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    Corporate labour practices and fintech development : evidence from China : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Finance at Massey University, Manawatu campus, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2025) Chen, Junshi
    This thesis studies corporate labour practices and financial technology (Fintech) development in China and contains six chapters. Chapter one introduces my PhD thesis. It discusses the motivation and contribution for each chapter. Chapter two contains a comprehensive literature review, which systematically reviews the current state of knowledge related to the theory, impact and determinants of employee treatment in the firms, based on a review of 150 research papers. We observe a growing trend of firms enhancing employee treatment, suggesting that employee treatment functions as an important mechanism that enhances firm value. Chapter three investigates the impact of employee medical welfare on firm productivity. We find that such welfare significantly enhances firm performance by improving employees’ psychological security, which increases work efficiency. This effect is more pronounced in non-state-owned firms, firms with a higher proportion of low-skilled employees and lower R&D intensity. Additionally, firms offering better medical welfare demonstrate stronger resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. These results underscore the role of organizational caregiving (Vijayasingham et al., 2018) and stakeholder theory (Titman, 1984) in shaping firm outcomes. Chapter four investigates the relationship between new financial technology, digital finance (DF), and corporate employee treatment. We find that DF enhances employee conditions through corporate digital transformation and increased demand for skilled labour. This effect is stronger in regions with lower marketization and severe pollution, where disadvantaged firms leverage DF to attract talent. Moreover, government support, corporate governance, and financial flexibility amplify DF’s positive impact. DF also contributes to workforce expansion and long-term firm performance, reinforcing its role in shaping corporate labour strategies in line with human capital theory (Sweetland, 1996). Chapter five presents the last essay focusing on how DF affects people’s fertility behaviour. We find that DF negatively influences birth rates by increasing investment opportunities, promoting consumption-driven individualism, and raising women’s economic independence and opportunity cost of fertility. Notably, only DF coverage significantly reduces birth rates, whereas its depth and digitalization have weaker effects. More importantly, government’s support in education, healthcare, and religious policies can mitigate DF’s adverse impact on fertility. Chapter six concludes by outlining the main findings, the implications of each essay, the limitations of the thesis, and potential avenues for future research.
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    Slow and steady-small, but insufficient, changes in food and drink availability after four years of implementing a healthy food policy in New Zealand hospitals
    (BioMed Central Ltd, 2024-12) Mackay S; Rosin M; Kidd B; Gerritsen S; Shen S; Jiang Y; Te Morenga L; Ni Mhurchu C
    BACKGROUND: A voluntary National Healthy Food and Drink Policy (the Policy) was introduced in public hospitals in New Zealand in 2016. This study assessed the changes in implementation of the Policy and its impact on providing healthier food and drinks for staff and visitors in four district health boards between 1 and 5 years after the initial Policy introduction. METHODS: Repeat, cross-sectional audits were undertaken at the same eight sites in four district health boards between April and August 2017 and again between January and September 2021. In 2017, there were 74 retail settings audited (and 99 in 2021), comprising 27 (34 in 2021) serviced food outlets and 47 (65 in 2021) vending machines. The Policy's traffic light criteria were used to classify 2652 items in 2017 and 3928 items in 2021. The primary outcome was alignment with the Policy guidance on the proportions of red, amber and green foods and drinks (≥ 55% green 'healthy' items and 0% red 'unhealthy' items). RESULTS: The distribution of the classification of items as red, amber and green changed from 2017 to 2021 (p < 0.001) overall and in serviced food outlets (p < 0.001) and vending machines (p < 0.001). In 2021, green items were a higher proportion of available items (20.7%, n = 815) compared to 2017 (14.0%, n = 371), as were amber items (49.8%, n = 1957) compared to 2017 (29.2%, n = 775). Fewer items were classified as red in 2021 (29.4%, n = 1156) than in 2017 (56.8%, n = 1506). Mixed dishes were the most prevalent green items in both years, representing 11.4% (n = 446) of all items in 2021 and 5.5% (n = 145) in 2017. Fewer red packaged snacks (11.6%, n = 457 vs 22.5%, n = 598) and red cold drinks (5.2%, n = 205 vs 12.5%, n = 331) were available in 2021 compared to 2017. However, at either time, no organisation or setting met the criteria for alignment with the Policy (≥ 55% green items, 0% red items). CONCLUSIONS: Introduction of the Policy improved the relative healthiness of food and drinks available, but the proportion of red items remained high. More dedicated support is required to fully implement the Policy.
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    Due diligence and psychosocial risk : examining the construction of compliance : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2024-07-20) Deacon, Louise Joy
    New Zealand’s Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 introduced two significant changes to the country’s work health and safety regulatory landscape: (1) it placed a duty upon officers to ensure that the business of which they are an officer complies with its duties under the Act; (2) it broadened the definition of health to include mental health. The latter inclusion confirmed the scope of the Act to apply to psychosocial risks at work. Despite the officers’ duties being lauded as a profound change to New Zealand’s regulatory landscape, there has been little research investigating how officers respond to these legal duties. Further, internationally, there are significant gaps in knowledge regarding the role senior company managers play in psychosocial risk management, particularly relating to the intersect of legal responsibilities and psychosocial risks. This research adopted a Foucauldian analytical approach to examine how ideas about compliance and psychosocial risks are constructed and organised. Specifically, the research questions led to an investigation of the ways in which officers conceptualised and carried out their due diligence duties as they applied to the protection of workers’ mental health and the implications thereof. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 24 officers of large companies operating in New Zealand. The findings indicate that officers tended to discursively construct risk in ways which frequently obfuscated causes of harm arising from work while also problematising the possibility of eliminating or minimising risks to workers. Further, through a process of “risk translation,” psychosocial risks were often transformed into risks which were individualised, psychologised and managerialised. This translative effect functioned to displace psychosocial risks with risks which were more recognisable and amenable to management and posed less challenge to management prerogative. In this way, a dominant construction of risk came to represent worker mental health as a cause of risk to the organisation and the object of compliance, rather than a consequence of psychosocial risk exposure. The resultant compliance responses may therefore be considered symbolic in that they represented attention to legal ideals while marginalising the management of risks arising from work. Thus, the potential of work health and safety legislation to regulate psychosocial harm arising from work was largely curtailed, highlighting the limits of self-regulation in a legal context characterised by uncertainty and ambiguity.
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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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    Exposure to fumigants and residual chemicals in workers handling cargo from shipping containers and export logs : a study of exposure determinants and neuropsychological symptoms : a thesis by publications presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health (Epidemiology) at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2022) Hinz, Ruth
    Fumigants are widely used in shipping containers and on export logs for biosecurity reasons. This thesis aimed to: (i) assess concentrations of fumigants and off-gassed chemicals in closed containers; (ii) identify container characteristics associated with high concentrations; (iii) assess personal exposure levels of workers exposed to these chemicals; and (iv) assess whether exposed workers report more neuropsychological symptoms. Air samples were collected from 490 sealed containers and at opening of 46 containers, and 193 personal full-shift air samples were collected for 133 container handlers, 15 retail workers, 40 workers loading export logs, and 5 fumigators. Samples were analysed by Selected Ion Flow Tube Mass Spectrometry for several common fumigants and harmful chemicals frequently found in shipping containers. Levels were compared to the New Zealand Work Exposure Standard (WES) and the Threshold Limit Value (TLV). A neuropsychological symptom questionnaire was completed by 274 container handlers, 38 retail workers, 35 fumigators, 18 log workers, and a reference group of 206 construction workers. Fumigants were detected in 11.4% of sealed containers (ethylene oxide 4.7%; methyl bromide 3.5%). Chemicals other than fumigants were detected more frequently, particularly formaldehyde (84.7%). Some cargo types (e.g. rubber products) and countries of origin (e.g. China) were associated with higher chemical concentrations. Fumigants were detected in both fumigated and non-fumigated containers. Ambient chemical concentrations in closed and just opened containers regularly exceeded the NZ WES and TLV. Personal exposure measurements never exceeded the NZ WES, although for 26.2% of samples the TLV for formaldehyde was exceeded. Duration spent unloading containers was associated with higher levels of ethylene oxide, C2-alkylbenzenes and acetaldehyde. Exposed workers were more likely to report ≥10 symptoms, and particularly for the fatigue domain. Longer cumulative duration of unloading containers was associated with more symptoms (Odds Ratio (OR) 7.5, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.7-32.8), and specifically for symptoms in the memory/-concentration domain (OR 6.8, 95%CI 1.5-30.3), when comparing the highest exposure duration tertile to the lowest. In conclusion, while workers’ full-shift exposure levels to container chemicals are lower than previously expected (based on the high levels measured in closed containers), they may nonetheless cause long-term health effects.  
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    Developing unbiased artificial intelligence in recruitment and selection : a processual framework : a dissertation 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, 2022) Soleimani, Melika
    For several generations, scientists have attempted to build enhanced intelligence into computer systems. Recently, progress in developing and implementing Artificial Intelligence (AI) has quickened. AI is now attracting the attention of business and government leaders as a potential way to optimise decisions and performance across all management levels from operational to strategic. One of the business areas where AI is being used widely is the Recruitment and Selection (R&S) process. However, in spite of this tremendous growth in interest in AI, there is a serious lack of understanding of the potential impact of AI on human life, society and culture. One of the most significant issues is the danger of biases being built into the gathering and analysis of data and subsequent decision-making. Cognitive biases occur in algorithmic models by reflecting the implicit values of the humans involved in defining, coding, collecting, selecting or using data to train the algorithm. The biases can then be self-reinforcing using machine learning, causing AI to engage in ‘biased’ decisions. In order to use AI systems to guide managers in making effective decisions, unbiased AI is required. This study adopted an exploratory and qualitative research design to explore potential biases in the R&S process and how cognitive biases can be mitigated in the development of AI-Recruitment Systems (AIRS). The classic grounded theory was used to guide the study design, data gathering and analysis. Thirty-nine HR managers and AI developers globally were interviewed. The findings empirically represent the development process of AIRS, as well as technical and non-technical techniques in each stage of the process to mitigate cognitive biases. The study contributes to the theory of information system design by explaining the phase of retraining that correlates with continuous mutability in developing AI. AI is developed through retraining the machine learning models as part of the development process, which shows the mutability of the system. The learning process over many training cycles improves the algorithms’ accuracy. This study also extends the knowledge sharing concepts by highlighting the importance of HR managers’ and AI developers’ cross-functional knowledge sharing to mitigate cognitive biases in developing AIRS. Knowledge sharing in developing AIRS can occur in understanding the essential criteria for each job position, preparing datasets for training ML models, testing ML models, and giving feedback, retraining, and improving ML models. Finally, this study contributes to our understanding of the concept of AI transparency by identifying two known cognitive biases  similar-to-me bias and stereotype bias  in the R&S process that assist in assessing the ML model outcome. In addition, the AIRS process model provides a good understanding of data collection, data preparation and training and retraining the ML model and indicates the role of HR managers and AI developers to mitigate biases and their accountability for AIRS decisions. The development process of unbiased AIRS offers significant implications for the human resource field as well as other fields/industries where AI is used today, such as the education system and insurance services, to mitigate cognitive biases in the development process of AI. In addition, this study provides information about the limitations of AI systems and educates human decision makers (i.e. HR managers) to avoid building biases into their systems in the first place.
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    Organisational decision-making processes behind incorporating autonomous task-performing technology and its impact on the future of work : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2022) Mrowinski, Benjamin Sirius
    In recent years there have been mounting discussions among scholars, business people, governments, and scientists to understand the impact of emerging technologies such as automation and AI and their subsequent impact on the future of work. The concern for the future of work has primarily circulated around predictions estimating that up to half of the workforce, if not more, could be impacted by these technologies by the year 2030. Despite these predictions, there remains a need to understand the impact of emerging technologies on the future of work from the perspective of organisations, which has largely been omitted from previous research into this phenomenon. One of the prominent limitations throughout the literature circulates around the assumption that organisations will adopt these technologies. In light of this, there remains unanswered questions pertaining to the extent in which organisations will use emerging technology and whether adopting this technology inherently leads to job loss. It is vital to develop insights into what drives organisational decision-making processes to adopt these technologies to understand better the relationship between organisations, employees, and emerging technologies. When it comes to understanding the future of work, there remains a distinct difference between the impact on a job task versus an entire job. To address this, Autonomous Task Performing Technology (ATPT) has been adopted throughout this paper to reflect on how emerging technologies can impact employees to different extents. The present study was designed to understand the organisational decision-making process behind adopting ATPT and the subsequent impact on the future of work. Two primary participant groups were identified using purposive sampling with the snowball approach to address this research, which includes a total of 34 top managers and 10 union representatives. The 34 top manager participants are made up of 17 top managers from the public sector and 17 top managers from the private sector representing twenty-two different industries/ line of work across telecommunications, agriculture, finance, healthcare, business, education, transportation, technology, architecture, energy, technical services, engineering, retail, produce, manufacturing, finance, social services, marketing, research, legal, environment, and emergency services. The data with top managers were collected using in-depth semi-structured interviews with an average interview time of just over 1 hour which translated to over 34 hours in total of interview recordings. The 10 union representatives consisted of four participants from the public sector and six from the private sector covering six different industries spanning across finance, education, business, retail, transportation, and healthcare. Data collected with union representatives utilised the critical incident technique to understand the impact of ATPT on employees from incidents where organisations adopted ATPT with an average interview time of over 25 minutes. Although the design of this research was to understand the organisational decision-making processes behind adopting ATPT, it remained critical to understand this phenomenon from both perspectives of top managers and unions. Triangulation was used to compare and analyse the data using thematic analysis with the Framework method between top managers and union representatives. This approach provided valuable insight into how organisations adopt ATPT and how the impact is experienced by employees. The findings from this research place distinct emphasise on how ATPT does not inherently predetermine job loss. Rather, the findings capture the highly variable nature of organisational adoption of ATPT and the subsequent impact on the future of work through the development of the ATPT impact Framework. The ATPT impact Framework was conceptualised through the underpinning of three core themes in this research: organisational drivers behind ATPT adoption, scenarios of ATPT adoption, and the outcome of organisational adoption of ATPT on employees/ and the future of work. Ultimately, the future of work is not determined by the capabilities of ATPT, but rather by the ATPT impact Framework and the ethical responsibility of organisations to use ATPT responsibly. The impact of ATPT on the future of work does not fall on the shoulders of organisations alone, but rather requires an ongoing collaboration and open dialogue between organisations, government, policy makers, scholars, employees and unions to establish a form of good practice and ethical responsibility behind adopting ATPT as society continues to navigate through the challenges of how to effectively use ATPT.
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    Transforming early childhood teachers’ professional learning and development : a study of research, provision, and potential : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Massey University, Manawatū, Aotearoa New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2021) Clarke, Linda Rose
    Effective professional learning and development (PLD) is recognised as a key mechanism to strengthen teachers’ knowledge and pedagogical practice and improve the quality of education. However, PLD is not always effective for its intended purpose. Effectiveness depends on the match between the PLD approach, the participating teachers, and the desired outcomes. Although it is important to have a range of approaches to PLD, it is also important to be aware that different approaches will serve different purposes. In recent years, coaching has been increasingly evidenced as a PLD approach that supports teachers to develop knowledge and effectively implement new pedagogical practices. Yet, coaching is under-utilised and under-researched in the Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood education sector. The multiphase study in this thesis with publications investigated PLD in Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood education settings, with a focus on coaching as a component of the PLD. The research included a further focus on pedagogy to foster toddlers’ social-emotional learning. There were three successive research phases, designed to investigate: 1) early childhood education PLD research literature; 2) the PLD provision that early childhood teachers have received in recent years; and 3) a PLD coaching intervention to support early childhood teachers in their implementation of teaching practices to foster toddlers’ social-emotional learning. The first phase of the investigation was a study of PLD research. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) protocols were used to guide a systematic literature review of PLD research in the Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood education field. Fifty-six studies were reviewed with the intention of identifying key characteristics of the research, including how or whether coaching had been studied. The results identified Aotearoa New Zealand ECE PLD research as predominantly qualitative and descriptive, characterised by practitioner-researcher partnerships and models of PLD based on collaborative inquiry or action research. Overall, there was limited attention paid to how PLD interventions were implemented, including the strategies that facilitators used to support teachers’ professional learning. There was limited attention to coaching. Within the studies that reported using coaching as a PLD component, there were multifarious coaching definitions and descriptions. Results of the systematic literature review suggest coaching is under-researched and possibly misunderstood in Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood education. The first research phase has identified a need for a stronger and more intentional focus on a range of PLD interventions and research, including who is involved, what content is covered, and how interventions are delivered. The second research phase was a study of teachers’ PLD experiences. A nationwide survey was completed by 345 early childhood teachers who answered questions about their recent PLD experiences. A key finding was that isolated workshops predominated as a PLD model. Many teachers also engaged in reflective discussions with PLD facilitators, however, facilitation strategies that are associated with coaching, such as observation and feedback, were not common. Overall, the survey’s findings indicate there is limited emphasis on PLD models that are designed to support teachers in their implementation of new pedagogical practices. The second research phase has identified a need to support teachers’ and leaders’ access to evidence-informed PLD that promotes shifts in teaching practice and fosters positive learning outcomes for children. The third research phase was a study of coaching as a component of PLD. Practice-based coaching protocols were adapted for use in an Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood education setting, and a PLD intervention was developed. The PLD intervention combined practice-based coaching with workshops, with the intention of supporting a teaching team’s implementation of teaching practices to foster toddlers’ social-emotional learning. The relationship between the coaching and the implementation of teaching practices was analysed using single-subject multiple-baseline methods. The single-subject experiment demonstrated a functional relation between the PLD intervention and teachers’ implementation of the social-emotional teaching practices. Results suggest that some teaching practices were maintained 9 weeks after the intervention, despite staff changes. The participating teachers were interviewed to seek their perspectives of the PLD and coaching. Teachers reported that coaching with a focus on social-emotional teaching was a positive experience that improved their teaching which, in turn, improved toddlers’ social-emotional skills. The third research phase has foregrounded the potential of coaching to support and strengthen early childhood teaching. This phase has also identified pathways for further research into, and application of, coaching in the Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood sector. The findings from this thesis with publications challenge current approaches to PLD, emphasising the need for a more coherent and informed approach. The unique professional learning needs of toddler teachers and the importance of PLD that effectively supports social-emotional teaching are highlighted throughout the thesis. Coaching is affirmed as a PLD approach to promote shifts in teaching, enabling teachers to implement new pedagogical practices. Numerous recommendations are made for further PLD research, provision, and potential for maximising positive outcomes. These recommendations include the development of a shared PLD definition and conceptual framework to support rigorous PLD research and application in Aotearoa New Zealand, and to support teachers and leaders to select and engage in PLD experiences that meet their needs. There is an identified need for further research that investigates how, why, and under what conditions PLD works. The thesis advocates for greater attention to evidence-informed and coaching-driven PLD. The research and recommendations within this thesis have been developed to advance and strengthen PLD systems and programmes in Aotearoa New Zealand early childhood education.
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    Mindfulness experiences of university staff in New Zealand : an integrated workplace mindfulness framework : 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. EMBARGOED until 1 February 2026.
    (Massey University, 2021) Shahbaz, Wahab
    Research on and the practice of mindfulness is increasing in the organisational context. It is generally understood that mindfulness is a human ability or practice which guides the cognitive and psychological processes of employees and informs their decisions and actions in everyday life. Many organisations thus offer mindfulness training programmes to their employees in order to obtain workplace benefits such as improving well-being, inter-relationships, and performance. Much existing work on mindfulness in the organisational context has focused on the consequences of mindfulness interventions and the benefits that the mindful individual can bring to their work. Despite the positive relationship that research has shown between mindfulness and workplace functions, we still know little about how employees actually experience mindfulness. Such an understanding is important to advance organisational strategies and training inventions to promote health, well-being, and the productivity of employees. University staff experience considerable stress at work, and in response many universities around the world have made mindfulness sessions available as part of their staff support practices. Thus, they were an appropriate group to research regarding mindfulness experiences. The purpose of this research was thus to explore the mindfulness experiences of university staff in order to understand their experiences in more depth. In particular, using positive organisational behaviour (POB) as a theoretical lens and conservation of resource (COR) as an additional tool, this thesis focuses on aspects of mindfulness experience that can give insight into how employees enact mindfulness, for example: their everyday practices of mindfulness; their perspectives about workplace outcomes of mindfulness; and what employees perceive to be the facilitating and hindering factors of mindfulness. The research addressed three key research questions: i) how do staff experience mindfulness in the university?; ii) how and why might mindfulness impact on the workplace functions of university staff?; and iii) what individual and workplace factors facilitate or hinder the mindfulness experiences of university staff? To meet the research objectives of this study, a qualitative approach was based on phenomenological enquiry. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 faculty and administrative staff from different universities in New Zealand who had attended mindfulness-based training programmes and/or who practised mindfulness. Based on a qualitative thematic analysis of interview material, an integrated workplace mindfulness framework was developed that helps us to understand how employees perceive their mindfulness experiences and practices. First, the framework presents five different kinds of mindfulness-related experiences including formal practices, informal moments, mindful interactions, a state of awareness, and the state of being present. These mindfulness experiences help us to comprehend how staff operationalise mindfulness in the university environment. Second, the framework provides a range of well-being, relationship, and performance-related consequences of mindfulness to address the question relating to the workplace outcomes of mindfulness. Third, the framework elaborates on different mechanisms and functions that explain the relationship between mindfulness and workplace outcomes such as attentional stability, psychological detachment, self-regulation, attentional control, and cognitive flexibility. The mechanisms help us to understand why mindfulness affects workplace functions. Finally, to address the question relating to individual and workplace factors that facilitate or hinder mindfulness, the framework highlights various factors including individual efforts, communal support, and sectoral culture that can influence the application of workplace mindfulness in the university setting. This study contributes to knowledge by providing a comprehensive framework which will assist in the refinement and development of many branches of mindfulness research. In particular, the study discusses relevant aspects of POB and COR to draw out implications for operationalisation, outcomes, mechanisms, and factors affecting workplace mindfulness in the university setting. Practice contributions are also provided. The thesis has implications for the refinement of training practices and organisational efforts in the university sector as well as in other professions to optimise mindfulness programmes for employees’ well-being and productivity.
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    Worker voice and the health and safety regulatory system in New Zealand : an interpretivist case study inquiry in the commercial construction industry : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2021) Farr, Deirdre
    The importance of involving workers in effective management of workplace health and safety (WHS) risks is well established. Transforming this rhetoric into sustainable practice continues to be a global problem. The siloed nature of industrial relations, WHS, human resource management and organisational behaviour debates has resulted in researchers talking past each other. Consequently, there is a dearth of literature drawing WHS research into contemporary debates exploring a broad range of direct and indirect forms of ‘worker voice’. The purpose of this thesis is to determine how and why the current statutory framework is contributing to enhancing workers’ involvement in workplace decisions that affect their WHS outcomes. This interpretivist constructivist multiple-case study applies a Multidisciplinary Analytical Model of Worker Voice to demonstrate how a multidisciplinary approach bridges divides and facilitates rich understanding of a contemporary phenomenon. The thesis clarifies the ambiguity and misunderstanding of terms that influence the interpretation and enactment of duties in the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA). It identifies and maps the different forms of worker engagement, participation and representation (EP&R) that exist under the current statutory provisions in New Zealand, and more importantly, the influence of worker voice. This research enables us to understand how and under what conditions worker EP&R can thrive. The two-phase study involved semi-structured interviews with 14 key stakeholders at the macro and industry levels, and 31 case study participants in three large commercial construction organisations at the meso level. Secondary qualitative data sources included 12 observations, and public and organisational documents. Hermeneutic analysis and interpretation revealed how the current HSWA stimulated improvements in leadership and risk management. The characteristics of effective worker voice systems were co-constructed with the key stakeholders and developed into an EP&R Compliance Maturity Model of Worker Voice. This model highlighted proactive and reactive responses to the HSWA in the organisations operating in a low-union, high-risk context. The overarching perceptions of the HSWA reinvigorating interest in worker voice underpinned improvements in macro level tripartism and meso level engagement. However, traditional representation structures have been eroded rather than strengthened.