Leading for Whom? Teaching-Research Officers' Role Perception and Work Engagement in Chinese Mainland

Purpose:Thepurpose of this article is toanalyzeboth teaching-research officers'(TROs)role perceptions and work engagement,figuring out how their competing roles are balanced to ensure continued work engagement and which roles havegreater benefits to the community and educational reform.Design/Approach/Methods:The study employs a questionnaire,which is composed of an inventory of work role requirements and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale,to investigate TROs'role perception,work engagement,and their relationship.Findings:TROs'work experience had a complicated relationship with their work engagement.The two strands of the TROs'role orientation co-existed within their daily work and strengthened each other through exerting effects on the dedication and absorption aspects of work engagement.However,TROs concerned with teacher development displayed higher work engagement than those who put a greater emphasis on policy implementation.Originality/Value:The study contributes to current research in three respects.First,it bridges the macro-level trend of education reform with micro-level role internalization of individuals.Second,it broadens our understanding of work engagement by linking it with the subjective perceptions of one's work role.Finally,this Chinese case is expected to enrich international perspectives on teacher leaders in the context of top-down districtwide instructional reform.

Identification of Behavior of Voluntary Traceability and Analysis of Its Determinants: A Case Study of Hog Slaughtering and Processing Firms in Zhejiang Province,China

In recent years, the Chinese government has highlighted the importance of adopting hog safety/quality traceability, and a growing amount of research continues to entice firms to adopt traceability systems. In this study, a survey was conducted on a sample of pig slaughtering and processing firms in Zhejiang, China through personal interviews and emails. The aim of this study was to examine the determinants of firm behavior on the implementation of voluntary traceability systems with more stringent standards and controls than those of the mandatory system in China. The results revealed that motivation based on product quality improvement, capital ability and role perception （business type） had significantly positive relationships with a firm＇s voluntary traceability. Other incentives, such as operation improvement, recall risk reduction, reduced occurrence of safety issues, and technical strength were not found to be supportive in our study. This study provides an opportunity to better understand the determinants of firm behavior on voluntary traceability, particularly in light of the fact that some Chinese firms are facing the threat of criminal action for the use of illegal additives and the abuse of Clenbuterol. Policy recommendations on encouraging the implementation of pork safety voluntary traceability by hog slaughtering and processing firms are also discussed.