BackgroundThe challenge of combining professional work and breastfeeding is a key reason why women choose not to breastfeed or to stop breastfeeding early. We posited that having access to a high-quality lactation room at the workplace could influence working mothers’ satisfaction and perceptions related to expressing breast milk at work, which could have important longer term consequences for the duration of breastfeeding. Specifically, we aimed to (1) develop a checklist for assessing the quality of lactation rooms and (2) explore how lactation room quality affects lactating mothers’ satisfaction and perceptions. Drawing on social ecological insights, we hypothesized that the quality of lactation rooms (operationalized as any space used for expressing milk at work) would be positively related to mothers’ satisfaction with the room, perceived ease of, and perceived support for milk expression at work.MethodsWe conducted two studies. In Study 1 we developed a lactation room quality checklist (LRQC) and assessed its reliability twice, using samples of 33 lactation rooms (Study 1a) and 31 lactation rooms (Study 1b). Data were collected in the Northern part of the Netherlands (between December 2016 and April 2017). Study 2 comprised a cross-sectional survey of 511 lactating mothers, working in a variety of Dutch organizations. The mothers were recruited through the Facebook page of a popular Dutch breastfeeding website. They completed online questionnaires containing the LRQC and measures aimed at assessing their satisfaction and perceptions related to milk expression at work (in June and July 2017).ResultsThe LRQC was deemed reliable and easy to apply in practice. As predicted, we found that objectively assessed higher-quality lactation rooms were associated with increased levels of satisfaction with the lactation rooms, perceived ease of milk expression at work, and perceived support from supervisors and co-workers for expressing milk in the workplace.ConclusionsThe availability of a high-quality lactation room could influence mothers’ decisions regarding breast milk expression at work and the commencement and/or continuation of breastfeeding. Future studies should explore whether and how lactation room quality affects breastfeeding choices, and which aspects are most important to include in lactation rooms.
DOCUMENT
With the rapid development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), digital technology changes how banks translate new customer demands into new products and services. To achieve this translation, banks should increase their intrapreneurship capability through Individual-level Innovative Behavior (IIB). However, research on how to manage and promote manager's IIB in the workplace is still at the nascent stage. Therefore, this study investigates an under-researched topic: how Perceived Organizational Innovativeness (POI) affects manager's IIB through self-leadership strategies, and whether perceived organizational risk-taking and the gender of the respondents facilitate or impede the process. The study surveys 340 managers in the Turkish banking sector and analyses the results through SEM. The findings indicate that POI, self-leadership, and strategies of self-leadership are positively related to manager's IIB. Further, the results show that self-leadership fully mediates the relationship between POI and manager's IIB and that the perceived organizational risk-taking and gender of the respondents moderate the mediating effect of self-leadership on the relationship between POI and manager's IIB. Overall, the contribution of the research is not only to gain a more holistic understanding of manager's IIB antecedents but also to provide managers or practitioners with guidance on designing organizational environments that encourage innovation in the technology-driven sector.
DOCUMENT
A culture change within an organization may be of importance in this turbulent world. An assessment of the current and desired cultural profiles can help estimate as to whether any changes are required. In this study the organizational culture of a housing association was examined from both the staff’s and external stakeholders’ perspectives. How does the current culture compare with the desired culture? Do the external stakeholders perceive the organization’s culture in a similar way? Do the staff’s and external stakeholders’ perceptions coincide with the organization’s intended image? The results demonstrate that the external stakeholders’ perceptions of the organizational culture in this case study are similar to those of the organization’s staff.
DOCUMENT
