Showing papers in "Academy of Management Journal in 2009"
TL;DR: This paper examined the relationship between employee creativity and job performance and identified two learning-related personal and situational variables (employee learning orientation and situational factors) and found that they are related to job performance.
Abstract: We examined the relationship between employee creativity and job performance. Furthermore, we identified two learning-related personal and situational variables—employee learning orientation and tr...
1,430 citations
1,308 citations
TL;DR: This article conducted a meta-analysis examining the role of contextual factors in team diversity research using data from 8,757 teams in 39 studies conducted in organizational settings, and examined whether contextual factors at multiple levels, including industry, occupation, and team, influenced the performance outcomes of relations-oriented and task-oriented diversity.
Abstract: Integrating macro and micro theoretical perspectives, we conducted a meta-analysis examining the role of contextual factors in team diversity research. Using data from 8,757 teams in 39 studies conducted in organizational settings, we examined whether contextual factors at multiple levels, including industry, occupation, and team, influenced the performance outcomes of relations-oriented and task-oriented diversity. The direct effects were very small yet significant, and after we accounted for industry, occupation, and team-level contextual moderators, they doubled or tripled in size. Further, occupation- and industry-level moderators explained significant variance in effect sizes across studies.
1,082 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine how entrepreneurs shape organizational boundaries and construct markets through an inductive, longitudinal study of five ventures and propose that power is the underlying boundary logic and indicate the "soft-power" strategies by which entrepreneurs compete in highly ambiguous markets.
Abstract: We examine how entrepreneurs shape organizational boundaries and construct markets through an inductive, longitudinal study of five ventures. Our central contribution is a framework of how successful entrepreneurs attempt to dominate nascent markets by co-constructing organizational boundaries and market niches using three processes: claiming, demarcating, and controlling a market. We propose that power is the underlying boundary logic and indicate the “soft-power” strategies by which entrepreneurs compete in highly ambiguous markets. Overall, we develop a holistic view of organizational boundaries and offer insights into institutional entrepreneurship and resource dependence theories. Our most important contribution is reinvigorating the study of interorganizational power.
953 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify technological and market knowledge as two critical components of prior knowledge in the organizational learnin process, following the process-based definition of absorptive capacity.
Abstract: Following the process-based definition of absorptive capacity, this article identifies technological and market knowledge as two critical components of prior knowledge in the organizational learnin
902 citations
TL;DR: This paper found that individual follower's "power distance" orientation and their group's shared perceptions of tra... using 560 followers and 174 leaders in the People's Republic of China and United States.
Abstract: Using 560 followers and 174 leaders in the People's Republic of China and United States, we found that individual follower's “power distance” orientation and their group's shared perceptions of tra...
846 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a cross-level model of individual creativity integrating goal orientation theory and team learning research was developed and tested using hierarchical linear modeling, and the authors found crosslevel interactions between individuals' goal orientation and team's learning behavior in a crossnational sample of 25 R&D teams comprising 198 employees.
Abstract: We developed and tested a cross-level model of individual creativity, integrating goal orientation theory and team learning research. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we found cross-level interactions between individuals’ goal orientation and team learning behavior in a cross-national sample of 25 R&D teams comprising 198 employees. We hypothesized and found a nonlinear interaction between individual learning orientation and team learning behavior: in teams higher in team learning behavior, the positive relationship between learning orientation and creativity was attenuated at higher levels of learning orientation. An individual approach orientation was positively related to creativity only when team learning behavior was high.
807 citations
TL;DR: The authors hypothesize that good environmental performance increases CEO pay in polluting industries, and that environmental performance is correlated with good corporate performance, in particular, with environmental management research, and propose that, in coal-mining industries, environmental performance improves CEO pay.
Abstract: Relying on institutional theory, agency rationale, and environmental management research, we hypothesize that, in polluting industries, good environmental performance increases CEO pay; that enviro...
805 citations
TL;DR: The authors demonstrate a negative relationship between entrepreneurs' optimism and the performance (revenue and employment growth) of their new ventures and illustrate the benefits of applying a social cognitive perspective toward efforts to understand key aspects of the new venture creation and development process.
Abstract: Previous research indicates that entrepreneurs are generally high in dispositional optimism—the tendency to expect positive outcomes even when such expectations are not rationally justified. Findings of the current study demonstrate a negative relationship between entrepreneurs' optimism and the performance (revenue and employment growth) of their new ventures. Past experience creating ventures and industry dynamism moderated these effects, strengthening the negative relationship between entrepreneurs' optimism and venture performance. These findings illustrate the benefits of applying a social cognitive perspective toward efforts to understand key aspects of the new venture creation and development process.
788 citations
TL;DR: This paper investigated the extent to which venture capitalists' perceptions of "entrepreneurial passion" influence the VCs' investment decisions, and defined entrepreneurial passion as an entrepreneurial pursuit.
Abstract: We investigated the extent to which venture capitalists' (VCs') perceptions of “entrepreneurial passion” influence the VCs' investment decisions. We defined entrepreneurial passion as an entreprene...
777 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated how people manage boundaries to negotiate the demands between work and home life and discovered and classified four types of boundary work tactics (behavioral, temporal, physical and communicative) that individuals utilized to help create their ideal level and style of work-home segmentation or integration.
Abstract: We investigated how people manage boundaries to negotiate the demands between work and home life. We discovered and classified four types of boundary work tactics (behavioral, temporal, physical, and communicative) that individuals utilized to help create their ideal level and style of work-home segmentation or integration. We also found important differences between the generalized state of work-home conflict and “boundary violations,” which we define as behaviors, events, or episodes that either breach or neglect the desired work-home boundary. We present a model based on two qualitative studies that demonstrates how boundary work tactics reduce the negative effects of work-home challenges. “Balance” between work and home lives is a much sought after but rarely claimed state of being. Work-family researchers have successfully encouraged organizations, families, and individuals to recognize the importance of tending to their needs for balance. Over 30 years ago, Kanter (1977) spoke of the “myth of separate worlds” and called attention to the reality that work and home are inexorably linked. Yet, she argued, organizations are often structured in such a way that their leadership forgets or ignores employees’ outside lives. Although organizational leaders and managers generally tend more to employees’ nonwork needs than they did when Kanter wrote her landmark work, struggles to balance work and home demands are still common
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address attributes of highperforming alliance portfolios but not how executives originate such portfolios, and propose a method to find the optimal alliance portfolio for a given firm.
Abstract: Alliance portfolios are ubiquitous and influential for firm performance. Extant research addresses attributes of high-performing alliance portfolios but not how executives originate such portfolios...
TL;DR: The authors explore outsider-driven deinstitutionalization through a case study of the abandonment of widespread, taken-for-granted practices of DDT use between 1962 and 1972, and illustrate how actors carry out disruptive and defensive work by authoring texts.
Abstract: Drawing on institutional theory emphasizing translation and discourse, we explore outsider-driven deinstitutionalization through a case study of the abandonment of widespread, taken-for-granted practices of DDT use between 1962 and 1972. Our findings illustrate how abandonment of practices results from “problematizations” that—through subsequent “translation”—change discourse in ways that undermine the institutional pillars supporting practices. This occurs through new “subject positions” from which actors speak and act in support of problematizations, and new bodies of knowledge, which normalize them. We introduce the concept of “defensive institutional work” and illustrate how actors carry out disruptive and defensive work by authoring texts.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the relationship between growth need strength and creative performance and propose that "growth need strength" is an important individual factor for employees' creative performance using an interactionist perspective.
Abstract: We propose that “growth need strength” is an important individual factor for employees' creative performance. Using an interactionist perspective, we examine the relationship between growth need st...
TL;DR: This paper used meta-analytical techniques to address three central debates in institutional theory: Is organizational behavior the product of social structure or organizational agency? Does conformity to institutional norms enhance or diminish organizational performance? Can organizational field-level factors explain differences in the pull of isomorphic forces across organizational fields?
Abstract: We use meta-analytical techniques to address three central debates in institutional theory: Is organizational behavior the product of social structure or organizational agency? Does conformity to institutional norms enhance or diminish organizational performance? Can organizational field-level factors explain differences in the pull of isomorphic forces across organizational fields? We find that the influence of social structure is weak. Also, the adoption of isomorphic templates improves both symbolic and substantive performance. Finally, we identify several field-level factors that moderate isomorphic processes. We discuss the implications of these findings for institutional theory research.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined team need for cognition as a moderator of the relationships between both age diversity and educational specialization diversity, and elaboration of task-relevant information, collective team identification and, ultimately, team performance.
Abstract: In a study of 83 teams from eight organizations, we examined team need for cognition—the tendency to engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive endeavors—as a moderator of the relationships between both age diversity and educational specialization diversity, and elaboration of task-relevant information, collective team identification and, ultimately, team performance. Age and educational diversity were positively related to these outcomes when team need for cognition was high, rather than low. Both the elaboration of task-relevant information and collective team identification mediated a moderating effect of need for cognition on the relationship between both types of diversity and team performance.
TL;DR: This paper conducted performance assessments in 62 childcare centers and surveyed 232 teachers and aides, to examine the extent to which workers crafted their jobs and how such crafting aff ected the success of their jobs.
Abstract: In this study we conducted performance assessments in 62 childcare centers and surveyed 232 teachers and aides, to examine the extent to which workers crafted their jobs and how such crafting affec...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed and tested a model of turnover contagion in which the job embeddedness and job search behaviors of coworkers influence employees' decisions to quit, and they found that coworkers' job embeddings and search behaviors explain variance in individual turnover over and above that explained by other individual and group-level predictors.
Abstract: This research developed and tested a model of turnover contagion in which the job embeddedness and job search behaviors of coworkers influence employees' decisions to quit. In a sample of 45 branches of a regional bank and 1,038 departments of a national hospitality firm, multilevel analysis revealed that coworkers' job embedded-ness and job search behaviors explain variance in individual “voluntary turnover” over and above that explained by other individual and group-level predictors. Broadly speaking, these results suggest that coworkers' job embeddedness and job search behaviors play critical roles in explaining why people quit their jobs. Implications are discussed.
TL;DR: The authors tested a model that links perceptions of organizational politics to job performance and "turnover intentions" (intentions to quit) and Meta-analytic evidence supported significant, b...
Abstract: The current study tested a model that links perceptions of organizational politics to job performance and “turnover intentions” (intentions to quit). Meta-analytic evidence supported significant, b...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors extend emotional labor theories to the customer domain by developing and testing a theoretical model of the effects of employee emotional labor on customer outcomes and investigate the potential moderating effects of service type on the relationship between emotional labor and customer outcomes but find no support for such an effect.
Abstract: In this research, we extend emotional labor theories to the customer domain by developing and testing a theoretical model of the effects of employee emotional labor on customer outcomes. Dyadic survey data from 285 service interactions between employees and customers show that employees’ emotional labor strategies of deep and surface acting differentially influence customers’ service evaluations and that customers’ accuracy in detecting employees’ strategies can intensify this impact. We also investigate the potential moderating effects of service type on the relationship between emotional labor and customer outcomes but find no support for such an effect.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors extend institutional theory's account of diffusion by examining the interplay between economic and social considerations in adoption decisions, finding that both early and late adopters respond to framing and interpreting adoption decision situations as opportunities versus threats.
Abstract: We extend institutional theory’s account of diffusion by examining the interplay between economic and social considerations in adoption decisions. Drawing on organizational decision-making research, we argue that both early and late adopters respond to framing and interpreting adoption decision situations as opportunities versus threats. Using data on the diffusion of total quality management (TQM) among U.S. hospitals, we found that motivations to appear legitimate coexist with motivations to realize economic performance improvement, and that issue perception is related to the extent of practice implementation. These findings prompt rethinking of the classic institutional diffusion model.
TL;DR: The authors examine the within-person structure of job performance, with an emphasis on the relationship between organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and counterproductive work behavior (CWB), and demonstrate, via two experiencesampling studies, that OCB and CWB are affect-driven phenomena that exhibit considerable withinperson variation.
Abstract: The present research examines the within-person structure of job performance, with an emphasis on the relationship between organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and counterproductive work behavior (CWB). We demonstrate, via two experiencesampling studies, that OCB and CWB are affect-driven phenomena that exhibit considerable within-person variation. Furthermore, as predicted, the within-person affective forces on OCB were independent of those on CWB—and the two phenomena were themselves independent. When directed at an organization (rather than a supervisor or coworkers), both were, however, related (within-person) to each other and to overall job performance. We discuss implications for the within-person performance structure. Researchers have traditionally thought of job performance in terms of what Borman and Motowidlo (1997) considered “task performance”—that is, employee effectiveness with regard to those activities that contribute to their organization’s “technical core.” Only more recently has the role of employee work behaviors that fall outside the rubric of task performance been acknowledged in the research literature. Borman and Motowidlo reasoned that such behaviors are important because they “shape the organizational, social, and psychological context that serves as the catalyst for task activities and
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the evolution of a new population of organizations (state offices of dispute resolution) in an emerging institutional field, focusing on how actions at multiple levels interact recursively to enable multiple logics to diffuse.
Abstract: We examine the evolution of a new population of organizations (state offices of dispute resolution) in an emerging institutional field, focusing on how actions at multiple levels interact recursively to enable multiple logics to diffuse. Logics became institutionalized as organizational practices within the field of alternative dispute resolution through four diffusion mechanisms: transformation, grafting, bridging, and exit. By describing the interplay among entrepreneurial efforts, strategic responses to resource dependencies, and mechanisms of institutionalization over 22 years, we identify the conditions that enabled multiple practices supported by conflicting logics, rather than a single, dominant organizational form, to be institutionalized.
TL;DR: In this article, the role of work-family integration in the spillover of daily job satisfaction onto daily marital satisfaction and affective states experienced by employees at home was examined at the within-individual level.
Abstract: The longitudinal, multisource, multimethod study presented herein examines the role of employees’ work-family integration in the spillover of daily job satisfaction onto daily marital satisfaction and affective states experienced by employees at home. The spillover linkages are modeled at the within-individual level, and results support the main effects of daily job satisfaction on daily marital satisfaction and affect at home, as well as the moderating effect of work-family integration on the strength of the within-individual spillover effects on home affect. That is, employees with highly integrated work and family roles exhibited stronger intraindividual spillover effects on positive and negative affect at home. Modern technologies such as the Internet, cellular phone, Blackberry, iPhone, and other mobile communication devices have enabled employees and their family members to communicate with each other nearly anywhere, anytime. Moreover, flexible work arrangements under which employees can complete some work tasks from home are
TL;DR: One potential reason for the persistence of the glass ceiling is bosses' perceptions of female subordinates' family-work conflict as discussed by the authors, which may explain why women are more likely to report family conflict than men.
Abstract: We examine one potential reason for the persistence of the glass ceiling: bosses' perceptions of female subordinates' family-work conflict. Person categorization and social role theories are used t...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors proposed that promarket reforms positively affect firms' profitability in developing countries because the accompanying improvements in external monitoring decrease firms' agency costs, and they also proposed a new model to evaluate the impact of external monitoring.
Abstract: This study proposes that promarket reforms positively affect firms' profitability in developing countries because the accompanying improvements in external monitoring decrease firms' agency costs. ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify the underlying theoretical mechanisms for reputational change processes and draw upon existing literature to develop three distinct explanations, respectively emphasizing criteria of organizational "character", symbolic conformity, and technical efficacy.
Abstract: The aim of this study is to illuminate reputational change processes and identify the underlying theoretical mechanisms. We draw upon extant literature to develop three distinct explanations for reputational change, respectively emphasizing criteria of organizational “character,” symbolic conformity, and technical efficacy. We evaluate these explanations by examining the reputational consequences of corporate downsizing. Our results show that downsizing exerted a strong, negative effect on reputation, consistently with the character explanation. However, significant moderation of this negative effect by other factors, including stock market reaction and downsizing’s overall prevalence, indicates the need for a multitheoretical approach to reputational change.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the role of trust in acquisitions of entrepreneurial firms, taking a dyadic view that gives equal attention to buyers and sellers, with asymmetric views regarding whether the two parties have asymmetric opinions regarding whether they can trust each other.
Abstract: I explore the role of trust in acquisitions of entrepreneurial firms, taking a dyadic view that gives equal attention to buyers and sellers. The two parties have asymmetric views regarding whether ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed and tested an exchange-theory-based extension of the relationship between human resource management (HRM) practices and quit rates in a two-wave trucking industry study and attempted a constructive replication in a supermarket study.
Abstract: We developed and tested an exchange-theory-based extension of the relationship between human resource management (HRM) practices and quit rates in a two-wave trucking industry study and attempted a constructive replication in a two-wave study of supermarkets. We found that HRM inducements and investments relate negatively to good- and poor-performer quit rates, whereas expectation-enhancing practices relate negatively to good-performer quit rates and positively to poor-performer quit rates. We find support for the predictions that expectation-enhancing practices attenuate the negative relationship between inducements and investments and goodperformer quit rates (Study 1) and exacerbate the negative relationship with poorperformer quit rates (Study 2). Researchers have historically viewed the question of why people quit in terms of several individual bases for turnover (see Maertz and Griffeth [2004] for a review), but in the last ten years the outlook has shifted toward an organization-level view of the phenomenon based on human resource management (HRM) systems. High turnover rates have deleterious effects on outcomes such as productivity and safety in manufacturing and transportation (Shaw, Gupta, & Delery, 2005), sales performance in customer service industries (Batt, 2002; Kacmar, Andrews, Van Rooy, Steilberg, &
TL;DR: This study advances understanding of network dynamics by applying matching theory to the formation of interorganizational alliances by introducing market complementary and resource compatibility as complementary elements in matching theory.
Abstract: This study advances understanding of network dynamics by applying matching theory to the formation of interorganizational alliances. We introduce market complementary and resource compatibility as ...