Yes / Regional monopoly service organisations such as electricity, gas and water distributors, health trusts, public transport, and local government are subject to regulatory oversight. A common element in this is benchmarking an organisation against similar organisations based in different regions. Customer satisfaction is often an important part of this competitive benchmarking. However, if people from different regions give a different average satisfaction score for the same experience, then this disadvantages some companies. Therefore, regional satisfaction was investigated in an environment where differences in customer service levels are controlled for. The average online satisfaction ratings people from different regions of the UK gave to the same overseas holiday hotels were investigated. The 24,154 ratings were analysed using linear mixed effects and ordinal models. The average ratings given by people from the London region were significantly lower than those from elsewhere. Regional correction factors are developed and applied to published satisfaction ratings for electricity distributors. The adjustment was sufficient to move the London distributor from the penalty category to a borderline position. Hence, customer satisfaction ratings should be used cautiously when benchmarking regional organisations. This investigation of the potential for regional bias contributes to the large literature on customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions.

Yes / The aim of this research is to determine the extent of online and offline acculturation preferences affecting purchase intentions within a minority ethnic community. This study investigates the role of social media as an agent in terms of how it influences acculturation and consumption. It also investigates the moderating role of education level. The findings highlight the significance of investigating language and friendship orientations and subsequent acculturation preferences. Empirical results confirm the impact of language and friendship orientations on enculturation/acculturation, which in turn impact purchase intentions. The results suggest differences among three groups in terms of their education level. The study discusses contribution to theory and provides future research directions, while offering useful practical implications for marketers.

Yes / Purpose – Drawing on signalling theory and focusing on independent restaurants, this research investigates how business signals (transparency information and exposure) affect business transparency, food authenticity, and ultimately purchase intentions. Design/methodology/approach – Using a 2x2 between-subject experimental design, Study 1 examines the recipe and an internet-famous restaurant, and Study 2 assesses the food supply chain and a celebrity-owned restaurant. Analysis of covariance and PROCESS is used to analyse the data. Findings – The results suggest that while revealing information on recipes and food supply chains positively affects business transparency, exposure has no significant impact. Additionally, secret recipes and revealed food supply chains contribute to higher food authenticity whilst being a celebrity owner or internet-famous restaurant negatively affects food authenticity. Research implications – Restaurant managers must be strategic and selective about the kinds of business signals they wish to reveal to customers. Secret recipes lead to higher food authenticity; whereas the revealed recipes and revealed food supply chains elicit higher business transparency. Independent restaurants should not rely on celebrity owners or seek internet fame, as neither type of exposure contributes to transparency or authenticity. Originality – This study advances the theoretical understanding of signalling theory relating to the determinants of transparency and food authenticity in a hospitality context. Contrary to previous studies, it reveals that exposure, as a transparency signal, has no impact on either business transparency or food authenticity. It extends knowledge and understanding of different types of independent restaurants, especially internet-famous restaurants.

Cette recherche explore le processus évaluatif tel qu'il se développe dans les disciplines scientifiques au collège, à l'initiative de professeurs. L'originalité et la nouveauté de cette investigation sont de focaliser les élèves dans les interactions évaluatives, inhérentes au processus évaluatif. L'enjeu est de contribuer à l'intelligibilité des comportements des élèves, c'est-à-dire d'expliquer et de justifier leurs actions et leurs réactions au comportement évaluatif du professeur. Alors que, dans les recherches antérieures, le comportement évaluatif du professeur est largement expliqué par ses intentions évaluatives et ses postures d'évaluateur, les travaux et les études ne donnent que très peu d'éléments concernant les élèves. Dans ce contexte : primo, l'existence d'un comportement d'un élève engagé dans une situation d'évaluation est postulé ; secundo, la notion de conscience évaluative individuelle d'un élève est proposée pour rendre compte de son comportement évaluatif et affirmer l'existence de l'élève-évalué ; tertio, l'étude des interactions évaluatives est menée à travers l'investigation et la caractérisation des écarts entre les intentions évaluatives du professeur-évaluateur et la conscience évaluative individuelle de chaque élève-évalué. La méthodologie mise au point a comme premier objectif de vérifier l'existence des intentions évaluatives et de la conscience évaluative, puis comme second objectif d'en étudier les écarts éventuels. Les études de cas sont adaptées à ces deux objectifs : les cas retenus sont des situations d'évaluation formelle particulières, organisées à l'initiative d'un professeur. Dix études de cas et une étude de cas multiples sont menées : les données ont été recueillies auprès de neuf professeurs, enseignant dans trois collèges différents de deux académies ; cent cinq élèves ont été sollicités, répartis dans cinq classes (4 classes de 5ème et 1 classe de 4ème). L'investigation, d'un point de vue didactique, privilégie les contenus de l'enseignement, le contrat et la négociation didactiques, les tâches prescrites. En effet, la place de ces concepts est centrale dans une situation d'évaluation parce que les acteurs - professeur et élèves - en ont une « compréhension symétrique » : cette bivalence en fait des outils permettant la comparaison des intentions évaluatives du professeur-évaluateur et de la conscience évaluative individuelle de chaque élève-évalué. Ces trois concepts apparaissent intriqués dans une situation d'évaluation formelle et y interfèrent en tant que système : dans toute situation d'évaluation formelle, aucun des trois éléments ne peut exister indépendamment des deux autres d'une part, et ce système est systématiquement présent d'autre part. En conclusion, cette recherche exploratoire montre l'existence de la conscience évaluative individuelle des élèves engagés dans une situation d'évaluation formelle. La corrélation entre les intentions évaluatives et la conscience évaluative est marquée par la présence d'écarts qui se manifestent dans le sens donné respectivement par le professeur et chacun de ses élèves, aux contenus de l'enseignement, au contrat didactique et aux tâches prescrites, globalement à l'ensemble des trois, considéré en tant que système. Ces écarts interrogent d'une façon inédite la fiabilité d'une situation d'évaluation formelle pour chaque élève et donc les inférences évaluatives induites. Cette recherche met surtout en lumière que l'élève est un acteur-clé de la situation d'évaluation formelle et pas seulement l'objet de l'évaluation à travers sa production. / This research explores the evaluative process as it is developing in science subjects at middle schools on the teachers' initiative. The originality and the novelty of this study consist of the focus on students in the evaluative interactions inherent in the evaluative process. The aim is to contribute to the intelligibility of students' behaviours, i.e. to explain and to justify the factors that affect student overall actions and reactions to the teacher's evaluative behaviour. While the teacher's evaluative behaviour has been largely explained in previous researches through his or her evaluative intentions and position as an evaluator educational literature has not yet collected sufficient data as regards student characteristics. In this context this investigation examines three interrelated topics denoted as follows. First, the existence of a behaviour characterising students involved in an evaluation situation is postulated. Second, the concept of individual evaluative awareness is proposed in order to take into greater account his or her evaluative behaviour and to establish the existence of the evaluated-student as equally effective. Third, the evaluative interactions are examined through the investigation and the characterisation of divergences between the evaluative intentions of the teacher-evaluator and the individual evaluative awareness of each evaluated-student. With the help of some new methodological approach, the primary goal is to explicit the existence of both evaluative intentions and evaluative awareness, and the second objective is to examine their potential divergences. The case studies are appropriate to these two objectives: the cases presented are specific formal evaluation situations organized to teacher's initiative. Ten case studies and a multiple case study have been carried out: data were collected from nine teachers teaching in three different middle schools belonging to two regional education academies; one hundred five students were contacted throughout five classes (4 classes of "5ème" and 1 class of "4ème", respectively 4 classes of 7th grade and 1 class of 8th grade). From a didactic perspective the investigation focuses on curricular contents, the didactic contract and negotiation, the tasks assigned. These concepts definitely hold a central place in any evaluation situation because the proficient users - teacher and students - have a "symmetrical understanding" of it: this bivalence produces tools for the comparison of the evaluator-teacher's evaluative intentions and the evaluated-student's evaluative awareness. These three concepts intertwined in a formal evaluation situation and conjugate as a system: in any formal evaluation situation, none of the three elements can exist independently from the two others on the one hand, and this system is always present on the second hand. In conclusion, this exploratory research shows the existence of the student individual evaluative awareness when involved in a formal evaluation situation. The correlation between the evaluative intentions and the evaluative awareness is defined by the presence of divergences that emerge concerning under the meaning given respectively by the teacher and each student to the curricular contents, the didactic contract and didactic negotiation, the tasks assigned, globally to the combination of the three concepts regarded as a system. These divergences call into question in an unprecedented manner the finality of a formal evaluation situation for each student and thus the evaluative inferences induced. This research more specifically highlights the idea that the student is a key-player of the formal evaluation situation and not only the object of the evaluation through his or her performance.

Employee turnover is a concern for the highway maintenance leaders in the construction industry because employees with turnover intentions may exhibit decreased commitment and increased cynicism towards the organization, which may affect business profits. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between employee development, employee burnout, and employee turnover intentions in highway maintenance organizations in the United States. Hobfoll's conservation of resources theory was the framework for this study. A convenience sampling of participants, which included a target audience who accessed the paper-based surveys from 6 field offices and the central office building within the northwestern region of Pennsylvania, returned 68 useable surveys for a response rate of approximately 33%. The data from the 68 participants were analyzed using multiple linear regression analysis. The population for the study consisted of supervisors, foremen, executive staff, and full-time management personnel. Results of the multiple linear regression analysis indicated a statistically significant relationship between employee development and employee turnover intentions (p < 0.05, β = 0.360) and between employee burnout and employee turnover intentions (p < 0.05, β = 0.512). The results of this study may contribute to positive social change by reducing employee turnover in the construction industry, keeping skilled employees within local communities, and helping employees accomplish career goals while increasing economic value. Highway maintenance leaders could use the money saved from turnover to invest in employee development and employee wellness programs.

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Dans le contexte d'incertitude de nos sociétés contemporaines, les questions d'orientation renvoient de plus en plus à celles du « sens » (Bernaud, 2014). La nature même des carrières se trouve modifiée, caractérisée par de nombreux changements et ruptures (Savickas et Pouyaud, in press). Si la conceptualisation et la mesure du sens du travail font l'objet d'une littérature scientifique croissante, peu d'études ont été conduites sur ses relations avec des événements de vie. L'objectif de la thèse est d'analyser les relations réciproques entre le sens du travail et la mobilité professionnelle. La première partie de nos résultats est consacrée à l'étude de validité d'une nouvelle échelle du sens du travail auprès de salariés français, l'Inventaire du Sens du Travail. La seconde partie des résultats montre globalement l'existence de liens significatifs entre le sens du travail et la mobilité professionnelle, à travers trois études distinctes. Une première étude qualitative exploratoire vise, à partir d'entretiens semi-directifs d'agents administratifs, à mieux comprendre la manière dont l'individu construit du sens suite à une mobilité. Dans le cadre d'une deuxième étude quantitative menée auprès de 501 agents d'universités françaises, les analyses de régression hiérarchique indiquent que la personnalité et les indicateurs subjectifs de la mobilité professionnelle expliquent respectivement 17% et 21% de la variance du sens du travail. Ces résultats soulignent plus particulièrement l'importance de la perception qu'a l'individu de son expérience de mobilité professionnelle dans la compréhension du sens du travail. Une troisième étude quantitative auprès d'un échantillon de 336 salariés issus d'horizons professionnels diversifiés, permet de montrer l'influence du sens du travail sur les intentions de quitter son emploi et/ou sa structure, de même que le rôle de médiateur du sens du travail entre certains facteurs d'insatisfaction professionnelle et ces mêmes intentions de quitter. A partir de nos résultats et de l'analyse de la littérature, nous proposons un modèle dynamique du sens du travail ainsi que le modèle d'une mobilité dite « signifiante », c'est-à-dire en interaction réciproque avec le sens du travail. / In the context of uncertainty in our contemporary society, guidance issues relate more to those of the "meaning" (Bernaud, 2014). The nature of careers is modified, characterized by many changes and ruptures (Savickas and Pouyaud, in press). Despite the conceptualization and the measurement of the meaning of work being the subject of a growing scientific literature, little research has been conducted on its relationship with life events. This thesis aims to analyze the relationships between the meaning of work and career changes. The first part of our results is devoted to the validation of a psychometric instrument among French workers for assessing meaning of work (IST – Inventaire du Sens du Travail). The second part of overall results shows significant reciprocal links between the meaning of work and career changes, through three separate studies. An initial exploratory qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews with administrative staff, aims to better understand how the individual constructs meaning after an employment change. In the framework of a second quantitative study conducted with 501 administrative staff working in French universities, hierarchical regression analyzes indicate that personality and subjective indicators of professional mobility explain respectively 17% and 21% of the variance of the meaning of work. These results specifically highlight the importance of the individual's perception of the experienced career change in the understanding of the meaning of work. A third quantitative study with a sample of 336 employees working in diversified professional fields, shows the influence of the meaning of work on withdrawal intentions, as well as the role of mediator of the meaning of work between job dissatisfaction factors and the withdrawal intentions. Based on our literature review and results, we propose a dynamic model of the meaning of work as well as a model of a “meaningful” career change, that is to say, in reciprocal interaction with the meaning of work.

Dans un contexte d’intensification du travail, sont apparus au-devant de la scène les risques psychosociaux (RPS). Au fil des années, la prévention des RPS et la qualité de vie au travail sont devenus des enjeux de santé publique, et les entreprises privées et publiques s’y intéressent plus que jamais. La littérature nous avait permis d’identifier, au-delà des facteurs de RPS tels que les caractéristiques des postes, la justice organisationnelle comme un prédicteur de santé au travail (Elovainio et al., 2003 ; Robbins et al., 2012). Notre première étude avait pour objectif de mieux comprendre les mécanismes par lesquels les dimensions de justice exercent un effet sur les variables de bien-être et de retrait. Nos résultats ont révélé à ce sujet que les perceptions de justice jouent un rôle médiateur dans la relation entre les caractéristiques des postes et les variables de bien-être telle que la satisfaction, l’attachement, l’épuisement émotionnel et les intentions de retrait, même si la médiation est partielle la plupart du temps. En effet, certaines caractéristiques des postes comme le soutien du supérieur continuent à maintenir un rôle prédictif et direct important, plaçant le supérieur au cœur du dispositif de prévention. Notre seconde étude a porté sur l’introduction des principes de justice au cœur d’une formation aux RPS pour les cadres d’un hôpital. L’évaluation des effets de cette action sur le sentiment de justice des personnels a montré l’utilité de former les supérieurs à la justice. Ainsi, nous avons pu élargir les possibilités d’actions sur le terrain pour prévenir les RPS en rendant incontournables les principes de la justice dans la conception du travail. / In the context of intensification of work, psychosocial risks (PSR) have attracted great interest. Over the past few years, PSR prevention and the quality of worklife have become public health issues, and have more than ever drawn both private and public companies' attention. Beyond PSR factors such as job characteristics, the literature helped us identify organizational justice as a predictor of occupational health (Elovainio et al., 2003; Robbins et al., 2012). Our first study’s goal was to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms with which justice dimensions affect well-being and withdrawal variables. Our results revealed that justice perceptions act as a mediator in the relationship between job characteristics and well-being variables such as satisfaction, commitment, burnout (or emotional exhaustion), and withdrawal intentions, even if most of the time the mediation is partial. Indeed, some job characteristics, such as supervisory support maintain an important and direct predictive role, putting management at the center of the prevention system. Our second study focused on the introduction of organizational justice principles at the core of a PSR training course for executive staff in a hospital. Evaluating the effects of this action on the personnel's feelings of justice showed the utility of training the Executive staff in justice principles. Thus, we have been able to extend the scope of PSR prevention in the field by showing the pivotal role the principles of justice play in work design.

<div>Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 1985, 2018) suggests that teachers’ autonomy support and control practices (i.e., motivate students through internal motivational resources or through external pressure and control) directly impact student motivation, achievement, and well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2018). To prepare future teachers who engage in autonomy support practices, the dissertation aimed to examine preservice teachers’ intentions to enact autonomy and control, and the individual beliefs and motivations predicting such intentions, through a combined perspective of Self-Determination Theory and Self-Theories of intelligence or the mindset theory (Dweck, 1986, 2000). Growth and fixed mindset, the incremental and fixed beliefs about individual attributes (e.g., intelligence, talent; Dweck, 2000), was proposed as an additional individual factor contributing to autonomy and control practices beyond other factors specified in Self-Determination Theory.</div><div>Participants were preservice teachers enrolled in the teacher education programs from three Midwestern universities. Through a quantitative survey study (N = 237), Study 1 examined the interrelationships among growth mindset, autonomous motivational orientation, intrinsic motivation for teaching, beliefs about autonomy, and intentions to enact autonomy in daily teaching. Structural equation models revealed that growth mindset and autonomous orientation were positively correlated. Both growth mindset and autonomous orientation significantly predicted intrinsic motivation for teaching and beliefs about autonomy support, and indirectly predicted intentions to enact autonomy support through beliefs about autonomy support. Intrinsic motivation for teaching also significantly predicted intentions to enact autonomy support through beliefs about autonomy support. The findings supported the unique role of growth mindset beyond other predictors of autonomy support.</div><div>Study 2 adopted a qualitative approach, and examined in-depth the dynamics between preservice teachers’ mindset and intentions to enact autonomy and control and by extension the highly related intentions to enact structure and involvement (i.e., the practices to promote student competence and to support their relational needs; Ryan & Deci, 2018). Although structure and involvement are constructors under the broader umbrella of autonomy, in this work, structure and involvement were conceptualized separately from autonomy to highlight practices that specifically support basic psychological needs for competence, relatedness, and autonomy respectively. Participants were assigned to a growth-mindset group (strong growth mindset), a mixed-mindset group (relatively mixed mindset), and a fixed-mindset group (relatively fixed mindset). Interviews (N = 17) highlighted the practices preservice teachers used and would continue to use with specific examples from practicum experience and upon reflections of given scenarios, focusing on difficult situations when students have motivation-behavior and/or ability issues. The difficult situations reflect “pressure from below” that is predominant in daily teaching and easily pull out teachers’ control practices (Reeve, 2009). Field journals (N = 103) collected from a foundational educational psychology class reported preservice teachers’ observations and evaluations of teacher autonomy/control practices in practicum, and if same practices would be implemented in future teaching and modifications. Results revealed that the interview fixed-mindset group had strongest intentions to enact control under “pressure from below,” and in particular when facing students with combined motivation, behavior, ability problems that would create highest pressure. All groups demonstrated relatively high intentions for structure and involvement. Although the groups demonstrated low to moderate intentions for autonomy specifically, overall, autonomy supportive practices were well endorsed by participants in all three mindset groups, as structure and involvement are practices which fit under the broader umbrella of autonomy. Larger percentages of participants in the field journal growth- and mixed-mindset groups reported intentions for autonomy and not using control than the fixed-mindset group; similar percentages of participants in all groups reported intentions for control.</div><div>The dissertation responds to teacher education researchers’ proposition that examining preservice teachers’ beliefs and motivations should be a central concern of teacher education (Levin, 2015). It also responds to the recent call in educational psychology for multifaceted models of motivation from complementary perspectives (Linnenbrink-Garcia & Patall, 2016). The combined perspective provides new insights into understanding teacher autonomy support and control. Meanwhile, the studies have practical implications for training preservice teachers to provide autonomy support for their future students, and to cope with the pressure and difficulties they will often encounter in real world classrooms and refrain from control practices.</div>

South Africans are engaged in daily battles with work-related and non-work related issues. Although an organisation is not capable of addressing or changing all the issues experienced by the South African population, it can intervene in order to improve the quality of its employees’ working lives. A suggested starting point is person-environment fit (PE fit), due to its effect on job satisfaction and intentions to leave. Consequently, when an individual experiences low PE fit, it will contribute to job dissatisfaction, and intentions to leave as international research has shown. To possibly decrease the impact of these relationships, it is important for leader empowering behaviour to be evident throughout the organisation. The objectives of this study were to determine possible relationships, indirect effects, and moderating effects between PE fit, job satisfaction, intentions to leave, and leader empowering behaviour. A convenience sample of employees working under the guidance of a leader/manager/supervisor was taken from a retail company in Gauteng. Participation in the study was voluntary. A measuring battery measuring PE fit (i.e. person-organisation fit, needs-supplies fit, and demands-abilities fit), job satisfaction, intentions to leave, and leader empowering behaviour (i.e. delegation of authority, accountability, self-directed decision making, information sharing, skills development, and coaching for innovative performance) was used. Descriptive and inferential statistics, Raykov’s rho coefficients, Pearson product-moment correlations, measurement models, structural models, and goodness-of-fit statistics were used to analyse the data. The results indicate that PE fit has a positive relationship with job satisfaction. Job satisfaction has a negative relationship with intentions to leave. PE fit has an indirect effect on intentions to leave via job satisfaction. Leader empowering behaviour moderates the relationship between job satisfaction and intentions to leave. Various recommendations were made for the selected retail company as well as for future research. The retail company and employees should comprehend the impact of PE fit on outcomes such as job satisfaction and intentions to leave, as both parties are equally affected by its implications. Therefore, both pro-active and re-active measures should be institutionalised to address PE fit. Additionally, the retail company should understand the importance of leader empowering behaviour and the impact it can have on their business unit and the organisation as a whole. Recommendations for future research include longitudinal research designs, as well as the expansion of research beyond the selected company in the retail industry. / MCom (Industrial Psychology)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2015