William A. Kahn

Bio: William A. Kahn is an academic researcher from Boston University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Organizational behavior & Employee engagement. The author has an hindex of 20, co-authored 35 publications receiving 9281 citations. Previous affiliations of William A. Kahn include Yale University.

Psychological Conditions of Personal Engagement and Disengagement at Work

Abstract: This study began with the premise that people can use varying degrees of their selves, physically, cognitively, and emotionally, in work role performances, which has implications for both their wor...

To be fully there: Psychological presence at work.

Abstract: This article develops the concept of psychological presence to describe the experiential state enabling organization members to draw deeply on their personal selves in role performances, i.e., express thoughts and feelings, question assumptions, innovate. The dimensions of psychological presence are described along with relevant organizational and individual factors. The concept's implications for theory and research about the person-role relationship are described.

Caring for the Caregivers: Patterns of Organizational Caregiving.

Abstract: The author gratefully acknowledges the comments of Marion McCollom and Vicky Parker on an earlier version of this manuscript and the extensive support of Robert Sutton and this journal's reviewers during the review process. The study offers a system-level perspective on job burnout among human service workers by focusing on their internal networks of caregiving relationships. A qualitative case study of a social service agency reveals how primary caregivers may be filled with or emptied of emotional resources necessary for caregiving in interactions with other agency members. Working from eight key behavioral dimensions of caregiving derived from the study, I define and illustrate five recurring patterns of caregiving that characterized agency members' relationships. By placing the patterns in relation to one another, I then reveal the system of caregiving, showing how it moved or failed to move throughout the agency as a whole. This system of caregiving is discussed in terms of its multiple determinants and its implications for members' abilities to perform the agency's primary task of giving care to clients.'

Organizational Crises and the Disturbance of Relational Systems

Abstract: Various bodies of literature attest to how crises significantly damage the way people relate with one another—damage that lasts long past the cessation of those crises. Such relational disturbances are problematic in terms of crisis management theory. If crises are understood to be operationally resolved yet the relational systems that underlie organizations remain disturbed, the crises may not truly be resolved, with implications for ongoing dysfunctional patterns of behavior, organizational vulnerabilities, and longer-term performance problems. The purpose of this article is to conceptualize organizational crises in terms of relational disturbance and crisis management as the repair of such disturbances. We introduce a framework for analyzing the relational health of organizational systems, drawing on family systems theory to help define the dimensions of relational systems. We describe and illustrate the disturbances of relational systems in the context of crises and develop a framework for their repai...

Toward an Agenda for Business Ethics Research

Abstract: This article focuses on developing an agenda for business ethics research. Thirty-two researchers were enlisted to review the conduct of the field, and four underlying images that guide their work are outlined. Research questions are articulated to translate those images into concrete behaviors for both practitioners and researchers in the ethics field.

Psychological Conditions of Personal Engagement and Disengagement at Work

Abstract: This study began with the premise that people can use varying degrees of their selves, physically, cognitively, and emotionally, in work role performances, which has implications for both their wor...

The Measurement of Engagement and Burnout: A Two Sample Confirmatory Factor Analytic Approach

Abstract: This study examines the factorial structure of a new instrument to measure engagement, the hypothesized `opposite' of burnout in a sample of university students (N=314) and employees (N=619). In addition, the factorial structure of the Maslach-Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS) is assessed and the relationship between engagement and burnout is examined. Simultaneous confirmatory factor analyses in both samples confirmed the original three-factor structure of the MBI-GS (exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy) as well as the hypothesized three-factor structure of engagement (vigor, dedication, and absorption). Contrary to expectations, a model with two higher-order factors – ‘burnout’ and ‘engagement’ – did not show a superior fit to the data. Instead, our analyses revealed an alternative model with two latent factors including: (1) exhaustion and cynicism (‘core of burnout’); (2) all three engagement scales plus efficacy. Both latent factors are negatively related and share between 22% and 38% of their variances in both samples. Despite the fact that slightly different versions of the MBI-GS and the engagement questionnaire had to be used in both samples the results were remarkably similar across samples, which illustrates the robustness of our findings.

Affect- and Cognition-Based Trust as Foundations for Interpersonal Cooperation in Organizations

Abstract: This study addressed the nature and functioning of relationships of interpersonal trust among managers and professionals in organizations, the factors influencing trust's development, and the implications of trust for behavior and performance Theoretical foundations were drawn from the sociological literature on trust and the social-psychological literature on trust in close relationships An initial test of the proposed theoretical framework was conducted in a field setting with 194 managers and professionals

Corporate Social Performance Revisited

Abstract: This article defines corporate social performance (CSP) and reformulates the CSP model to build a coherent, integrative framework for business and society research. Principles of social responsibility are framed at the institutional, organizational, and individual levels; processes of social responsiveness are shown to be environmental assessment, stakeholder management, and issues management; and outcomes of CSP are posed as social impacts, programs, and policies. Rethinking CSP in this manner points to vital research questions that have not yet been addressed.

Organizational images and member identification.

Abstract: We thank Massimo Bergami, Arthur Brief, Mason Carpenter, Brian Golden, Frances Hauge, Rod Kramer, Sharon Lobel, Reuben McDaniel, Debra Meyerson, Wendy Penner, Sandy Piderit, Linda Pike, Mlchael Pratt, Robert Quinn, Anat Rafaeli, Lance Sandelands, Bob Sutton, David Whetten, Batia Wiesenfeld, and three anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier drafts of this paper. We develop a model to explain how images of one's work organization shape the strength of his or her identification with the organization. We focus on two key organizational images: one based on what a member believes is distinctive, central, and enduring about his or her organization and one based on a member's beliefs about what outsiders think about the organization. According to the model, members assess the attractiveness of these images by how well the image preserves the continuity of their self-concept, provides distinctiveness, and enhances self-esteem. The model leads to a number of propositions about how organizational identification affects members' patterns of social interaction.'