Variation in the conduct and the quality of self‐evaluations: a multi‐level path analysis

While self‐evaluation leads to valuable results in some schools, it appears that in other schools this is true only to a lesser extent or not at all. This raises the question of how differences in the results of self‐evaluations can be explained. This study looks at to what extent the results of self‐evaluation are determined by the way in which self‐evaluation is conducted, by characteristics relating to the general functioning of the school and by the support which schools enjoy. One thousand seven hundred and eighty‐six school principals and team members from 96 schools (primary and secondary) were surveyed by means of a written questionnaire. The data collected were then analysed using multi‐level structural equation modelling. The results provide strong empirical evidence that “attitude with regard to self‐evaluation”, “self‐evaluation as a policy action” and “self‐evaluation as an act of research” are powerful predictors of the quality of self‐evaluations.     

Tensions in stakeholder relations for a Swedish football club – a case study

Swedish football is an industry not yet being as commercial as the big leagues and is regulated in terms of ownership of clubs. This implies a need for management of stakeholder relations for a Swedish football club. This paper identifies important stakeholders in Swedish football and discusses the multitude of – sometimes conflicting – objectives in managing these relations. The empirical base of the study is founded in a case study of Malmö FF, one of the dominant clubs in Sweden, with a qualitative single case research approach. Data are collected by means of semi-structured interviews and participant observations. The results of the study show a number of tensions as paradoxes for stakeholder management, suggest management dispositions to reconcile these paradoxes and suggest areas for further research.     

Asking for Help: A Relational Perspective on Help Seeking in the Workplace

In the context of the complexity of today’s organizations, help seeking behavior is considered as an important step to problem solving and learning in organizations. Yet, help seeking has received less attention in organizational literature. To increase the potential impact of help seeking on learning, it is essential to understand which mechanisms affect help seeking. The present study questioned whether the characteristics of the relationships that employees have in the workplace are related to help seeking behavior. This study draws on a social network perspective to investigate the employees’ relationships within their professional network. In particular, the role of accessibility, awareness of expertise, trust, and hierarchy in help seeking was explored. Results indicated that the perceptions of the help provider’s expertise, accessibility and trust were positively associated with the likelihood to seek help, frequency by which help is sought, and perceived quality of the help. Moreover, employees seem more likely to seek help upward from higher status individuals and less likely downward from lower status individuals. Employees perceived the help of higher status individuals as more useful and constructive. These results highlight the importance of investing in the strength of relationships, ensuring the accessibility of expertise and fostering a work environment, in which employees trust and respect each other. Furthermore, the results suggest valuable and promising avenues for future research and practice.