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Examines the impact of organisational culture on the responses of one group of professionals to change processes. Draws upon literature relating to policy implementation and organisational behaviour, in order to gain abetter understanding of the power and processes associated with the impact of culture on professional employees. The context of the study is an analysis of the responses of academics within Australian universities to changes resulting from the implementation of policies affecting teaching decision making and practices. Recent policy changes affecting the accessibility to resourcing and operations of academics' three functions – teaching, research and community service – has provided the impetus for organisational change. To assure the quality of teaching to a growing and increasingly diverse student population, a quality initiative was implemented. This study examined the impact of organisational culture on academics' responses to its implementation. The findings suggest that despite significant reform aimed at changing the work practices of all professional employees, senior academics undertaking management tasks still have some power to mediate the way organisational changes are implemented within the faculties. One contributory factor may be the existence of a well‐established organisational and professional culture.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to use a social capital and learning organisation theoretical framework to clarify two issues: how female entrepreneurs manage interactions with employees and whether they learn about new business opportunities from workplace networks. The qualitative findings demonstrated that female entrepreneurs used a relational approach to manage their employees which social capital theory (SCT) predicts should have promoted a workplace environment‐based on trust and reciprocity of ideas, information and resources.Design/methodology/approachData were obtained from semi‐structured phone and person‐to‐person interviews. The qualitative questions sought to solicit information about how female entrepreneurs managed (particularly their staff) and whether they used workplace processes to be innovative and learn about new venture opportunities from within their firms.FindingsThe paper provides support to previous research that argues female entrepreneurs traditionally use a relational approach to managing their businesses. However, in contrast to previous literature about SCT, this paper found that only about a quarter of the female entrepreneurs used a social capital approach to learn about potential venture opportunities from their staff. Hence, the findings suggest that these female entrepreneurs did not engage in active learning from employees.Research limitations/implicationsThis study's findings have a number of limitations. Firstly, the sampling process could have caused bias in the data collection and therefore the generalisability of the findings may be compromised. Moreover, the sample size is limited; hence further research is necessary across numerous countries to improve the generalisability of the exploratory study.Practical implicationsThe implication of these findings is that the majority of female entrepreneurs probably do not use workplace employee networks to provide new venture opportunities. Governments may need to consider strategies for supporting female entrepreneurs to capture new venture opportunities.Originality/valuePrevious research suggests that small to medium‐sized enterprises do not necessarily perceive networks outside of the firm as a source of new ideas and the findings from this study suggest than only a quarter of the female entrepreneurs attempted to learn from inside the firm.

PurposeThis paper uses a social capital theoretical framework to examine how the relational dimension of business networks affects the networking activities of female entrepreneurs. In particular, the study examines the role of trust on women's networking behaviour and the part played by government business development officers in supporting women entrepreneur's opportunity recognition behaviour.Design/methodology/approachThe research used mixed methods to gather and analyse data. A survey instrument was used to gather quantitative data and qualitative data was gathered from interviews and written responses to open‐ended questions included in the survey.FindingsThe quantitative findings suggest firstly that approximately 20 per cent of the reason why women entrepreneurs belong to formal business networks is to search for business opportunities; however, their experience of trusting significantly affects their perception of the potential benefits of networking activities. Moreover, government development officers appear not to positively affect women entrepreneur's trusting behaviour.Research limitations/implicationsThe sampling process could have caused bias in the data collection and therefore the generalisability of the findings may be compromised. This is because the sample came from a state with the most start‐ups and therefore it is likely that these women are more entrepreneurial than normal. In addition, there may be bias in the type of women entrepreneur likely to have responded to the survey. It seems likely that the women entrepreneurs that would respond to this questionnaire are apt to be more entrepreneurial in their behaviour of recognising new opportunities, thereby biasing the sample used. Finally, another limitation of this study is common methods bias in relation to the data collected using self‐report questionnaire.Practical implicationsThe findings have implications for government because these findings suggest that they have wrongly assumed that entrepreneurs will behave in "politically constructed business network" the same way as they behave in social networks where trust levels develop over time. This may be the reason why trust was such an important variable in affecting these women entrepreneurs' networking behaviour. The findings suggest that if women entrepreneurs are to be supported to grow, the government should focus its scarce resources on building trust within these formal business networks, so that women can build the relational trust context needed to share information likely to lead to good business opportunities.Originality/valueThe paper provides information on the role of trust on women's networking behaviour.

This study first reports findings about what factors affect the job satisfaction of one group of public sector employees and second, uses social identity theory to explain the results. The results indicated that working with fellow employees enhances job satisfaction. In contrast, dealing with the clientele (possibly without appropriate training) and organisational management polices compromise the job satisfaction of early career Australian police officers. These findings challenge existing managerialist beliefs that suggest that significant attempts to reform organisational processes within the public sector organisations of a number of Western democracies have improved the effectiveness of employees. These reforms have changed the organisational context within which policing takes place and consequently, the work practices of police officers have changed. Some of these changes have reduced the satisfaction of employees. The implications of the findings are that when employees are dissatisfied with a number of the working conditions, it is likely that their workplace effectiveness may be jeopardised and in turn, the efficiency and effectiveness of scarce public resources may also be compromised.

AbstractThis study uses Conservation of Resources Theory, to explain Street‐Level Bureaucrats' (SLBs) workplace behavioural responses to threats to their well‐being. We examine whether authentic leadership within street‐level organisations positively impacts employee well‐being by increasing SLBs' perception of personal resources, and reducing their perceptions of work harassment. The research design comprises a survey that solicited quantitative and qualitative data from 163 healthcare SLBs working in Australian hospitals during the pandemic in April 2020. Analysis of the means indicates low levels of satisfaction with leadership and low levels of well‐being for SLBs. The structural equation modelling findings show that poor leadership is associated with higher levels of work harassment and lower levels of employee well‐being. Qualitative data support these findings. As healthcare workers were already listed as over‐represented in the stress‐related workers compensation statistics, one strategy may be to improve the level of organisational support by upskilling managers in authentic leadership behaviours with the aim of increasing their perception of support so as to increase employee well‐being. This will benefit employees and their families, and the community they service.Points for practitioners
Street‐Level Bureaucrats (SLBs) have been increasingly experiencing the public sector gap (demand outstripping supply of resources) because of the dominance of the austerity‐driven managerialist paradigm.
The recent COVID‐19 crisis amplified the severity and impact of the public sector gap causing increased perceptions of work harassment and reductions in SLBs' well‐being.
However, SLBs with high levels of Psychological Capital had a natural buffer in place to protect their well‐being, and as such, they perceived less work harassment and erosion of their well‐being.
The way forward is to complement the austerity‐driven managerialist paradigm in management decision‐making with authentic leadership behaviours focused on maximising the well‐being of SLBs and the public.