Category Archives: Management

Management

Building local legitimacy into corporate social responsibility: Gold mining firms in developing nations

Gifford, Blair, Kestler, Andrew, and Anand, Sharmila
Journal of World Business; July 2010, Vol. 45 Issue 3, pp. 304-311, 8p

A transnational model of global strategy suggests that multi-national enterprises generally rely on proven global capabilities to adapt existing business models. Alternatively, this paper argues that the transnational model needs to be amended to allow for a hybrid approach that balances local and global strategies for multi-national gold (MNGs) firms working in developing nations. This is illustrated by Newmont Mining”s efforts to develop local legitimacy through contributions to community development around its gold mining operations in Peru. We then compare the Newmont case with corporate social responsibility (CSR) at other MNGs. We have found that there appears to be an industry-wide institutional environment developing which includes local CSR projects in an attempt to balance the effects of capitalism between global markets and developing nations.

Management

Failing to Learn? The Effects of Failure and Success on Organizational Learning in the Global Orbital Launch Vehicle Industry

Peter M. Madsen and Vinit Desai
Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 53, Issue 3, June 2010, pp. 451 – 476

It is unclear whether the common finding of improved organizational performance with increasing organizational experience is driven by learning from success, learning from failure, or some combination of the two. We disaggregate these types of experience and address their relative (and interactive) effects on organizational performance in the orbital launch vehicle industry. We find that organizations learn more effectively from failures than successes, that knowledge from failure depreciates more slowly than knowledge from success, and that prior stocks of experience and the magnitude of failure influence how effectively organizations can learn from various forms of experience.

Management

Self-Assessment of Knowledge: A Cognitive Learning or Affective Measure?

Traci Sitzmann, Katherine Ely, Kenneth G. Brown, Kristina N. Bauer
Academy of Management Learning and Education, Vol. 9  Issue 2,  pp. 169-191

We conducted a meta-analysis to clarify the construct validity of self-assessments of knowledge in education and workplace training. Self-assessment’s strongest correlations were with motivation and satisfaction, two affective evaluation outcomes. The relationship between self-assessment and cognitive learning was moderate. Even under conditions that optimized the self-assessment-cognitive learning relationship (e.g., when learners practiced self-assessing and received feedback on their self-assessments), the relationship was still weaker than the self-assessment-motivation relationship. We also examined how researchers interpreted self-assessed knowledge, and discovered that nearly a third of evaluation studies interpreted self-assessed knowledge data as evidence of cognitive learning. Based on these findings, we offer recommendations for evaluation practice that involve a more limited role for self-assessment.

Management

Rule violations and organizational search: A review and extension

Vinit M. Desai
International Journal of Management Reviews, Jun. 2010, Vol. 12 Issue 2, pp. 184-200

Whether they are formally prescribed or informally agreed upon, rules delineate the types of behavior deemed acceptable or appropriate within organizations. Studies often find that negative outcomes such as decreased group cohesion and higher turnover result when rules are broken. However, research rarely examines the potential positive effects of rule violations. Rules describe expectations about behavior within routines, or patterns of activity in organizations. When rules are violated by individuals, it could be an indication that the associated patterns of activity are no longer appropriate and that changes to the routines are needed. Organizations may learn from these violations if the violations trigger a search for new ways to organize activities, but this connection between violations and the search for new routines is affected by several factors. Drawing from a review and discussion of rules, routines, and research on organizational search and learning, this paper develops propositions regarding how rule violations motivate the search for new routines. This perspective integrates the literatures on rule-breaking and organizational search, and also suggests that managers who attend to patterns of rule-breaking within their organizations may detect drift from their environments and take corrective action earlier than suggested by other organizational learning research.

Management

Do Organizations Have to Change to Learn? Examining the Effects of Technological Change and Learning from Failures in the Natural Gas Distribution Industry

Vinit Desai
Industrial and Corporate Change, Volume 19, Issue 3, Pp. 713-739

Failures contain valuable information. However, organizations vary at learning from them. I ask whether failures prompt organizations to make technological investments, and whether these investments help boost performance beyond improvements gained through direct organizational learning. I test hypotheses on natural gas distributors to determine whether they enhance their performance by learning directly, by recognizing failures as prompts to invest in safer technologies, or through a combination. Results suggest that distributors learn directly, though firms, which also invest in related technologies, are able to gain some additional benefits.

Management

Physical Attractiveness Biases in Ratings of Employment Suitability: Tracking Down the “Beauty is Beastly” Effect.

Johnson, Stefanie, Podratz, Kenneth, Dipboye, Robert, and Gibbons, Ellie
Journal of Social Psychology,  May/Jun2010, Vol. 150 Issue 3, p301-318

The “what is beautiful is good” heuristic suggests that physically attractive persons benefit from their attractiveness in a large range of situations, including perceptions of employment suitability. Conversely, the “beauty is beastly” effect suggests that attractiveness can be detrimental to women in certain employment contexts, although these findings have been less consistent than those for the “what is beautiful is good” effect. The current research seeks to uncover situations in which beauty might be detrimental for female applicants. In two studies, we found that attractiveness can be detrimental for women applying for masculine sex-typed jobs for which physical appearance is perceived as unimportant.

Management

Acting As If We Were New

C. Marlena Fiol
Journal of Management Inquiry, Vol 19, Issue 1,  pp. 85–88.

Lest you think that I’m writing only to (or about) those of us who are old(er) in the field of organization studies, let me assure you that I am not. Yes, much of the research of us older folks is not fresh and new, but neither is that of much of the younger generation either. I recently had the opportunity to read numerous dissertation proposals, most of which cited elders in our field after every fourth or fifth word, and they contained very little content beyond spinning together old and often severely flawed theories. These young folks, who are diligently following our conventions of displaying knowledge of and building on existing theory, would benefit from learning to act as if they were new, as would many of us who are old.

Management

Sometimes You Need a Reminder: The Effects of Prompting Self-Regulation on Regulatory Processes, Learning, and Attrition

Traci Sitzmann and Katherine Ely
Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 95, Issue 1, pp. 132-144

Prompting self-regulation involves asking trainees reflective questions to stimulate self-regulatory engagement. Research has found positive effects for prompting self-regulation on learning, but a scarcity of evidence exists regarding whether self-regulatory processes mediate the effect of prompting self-regulation, whether the intervention reduces attrition, and the optimal timing of implementing the intervention. Using a longitudinal design, we found that prompting self-regulation throughout training increased learning and reduced attrition, relative to the control condition. Moreover, the effect on learning was fully mediated by time on task. The intervention also moderated the effect of learning on subsequent self-regulatory activity and attrition. Learning performance had less of a positive effect on subsequent self-regulatory activity and less of a negative effect on subsequent attrition when trainees were prompted to self-regulate. These results highlight the importance of adopting a longitudinal design to examine how self-regulatory interventions affect the cyclical relationships among self-regulatory processes, learning, and attrition.

Management

Realities of Working in Virtual Teams: Affective and Attitudinal Outcomes of Using Computer-Mediated Communication

Johnson, Stefanie K.,  Bettenhausen, Kenneth and Gibbons, Ellie
Small Group Research, Vol. 40 Issue 6,  pp. 623-649

Many organizations are using computer-mediated communication to facilitate group work among virtual teams. However, little is known about the effects of using computer-mediated communication on team member outcomes. Examining use of computer-mediated communication as a continuum, the authors found that team members who used computer-mediated communication more often experienced lower levels of positive affect while working with their teams and had lower levels of affective commitment to their teams. Positive affect mediated the relationship between use of computer-mediated communication and affective commitment. Moreover, this study identified a tipping point (using computer-mediated communication more than 90% of the time) at which the use of computer-mediated communication was particularly detrimental to team outcomes.

Management

Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Performance Evaluations: Distributive Justice or Injustice?

Johnson, Stefanie, Holladay, Courtney and Quinones, Miguel
Journal of Business & Psychology; Vol. 24  Issue 4,  pp. 409-418.

The purpose of this study was to examine employees’ reactions to the use of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) in performance evaluations. In addition, gender differences in such reactions were examined. Data were obtained from a sample of working adults ( n = 78) and a sample of students ( n = 249). In the first study, participants compared the fairness of 11 different weighting combinations of OCB and core task behavior, using a within-subjects design. In the second study, low, medium, and high weightings of OCB were compared using a between-subjects design. In both studies, participants reported that evaluating employees on OCB was fair. OCB weightings of 30– 50% were perceived as the most fair. Men felt that OCB weighting of 20–30% were the most fair and women felt that OCB weightings of 25–50% were the most fair. Considering that employees are evaluated on their OCB, it is important to know that they feel that it is fair to do so. Choosing how heavily to weigh OCB may be more difficult, although weightings of 25–30% OCB were perceived to be fair to both the men and women in this research. This is the first study to examine employee reactions to the use of OCB in performance evaluations and add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that there are gender differences in the perceptions of OCB.

Management

Do you feel what I feel? Mood contagion and leadership outcomes

Johnson, Stefanie K.
Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 20 Issue 5, pp. 814-827

This research examines the role of mood and mood contagion in a leadership situation. In phase 1 of the study participants received a positive or negative mood induction and completed a leadership speech describing how to complete a hiring task. In phase 2, participants watched one of the speeches from phase 1, completed ratings, and performed the hiring task. Followers in the positive mood condition had higher levels of positive mood and lower levels of negative mood, rated their leaders as more charismatic, and performed better than followers in the negative mood condition. Followers” mood mediated the relationship between leader mood and follower outcomes. In the third phase of the study, participants read transcripts of the speeches from phase 2 but experienced no change in mood or performance, suggesting the previous effects found in phase 2 were due to mood contagion rather than the content of the speeches.

Management

Scale coarseness as a methodological artifact: Correcting correlation coefficients attenuated from using coarse scales

Aguinis, H., Pierce, C. A., & Culpepper, S. A.
Organizational Research Methods , Vol. 12 Issue 4, pp. 623-652

Scale coarseness is a pervasive yet ignored methodological artifact that attenuates observed
correlation coefficients in relation to population coefficients. The authors describe how to
disattenuate correlations that are biased by scale coarseness in primary-level as well as metaanalytic studies and derive the sampling error variance for the corrected correlation. Results of two Monte Carlo simulations reveal that the correction procedure is accurate and show the extent to which coarseness biases the correlation coefficient under various conditions (i.e., value of the population correlation, number of item scale points, and number of scale items).
The authors also offer a Web-based computer program that disattenuates correlations at the primary-study level and computes the sampling error variance as well as confidence intervals for the corrected correlation. Using this program, which implements the correction in primary- level studies, and incorporating the suggested correction in meta-analytic reviews will lead to more accurate estimates of construct-level correlation coefficients.

Management

Understanding perceived organizational identity during crisis and change: A threat/opportunity framework

Sarah Kovoor-Misra
Journal of Organizational Change Management Vol. 22 Issue 5, p494-510

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for predicting the role and effects of perceived organizational identity (POI) on organizational members’ perceptions and behaviors during crisis and change situations, and the scope of the resulting POT changes that may occur. Design/methodology/approach – The paper brings together research on crisis, change, threat/opportunity, and POI, along with case study data to create a threat/opportunity framework for making these predictions. Findings – Based on whether threat or opportunity is perceived during crisis and change situations, different aspects of individuals’ POIs will become salient. In threat situations, individuals will focus on perceptions of “who we are.” In opportunity situations, individuals will also focus on “who we could be.” The focus of attention and the threat/opportunity context will influence organizational identification, learning, and openness to change; and whether incremental or transformational POI change occurs. The perception of “who we could be” will motivate more change than the ideal organizational identity or the image of “who we want to be” that is typically studied in the literature. The scope of POI change is also dependent on perceptions of identity cost and the identity gap. Research limitations/implications – Future research can test the hypotheses suggested here in various crisis and change contexts. Also, differentiating between threat and opportunity contexts is important for understanding the role of POI, and the extent to which POI changes can occur in crisis and change situations. Studies of resistance to POI change could consider whether individuals perceived the identity cost and the identity gap as being too low. More research on POI in opportunity contexts could expand understanding of the POI image of “who we could be” in motivating POI change. Finally, further integration of the literature on crisis and change can benefit both fields. Practical implications – Practitioners can predict which aspects of POI will become salient in threat and opportunity conditions, and manage their different effects. For individuals to learn and change their POIs during crisis and change situations, managers need to diminish heightened perceptions of threat and shift the focus of attention to “who we could be.” Top managers’ claims of “who we could be” need to be perceived by organizational members as being desirable and attainable in order to be motivating. Finally, to create transformational POI change, executives need to highlight the identity cost of not changing, and the size of the identity gap. Originality/value – The threatlopportunity framework enables new predictions of the role and effects of POI in crisis and change situations. The paper highlights the POI image of “who we could be,” defines incremental and transformational POI change, redefines the identity gap concept, and introduces the notion of identity cost to provide a framework for predicting the scope of POI change that has received limited research attention. Finally, the paper contributes to research on POI in opportunity-oriented conditions, and integrates research on crisis and change.

Management

Using Web-based frame-of-reference training to decrease biases in personality-based job analysis: An experimental field study

Aguinis, H., Mazurkiewicz, M. D., & Heggestad, E. D.
Personnel Psychology Summer2009, Vol. 62 Issue 2, p. 405-438.

We identify sources of biases in personality-based job analysis (PBJA) ratings and offer a web-based frame-of-reference (FOR) training program to mitigate these biases. Given the use of job analysis data for the development of staffing, performance management, and many other human resource management systems, using biased PBJA ratings is likely to lead to a workforce that is increasingly homogenous in terms of personality, but not necessarily a workforce with improved levels of performance. We conducted a field experiment (i.e., full random assignment) using two independent samples of employees in a city government and found evidence in support of the presence of biases as well as the effectiveness of the proposed solution. Specifically, FOR training was successful at decreasing the average correlation between job incumbents’ self-reported personality and PBJA ratings from .27 to .07 (administrative support assistants) and from .30 to .09 (supervisors). Also, FOR training was successful at decreasing mean PBJA ratings by d = .44 (administrative support assistants) and by d = .68 (supervisors). We offer the entire set of web-based FOR training materials for use in future research and applications.

Management

First Decade of Organizational Research Methods

Aguinis, Herman, Pierce, Charles, Bosco, Frank and Muslin, Ivan S.
Organizational Research Methods Vol. 12, Issue 1, p. 69-112

The authors conducted a content analysis of the 193 articles published in the first 10 volumes (1998 to 2007) of Organizational Research Methods (ORM). The most popular quantitative topics are surveys, temporal issues, and electronic/Web research (research design); validity, reliability, and level of analysis of the dependent variable (measurement); and multiple regression/correlation, structural equation modeling, and multilevel research (data analysis). The most popular qualitative topics are interpretive, policy capturing, and action research (research design); surveys and reliability (measurement); and interpretive, policy capturing, and content analysis (data analysis). The authors found upward trends in the attention devoted to surveys and electronic/Web research, interpretive, and action research (research design); level of analysis of the dependent variable and validity (measurement); and multilevel research (data analysis). Implications for training doctoral students, retooling researchers, future research on methodology, the advancement of the organizational sciences, and the extent to which ORM is fulfilling its mission are discussed.

Management

Managing Intractable Identity Conflicts

C. Marlene Fiol, Michael G. Pratt, and Edward J. O’Connor
The Academy of Management Review Vol. 34, Issue 1, p. 32 – 55

Identity is often at the heart of ongoing intergroup conflicts in organizations. Drawing from theories of conflict management, social identity, and organizational identification, we develop the intractable identity conflict resolution model, which delineates a multiphase process by which the conflicting parties’ identities shift in order to permit eventual intergroup harmony.

Management

Benefits of training and development for individuals and teams, organizations, and society

Aguinis, H., & Kraiger, K.
Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 60

This article provides a review of the training and development literature since the year 2000. We review the literature focusing on the benefits of training and development for individuals and teams, organizations, and society. Our review, which adopts a multi-disciplinary, multi-level, and global perspective, demonstrates that training and development activities in work organizations can produce important benefits for each of these stakeholders. We also review the literature on needs assessment and pre-training states, training design and delivery, training evaluation, and transfer of training to identify the conditions under which the benefits of training and development are maximized. Finally, we also identify research gaps and offer directions for future research.

Business Analytics, Management

In the Aftermath of an Acquisition: Triggers and Effects on Perceived Organizational Identity

Sarah Kovoor-Misra and Marlene A. Smith
The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science Vol. 44, Issue 4, p. 422-444

This study examines how the POIs of members of an online retail organization were affected after an acquisition. The authors find that (a) POI is more complex than previously understood, and continuity, change and confusion in POI can coexist. (b) The organizational change reactivated previously unresolved POI issues. (c) The structure of POI includes cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions, and changes occurred in these dimensions. (d) Top managers and employees who have more interactions with outsiders in their jobs tend to be more confused and make less POI change than employees who primarily deal with internal operations. Finally, (e) the image of the acquired organization and the change strategies used are triggers of POI confusion and/or change in the acquiring organization. This article highlights the experience of individuals in the acquiring organization and suggests that POI is an important lens for understanding and managing organizational changes.