This study examined the cognitive process by which professional identity affected nursing performance (defined in terms of professional skills and engrossment) via proactivity (defined in terms of positive framing and building supervisor relations). Four hundred and thirty-nine nurses participated in the study. Using the structural equation modelling technique, we found: 1) professional identity was not directly related to either of the performance measures; 2) the effect of professional identity on engrossment was mediated through positive framing and supervisor relations; and 3) professional identity was positively related to both of the performance indirectly through supervisor relations, not via positive framing. Theoretical contributions and practical implications of the study were discussed.

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In this study, we developed a scale for assessing interactions between team members and team building activities in the workplace. In Study 1, a questionnaire was administered to employees (N =797) working in private organizations. The scale consisted of 35 items that included items developed in previous studies and new items. The results of a factor analysis indicated a scale consisting of 19 items and four factors: “Friendly-Interactions,” “Ritualistic- Interactions,” “Harmonious-Interactions,” and “Accommodative-Interactions.” Moreover, the results revealed the reliability and convergent validity as well as criterion-related validity of the factors. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted with employees (N =399) working in private organizations. The results indicated good fit indices of the four-factor model. The reliability and convergent validity, as well as criterion-related validity of the factors, were confirmed.

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This study focuses on “learning therapy,” which is a nonpublic care insurance service developed for long-term care insurance facilities. The study examines whether trust built through interaction among long-term care insurance facilities in learning therapy study groups also affects the willingness to continue providing learning therapy. Innovative services have been extensively studied to address social issues such as nonpublic care insurance services, which have shown the processes of creating and diffusing them. However, the aspect of the continuous provision has been understudied. For such services, continuous provision of services cannot be provided if the facilities are unwilling to continue. This study adopts quantitative analysis using the case of learning therapy. This empirical study applied a questionnaire survey to test the hypothesis using 66 facilities that adopted learning therapy. The willingness to continue to provide the service is the dependent variable, trust in other facilities is the independent variable, and the analysis includes five control variables. Multiple regression analyzes revealed that trust in other facilities and effective practice of the service increased the willingness to continue to provide the service.

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The corporate governance functions effectively by calling for outside experts into the executive board. An inclusion of outside professionals gets Japanese companies cope with encountered business challenges effectively. As compared to large companies, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Japan are reluctant to invite outside people into board members. To date, little research has been done regarding why and how Japanese SMEs have introduced outside executives in corporate decision-makings. There are two main functions provided by part-time executives; monitoring function and advising function for the corporate management. A questionnaire survey and face-to-face interviews were administered in the Kyoto area in order to examine the use of outside experts in SMEs. The current study reports that Japanese SMEs hire outside experts as advisers, rather than part-time board members. It clarifies the important roles played by external executives for managing SMEs, and suggests the credibility of professors in business schools as advisors.

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