Exploring Managerial Job Demands and Resources in Transition to Distance Management: A Qualitative Danish Case Study

Nelda Andersone (), Giulia Nardelli, Christine Ipsen and Kasper Edwards
Additional contact information
Nelda Andersone: DTU Management Department, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
Giulia Nardelli: Independent Researcher, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Christine Ipsen: DTU Management Department, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
Kasper Edwards: DTU Management Department, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-29

Abstract: Organizations worldwide have shifted to working from home, requiring managers to engage in distance management using information and communication technologies (ICT). Studies show that managers experience high job demands and inadequate guidance during COVID-19; therefore, the transition to distance management raises questions about the increase in managerial job demands and the impact on managers’ well-being. This study aims to explore first-line managers’ perceptions of job demands and available resources during the first year of the pandemic and understand the implications for first-line managers’ well-being. First-line managers face complex and conflicting demands, making them more challenged in their management task than other management levels. We used the job demands–resources model in this qualitative, longitudinal empirical study. The study draws on 49 semi-structured interviews with seven first-line managers from a large pharmaceutical company in Denmark, whom we followed throughout the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, from May 2020 to May 2021. Our findings suggest that the first-line managers perceived increased emotional and practical demands. While the managers appreciated the initial guidance provided by the organization, they perceived the organizational support as outdated and superficial. As a result, to cope with the uncertainty caused by the pandemic and the shift to distance management, the managers relied on work engagement enablers such as social support. Even though the COVID-19 pandemic portrays unique circumstances in transitioning to distance management that require further exploration outside the COVID-19 context, the insights from this study can assist organizations in developing awareness about transitions to better support first-line management to embrace changes in the future.

Keywords: manager well-being; distance management; job demands; job resources; first-line management; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/69/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/1/69/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2022:i:1:p:69-:d:1010215

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().