Comparing the impact of management on public and private nurses in Bangladesh

• Published date: 03 October 2019
• Date: 03 October 2019
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-01-2019-0023
• Pages: 741-758
• Author: Matthew Xerri,Farr-Wharton Ben,Yvonne Brunetto,Frank Crossan,Rona Beattie
• Subject Matter: Public policy & environmental management

Comparing the impact of

management on public and private

nurses in Bangladesh

Matthew Xerri

Department of Employment Relations and Human Resources,

Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia

Ben Farr-Wharton

University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, Australia

Yvonne Brunetto

Southern Cross University, Gold Coast Campus, Gold Coast, Australia, and

Frank Crossan and Rona Beattie

Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to use conservation of resources (COR) theory as a lens for comparing

the impact of line management on Bangladeshi public and private nurses’perception of work harassment,

well-being and turnover intentions where Anglo-American and European management models have been

super-imposed on an existing different culture.

Design/methodology/approach –Survey data were collected from 317 Bangladeshi nurses’(131 from the

public sector and 186 from the private sector). Structural equation modelling was used for analysis.

Findings –High work harassment was associated with low-being, and together with management practices, it

explained approximately a quarter of private sector nurses’well-being. In total, management, work harassment

and employee well-being explained approximately a third of the turnover intentions of public sector nurses,

whereas only work harassment explained approximately a third of private sector nurses’turnover intentions. The

findings suggest a differential impact of management on work harassment across the public and private sector.

Research limitations/implications –Cross-sectional data are susceptible to common method bias.

A common latent factor was included, and several items that were explained by common method variance

were controlled. Further, the findings are limited by the sample size from one sector and the use of only one

developing country.

Practical implications –It is a waste of resources to transplant Anglo-American and European

management models to developing countries without understanding the impact on nurses’outcomes.

Originality/value –Anglo-American and European management models are not easily transferable to the

Bangladesh context probably because of the impact of ties and corruption. Line management is a positive

resource that builds employee well-being for public sector employees only.

Keywords Organizational behaviour, Public sector management, Well-being, Private sector organizations,

Work harassment, Public–private sector

Paper type Research paper

Public sector management models do not easily translate to best practice in developing

countries, mainly because the conditions are too different. For example, in contrast to

developed countries, there are more doctors than nurses in Bangladesh and the demand for

nurses’services exceeds supply whilst continuing to grow in line with population growth;

hence, they work in high-pressure environments (World Health Organisation, 2018; World

Bank, 2016). As a consequence, this paper examines whether Bangladeshi nurses perceive

work harassment similarly to other public and private nurses in developed countries

(Brunetto, Xerri, Trinchero, Farr-Wharton, Shacklock and Borgonovi, 2016) and whether

this affects their turnover intention. Dick (2010) refers to work harassment as a form of

workplace bullying but suggests that it differs from bullying. Specifically, an employee

International Journal of Public

Sector Management

Vol. 32 No. 7, 2019

pp. 741-758

© Emerald PublishingLimited

0951-3558

DOI 10.1108/IJPSM-01-2019-0023

Received 2 February 2019

Revised 27 May 2019

19 July 2019

Accepted 21 July 2019

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/0951-3558.htm

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Public and

private nurses

in Bangladesh

is exposed to work harassment when their employing organisation unreasonably monitors

their actions, sets excessively high workloads, and has stringent accountability standards

(Brunetto, Xerri, Trinchero, Farr-Wharton, Shacklock and Borgonovi, 2016). As such, the

organisation and its managers are the instigators of work harassment.

Work harassment hasbeen identified as a growing problem for publicsector managers in

developed countries (Tummers, Brunetto and Teo, 2016). For example, Brunetto, Xerri,

Trinchero, Farr-Wharton, Shacklock and Borgonovi (2016) compared work harassment of

nurses in Australia and Italy and foundsignificant parallels in their perceptions. More recent

research identified a growing presence and acceptance of work harassment in US and UK

hospitals (Farr-Wharton et al., 2019). The delivery of health services has been significantly

affected by the cost-constraint that mandated the depth and breadth of reformsover the past

four decades which has resulted in the expectation that employees will “do more with less”

(Diefenbach,2009). However, the situation is evenmore pronounced in Bangladesh, wherethe

shortages in nurses, especially in the public sector and in particular, in rural areas, is a

growing problem (Ahmedand Shirahada, 2019). Specifically, there are high levels of resource

inadequacy, withwidespread shortages in basic nursing equipment anda lack of an effective

nurse management systems (World Health Organization, 2016). Such inadequacies in the

Bangladesh system are likely to create a potential haven for work harassment.

The shortage of public sector nurses in Bangladesh is increasingly dire, and in some

cases, the families of patients have to act as carers (Mahdy, 2009). If work harassment is

not managed effectively, then it may negatively influence the profession’s ability to attract

new nurses, and retain them in the job. Whilst there is evidence of work harassment across

different public sector occupations, such as local government and healthcare workers

across different countries –Australia, Ital y, USA (Tummers et al., 2016; Xerri et al., 2016),

thereisnoevidenceastowhetherworkharassmentisanissueindevelopingcountries.In

this study, we have two core aims. The first aim is to develop insight into the impact of line

management on outcomes such as work harassment, well-being and turnover intentions

for nurses working in Bangladeshi hospitals. The second aim is to develop a deeper

understanding of the similarities and differences across the public and private sectors.

In relation to work harassment, in developed countries the theory argues that the role of the

line manager for professionals is very important because of the dual role of the professional

mentor and line manager within the organisational hierarchy. However, line managers

of professionals are also increasingly faced with the issue of “professional hybridity”

(the sometimes-contradictory expectations that managers will bothdevelop nurses’professional

skills and knowledge and ensure task completion) (Noordegraaf, 2015). Nevertheless, a good line

manager is one who can mediate the excessive demands of the hierarchy to ensure appropriate

resourcing and support is available in relation to task completion and professional development

(Farr-Wharton et al., 2011). Although past evidence has established the association between line

management practices and well-being, and between line management practices and turnover

intentions (Brunetto et al., 2013), to the best knowledge of the authors, there is no evidence about

how work harassment may change these established relationships. As such, we aim to add to

the existing evidence by examining the role of work harassment in affecting the association

between satisfaction with line management and employee well-being, and in turn, turnover

intentions within a developing country such as Bangladesh. Such evidence adds to the literature

about the impact of line management on employee well-being and turnover intentions of nurses

within developing countries, in this case, Bangladesh.

Managing both public and private sector employees in developing countries can be

challenging as international HR systems are imported into existing culture-driven

decision-making systems. Most managers were traditionally autocratic in their practices in

South Asia (Khan et al., 2014). However, in the last three decades, the service sector has

undergone significant change mainly because of global forces and government reforms that

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