Natalie Ferres | University of Adelaide (original) (raw)

Papers by Natalie Ferres

Proceedings of the Australasian Business and Behavioural Sciences Association Conference Abbsa 2005, 2015

In a changing environment, behaviour of individual team members remains largely unpredictable. To... more In a changing environment, behaviour of individual team members remains largely unpredictable. To maximise human capital, managers and individuals need to recognise the dedication that urges them to perform well. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the notion of Instinctive Drive (ID)™. It discusses the I.D. System™, where it came from and how it is employed. The paper compares the use of this tool to other validated tools and points to the likely benefits of knowing individuals’ innate drivers and likely responses. The paper indicates this research is theoretically grounded in the field of organisational behaviour and psychology to improve individual and organisational performance by understanding instinctive drives™. This paper presents preliminary results from a much larger study that aims to validate the I.D. System™ questionnaire and follow up. Preliminary results to quantitatively investigate reliability of the tool are promising and further investigations into validity are underway

Whereas traditional transformational leadership studies tend to test the concept as an independen... more Whereas traditional transformational leadership studies tend to test the concept as an independent variable, this paper tests it as a mediator of the effects of management/peer trust, perceived organisational support and procedural justice. The study was undertaken within a large New South Wales (NSW) public sector organisation. In 2000, the organisation’s annual staff survey indicated that levels of trust in management were very low and, as a result, the authors were asked to investigate the possible causes of this outcome. Focus group results and survey questionnaires indicated that trust in management and trust in peers had a significant influence on transformational leadership and that transformational leadership was a significant predictor of turnover intention, OCB conscientiousness and affective commitment. Quantitative results did not support the proposed mediating effects of transformational leadership.

Using qualitative and quantitative methods the current paper investigated the differences in leve... more Using qualitative and quantitative methods the current paper investigated the differences in levels of trust, commitment, procedural justice and turnover intention between Generation-X employees (Gen-Xers) and older age group employees. 234 participants were included in the study, 83 Gen-X subjects and 151 older, non Gen-X subjects. No difference between the Gen-X and the older group was found for levels of affective commitment or trust. As predicted, Gen-X employees displayed lower continuance commitment, exhibited stronger turnover intentions, and had lower scores for perceptions of procedural justice. Relationships between the variables were similar across the Gen-X and older age group. The implications of these findings for the effective management of Gen-X employees are discussed. Keywords: Generation-X, trust, commitment, procedural justice, turnover intention.

Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 2008

This paper examines the use of development centre methodology to measure the gap in performance f... more This paper examines the use of development centre methodology to measure the gap in performance for fieldwork staff in a social welfare organisation. The process follows the construction of a capability framework, a set of work-based simulations for participants and the use of a 360-degree instrument. These processes are combined to measure and compare capabilities of both high level performers and a random selection of staff at various levels within the organisation. The results are analysed in the context of a range of organisation development options.

Journal of Management and Research, 2003

This paper reports on the findings of a study on trust in the workplace. The study was undertaken... more This paper reports on the findings of a study on trust in the workplace. The study was undertaken within a large local government organisation early in 2001. While the authors recognise that it may be foolish to believe that any organisation can enjoy complete trust amongst its workforce, this paper argues that the presence of certain interpersonal and organisational characteristics results in greater levels of trust, even within the context of organisational constraints. In this case these characteristics involved perceptions of support at the interpersonal and organisational level.

Much has been written in the popular media about the importance of emotional intelligence (EI) in... more Much has been written in the popular media about the importance of emotional intelligence (EI) in determining exceptional leadership. The present research contributes to the academic literature by studying the direct and indirect effects of leader EI on a number of organisational variables. Study 1 was the main focus of the research and progressed in three stages. The first involved the development of a measurement model of an employee survey. Respondents reported on their leaders’ EI and transformational leadership (TL), and self reported on their own attitudes and intentions. Drawing on exploratory (n = 218) and confirmatory factor analysis (n = 230) results, an eight dimensional model was supported. The emergent factors consisted of EI-perception, EI-management, TL-inspiring influence, TL-concern/behaviour, change cynicism and intention to leave. Secondly, a structural model of relationships between the emergent factors was examined then compared to alternative models (n = 448). ...

There were two main aims to the present research. The first was to qualitatively further trust co... more There were two main aims to the present research. The first was to qualitatively further trust content theory by finding a set of dimensions that activate and sustain trust in the workplace. From these dimensions, a second objective was to construct and validate Workplace Trust Survey (WTS) items for measuring trust from different levels within an organisation (organisational, immediate manager, co-worker). The qualitative phase consisted of four focus groupseach divided into management and non-managementconducted within four facilities of the health authority under investigation (N = 31). Definite trust themes were collected using focus group narratives and content analysis. Obtained themes were translated into WTS items, which were screened for content validity via an expert panel. A survey containing the WTS and other items measuring demographics, dispositional trust, transformational leadership, perceived organisational support, affective commitment and turnover intention was di...

Journal of Management Research, Dec 19, 2003

Australian Journal of Adult Learning, Jan 6, 2008

Mindset strategies to effectively navigate change: Written for APSC's 'Dealing with Change' Core ... more Mindset strategies to effectively navigate change: Written for APSC's 'Dealing with Change' Core Skills program (2014)

Strategic Change, 2005

This study compares levels of organizational trust and connected variables between two groups of ... more This study compares levels of organizational trust and connected variables between two groups of employees from an Australian public health organization.One group (N = 123) is based in a hospital that will close as part of the organization's transformational strategy, and the other group (N = 152) is based in other hospitals that will remain open. The first group will become redeployed amongst departments in the remaining hospitals.The relationships between trust, transformational leadership, fairness, perceived organizational support (POS), commitment, organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB conscientiousness) and intention to turnover were investigated, in addition to the relative levels of these variables between the two cohorts of employees.The hypothesis that future redeployment would result in comparatively negative evaluations of organizational trust and associated constructs was not supported, whereas the hypothesis that traditional exchange relationships would be relevant regardless of an employee's situation was partially upheld.The theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed.This study compares levels of organizational trust and connected variables between two groups of employees from an Australian public health organization.One group (N = 123) is based in a hospital that will close as part of the organization's transformational strategy, and the other group (N = 152) is based in other hospitals that will remain open. The first group will become redeployed amongst departments in the remaining hospitals.The relationships between trust, transformational leadership, fairness, perceived organizational support (POS), commitment, organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB conscientiousness) and intention to turnover were investigated, in addition to the relative levels of these variables between the two cohorts of employees.The hypothesis that future redeployment would result in comparatively negative evaluations of organizational trust and associated constructs was not supported, whereas the hypothesis that traditional exchange relationships would be relevant regardless of an employee's situation was partially upheld.The theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed.Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Personnel Review, 2003

... Natalie Ferres, Newcastle Graduate School of Business, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Au... more ... Natalie Ferres, Newcastle Graduate School of Business, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia. ... cited conceptualisation emphasises interpersonal relationships and a willingness to be vulnerable (Mayer et al., 1995) based on the conviction that the latter party is ...

Journal of Managerial Psychology, 2004

... Anthony Travaglione, Asia Pacific Graduate School of Management, Charles Sturt University, Ba... more ... Anthony Travaglione, Asia Pacific Graduate School of Management, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, Australia. Abstract. ... on trust in management, or the reciprocal trust inherent in manager-subordinate relationships as the organisational trust referent (Albrecht and Travaglione ...