This essay draws from the emerging positive psychology movement and the author's recent articles on the need for and meaning of a positive approach to organizational behavior Specifically, the argument is made that at this time, the OB field needs a proactive, positive approach emphasizing strengths, rather than continuing in the downward spiral of negativity trying to fix weaknesses However, to avoid the surface positivity represented by the non-sustainable best-sellers, the case is made for positive organizational behavior (POB) to take advantage of the OB field's strength of being theory and research driven Additional criteria for this version of POB are to identify unique, state-like psychological capacities that can not only be validly measured, but also be open to development and performance management Confidence, hope, and resiliency are offered as meeting such POB inclusion criteria The overall intent of the essay is to generate some positive thinking and excitement for the OB field and ‘hopefully’ stimulate some new theory building, research, and effective application Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

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The need for and meaning of positive organizational behavior

https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1035&context=managementfacpub

Positive Organizational Behavior in the Workplace The Impact of Hope, Optimism, and Resilience

Purpose – In the emerging disciplines of risk management and supply chain management, resilience is a relatively undefined concept. The purpose of this paper is to present an integrated perspective on resilience through an extensive review of the literature in a number of disciplines including developmental psychology and ecosystems. In addition, the paper identifies and addresses some of the current theoretical gaps in the existing research.Design/methodology/approach – Supply chain resilience has been defined by a number of disciplines. An integrative literature review is conducted in an attempt to integrate existing perspectives. This review also serves as the basis for the development of a conceptual model.Findings – The key elements of supply chain resilience and the relationships among them, the links between risks and implications for supply chain management, and the methodologies for managing these key issues are poorly understood. Implications for future research advocate testing the proposed mod...

Understanding the concept of supply chain resilience

http://erlanbakiev.weebly.com/uploads/1/0/8/3/10833829/emerging_positive_organizational_behavior.pdf

Emerging Positive Organizational Behavior

After first providing the meaning of psychological capital (PsyCap), we present a micro-intervention to develop it. Drawn from hope, optimism, efficacy, and resiliency development, this PsyCap Intervention (PCI) is shown to have preliminary support for not only increasing participants' PsyCap, but also financial impact and high return on investment. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Psychological capital development: toward a micro-intervention

Why do some people bounce back from life's hardships while others despair? HBR senior editor Diane Coutu looks at the nature of individual and organizational resilience, issues that have gained special urgency in light of the recent terrorist attacks, war, and recession. In the business arena, resilience has found its way onto the list of qualities sought in employees. As one of Coutu's interviewees puts it, "More than education, more than experience, more than training, a person's level of resilience will determine who succeeds and who fails." Theories abound about what produces resilience, but three fundamental characteristics seem to set resilient people and companies apart from others. One or two of these qualities make it possible to bounce back from hardship, but true resilience requires all three. The first characteristic is the capacity to accept and face down reality. In looking hard at reality, we prepare ourselves to act in ways that allow us to endure and survive hardships: We train ourselves how to survive before we ever have to do so. Second, resilient people and organizations possess an ability to find meaning in some aspects of life. And values are just as important as meaning; value systems at resilient companies change very little over the long haul and are used as scaffolding in times of trouble. The third building block of resilience is the ability to improvise. Within an arena of personal capabilities or company rules, the ability to solve problems without the usual or obvious tools is a great strength.

How resilience works

Rather than coach on a one-to-one basis, Kets de Vries says he prefers group coaching or intervention as he sees leadership as a team sport. “Leadership style in Russia is very different from the leadership styles in Sweden or Singapore. They’re different things but it’s usually a team sport and I think the only important thing is to look at complementarity (of the different roles within a team).”

Diane L. Coutu

Papers

How resilience works

Putting Leaders on the Couch

Ideas as art

The Anxiety of Learning. The HBR Interview.

Jack on Jack