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Background: Research indicates that a significant number of healthcare workers accounted for all confirmed Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, and many of the infected healthcare workers were asymptomatic. During the COVID-19 outbreak, a considerable number of people in Taiwan contracted the disease. Therefore, health workers in Taiwan often experienced lack of medical resources, and this problem is worse for outer island areas. In terms of stress and mental health, this study investigated the effect of poor healthcare capacity and high workload on health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study also explored mindfulness-based stress reduction and resilience in health workers. Methods: This study conducted an in-depth interview to investigate stress perceived by health workers in a hospital located on an outer island of Taiwan as well as their mental health and stress relieving strategies. Results: It was found that during the COVID-19 outbreak, some common sources of stress for health workers included exposure to infectious diseases, heavy workloads, facing ethical dilemma in clinical decision-making, and unfamiliar problems from the pandemic. These types of stress cause worries, anxiety, and depression in health workers, which affects their mental and physical health as well as their patient-care performance. Conclusion: This study proposed that mindfulness-based stress reduction and protecting mental health are important for health workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to construct a transboundary marine governance mechanism in the Kinmen-Xiamen waters through literature review, field survey, in-depth interview, and expert opinion survey. The study finds that monsoons, ocean currents, and tides are the main factors affecting the drift of marine debris in the Xiamen Sea area to the beaches of Kinmen. The marine debris mainly included marine plastic debris (MPD), bamboo, and wood in Kinmen and was documented impacting a variety of species, including the horseshoe crab to marine mammals the IndoPacific dolphin. In addition, the problem of marine micro-plastic pollution is becoming increasingly worrisome and hazardous to rare creatures in the Xiamen Sea area. The pollution sources of MPD in Xiamen Bay included coastal tourism activities, micro-plastic discharged from sewage treatment plants, plastic waste produced by lost and discarded marine aquaculture, and plastic drifting terrestrial waste transported from the Jiulong River Basin. Our results show that microplastic pollution in the Kinmen-Xiamen waters may have a greater impact on marine ecology and the surrounding environment. The relevant transboundary marine governance mechanisms are discussed in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between online communities operated by different enterprises, tacit knowledge and innovation performance. An attempt was also made to understand whether tacit knowledge plays a mediating role on the relationship between online communities and innovation performance. This study applied questionnaire survey, and 163 enterprises in Taiwan served as the sample. Analyses were conducted by confirmatory factor analysis, hierarchical regression and structural equation modeling. It was found that online communities of the enterprises had significant positive effect on the acquisition of tacit knowledge. Also, tacit knowledge had a significant positive effect on the innovation performance of enterprises. Tacit knowledge had a mediating effect on the relationship between online communities and innovation performance. This study not only proved that communication between online community members promote the acquisition of tacit knowledge, but also tested the mediating effect of tacit knowledge. Therefore, enterprises could be aware of the importance of tacit knowledge (share and apply from operating online communities) to innovation performance. Moreover, enterprises that attach importance to the interaction between online community members and the sharing of tacit knowledge were implicated in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to confirm the applicability of OTC (organizational trust content) in Chinese organizations via the OTI (organizational trust inventory) developed by Cummings and Bromiley (1996). This study explored the vertical and horizontal trust relationships that exist among supervisors, subordinates and colleagues of equal standing through focused interviews and questionnaires to recognize and assess OTC. The results showed that in situations with a high degree of OT (organizational trust), three dimensions coexist namely: 1) the ability to keep commitments, 2) the ability to negotiate honestly, and 3) the ability to NTEA (not taking excessive advantage). Each dimension includes three trust elements: cognition, affection, and intended behavior. Different measuring subjects have significantly different perceptions of OTC, with subordinate recognition being the most trustworthy. At the same time, the integrity performance of colleagues is the most recognized element. Though OTC is applicable in Chinese organizations, the degree of subordinate recognition and the ability to negotiate honestly between colleagues are affected by the "respectful superior and inferior subordinate" relationship and the hierarchical authority, which exist in Chinese culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kinmen's coastline has gradually retreated in recently years, which has resulted in changes in coastal landforms. Research shows that possible factors are ocean currents, monsoons, tides, coastal development, and other anthropic factors such as unauthorized sand mining in the sea area between Kinmen and Xiamen. This study utilized a literature analysis, data collection, in-depth interviews, a field study, and expert opinion in order to establish a managing mechanism for marine spatial planning (MSP) for the sea area between Kinmen and Xiamen. To achieve the goal, the study analyzed law enforcement capacity in the sea area between Kinmen and Xiamen and explored how Taiwan and China can shelve sovereignty disputes and make a workable action plan for cooperating in maritime law enforcement based on a pragmatic and reciprocal principle. Finally, the study proposed to build an MSP-based managing mechanism that can be jointly operated by Kinmen, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, and Quanzhou, because they belong to the same sea area. The results of this study can provide information on marine issues encountered in the governance of countries surrounding seas, such as the marine pollution problems of the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea and Mediterranean Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper aims to develop the structure of employer brand and discuss whether employees and employers have the same view on the elements of employer brand.Design/methodology/approach The employer brand of Taiwan, which includes 5 facets and 20 eight terms, was obtained. Management, welfare, interest and environment are the common facets of employer brand in China and Western countries. In addition, family and atmosphere is an important factor that merges both Western and Eastern job applicants. Its contents emphasize family life, which is only found in applicants from Taiwan and China.Findings The results showed that enterprises utilize functional factors in order to connect emotions closely and satisfy psychological sustenance, which have true attraction to young Taiwanese applicants and the current workforce of employees.Originality/value In general, after 20 years of establishment and empirical research, the achievements are rich and many practical opinions are provided. However, most of the existing literatures come from the researches of Western scholars, and they may be affected by the Western social value. This study has explored the Oriental and Western literatures. In the study field of Taiwan, it is found that employer brand will definitely show different style features due to the cultural difference. Therefore, when an enterprise applies the relevant connotation of the employer brand, it is necessary considering the cultural difference. This shows the importance of cross-cultural study of employer brand recently. At the same time, this also highlights the contribution of this study on theory and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents an ongoing project, emerging market (EM) evaluation project, of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER). The purpose of this project is to construct a composite indicator (CI) named as growth potential index (GPI) for selecting the promising EMs, in which to begin new or expand existing business is attractive to governments, firms, and investors. However, weight determination is one of the most difficult tasks in the construction process of a CI. A new approach inspired by the Z score and rooted in data envelopment analysis (DEA) is proposed to objectively determine the common weights for constructing the GPI without requiring data normalisation beforehand. The same dataset is used to compare the proposed common weight approach with the equal weighting method (currently used by the TIER), the widely used DEA-CI model, and the first common weight DEA-CI model. Spearman’s rank correlation test revealed a high positive correlation between the GPIs obtained by the proposed approach and each considered method. The major findings include: (1) China is the most promising EM; (2) Argentina, China, Malaysia, Poland, and Russia are above-average EMs; (3) India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Thailand are below-average EMs; and (4) of the so-called BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), China is the best EM, and India is the worst EM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Improving employees’ change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is important because of the work content and service nature of the National Immigration Agency (NIA). The purpose of this paper, which targeted immigration workers using the work design model (knowledge oriented), leadership types and organizational climate as perspectives, is to study immigration workers’ change-oriented OCB. Inspecting the knowledge-oriented work characteristics (KOWCs) of the NIA of Taiwan to find ways of stimulating change-oriented OCB through employees’ high self-efficacy is also critical. The investigators also explored how transformational leadership and organizational climate directly affect employees’ change-oriented OCB in a cross-level organization.Design/methodology/approach The subject of this research is the frontline immigration workers of Taiwan’s NIA, with its entire staff on duty at the country’s airports and ports as targets of the research. This study used a total of 312 questionnaires.Findings At the group level, transformational leadership shows significant positive influence on organizational climate. KOWCs can positively influence self-efficacy and affect change-oriented OCB on an individual basis; similarly, self-efficacy can also positively impact the individual’s change-oriented OCB. In addition, transformational leadership and organizational climate have a contextual effect on the outcome variable on an individual basis.Originality/value This finding is helpful for researching and practicing implications of HRM, such as in further understanding how the motivation from work characteristics, organization’s environment and interpersonal networks can increase employees’ change-oriented OCB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The original article has been corrected. The online version of the original article can be found at https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01340-9 B Correction: Current Psychology (2021) b https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-01340-9 The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose Border management, barring illegal foreign workers, and immigrant counseling are three major functions of the National Immigration Agency (NIA) of Taiwan. These functions are composed of traditional “job” as well as social “work” characteristics. In other words, these functions have shifted from a “position”-based job design to an “overall operation”-based work design that incorporates environmental and situational factors. The purpose of this paper is to examine frontline immigration workers in Taiwan in order to determine how the motivational (task-oriented) and social work (social-oriented) characteristics (SWCs) of the immigration work design model influence immigration workers’ organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs).Design/methodology/approach The authors collected 312 questionnaires, of which 304 were valid, with 230 completed by men and 74 by women.Findings The results revealed that SWCs and collective efficacy at the group level had significantly positive effects on collective efficacy and service-oriented OCB, respectively. Task-oriented work characteristics had positive effects on self-efficacy and thus on individual level service-oriented OCB, and self-efficacy also had positive effects on individual service-oriented OCB. Both SWCs and collective efficacy had a contextual effect on individual-level outcome variables. Furthermore, the combination of SWCs with self-efficacy had cross-level effects on individuals’ service-oriented OCB.Originality/value These findings can enhance people’s understanding of how the social and motivational power of work characteristics can encourage employees to exhibit service-oriented OCB. This implies that the NIA can stimulate individual self-motivation and affect group-level efficacy and service-oriented OCB through the environmental context and social relationship characteristics of border affairs brigades (branches). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human capital is a source of competitive advantage for organizations, in which education and training play important roles in the process of increasing the quality and quantity of human capital. Specifically, large-scale multinationals use systemized, structured methods to establish education and training systems. By studying the employees in a major food company in China, this paper is to investigate the influence of education and training on employees' work attitudes and the moderating effect of supervisors' attitudes. It is found that education and training have a positive influence on employees' work attitudes. Among the training courses, the training of managerial ability has the most significant influence, followed by self-development courses. In addition, supervisors' attitudes toward employees receiving managerial ability training, during and after the training, clearly have a positive moderating effect on employees' overall work attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mainland China's economy has been developing rapidly. Unfortunately, it has led to an increase in municipal and industrial waste, including in Xiamen, in which is has greatly increased. Kinmen is located outside the estuary of the Jiulong River in Fujian, Mainland China, opposite to Xiamen Bay. Whenever there is heavy rainfall, the waste that flows along the Jiulong River is incredible. Kinmen unavoidably has to bear the invasion of floating marine debris due to the effect of ocean currents, tides and monsoons. It does not only pollute the Kinmen sea area, but it also affects the scenery of the beaches in Kinmen. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the data of Kinmen and Xiamen governments regarding the cleaning of floating marine debris, and the differences in distribution areas according to the monsoon, ocean current and tides. In-depth interviews, field investigation, and collection of expert opinions were applied in order to determine the research implication. The results of this study provide information on the marine issues encountered in the governance of the countries surrounding the sea. The study suggests that the transboundary marine governance mechanism should be established in order to effectively solve the problem of floating marine debris in Kinmen–Xiamen Waters. For the welfare of the people, it is expected that the governments of Mainland China and Taiwan will uphold the principle of "pragmatism and reciprocity" by working together to maintain the marine environment in Kinmen–Xiamen waters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of work characteristics on members' self-efficacy and collective efficacy, and the subsequent effect on police officers' performance. Design/methodology/approach – A multilevel model is adopted to analyze quantitative data obtained by using 812 police officers and 54 chiefs of police stations in Taiwan as the research objects. Findings – The authors found that work characteristics affected members' self-efficacy and collective efficacy, which further affected the individual- and group-level performance and the contextual effect of social work characteristics (SWCs) and collective efficacy on self-efficacy and individual performance. The authors also confirmed the cross-level moderation of social characteristics on the relationship between motivational work characteristics (MWCs) and self-efficacy, and between self-efficacy and individual performance. Research limitations/implications – A limitation was the characteristics of the sample, which consisted of mostly first-line uniformed police officers in Taiwan. From the perspective of managerial implications, it is felt that police organizations should beef up the training on police officers' collective efficacy, such as building group spirit, improving members' sense of responsibility, and building up trust with the organization. Originality/value – The findings prove that the study of work design is particularly important for enhancing the management effectiveness of police organization, because it explains the causes of a number of organizational behaviors as well as a number of important results that influence the police organization (e.g. efficacy and performance). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public security, traffic management, and service for the people are the 3 major functions of policing in Taiwan. This definition encompasses not only the traditional job characteristics, but also the level of contextual characteristics and social characteristics because of police work's characteristics and its frequent interaction with the public. Thus, the present study conducted a multilevel model analysis by taking self-efficacy and collective efficacy as the mediating variables. The purpose was to investigate the influences of motivational work characteristics (knowledge-oriented) and social work characteristics (socially and contextually oriented) of work-design model on the police officers' organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), by using first-line police officers in Taiwan as the research objects. The study showed not only that knowledge characteristics will influence the self-efficacy of a police officer and that self-efficacy can in turn influence individual police officers' OCB, but also the contextual effect of social characteristics, contextual characteristics, and collective efficacy on self-efficacy and individuals' OCB. Additionally, there was a crosslevel moderating effect from contextual characteristics on the relationship between knowledge characteristics and self-efficacy and the relationship between self-efficacy and the individuals' OCB. The authors conclude the article with research implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shaping of employees' innovativeness is an important way of building a sustainable organization. Therefore, in order to have a sustainable police organization, the innovativeness of the police must be established in order to achieve the objective of maintaining law and order. In this study, Taiwan's first-line border police officers served as the research subject, and the cross-level model perspective was adopted to investigate their innovativeness from task-oriented and socially oriented viewpoints. At the same time, investigations were made into the cross-level direct and indirect effects of social work characteristics and collective efficacy toward police officers' self-efficacy and innovativeness. A multilevel model was adopted to analyze the quantitative data obtained with 249 border police officers in Taiwan as the research objects. The results showed that social work characteristics have a positive influence on collective efficacy, and motivational work characteristics have a positive influence on employees' self-efficacy and innovativeness. Their self-efficacy showed a positive influence on innovativeness, and a mediating effect on the relationship between motivational work characteristics and innovativeness. Moreover, social work characteristics and collective efficacy have a cross-level contextual effect on self-efficacy and innovativeness, while social work characteristics and self-efficacy have a cross-level interaction on police officers' innovativeness. In general, this study confirmed the importance of employees' innovativeness for the establishment of a sustainable police organization. The characteristics of social and motivational work, self-efficacy, and collective effectiveness are important variables for establishing employees' innovativeness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education and training not only play the key role to promote the sustainable ability of employees, but in the establishment of employees' work attitudes as well. Moreover, leaders play an important role in promoting the effectiveness of education and training. The objectives of this study were to explore the effect of the police department's annual subject training on the work attitudes of harbor police. This study also examined the moderating effect of supervisor attitudes on the association between police training effectiveness and police's work attitudes in expectation to more concretely understand the role of supervisor attitudes in the harbor police's annual subject training, to consolidate the good work attitude of the police for sustainability. The frontline police officers of Taiwan's harbor police agency were chosen as the study population. This study adopted the convenience sampling method to conduct the questionnaire survey in August 2019. It requested for the respondents who replied to the questionnaire within 15 days after receiving the questionnaire to be considered as the first respondents. For those who replied to the questionnaire no later than one month were considered as the second respondents. This paper collected a total of 584 questionnaires and 492 were valid. The result of this study showed that education and training had a highly positive effect on the work attitudes of police officers. Moreover, the overall attitudes of supervisors toward police education and training were found to have a significantly positive moderating effect on the association between education and training effectiveness and the police's work attitudes. The results of this study prove the linkage between the effectiveness of education and training and the supervisor attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]