By Rania Nasrallah-Massaad

The impact of workplace climate on employee health

Employee mental health is a central determinant of overall health. Regardless of age, gender, or social standing, it affects employee productivity, with immeasurable costs to organizations. Until recently, the contribution of employee mental illness to negative workplace outcomes like poor performance, illness, absenteeism, and high staff turnover has been unappreciated.

Most employees are not aware of the mental health support and resources available to them in the workplace, and most employers undervalue the need to provide mental health services to their employees. A greater awareness of the benefits employee mental health and a more supportive workplace environment can offer will improve the overall work experience for everyone. A tool to measure an employee’s perception of the mental health climate (workplace awareness and value of mental health and support available for employees) can help the employer determine whether there is a need for more mental health awareness in the workplace and improve resources to support employees.

What is this research about?

Professors Jennifer Dimoff and Laurent Lapierre received a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Development Grant  to develop a tool to measure how employees perceive their workplace mental health climate and study the extent to which a supportive mental health climate influences employee work and mental health outcomes.

Project title: Mental illness in the workplace: Understanding the impact of mental health climate on employees

Who will benefit from this research?

This work will offer academic and practical perspectives, providing researchers with the tools needed to study workplace mental health and helping employers evaluate the mental health climate, thus improving work and health outcomes for their employees. Everyone will benefit from a workplace that values mental health and offers support to those with mental illness, resulting in a positive personal and professional experience.

Learn more about the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Development Grants.

By Rania Nasrallah-Massaad

To sustain behavioural change is challenging. We have all experienced the frustration of setting a New Year’s resolution to lose weight, exercise more or quit smoking, only to give it up within less than a month. Nonetheless, behavioural change can benefit us in many aspects of our lives, including self-management of various chronic conditions, adherence to preventive behaviours like physical distancing and wearing a mask during disease outbreaks, and coping with stress at home or in the workplace.

Habit formation contributes a great deal to behavioural change. Digital technologies, which are transforming every facet of our lives, including how we travel, communicate and learn, can also be used to help break old habits and form new ones. It’s just not clear how. Thus, it is essential to understand first how these digital technologies can contribute to habit formation; only then can efficient behavioural change support systems be designed to enable sustained change.

What is this research about?

Professor Pavel Andreev received a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Development Grant to study how behavioural change support systems can facilitate sustained change through habit formation and to develop habit formation support system design principles.

Project Title: Towards Sustainable Behavior Change: Developing and Validating a Theory Explaining How Habits Can Be Formed Using Digital Technologies 

Who will benefit from this research?

This work will help provide a theoretical understanding of how habits can be formed with the support of digital technologies and how this can lead to sustained behavioural change. From a practical standpoint, it can help guide the design of systems that support habit formation to promote behavioural change.  The research findings will have implications for all industries, including health care, education and others where new policies or practices and behavioural change are needed. But it also can have implications for individuals who must change their behaviour for long-term self-management and overall well-being.

Learn more about the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Development Grants.

For years, AI, cloud computing and other digital platforms have fascinated the business world. However, many businesses have not felt the need to walk the walk when it comes to digital transformation. Some have been ­­too timid to embrace this new world, while others have felt that digital innovation was overwhelming, unnecessary or far-fetched.

COVID-19 has shaken up the world, forcing businesses to reconsider their digital transformation strategies and implement them rapidly in their decision-making, work dynamics, operations and service delivery. It has been a wake-up call for many, and businesses have only had two options: transform or be left behind. Now that Canada’s economy is recovering, it’s not clear if businesses will continue their digital transformation at a similar pace or if innovation will slow down in a post-COVID-19 era.

On July 28, four experts discussed the future of digital transformation. Berjesty Kozanoglu (UX manager, Shopify), Isabelle Perreault, (founder and CEO, Differly Inc.), Pavel Andreev, (Associate Professor, Telfer School of Management), and Umar Ruhi, (Associate Professor, Telfer School of Management) shared practical and evidence-based advice to help businesses continue driving innovation after the pandemic.

The webinar is now available for viewing:

Working through the COVID-19 Crisis:  Managing in the New Normal

As part of our Telfer Forums series, the Telfer School of Management is hosting a series of webinars on managing work and life in the new normal. These virtual events are designed to support our community in navigating the current COVID-19 crisis. Learn more about our Telfer Forums.

What’s “coopetition”?

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the way many businesses operate, manage their workforce and deliver their services and products. It has also changed how certain businesses interact with one another. While business owners and entrepreneurs have traditionally relied on a fierce, competitive business model, the economic situation of the past months has led an increasing number of businesses to form unique relationships referred to as “coopetition.”

It may sound contradictory, but coopetition is exactly what it sounds like: businesses cooperate and compete at the same time.

“Researchers have previously defined coopetition as a paradoxical relationship between two or more organizations simultaneously involved in cooperative and competitive interactions,” says David Crick, Full Professor at the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management.

When competing companies decide to cooperate, they may engage in complementary activities that are mutually beneficial. For instance, they can share knowledge, experience, equipment, funds and other capabilities and resources. Within what is legally permitted, businesses may seek to collaborate with their competitors to survive and, in some cases, thrive. A great example is the business model of wine tours. “Often a group of wine producers form an alliance whereby visitors stop at their cellar doors or tasting rooms,” Professor Crick explains.

A beneficial relationship during tough times

Business coopetition can happen at any time, but this type of cooperation among competing companies seems to increase during economic instability. Researchers know relatively little about what really happens when companies decide to engage in coopetition during economic turmoil. What are the benefits? Does coopetition really help companies overcome the negative effects of a world crisis with the dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic?

To address this knowledge gap, Professor Crick and his co-author (and son) Dr. James Crick (Loughborough University, U.K.) examined how organizations have used coopetition partnerships to cope with some of the challenges brought by the pandemic. They shared their insights in an article titled “Coopetition and COVID-19: Collaborative business-to-business marketing strategies in a pandemic crisis,” published in Industrial Marketing Management.

Lessons learned from the trenches

Professor David Crick believes that once the crisis is over, certain businesses that operate in competitive environments such as the tech sector may want to return to working on their own, employing an individualistic business model unless mutual benefits remain. In less competitive sectors, however, it is unclear how businesses will continue forming and maintaining coopetition partnerships: “We do not know the extent to which it will happen, as practices remain uncertain and difficult to predict,” he says.

As the economy gradually re-opens, many of these businesses will be likely to resume or increase their coopetition practices. In the case of wine tours, for example, Professor Crick believes that it is in wine producers’ interests to restart coopetition practices. “These alliances benefit their businesses, retain family employment—many wineries are family-owned—and support their local wine businesses,” he adds.

Practical advice for business owners and managers

The authors agree that companies may want to explore the potential benefits of coopetition strategies to increase performance, meet unprecedented demand, operate efficient supply chains or simply survive. However, while the idea of coopetition may sound appealing during a time when many businesses face a global crisis, Professor Crick warns: “Coopetition can offer businesses many rewards, but only up to a point.”

It is also important to keep in mind that, although coopetition partnerships involve collaboration with businesses competitors, there will always be some form of competitiveness at play, however limited. Business owners and managers must balance the risks and rewards of coopetition before deciding if it is the right strategy for them.

Professor Crick and his co-author also make a few other key recommendations:

• Given anti-collusion legislation, business owners should be aware of the extent to which the law permits them to engage in coopetition partnerships.
• As in any other relationship, coopetition requires trust. Companies should collaborate with trustworthy, complementary partners who will engage in reciprocal practices.
• If coopetition is mutually beneficial, business owners should be vigilant and take the appropriate precautions to reduce the risk of opportunistic behaviour such as loss of intellectual property.
• Business owners must exhibit strategic flexibility and be prepared to pivot business models to support collaboration with their partners.

If business owners and managers follow these guidelines, coopetition can be a mutually beneficial strategy for them and their partners during a global emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. David Crick is the Paul Desmarais Professor of International Entrepreneurship and Marketing at the Telfer School of Management. His research lies at the intersection of international entrepreneurship and marketing and particularly work that addresses a more effective public/private sector interaction. Startup firms with limited resources and evolving business models are a particular area of interest, including the internationalization processes and entrepreneurs’ support requirements. Learn more about his research.