Behavioral integrity (BI)—a perception that a person acts in ways that are consistent with their words—has been shown to have an impact on many areas of work life. However, there have been few studies of BI in Eastern cultural contexts. Differences in communication style and the nature of hierarchical relationships suggest that spoken commitments are interpreted differently in the East and the West. We performed three scenario-based experiments that look at response to word–deed inconsistency in different cultures. The experiments show that Indians, Koreans, and Taiwanese do not as readily revise BI downward following a broken promise as do Americans (Study 1), that the U.S.–Indian difference is especially pronounced when the speaker is a boss rather than a subordinate (Study 2), and that people exposed to both cultures adjust perceptions of BI based on the cultural context of where the speaking occurs (Study 3).
Public policy regulations, designed to legitimate and protect fragile, fledgling new firms from failure, on the surface, appear to be of great value. According to Stinchcombe, to the extent that such policies serve as "standard social routines," they may even work to decrease the liability of newness. Using a sample of more than 2,600 new banks chartered in the United States over a 15-year span under the supervision of three different regulatory agencies, we find that failure rates vary according to nuances in the differences in regulations levied by these agencies. Paradoxically, banks that are initially subject to more stringent regulations, intended to limit their strategic choices to a set of "safe and sound" practices, and protect them from failure during their early stages of existence, in fact, have a higher likelihood of failure after those restrictive regulations are lifted. Our results suggest that public policy attempts to thwart the liability of newness are in fact a "fix that fails," as public policy regulations designed to reduce the liability of newness merely delay the inevitable.
This work builds upon an existing stream of research that seeks to empirically elucidate the role of legitimacy in helping entrepreneurs overcome liabilities of newness. More specifically, we examine the relationship between legitimating activities and performance in new ventures. We add to the empirical literature on the legitimacy/performance relation by focusing on top performing firms (on multiple performance measures) during the initial phase of the organizational life cycle. Moreover, we submit that our longitudinal sample, which includes data from nearly 5,000 new ventures, offers an important opportunity to enhance the external validity of this base of literature. Interestingly, we find that the value of engaging in legitimating activities depends upon the outcome measure. With regard to top line performance, and in accordance with theory and extant literature, we find that companies engaging in more legitimating activities at start-up are more likely to be top performers as they move beyond the "birth" phase. However, with regard to profitability, engaging in these activities may actually be detrimental.
Guanxi has long been thought to play a critical role in understanding and practicing leadership, teamwork, and organizational partnerships in China. Researchers have argued that guanxi can be usefully understood as a kind of close relationship that obliges partners to assist each other. This study proposes that the theory of cooperation and competition as developed in the West can help us to understand how guanxi affects partner relationships. Findings from data on partnerships between banks and small or medium enterprises in Shanghai support the argument that guanxi strengthens cooperative goals, which in turn results in relationship commitment and productive conflict. Our study’s findings suggest that partners with guanxi interact in mutually beneficial ways that enhance their cooperative goals. Further research is needed to provide a stronger foundation for the causal inferences of these findings, and to investigate whether guanxi as it is known in China can also serve to develop cooperative goals, relationship commitment, and productive conflict among partnerships in other Asian societies and in the West.
Liabilities of newness and smallness as well as other issues (e.g., "imprinting") that affect nascent firms represent foundational entrepreneurship issues. The articles in this Special Issue examine if and how these critical issues have changed over time, especially given recent innovations (e.g., crowdfunding) and other trends in society. We believe that a special issue devoted to these topics is especially timely not only because this research can inform current management theory, policy, and practice, but also because it has now been five and three decades, respectively, since the publication of Stinchcombe’s and Aldrich and Auster’s seminal works on these issues. These anniversaries, thus, provide an ideal time to reflect on findings, to date, and plot potential future research avenues.
The imprinting perspective suggests that the decisions made early in the life of a firm may have lasting impact on its ability to move in a strategic direction. Utilizing this perspective, we examine whether the initial strategic resources (human, financial, and technological) imprint ventures in regard to the existence of an exit sale strategy and with variations in three common exit sales strategies, namely, (a) sale of the firm’s share to the public market (initial public offering [IPO]), (b) sale to another firm (strategic acquisition), and (c) sale of the firm to another individual (private sale). Our results indicate that technological resources are related to the presence of an intended exit sale strategy. Furthermore, human, financial, and technological resources differentially impact the three sales strategies, and firm size moderates the imprinting effects of resources on exit outcomes differentially depending on the type of resource and exit strategy being considered. This work contributes to our limited understanding of exit sales strategies and demonstrates that different initial resources affect whether the firm has an exit sales strategy and imprint variations in the type of exit sale considered in unique ways. Furthermore, the article advances our understanding of the impact of size on exit sales strategies. Finally, this research adds to the imprinting literature by demonstrating (as many have proposed) that the start-up period is a sensitive period that imprints the firm with enduring consequences and outcomes.
CEO power seems to be a double-edged sword: Agency-theoretic research views CEO power as ultimately detrimental to the firm, whereas the strategic leadership literature highlights the instrumental role of CEO power in getting things done. These competing perspectives motivate a lively debate in the organizational literature on the performance consequences of CEO power. To extend this line of inquiry, we examine the CEO power–firm performance relation during industry turmoil and delve into the role of three critical situational exigencies—managerial discretion, market competitiveness, and technological innovativeness. Predictions are tested on publicly traded Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 1500 firms in the United States using archival data over 20 years. Implications for further research and practice are discussed.
This article presents a conceptual discussion and a theoretical framework explaining how the liabilities of newness, which are traditionally thought of as disadvantages that young companies face, contribute to early firm internationalization. Through a systematic analysis of the liabilities that international new ventures face, as well as the liabilities and the advantages that a young age provides, we are able to integrate findings from the existing body of diffuse research on newness and internationalization, and develop propositions for future empirical research. Based on previous liabilities of newness and foreignness research, our study provides a novel theoretical model that explains early internationalization over and beyond existing internationalization models.
Two decades of informative research has asserted that legitimacy attainment is essential to the survival and growth of emerging ventures, yet little empirical research has been conducted to either (a) validate the notion that emerging ventures transition from pre-legitimacy to legitimacy, or (b) identify when such a transition happens for the average new venture. Hence, the present research seeks to begin bridging this substantial gap by introducing and testing the notion that a financial legitimacy threshold (FLT) exists within emerging ventures. Using attainment of financing as a proxy for initial legitimacy, we test our hypothesis that an FLT exists on two large, independent data sets—the 1998 (N = 3,033) and 2003 (N = 3,751) Surveys of Small Business Finances. Results indicate that emerging ventures tend to finally transition to legitimacy and, thus, substantially shed external liabilities of newness at 12 years of age, six employees, and $379,000 in sales. Our findings that an FLT exists advance the literature by (a) suggesting that new venture legitimacy is a dichotomous variable that emerging firms either do or do not possess, and (b) articulating a point in size, age, and revenue that average emerging ventures must achieve before they are able to substantially neutralize external newness liabilities via legitimacy attainment.
Personality traits are often theorized to affect team performance by predisposing members to perform individual-level behaviors. Yet, member personality traits may also affect team performance by creating contextual influences on member behaviors. As such, the purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of team personality composition on individual-level performance using hierarchical linear modeling. A range of effects for team-level elevation were observed, but few effects emerged for team-level heterogeneity. Main effects from elevation in Extraversion and Openness to Experience were consistently observed across analyses. The main effects from team elevation in Conscientiousness and Agreeableness, however, were only observed prior to controlling for individual-level trait scores or when using a group-mean centering method for individual-level trait scores. In addition, elevation in Conscientiousness and heterogeneity in Emotional Stability moderated the relationships between individual trait scores and performance, such that individual-level relations were stronger when team elevation was higher (Conscientiousness) and heterogeneity was lower (Emotional Stability). These findings provide evidence that team member personality can influence performance through contextual phenomena.
Research into workplace mentoring is primarily focused on the experiences and perceptions of individuals involved in the relationship, while there is scarcely any research focusing on the impact of mentoring relationships on their social environment. This exploratory research aims to give insight into how coworkers’ perceptions and experiences of informal mentoring relationships in their workgroup are related to their perceptions of workgroup functioning. The results of 21 semistructured interviews show that coworkers believe that mentoring relationships affect their workgroup’s functioning by influencing both their workgroup’s performance and climate. Coworkers applied an instrumental perspective and described how they think that mentoring relationships both improve and hinder their workgroup’s performance as they influence the individual functioning of mentor and protégé, the workgroup’s efficiency, and organizational outcomes. Furthermore, coworkers applied a relational perspective and described how mentoring relationships may influence their workgroup’s climate in primarily negative ways as they may be perceived as a subgroup, cause feelings of distrust and envy, and are associated with power issues. The results of this study emphasize the importance of studying mentoring relationships in their broader organizational context and set the groundwork for future research on mentoring relationships in workgroups.
A recent focus on social contexts in the psychological contracts literature has provided the bases for the study of psychological contract fulfillment (PCF) at higher levels of analysis. Continuing these efforts, we develop a model of two key constructs of PCF at the team level: shared team PCF and shared individual PCF. In this article, we provide definitions and theorize about the processes that govern the emergence of these constructs. In addition, we discuss enabling factors for the emergence of the constructs and conceptually differentiate them from other related team-level constructs. We also propose a nomological network of the relationships of shared team PCF and shared individual PCF with important team-level variables, considering at the same time the interplay between individual and collective phenomena. The model provides new insights about antecedents and outcomes of PCF constructs at the team level. Finally, we discuss theoretical and practical implications as well as directions for future research.
Integration processes after mergers are fraught with difficulties, and constitute a main cause of merger failure. This study focuses on the human aspect of post-merger integration, and in particular, on the role of occupational identification. We theorize and empirically demonstrate by means of a survey design that employees’ identification with their occupation is positively related to their willingness to cooperate in the post-merger integration process, over and above the effect of organization members’ organizational identification. This positive effect of occupational identification is stronger for uniformed personnel but attenuates in the course of the integration process. Qualitative interviews further explore and interpret the results from our statistical analysis. Together, these findings have important practical implications and suggest future research directions.
Green human resource management (green HRM) refers to a set of HRM practices that organizations adopt to improve employee workplace green performance. While the effect of perceived green HRM on employee workplace green performance has received some empirical support, its relationship with employee non-green workplace outcomes remains unexplored and, therefore, unknown. This research tests an integrative moderated-mediation model related to the relationship between perceived green HRM and non-green workplace outcomes including employee task performance, organizational citizenship behavior toward the organization (OCBO) and intention to quit, and the underlying mechanisms. Analyses of the multisourced data reveal that perceived green HRM influences these three non-green employee workplace outcomes through a motivational social and psychological process (i.e., organizational identification). Perceived organizational support (POS) moderates the effect of perceived green HRM on organizational identification and the indirect effect of perceived green HRM on the three employee workplace outcomes, via the mediation of organizational identification. This research advances our knowledge about the relationship between perceived green HRM and non-green employee workplace outcomes.
Although helping behaviors have increased in importance as work has become more interdependent, employees may be hesitant to help others for fear of it affecting their ability to complete their own tasks. Drawing from social learning theory and self-determination theory, we propose and test a multilevel model that examines the effects of supervisor prosocial motivation and psychological safety on employee psychological safety, thriving, and helping behaviors. Using data collected from 245 employees and 83 supervisors, the results of our study demonstrate support for a positive relationship between supervisor psychological safety and employee psychological safety. We also found positive indirect effects of supervisor prosocial motivation on employee psychological safety. Finally, we found that the relationship between employee psychological safety and both helping behaviors and task performance occurred indirectly through employee thriving. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings and also make suggestions for future research directions.
One of the enduring insights about early-stage creative efforts is that their prospects for success depend on their ability to overcome a variety of liabilities of newness. In our study, we address one aspect of such liabilities: the ability to communicate credible claims about the merits of an idea when raising the funds required for execution. The narratives employed during fundraising are both a vehicle for assembling details about nascent ideas and a structure for communicating them to a wider audience. With this communication, entrepreneurs signal information that potential backers use to evaluate the claims. We argue that using language to differentiate new creative projects from the status quo is beneficial because of signal clarity, but employing a language of accountability that discloses too much information (TMI) may actually backfire when raising funds in open settings. We test this argument by analyzing a sample of crowdfunding campaign texts and find evidence supportive of our predictions. These results advance the literature on entrepreneurial narratives and signaling, establish some baseline characteristics of donation- and reward-based crowdfunding sites, and reinvigorate the application of Stinchcombe’s arguments about the liabilities of newness within a contemporary context.
This study conceptually and empirically explores how project complexity and bonding forms of social capital influence performance outcomes in network organizations. Specifically, we focus on how bonding social capital within network organizations—measured as frequency of collaboration and degree of network coupling—can influence project performance outcomes both (a) directly by facilitating cooperative interaction and (b) contingently by mitigating the transaction costs associated with the management of complex projects. Using longitudinal data on contracted construction jobs to test our hypotheses, we find that project complexity is negatively related to project performance and bonding social capital has both direct and moderating effects. Contrary to expectations, however, we find that the different types of bonding social capital affect project performance uniquely and not always in an improved direction. Our findings suggest a more multifarious relationship than previous social capital research might imply.
Innovation literature typically postulates a linear and institution-driven implementation process that leads to bifurcated outcomes (i.e., acceptance or rejection) of innovation. Adopting a grounded theory approach and a social constructionist perspective, we explore dynamic, interactive implementation processes unfolding over time; these processes generate divergent and often unexpected outcomes. The present qualitative analysis of 40 cases of innovation reveals that two competing forces shape the implementation process. As initiators of innovation implementation, top managers form a driving force and introduce various tactics to facilitate implementation. Resistors or individuals against innovation form a resisting force and organize various schemes to inhibit implementation. The relative strengths of driving and resisting forces lead to four different patterns of implementation, namely, implementation without change, modified implementation, minimal implementation, and implementation failure. Dynamic interactions between initiators and resistors shift implementation outcomes by changing the perceptions of followers with regard to innovation characteristics. The resulting theoretical framework highlights the political nature of innovation implementation and indicates the need to consider socioeconomic and sociopolitical dynamics involving multiple organizational actors.
Although empowering leadership is generally considered to be a desirable leadership approach, its effectiveness has been questioned and the response is mixed. Integrating the "Too-Much-of-a-Good-Thing" effect and dual task processing, this study examines the relationship between empowering leadership and task performance. Specifically, we suggest a curvilinear relationship between empowering leadership and employee task performance. Further, applying a leadership contingency perspective, we propose that the curvilinear relationship between empowering leadership and employee task performance is moderated by employee learning orientation. Using survey data from 137 supervisor–subordinate dyads, our results show that the inverted U-shaped relationship between empowering leadership and employee task performance is moderated by employee learning orientation. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
By extracting insights from leader–member exchange (LMX) theory and social identity theory, this study predicted that a leader’s interactional justice is associated with followers’ multifoci identification by personalized and depersonalized mediating mechanisms. Specifically, we hypothesized that a leader’s interactional justice affects (a) followers’ relational identification via the LMX as a personalized response and (b) followers’ work-group identification via status judgments (pride and respect) as a depersonalized response. The study’s constructs were measured on three separate occasions over an interval of 4 months, using data from a sample of 322 employees at a large public university. As predicted, we found that (a) LMX mediates the relationship between interactional justice and relational identification and (b) status judgments (pride and respect) mediate the relationships between interactional justice and work-group identification. Theoretical and practical implications for these findings are discussed.
The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive nomological validity of employee engagement using a set of three job attitudes commonly linked to employee engagement. Prior research concerned with the nomological network of employee engagement has predominantly considered bivariate relationships, thus missing the opportunity to fully understand the intricate and interrelated relationship between employee engagement and job attitudes. Scale- and subscale-level correlations were obtained from a previously published set of survey responses (n = 1,580) to decompose employee engagement variance into orthogonal (i.e., non-overlapping) components associated with every possible combination of the three job attitude predictor set (2 k – 1 = 7). Results suggested that across both overall measures, job satisfaction contributed the most unique variance to employee engagement, followed by job involvement and organizational commitment. Findings indicated that when applying employee engagement in both research and practice, care should be taken in scale selection across models—especially those involving such as constructs. This study provides evidence of the importance for considering a construct’s nomological network within the broader management and human resource–related literature. This research not only advances the theoretical and research understanding of employee engagement but also assists practitioners in deploying precise, well-crafted measures of engagement in the field.
Machines are increasingly becoming a substitute for human skills and intelligence in a number of fields where decisions that are crucial to group performance have to be taken under stringent constraints—for example, when an army contingent has to devise battlefield tactics or when a medical team has to diagnose and treat a life-threatening condition or illness. We hypothesize a scenario where similar machine-based intelligent technology is available to support, and even substitute human decision making in an organizational leadership context. We do not engage in any metaphysical debate on the plausibility of such a scenario. Rather, we contend that given what we observe in several other fields of human decision making, such a scenario may very well eventuate in the near future. We argue a number of "positives" that can be expected to emerge out of automated group and organizational leadership decision making. We also posit several anti-theses—"negatives" that can also potentially emerge from the hypothesized scenario and critically consider their implications. We aim to bring leadership and organization theorists, as well as researchers in machine intelligence, together at the discussion table for the first time and postulate that while leadership decision making in a group/organizational context could be effectively delegated to an artificial-intelligence (AI)-based decision system, this would need to be subject to the devising of crucial safeguarding conditions.
This study draws insights from the literatures on entrepreneurial learning from failure and organizational imprinting to develop an evolutionary phase model to explain how prior business failure experience influences successive newly started businesses. Using multiple case studies of entrepreneurs located in an institutionally developing society in Sub-Sahara Africa, we uncover four distinctive phases of postentrepreneurial business failure: grief and despair, transition, formation, and legacy phases. We find that while the grieving and transition phases entailed processes of reflecting and learning lessons from the business failure experiences, the formation and legacy phases involve processes of imprinting entrepreneurs’ experiential knowledge on their successive new start-up firms. We conclude by outlining a number of fruitful avenues for future research.
Although research has established individual difference antecedents of voice behavior, little is known about the role of individual differences in psychological needs that affect voice. We draw on needs theory to propose a needs-driven approach to studying voice behavior. Specifically, we hypothesize that individual’s need for affiliation has differential effects on promotive voice and prohibitive voice, leader–member exchange (LMX) transmits the effects of personal need for affiliation on the two types of voice, and group cohesion weakens the indirect effects of the need for affiliation on the two types of voice behavior through LMX. We test these hypotheses with samples of 215 employees from 42 groups in China. The results have supported all the hypotheses. Implications to theory and practice are discussed.
The present study examines the mediational role of collective engagement in the relationship between team cohesion and team creative performance. A reciprocal process was expected to unfold across creativity task episodes: (a) team cohesion leads to collective task engagement, which in turn has a positive effect on team creative performance (perceived team performance and independently rated creativity), and (b) perceived team creative performance predicts the development of future team cohesion. The study relied on a longitudinal three-wave research design through an organizational simulation exercise, in which 118 project teams (605 individuals) were charged with three creativity tasks. This study advances collective task engagement as an important mediational process explaining team performance in creative activities.
Positivity has been heralded for its individual benefits. However, how positivity dynamically unfolds within the temporal flow of team interactions remains unclear. This is an important oversight, as positivity can be key to team problem solving and performance. In this study, we examine how team micro-processes affect the likelihood of positivity occurring within dynamic team interactions. In doing so, we build on and expand previous work on individual positivity and integrate theory on temporal team processes, interaction rituals, and team problem solving. We analyze 43,139 utterances during the meetings of 43 problem-solving teams in two organizations. First, we find that the observed overall frequency of positivity behavior in a team is positively related to managerial ratings of team performance. Second, using statistical discourse analysis, we show that solution-focused behavior and previous positivity within the team interaction process increase the likelihood of subsequent positivity expressions, whereas positivity is less likely after problem-focused behavior. Dynamic speaker switches moderate these effects, such that interaction instances involving more speakers increase the facilitating effects of solutions and earlier positivity for subsequent positivity within team interactions. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of micro-level team positivity and its performance benefits.
Although there is some evidence individuals’ knowledge of the organization’s social network can be a valuable resource, providing advantages, it is unclear whether those advantages also relate to employee performance outcomes, such as career advancement. Thus, the question this study seeks to answer is "Does accuracy of the social network provide a unique resource unto itself, positively affecting one’s promotion in the organization?" This question is answered from a social exchange and social resources view using cognitive social structure-style data collected in the call center of a large U.S. restaurant equipment manufacturing firm. Evidence suggests that social network accuracy of the work-related trust and distrust networks increased the chances for promotion compared with the less accurate. In addition, trust and distrust network accuracy moderated supervisor-rated performance effects on promotion, such that accuracy is generally more beneficial for low compared with high performance individuals, increasing their chances of promotion. Contributions to research in career advancement, social networks, network cognition, and positive and negative tie perception are discussed.
Guanxi has strong implications for interactions among individuals in Chinese society. This study investigates guanxi-based governance mechanisms in the context of knowledge transfer among Chinese small and medium-sized manufacturing firms. We analyze, in-depth, qualitative interview data gathered from 78 Chinese engineers who work for Chinese small and medium-sized die-casting manufacturers. Our findings reveal that guanxi influences the production of three forms of guanxi-enabled trust: guanxi-enabled relational trust, calculative trust, and institutional trust. By combining these forms of trust, we generate a typology of seven guanxi-based governance mechanisms for knowledge transfer—"guanxi-hu," "huibao," "lun," "gan-qing," "jiao-qing," "ren-qing," and "mianzi." We discuss the research and managerial implications of our findings.
A large number of research studies in the stress literature over the previous 20 years have examined how organizational demands influence experienced stress; however, little research has examined how perceptions of organizational fit influence experienced stress and the stress process. In the present study, we use the conservation of resources (COR) theory to examine how perceptions of hindrance stressors, challenge stressors, and organizational fit (i.e., a resource) affect employees’ intrapersonal (i.e., job satisfaction and work intensity) and interpersonal (i.e., interpersonal workplace deviance and work-to-family conflict) outcomes through job strain (i.e., job tension) and motivational (i.e., vigor) cognitive stress processes. Results from three samples of data (nSample 1 = 268, nSample 2 = 259, nSample 3 = 168) largely supported the hypothesized model and suggested that perceptions of organizational fit can be a resource associated with favorable effects on employees’ stress processes. Thus, we contribute to the stress and fit literatures by proposing and demonstrating empirical support for a COR theoretical explanation of why perceptions of organizational fit are a resource for employees. The results are important because they help provide a broader view of the effects of perceptions of organizational fit on employees’ stress processes than offered by prior research and suggest that organizational leaders have the opportunity to help employees manage workplace stress by fostering perceptions of organizational fit. Implications of results for theory and practice, strengths, limitations, and directions for future research are presented.
Guided by a framework for multilevel construct validation, this study identified incivility climate as a new facet-specific climate construct. Referring to shared perceptions about the uncivil behaviors, practices, and norms that exist within a team, the construct of incivility climate is fundamental for future research investigating and estimating the effect of workplace incivility at the team level. Data from three separate samples totaling 1,110 employees and 50 work teams were used to test the internal consistency, confirm factor structure, and assess convergent and incremental validity of a new measure at both the individual and team level. The results support the construct validity of incivility climate along with the utility of the Team Incivility Climate Scale. Theoretical implications and practical applications of the construct and measure are described.
Given recent calls for enhancing multilevel leadership research, the present study uses event-level data to test the proposition that follower leadership perceptions result from aggregated personal observations of leader behavior. Although this proposition implies causality, it has been mostly tested with between-person retrospective data, coupled with correlational study designs. Our data refer to the perceived nature of leadership messages communicated during the most recent conversation with followers. These event-level data were used in a feedback intervention coupled with goal setting and population norms devised to change leader verbal behavior. The study was designed as a randomized field experiment in a manufacturing company in which supervisors in the experimental group received two feedback sessions regarding the extent to which conversation participants perceived their messages as transformative, transactive (corrective), or passive. Supervisors in the control group received no feedback. The data indicated significant changes in verbal leader behavior for experimental group supervisors, remaining unchanged in the control group. Such changes resulted in matching changes in follower leadership perceptions, measured 8 weeks before and after the intervention. Furthermore, performance outcomes improved in the experimental group, remaining unchanged in the control group. Implications for leadership research are discussed.
This study employs a multi-method research design to examine how remote workers, or employees who work solely from home, manage the work–family interface. Our qualitative study revealed that working from home creates unique challenges for remote workers because the work role becomes embedded in the family domain such that their home comes to be associated with the work role, work physically and psychologically intrudes upon their family, and habits and norms form that induce remote workers to be preoccupied with work when home. Based on the qualitative findings, a model was proposed and tested via a questionnaire. Findings from this study of remote workers demonstrated that work–family integration increases family-to-work conflict and work-to-family conflict, and that an inability to disengage from work increases work-to-family conflict. Furthermore, strong work–family integration was found to be particularly harmful to male remote workers’ work-to-family conflict whereas a strong inability to disengage from work was found to be particularly harmful to female remote workers’ work-to-family conflict. Our findings therefore revealed that working solely from home encourages remote workers to overwork and to allow their work to infringe on their family role.
Departing from existing studies based on general notion of creativity, we highlight the driver or initiating force behind creative engagement in organizations. To this end, we distinguish between proactive and responsive creativity and provide a nuanced perspective on the processes underlying distinct types of employee creativity. We propose that job complexity indirectly affects proactive and responsive creativity of employees by promoting psychological empowerment and cognitive overload, respectively. The ambiguity tolerance of employees is hypothesized to moderate the indirect effects of job complexity on the two types of creativity. Data collected from 143 employee–supervisor dyads in various companies in Sweden and Korea supported most of our hypotheses. For employees with high ambiguity tolerance, job complexity exhibited a significant indirect effect on proactive creativity through psychological empowerment. For employees with low ambiguity tolerance, job complexity exerted a significant indirect effect on responsive creativity via cognitive overload. By revealing distinct psychological paths toward different types of creativity and identifying a boundary condition for such processes, the present study provides an ecologically valid explanation regarding creativity in organizations.
Previous research asserts that teams working in routine situations pass through performance episodes characterized by action and transition phases, while other evidence suggests that certain team behaviors significantly influence team effectiveness during nonroutine situations. We integrate these two areas of research—one focusing on the temporal nature of team episodic performance and the other on interaction patterns and planning in teams—to more fully understand how teams working in dynamic settings successfully transition across routine and nonroutine situations. Using behavioral data collected from airline flight crews working in a flight simulator, we find that different interaction pattern characteristics are related to team performance in routine and nonroutine situations, and that teams engage in more contingency, in-process planning behavior during routine versus nonroutine situations. Moreover, we find that the relationship between this in-process planning and subsequent team adaptiveness is curvilinear (inverted U-shaped). That is, team contingency or in-process planning activity may initially increase team adaptiveness, but too much planning has adverse effects on subsequent performance.
Drawing on Gilliland’s selection fairness framework, we examined antecedents and behavioral effects of applicant procedural fairness perceptions before, during, and after a personnel selection procedure using a six-wave longitudinal research design. Results showed that both perceived post-test fairness and pre-feedback fairness perceptions are related to job offer acceptance and job performance after 18 months, but not to job performance after 36 months. Pre-test and post-test procedural fairness perceptions were mainly related to formal characteristics and interpersonal treatment, whereas pre-feedback fairness perceptions were related to formal characteristics and explanations. The impact of fairness attributes of formal characteristics and interpersonal treatment diminished over time, whereas attributes of explanation were only associated with pre-feedback fairness. Results are discussed in terms of theoretical implications for fairness research and for hiring organizations.
We examine the role of self-monitoring personality in shaping network change in two important types of social relationships. In a two-wave social network study, we find that individuals with higher levels of self-monitoring derive persistent personality-linked in-degree centrality benefits in the general socializing network but have fading benefits over time in the close friendship network. Simultaneous examination of the formation and dissolution of relationships over time (network churn) reveals that this pattern of network change is shaped by differential reactions of relationship partners to individuals based upon level of self-monitoring in the two network types. Overall, by incorporating the dynamic reactions of relationship partners, the findings contribute to the understanding of the complex relationship between personality and social network development.
Teams are an important part of most organizations. As such, it is necessary that organizational leaders make a number of decisions regarding how to pay teams. In this article, prominent themes in the teams literature and the pay-for-performance literature are integrated to develop a framework of team pay-for-performance effectiveness. Using this framework as a guide, the literature on team pay-for-performance is reviewed. Important dimensions of the team pay-for-performance construct are identified, and mediating paths between these dimensions and team outcomes are clarified. This integration leads to identification and discussion of valuable areas for future work.
This study examined the relationship between ethical leadership and multidimensional organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), specifically organization-targeted OCBs (OCBO) and individual-targeted OCBs (OCBI). In addition, the study examined the multiple mediating effects of self-efficacy, respect, and leader–member exchange (LMX) on the relationship between ethical leadership and OCBO, as well as the relationship between ethical leadership and OCBI. Through the application of a hierarchical linear model, an analysis of the results from 656 dyadic supervisor–subordinate data from 145 business units in Taiwan showed that both respect and LMX significantly mediated the ethical leadership–OCBO and leadership–OCBI relationships. The implications of these results for theory and practice and directions for future research are also discussed.
Conventional wisdom from the popular and scholarly literatures consistently suggests that positive humor by leaders can be beneficial, but that negative humor should be avoided at all costs. To explore the boundaries of that conventional wisdom, we draw on leadership and humor theory to develop and test a conceptual model describing the relationships between leader humor, leader–subordinate relationship quality, the subordinate’s tenure with the leader, and subordinate job satisfaction. Analysis of multilevel data from 241 subordinates nested within 70 leaders in 54 organizations revealed that the relationship between leader humor and job satisfaction was dependent on the quality of the leader–subordinate relationship, and not the positive/negative tone of the leader’s humor. Specifically, both positive and negative (i.e., affiliative and aggressive) leader humor styles were positively associated with job satisfaction when the relationship was positive, but both types were negatively associated with job satisfaction when the relationship was negative. Our results also suggested that the effects of positive humor increased with increasing subordinate tenure. We discuss the practical implications of these findings, including the importance of understanding the relational context of humor.
This study examines the influence of CEOs’ intellectually stimulating behavior, namely, encouraging followers to bring up new perspectives and innovative approaches at work, on employees’ perceptions of the meaningfulness of their work. Drawing from a collective sensemaking lens, we predicted that such CEO behavior would have a greater impact on experienced meaningfulness of work in contexts in which inputs to attributing meaning are less certain and clear-cut. Specifically, we examined the moderating roles of firm performance and industry dynamism. We surveyed the CEOs and employees from 43 firms in innovation-driven industries. Our results show lower firm performance or rapid and unpredictable changes in the industry are associated with a stronger positive relationship between CEO intellectual stimulation and employee work meaningfulness. We discuss the implications of our findings for organizational leadership practices.
This study examines the relationship between managerial gender diversity (MGD) and firm performance. It outlines how extremely low and extremely high levels of MGD can trigger group processes that can impede the attainment of the performance benefits associated with moderate levels of MGD. Findings from longitudinal panel data from financial service firms in Portugal suggest that the effects of MGD on firm performance are best captured by a non-linear function with two breaking points. This study introduces a framework that combines different theoretical perspectives focused on tokenism, subgroup formation, divergent thinking, and other group processes linked to positive and negative gender-diversity consequences. Corresponding overall firm-performance outcomes are contingent upon the level of MGD.
Using a multi-wave, multi-level design, this study unravels the impact of subjective (dis)similarities in teams on team effectiveness. Based on optimal distinctiveness theory and the social inclusion model, we assume combined effects of individual and shared perceptions of supplementary and complementary person–team fit on affective and performance-based outcomes. Furthermore, at the team level, we expect this relationship to be mediated by team cohesion. In a sample of 121 participants (across 30 teams), we found that teams in which members share perceptions of high supplementary as well as high complementary fit outperform those in which they do not. In addition, members of such teams report higher levels of team satisfaction and viability. Both of these occur through positive effects on the cohesion within the team. Thereby, our results support the central tenet of the social inclusion model. At the individual level, this enhancing effect of the interaction was not supported, providing additional evidence for considering perceived person–team fit as a collective construct.
Despite the vast amount of research on the antecedents of team performance, the role of subcultures in team contexts has only received scant attention. This study investigates the relationships between different types of team culture and team performance. Team-level analyses conducted on the leaders and members of 104 teams revealed a significant association between internal process team culture and team task performance, as well as a marginally significant relationship between human relations team culture and team task performance. Furthermore, team prevention focus mediated the relationships between internal process and human relations team cultures and team task performance. Team promotion focus mediated the relationship between open system team culture and team creative performance. These findings offer new insights regarding team culture, collective regulatory focus, and team performance.
This study challenges researchers and practitioners in the field of leadership to consider communion as a relevant variable for (male) leadership effectiveness. We suggest that communal traits influence the ability of male leaders to engender cooperation and that this effect is stronger in male-dominated contexts. We argue that this is because relevant traits and leadership behaviors that underscore a sense of community are associated with stereotypically feminine roles and identity. In a series of three studies, experimental as well as survey-based, using Spanish, Dutch, and American samples, we examined such gendered construction of male leadership and its effects on cooperation. Among others, results are discussed in terms of how stereotypically masculine constructions of male leadership may create barriers to effective leadership.
We conducted an experimental study to compare the effects of organization-sponsored gender diversity management programs on women’s evaluations of organizational attractiveness in two countries: the United States and France. Importantly, we examined perceived potential for advancement as a mediator of the relationship, thus elaborating on an underlying mechanism implied by signaling theory. Results from a sample of 230 women in the United States and France provided overall support for the model. We found that country and individual characteristics affect how diversity management signals are translated into perceptions of the organization. We discuss the theoretical and practical contributions of the study, as well as limitations and opportunities for future research.
Organizations establish formal mentoring programs to advance personal and professional development, but not all relationships between mentors and protégés deliver these results. Based on the similarity-attraction paradigm, it is proposed that protégés receive more career and psychosocial support if mentors and protégés have similar personalities. A test of the model with data from a sample of 68 mentor–protégé dyads of a formal mentoring program showed, first, that career support is linked to mentor and protégé similarity in the personality trait openness to experience and, second, that psychosocial support for protégés is linked to mentor and protégé similarity in openness to experience and conscientiousness. It is concluded that matching mentors with protégés on two specific personality traits, openness to experience and conscientiousness, enhances the outcomes of mentoring relationships for protégés.
During an organizational crisis in health care, we collected multilevel data from 426 team members and 52 leaders. The results of hierarchical linear modeling describe the influence of leader behavior on team members’ resilience, which is primarily through affective mechanisms. Specifically, transformational leadership was associated with greater levels of positive affect and lower levels of negative affect, which in turn predicted higher resilience among team members. Inverse effects were found for the passive form of management-by-exception (MBE) leadership. Contrary to expectation, no relationship was found between active MBE leadership and affect. The implications for leaders and team members to foster positive affect and resilience during a crisis are discussed.
We propose and test a novel approach to the dilemma that the very network-bridging structure most likely to provide access to novel knowledge may be ill-suited for the cooperation needed to successfully transfer that knowledge. We theorize that the relational dimension of social capital (e.g., tie strength) can act as a substitute for the structural benefits of network closure, and so a network-bridging tie yields more value when it is also strong. We further investigate if it is emotional closeness, interaction frequency, or trust that underlies this "relational enhancement" effect. The results from analyzing a bounded network in a large consulting firm and egocentric networks in the engineering division of a large manufacturer provide support for the relational-enhancement effect of tie strength and further identify trust as the key mechanism allowing network actors to unlock the value embedded in their network-bridging ties.
Transformational leadership has consistently been argued to enhance team innovation, yet related research has generated ambiguous findings. We suggest that our understanding of leader impact on innovation would benefit from explicitly recognizing both group- and individual-focused transformational leadership dimensions and their distinct effects on team and individual innovation. In particular, we predict a novel contrasting effect in which group-focused transformational leader behavior has a positive impact on team innovation but a negative impact on individual innovation. We further argue that this divergence in leader effect is strengthened by task interdependence, which enhances the negative effects of group-level transformational leadership on individual innovation. Data from 195 members of 56 teams support our predicted pathways, which contribute to a clearer understanding of the complex, multilevel effects of leadership in innovation in teams, and highlight the importance of differentiating between team and individual leader dimensions and outcomes.
Understanding and facilitating new hires’ adjustment are critical to maximizing the effectiveness of recruitment and selection. The aim of the current study is to examine how organizational socialization tactics interact with perceived organizational support (POS) to influence socialization outcomes above and beyond proactive personality. Our sample consisted of 103 blue-collar apprentices from a well-established apprenticeship program that began in the Middle Ages in France. Using a time-lagged design, we surveyed apprentices in their first months of employment, while they were learning their trade (carpentry, roofing, and stone cutting). We found that POS significantly moderated the relationship between socialization tactics and three important socialization outcomes (learning the job, learning work-group norms, and role innovation), such that there was a positive relationship under low POS and a non-significant relationship under high POS. Unexpectedly, POS was negatively related to role innovation. Implications for the organizational socialization literature are discussed.
This research examined the employment contracts and experiences of information technology contractors working on H-1B visas for bodyshopping firms in the United States. Examination of these nontraditional workers allows for the emergence of insights that promote theory development on psychological contracts (PCs). In a qualitative study of 54 Indian contractors, we identified experiences that both contradict and further develop our currently limited understanding of the PC development process. Specifically, we found evidence of underdeveloped contracts, different PC content, missing PC elements, a high frequency of breach, PCs becoming more transactional over time, and the significant role of context in the PC development process. We discuss the implications of our findings related to these nontraditional workers for research on PCs.
The purpose of this study is to broaden our understanding of team boundary activities in promoting team innovation. The model examines the mediating role of boundary activities in the relationship between the structural variables of inter-team goal interdependence and team functional heterogeneity and team innovation. Sixty teams from high-technology companies were studied involving 196 team members and their 60 corresponding team leaders and unit managers to whom the leaders report. Results identified two dimensions of boundary activities: boundary-loosening activities and boundary-tightening activities. Overall, the results of the structural equation model confirmed the mediating role of team boundary activity. The results indicated a positive relationship between the two structural variables and boundary-loosening activities, a negative relationship between functional heterogeneity and boundary-tightening activities, and a positive relationship between the two dimensions of boundary activities and team innovation. Implications, limitations, and directions for further research on team boundary activities are discussed.
Extending previous research on transformational leadership (TFL), the present study explores the mechanisms that explain the relationship between TFL and team performance. Drawing on the three-stage model of TFL (Conger & Kanungo, 1998), we theorize that TFL predicts high levels of team performance through shaping team goal orientation and group affective tone. To test the hypotheses, we use data collected from managers and members of 61 research and development teams and use the partial least squares analysis to test hypotheses. The results show that TFL positively predicts positive group affective tone through team learning goal orientation but negatively predicts negative group affective tone via team avoiding goal orientation. Finally, we find that positive group affective tone is positively associated with team performance, whereas negative group affective tone is negatively associated with team performance.
Sharing knowledge among team members is critical to accomplishing innovation. However, there are motivation and communication barriers to sharing knowledge in teams. In this study of 219 work teams, two mechanisms that have potential for encouraging knowledge sharing (social capital and extrinsic incentives) are examined as they relate to tacit knowledge sharing, explicit knowledge sharing, and team innovation. Tacit knowledge sharing mediated the relationships between cognitive social capital and team innovation as well as between explicit knowledge sharing and team innovation. Explicit knowledge sharing mediated the relationship between relational social capital and team innovation, while both forms of knowledge sharing mediated the relationship between extrinsic incentives for knowledge sharing and team innovation.
Although previous literature has focused on managerial compensation differences between family and non-family firms, the examination of differences in the compensation structure of family directors versus their non-family counterparts within family firms has received much less attention. We analyze several contingencies related to directors’ kinship ties to the owning family that may influence directors’ total compensation levels and their incentive compensation in family firms. The empirical evidence is provided by a sample of publicly listed family firms from the United States. Our results show that family-member directors receive a lower share of variable pay and a lower level of total compensation than non-family directors within the same firm. In addition, a high family ownership concentration and a large proportion of family members on the board impact negatively on the use of incentive compensation among board members with kinship ties to the owning family.
Departing from the prevailing focus of the person–environment (P-E) fit literature on individual-level outcomes, we apply the fit concept to the group level and develop a theoretical framework that elaborates the nomological network involving group-level goal fit and ability fit. Specifically, we propose that the positive affect exhibited by leaders and members is a predictor of group-level goal fit and ability fit. We expect two types of group-level fit to predict group performance by shaping intermediate interactive dynamics among members, such as task and relationship conflict. Our analyses based on 96 work teams with 898 members provide empirical support for most of our hypotheses. Of the two group-level fit constructs, only group-level goal fit exerts a significant effect on group performance, which is completely mediated by task and relationship conflict. These theoretical and empirical developments highlight the potential and benefit of the group-level application of the P-E fit theory.
Workforce diversity has been described as a double-edged sword; it has the potential for positive and negative outcomes. To better understand why and how diversity leads to positive outcomes, we examined the relationship between employee perceptions of diversity climate perceptions and intent to turnover. We explored the role of four psychological outcome variables (organizational commitment, climate for innovation, psychological empowerment, and identity freedom) as possible mediators of this relationship. Racial and gender subgroup differences were also examined. Survey data were collected from 1,731 public employees. Findings suggest that when employees perceive equal access to opportunities and fair treatment, intent to turn over decreases. Furthermore, these relationships are significantly mediated by psychological outcomes. Implications for diversity management and training are discussed.
Feedback orientation is an individual difference variable that represents individuals’ receptivity to feedback. In 2010, Linderbaum and Levy developed and validated a measure of feedback orientation called the Feedback Orientation Scale (FOS). We investigated the validity of the FOS using 172 participants in a leadership development program designed for middle- to senior-level leaders. Our results support the FOS’s convergent validity, as it was correlated with implicit person theory (assumptions regarding the malleability of personal attributes) and achievement motivation. We also found support for the FOS’s criterion-related validity, as it was correlated with participants’ reactions to their 360-degree feedback. Participants’ feedback orientation, however, was unrelated to coach ratings of their openness, likelihood to change, and defensiveness during their feedback sessions.
This study provides a direct test of social exchange theory on knowledge sharing from the perspective of the provider by examining the role of both perceived coworker support (PCS) and perceived organizational support (POS) on the extent to which employees share their knowledge with their coworkers. Also examined is the moderating role of knowledge tacitness. Results show PCS has a strong positive relationship with provider knowledge sharing but, contrary to expectation, POS does not have a significant relationship. Further, knowledge tacitness moderates the relationship between PCS and knowledge sharing such that the relationship between PCS and knowledge sharing is stronger for providers who perceive their knowledge as tacit. However, the difference in knowledge sharing between providers with knowledge high in tacitness versus low in tacitness is greatest at low levels of PCS and decreases as PCS increases. The implications of these findings to research and practice are discussed.
This study examined two potential mediators through which leaders transmit their position power into an effectiveness outcome. Drawing upon recent work integrating trait, situational, and behavioral theories of leadership effectiveness, we hypothesized and tested a model specifying that the interactive effects of leader position power and leader political skill on follower satisfaction would be mediated by followers’ perceptions of leaders’ initiating structure and consideration behaviors. Specifically, this model indicates that leaders who are both in powerful positions and politically skilled are perceived to initiate more structure and demonstrate more consideration for their followers than their nonpolitically skilled counterparts, which, in turn, positively impacts followers’ satisfaction (i.e., an indication of subjective leadership effectiveness). Utilizing 190 leaders and 476 followers, we found support for the hypothesized model. Contributions to various literatures, strengths, limitations, and practical implications are discussed.
Employee engagement is a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption. Using Kahn’s theory of engagement, we look at an organizational context where employee engagement may be promoted—the workgroup meeting. Two time-separated Internet-based surveys were used to query a sample of working adults (N = 319). The findings provide support that the psychological conditions for engagement mediate the relationship between manager usage/facilitation of meetings and overall employee engagement. Specifically, as managers make their workgroup meetings relevant, allow for employee voice in their meetings where possible, and manage the meeting from a time perspective, employees appear poised to fully engage themselves in their work in general. The results suggest that managers can use a common workplace activity, workgroup meetings, to engage their employees when they use/facilitate meetings in an effective manner.
Employee turnover rates are among the highest for entry-level employees in the hospitality industry. Research focused on identifying the antecedents of turnover in this employment context has been limited, however. To address this gap in the literature, the present study examined the impact of coworker support on turnover with a sample of 188 servers from a national restaurant chain. Specifically, this study assessed the impact of coworker instrumental support and coworker emotional support on turnover. The results demonstrated that coworker emotional support was negatively related to turnover. However, coworker instrumental support was positively related to turnover, counter to the hypothesized relationship. This counterintuitive finding leads us to consider the role of coworker support on turnover in a new light.
In this paper, we propose that only some of the conventional findings pertaining to the enhancing effects of feedback and recognition on performance success as well as the moderating role they play in the goal–performance relationship may apply to project teams, whereas others may not. We focus on the above activities that are well grounded in the general organizational research and reexamine them within the project management context. Data were collected from 88 project managers and their direct supervisors via questionnaires. Results showed that leader goal, feedback, and recognition activities were important only for improved team effectiveness, but not for team efficiency. Furthermore, feedback and recognition moderated the goal–performance relationship, regardless of the performance measures used. The implications of these findings for future research on project teams are discussed.
While the selection of top managers is vital to the performance and survival of organizations, the process by which these managers are selected remains uncharted territory. In this conceptual article, we propose that both structural conditions of and the selection process for top management positions are different from those at lower organizational levels. We build on the existing literature on succession, tournament models, and promotion systems to characterize top management selection. The main situational component of this characterization is that of relative versus absolute selection, which leads us to adopt the "arena" as a metaphor and critical framework for top management selection. Finally, we argue that due to certain cognitive features, the arena is an efficient but not necessarily effective selection process, which may contribute to side effects and negative outcomes for organizations. We conclude by setting the agenda for further research on top management selection.
In this article we develop a conceptual framework that examines the relationship between shared mental models, task interdependence, and virtual team performance. In addition, we use media synchronicity theory to examine how various attributes of the technologies used by virtual teams to communicate can influence the development of shared mental models. Finally, we employ a sense-making lens to explore in more detail how features inherent to different communication technologies influence the development of shared mental models. Our goal is that through examining these relationships, some of the mixed findings in prior virtual team research may be better explained.