens, using Goffman’s (1959) interactionist perspective. Goffman’s theories, specifically dramaturgy and impression management, grapple with what people do in (re)constructing their everyday reality so they can carry on with living their lives. The study demonstrates how IPros strategically construct their professional identity to secure their next contract, navigating a contradictory experience of autonomy and precarity. IPros manage their professional identity through engaging in everyday interactions intended for task performance and relationship trust. Micro-level analysis of interactions provides the study with detailed classifications of engagement practices and routines used in different work interactions. Finally, considering the ephemeral nature of interactions’ outcomes and people’s unique circumstances, findings suggest that IPros have different orientations in how they negotiate professional identity and public image congruence. This study contributes to engagement knowledge in three key areas. First, shifting the focus from studying engagement as a work-related psychological state to understanding engagement through interactions. This unique perspective led to the identification of three interrelated micro-sociological processes of doing engagement and their respective practices, providing new insights into how engagement is performed in everyday life. Second, by analysing these practices within different types of interactions, the study highlights the relevance of situational context and illuminates the processual logic of engaging and disengaging. Third, through a holistic case perspective, the study shows how doing engagement is interrelated with professional identity (re)construction through different identity work orientations. Implications for human resource management (HRM) practice and IPros work are also discussed.
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    The effect that rounding to prototypical values has on expected duration estimation accuracy
    (Massey University. Department of Management and International Business, 2006) Forsyth, Darryl; Burt, Christopher
    The scheduling component of the time management process was used as a ‘paradigm’ to investigate the estimation of duration of future tasks. Two experiments looked at the effect that the tendency to provide estimates in the form of rounded close approximations had on estimation accuracy. Additionally, the two experiments investigated whether grouping tasks together prior to scheduling would decrease duration estimation error. The majority of estimates provided in both experiments were categorised as rounded close approximations, and were overestimates of the actual time required to complete the experimental tasks. The grouping together of the relatively short tasks used in Experiment 1 resulted in a significant increase in estimation accuracy. A similar result was found in Experiment 2 for relatively long tasks. The results are discussed in relation to the basic processes used to estimate the duration of future tasks, and means by which these scheduling activities can be improved.
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    Exploring the experience of workplace qiling (bullying) in Shenzhen, China : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management at Massey University, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2024-03-24) Sun, Jishuo
    Workplace bullying constitutes a significant and widespread concern that impacts the health and wellbeing of employees in numerous work environments globally. Although previous studies conducted in European countries have explored a dominant understanding of this issue, there is an increasing interest in the role of context (e.g., cultural and socioeconomic differences) in the understanding of workplace bullying. The Chinese context differs markedly from that of European countries, where the majority of the dominant research on bullying has been conducted to date. With a scarcity of bullying research specifically targeting the Chinese context, exploring how Chinese employees experience bullying will contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of this issue to better manage it in the Chinese workplace as well as globally. From the perspective of language, qiling is the Chinese term that has been used as the equivalent term for bullying. However, the academic understanding of qiling (in China) may be very different from the concept of bullying developed by scholars in European countries. Therefore, the objectives of this research were to understand the nature and development of workplace qiling from an employee’s perspective in a Chinese context (i.e., Shenzhen). Drawing on a pragmatic philosophical position, a constructivist grounded theory approach was used to address the research objectives. This study collected qualitative data through a semi-structured interview conducted virtually. It adopted three sampling methods—purposive, snowball, and theoretical sampling methods—to recruit participants. As a result, thirty-two participants, who were employees working in companies in Shenzhen and believed that they had either directly or indirectly experienced qiling within the last two years, were recruited for this study. Three stages of data analysis—initial, focused, and theoretical coding—were conducted to construct the findings from the collected data. The research findings contribute to an in-depth understanding of the nature and development of qiling in the workplace in Shenzhen. In terms of the nature of qiling, although its features were generally similar to the dominant understanding of workplace bullying, qiling behaviour is relatively invisible and subtle due to the influence of Chinese culture, and intention was considered by employees in Shenzhen as a crucial feature of qiling. In addition, the identified sources of power causing the power imbalance between perpetrators and targets included hierarchy, zili (seniority), and guanxi (relationship). The traditional Chinese belief of shi bu guo san (the rule of three times) was also identified regarding the frequency and duration of qiling. In terms of the development of qiling, the identified organisational antecedents can be grouped by involving Salin’s (2003) framework as a relevant sensitising concept: (1) enabling structures and processes (i.e., perceived power imbalance, adverse leadership styles, lack of sufficient management competencies, and coercive workplace culture); (2) motivating structures and processes (i.e., conflict of interest and neijuan (rat race)); and (3) precipitating processes (i.e., organisational changes). Although some of the organisational antecedents evident from the data overlapped with European theoretical frameworks, unique antecedents caused or influenced by Chinese culture and the characteristics of Shenzhen were identified. Overall, this study provides new insight into qiling in the Chinese context, which is equivalent to bullying. It also provides further evidence for the importance of contextual framing of workplace bullying in China and across different countries. The findings of this study are crucial because a thorough understanding of bullying is the cornerstone of developing prevention and intervention strategies to reduce the issue in the Chinese workplace, and it also contributes to knowledge about the global understanding and management of workplace bullying.
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    The relationship between different email management strategies and the perceived control of time
    (Massey University. Department of Management and International Business, 2006) Forsyth, Darryl; Chen, EeMun
    Time management research, and the psychological construct of perceived control of time, are drawn on to investigate populist claims of the virtues of regularly filing and organising ones electronic mail. Using a process model of time management, it would seem that filing of email may increase ones time control perceptions and thus their job satisfaction and wellbeing. One hundred and sixty five participants were involved in a questionnaire-based field study. Analyses of variance revealed that for some e-mail users, not having a filing system may result in a high perceived control of time. Furthermore, challenging assumptions regarding optimal e-mail organisation, those that tried to frequently file their incoming messages, but did so somewhat unsuccessfully, had significantly less perceived control of time. These results highlight individual differences in control of time perceptions, and recommendations are made regarding organisational e-mail behaviour and training.
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    A resource co-evolutionary model for the internationalization of internet intermediary firms : evidence from New Zealand based internet payment intermediary firms : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in International Business Management at Massey University, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2020) Wu, Mian
    Purpose - The purpose of this thesis is to explore the internationalization process of Internet Intermediary Firms (IIFs) and explain the unfolding of this process using a resource co-evolutionary lens of organizational knowledge and network resources. The leading research question of this study is thus “through a resource co-evolutionary lens, how and why is the internationalization of IIFs driven by the joint development of knowledge and network resources?” Methodology/approach/design – To answer the leading research question, this thesis applies a process-based research approach to seven qualitative case studies of the internationalization of New Zealand based Internet Payment Intermediaries (IPIs). Findings - This thesis identifies six internationalization episode patterns of IIFs, which are inception, siloing, bundling, multiplying, international replicating, and international withdrawal. The overall internationalization process of IIFs are non-linear but structurally predictable. Changes across these patterns take place at five human and non-human layers of IIF-centric digital platform-based ecosystem architecture – users, platforms, IIFs, usage scenarios, and sellers. Moreover, this thesis finds that IIFs’ product logic, user logic, buyer users, seller users, and cloud-based platform providers are their critical organizational knowledge and network resources, respectively. These knowledge and network resources co-evolve during internationalization, enabling the unfolding of the internationalization of IIFs. The “motor” of change derives from the IIFs’ choice of network externalities, internalization and externalization business approach. Through a resource co-evolutionary lens, this thesis finally provides a three-tier operational process model to describe and explain the internationalization process of IIFs. Practical implications - The message to IIF practitioners is that international development needs to be understood from a processual and structural view. The associated architectural resource properties of IIF-centric platform-based ecosystem and their joint actions are the keys to understanding their intricate global evolution processes. This study also signals international sellers a shift from adapting to the fluid and unruly digital ecosystems to governing the ecosystem through collaborating with IIFs. Originality/value - This is the first study of IIF internationalization. This thesis identifies the non-linear but structurally predictable internationalization process patterns of IIFs which is new to the literature. Moreover, this thesis also reveals the new types of organizational knowledge and network resources, explicitly enabling the internationalization of IIFs. This study constructively extends the traditional resource-based view towards a resource co-evolutionary view to explain the research phenomenon. The operational process model proposed in this study for the first sheds light on how to govern the business ecosystem, which is of both practical and theoretical importance.