Purpose In a knowledge-based economy, employees’ perception of psychological safety in their wok unit is critical for group conflict. The purpose of this study is to investigate the mediating role of psychological safety between the predictors (i.e. organizational trust and empowering leadership) and the outcome variable, group conflict. Design/methodology/approach Data was drawn from 633 employees from a global automobile company headquartered in South Korea. Construct validity of the measurement model was examined using a confirmatory factor analysis. The hypothesized model was tested by a structural equation modeling and the bootstrap analysis. Findings Organizational trust and empowering leadership accounted for 68% of the variance in employees’ psychological safety. The three antecedents (i.e. organizational trust, empowering leadership and psychological safety) explained 20% of the variance in group conflicts. Psychological safety significantly and fully mediated the relationship between organizational trust and group conflict and the relationship between empowering leadership and group conflict. Practical implications Human resources and organization development professionals can help employees feel more psychologically safe in an organization by developing empowering leaders and making more trustworthy organizational culture. When employees perceive a high level of psychological safety, they are likely to feel less conflict in their team. Originality/value This study examined the antecedents and consequences of psychological safety of knowledge workers in a non-Western cultural context. Psychological safety played a pivotal role as a mediator. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that empirically found the direct link between organizational trust and psychological safety and the relationship between empowerment leadership and psychological safety.

<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><p style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; text-align: justify; mso-pagination: none;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Organizations today often require collaboration in the form of work teams. Many tasks completed within organizations, whether in the workplace or in academia, however, can be beyond the capabilities of individuals alone. Productive teamwork and cooperative activities in business are expected and can begin very early in a person's career. The pedagogy for teamwork instruction in the classroom may not simulate real workplace events or parallel organizational behavior in order to attain a successful outcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In universities, teamwork often breeds frustration and dysfunction, since the teams often do not perform at a high level or reach their full potential. This paper will provide best practices for creating productive teams in the classroom in preparation for the workforce. This insight will include ideas that will bond team members through collective values and goals, resulting in effective teams and a productive environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span>

The global economy has been devastated in the last year and according to Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, America's economy was threatened, reminiscent of the Great Depression. Our nation is also in a serious ethical and moral decline, as evidenced by steroid use in baseball, corporate scandals, accounting fraud, religious immorality within churches, human trafficking and the rise of cheating and plagiarism in our school systems. The lines between right and wrong have been blurred, relegating moral and ethical boundaries to outdated standards. This paper will seek to establish some answers regarding university students in the classroom such as, what is the perceived attitudes of today’s college students toward ethical behavior, are they naïve, etc? Also, this paper will explore ways in which professors can reinforce appropriate ethical behavior as an essential element in our society.

According to 2014 NMC Horizon Report, the fastest growing jobs in the United Sates in the next 10 years will require college degrees. Community College student enrollment has already increased more than 53% over the last 20 years to attempt to meet this demand (National Association of College and University Business Officers). Some reasons for the increasing trend of students starting their post-secondary education at community colleges may include cost reduction and general preparedness for post-secondary education. Our study analyzes the characteristics of transfers versus traditional students in terms of: GPA, graduation rates and multiple demographic characteristics. This research aims at comparing the academic performance of transfer students versus traditional 4 year students at a singular university, in the areas of graduation rates, timeframes and overall Grade Point Average.