Interest in the problem of method biases has a long history in the behavioral sciences. Despite this, a comprehensive summary of the potential sources of method biases and how to control for them does not exist. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to examine the extent to which method biases influence behavioral research results, identify potential sources of method biases, discuss the cognitive processes through which method biases influence responses to measures, evaluate the many different procedural and statistical techniques that can be used to control method biases, and provide recommendations for how to select appropriate procedural and statistical remedies for different types of research settings.

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Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies.

According to W. Edwards Deming, American companies require nothing less than a transformation of management style and of governmental relations with industry. In Out of the Crisis, originally published in 1982, Deming offers a theory of management based on his famous 14 Points for Management. Management's failure to plan for the future, he claims, brings about loss of market, which brings about loss of jobs. Management must be judged not only by the quarterly dividend, but by innovative plans to stay in business, protect investment, ensure future dividends, and provide more jobs through improved product and service. In simple, direct language, he explains the principles of management transformation and how to apply them.

Out of the Crisis

Interest in leadership development is strong, especially among practitioners Nonetheless, there is conceptual confusion regarding distinctions between leader and leadership development, as well as disconnection between the practice of leadership development and its scientific foundation The present review examines the field of leadership development through three contextual lenses: (1) understanding the difference between leader development and leadership development ( conceptual context); (2) reviewing how state-of-the-art development is being conducted in the context of ongoing organizational work ( practice context); and (3) summarizing previous research that has implications for leadership development ( research context) The overall purpose is to bridge the practice and science of leadership development by showing the importance of building both human and social capital in organizations Specific practices that are reviewed include 360-degree feedback and executive coaching, mentoring and networking, and job assignments and action learning Practices and research are framed in terms of a general need to link leader development, which is primarily based on enhancing human capital, with leadership development that emphasizes the creation of social capital in organizations

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Leadership development:: A review in context

This article meta-analytically summarizes the literature on training motivation, its antecedents, and its relationships with training outcomes such as declarative knowledge, skill acquisition, and transfer. Significant predictors of training motivation and outcomes included individual characteristics (e.g., locus of control, conscientiousness, anxiety, age, cognitive ability, self-efficacy, valence, job involvement) and situational characteristics (e.g., climate). Moreover, training motivation explained incremental variance in training outcomes beyond the effects of cognitive ability. Meta-analytic path analyses further showed that the effects of personality, climate, and age on training outcomes were only partially mediated by self-efficacy, valence, and job involvement. These findings are discussed in terms of their practical significance and their implications for an integrative theory of training motivation.

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Toward an integrative theory of training motivation: A meta-analytic path analysis of 20 years of research.

Although one of the main reasons for the interest in organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) is the potential consequences of these behaviors, no study has been reported that summarizes the research regarding the relationships between OCBs and their outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to provide a meta-analytic examination of the relationships between OCBs and a variety of individual- and organizational-level outcomes. Results, based on 168 independent samples (N 51,235 individuals), indicated that OCBs are related to a number of individual-level outcomes, including managerial ratings of employee performance, reward allocation decisions, and a variety of withdrawal-related criteria (e.g., employee turnover intentions, actual turnover, and absenteeism). In addition, OCBs were found to be related (k 38; N 3,611 units) to a number of organizational-level outcomes (e.g., productivity, efficiency, reduced costs, customer satisfaction, and unit-level turnover). Of interest, somewhat stronger relationships were observed between OCBs and unit-level performance measures in longitudinal studies than in cross-sectional studies, providing some evidence that OCBs are causally related to these criteria. The implications of these findings for both researchers and practitioners are discussed.

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Individual- and organizational-level consequences of organizational citizenship behaviors: A meta-analysis.

The influence of General Perceptions of the Training Environment on Pretraining Motivation and Perceived Training Transfer

The purpose of this study was to test whether a multisource performance appraisal instrument exhibited measurement invariance across different groups of raters. Multiple-groups confirmatory factor analysis as well as item response theory (IRT) techniques were used to test for invariance of the rating instrument across self, peer, supervisor, and subordinate raters. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the rating instrument was invariant across these rater groups. The IRT analysis yielded some evidence of differential item and test functioning, but it was limited to the effects of just 3 items and was trivial in magnitude. Taken together, the results suggest that the rating instrument could be regarded as invariant across the rater groups, thus supporting the practice of directly comparing their ratings. Implications for research and practice are discussed, as well as for understanding the meaning of between-source rating discrepancies.

Are performance appraisal ratings from different rating sources comparable

The current study examined factors related to leaders' reactions to 360-degree feedback. The total sample consisted of 220 supervising managers from a large public utility. We collected data in three waves which involved pretest, performance rating, and posttest surveys (49 leaders had valid data from all three waves of measurement). We hypothesized that overall ratings, organizational support, and perceived rater ability would be positively related to four reaction criteria (acceptance and perceived usefulness of subordinate feedback and peer feedback). Results showed that overall ratings were related to acceptance of peer and subordinate feedback, but were less consistently related to perceptions of feedback usefulness. For perceived usefulness of subordinate feedback, organizational support accounted for unique variance beyond overall ratings, and perceived rater ability was marginally significant. None of the predictions for perceived usefulness of peer feedback were significant. The authors discuss limitations, implications, and suggestions for future research.

Reactions of leaders to 360-degree feedback from subordinates and peers

This study reports the results of an effort to develop a structured interview designed to measure the propensity to engage in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Results indicated that participants were unable to improve their scores by attempting to fake the interview. Evidence of construct validity was provided in that we observed several meaningful relationships between scores on the interview and theoretically relevant dispositional variables such as positive affect and empathy. Additionally, regression analyses revealed that ratings obtained from the OCB interview significantly related to coworker ratings of OCB. Overall, the results of the study provide evidence that structured interviews have the potential for being a useful tool for predicting who will engage in OCB in the work environment.

Jeffrey D. Facteau

Papers

The influence of General Perceptions of the Training Environment on Pretraining Motivation and Perceived Training Transfer

Are performance appraisal ratings from different rating sources comparable

Reactions of leaders to 360-degree feedback from subordinates and peers

Structured Interviewing for OCB: Construct Validity, Faking, and the Effects of Question Type

Implications of situational constraints on performance evaluation and performance management