Showing papers in "Group & Organization Management in 2010"
TL;DR: Paternalism is an emerging concept with significant potential for international leadership research as discussed by the authors. Paternalistic leaders combine benevolence with authority, which is a prevalent leadership concept in many countries.
Abstract: Paternalism is an emerging concept with significant potential for international leadership research. Paternalistic leaders combine benevolence with authority. Paternalism is a prevalent leadership ...
224 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors use social network analysis to understand how employees' propensity to engage in positive and negative gossip is driven by their underlying relationship ties, and they find that expressive friendship ties between employees are positively related to engaging in both positive gossip, whereas instrumental workflow ties, which are less trusting than friendship ties, are related solely with positive gossip.
Abstract: The authors use social network analysis to understand how employees’ propensity to engage in positive and negative gossip is driven by their underlying relationship ties.They find that expressive friendship ties between employees are positively related to engaging in both positive and negative gossip, whereas instrumental workflow ties, which are less trusting than friendship ties, are related solely with positive gossip. The authors also find that structural embeddedness in the friendship network further increases the chance that the pair will engage in negative gossip. Finally, an employee’s total gossiping activity (both positive and negative) is negatively related to supervisors’ evaluations of the employee’s performance, whereas total gossip activity is positively related to peers’ evaluations of the employee’s informal influence.
224 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used a multilevel framework to investigate the relationship between individual perceptions of transformational leadership and team-level adaptive performance in the aerospace industry. And they found that a stronger climate for innovation would enhance the association between transformational leaders and adaptive performance at the individual level.
Abstract: Using a multilevel framework, we hypothesized that (a) individual perceptions of transformational leadership and (b) team-level transformational leadership climate would be positively related to individual adaptive performance. We also hypothesized that a stronger climate for innovation would enhance the association between transformational leadership and adaptive performance at the individual level. Hierarchical linear modeling conducted on data collected from 120 employees belonging to 35 teams and their managers in an organization operating in the aerospace industry confirmed our predictions. The significance and relevance of these findings for future research on transformational leadership and adaptive performance are discussed.
198 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the key themes surrounding gossip including its contexts, the various outcomes (positive and negative) of gossip, as well as a selection of challenges and controversies.
Abstract: This article examines the key themes surrounding gossip including its contexts, the various outcomes (positive and negative) of gossip, as well as a selection of challenges and controversies. The challenges that are highlighted revolve around definitional issues, methodological approaches, and ethical considerations. The authors’ analysis suggests that the characteristics and features of gossip lend itself to a process-oriented approach whereby the beginning and, particularly, end points of gossip are not always easily identified. Gossip about a subject or person can temporarily disappear only for it to resurface at some later stage. In addition, questions pertaining to the effects of gossip and ethical-based arguments depend on the nature of the relationships within the gossip triad (gossiper, listener/respondent, and target).
130 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the effects of organizational justice on trustworthiness and interpersonal trust in authority figures and found that trust in the proximal referent led to an increased ability to focus on work-related tasks, whereas trust in a distal referent did not influence such ability.
Abstract: Drawing from the extant literature on organizational justice and trust, this study examines the effects of justice perceptions on trustworthiness perceptions and interpersonal trust in authority figures. Results indicate differential effects of procedural, interpersonal and informational justice on the three components of perceived trustworthiness: ability, benevolence, and integrity. Consistent with multifoci organizational justice and social exchange theory, the effects are dependent on the authority figure being referenced and the nature of the exchange relationship between authority and subordinate. Results also indicate that trust in the proximal referent led to increased ability to focus on work-related tasks, whereas trust in the distal referent did not influence such ability to focus. Ability to focus on work-related tasks predicted organizational citizenship behaviors directed at both the organization and individuals.
130 citations
TL;DR: The authors apply a transdisciplinary evolutionary approach to argue that gossip is a natural part of social organizations and that certain conditions can encourage socially-redeeming gossip in the workplace, and they find that gossip can serve positive functions when organizational rewards are fairly allocated at the level of small-scale groups rather than the levels of individuals within groups.
Abstract: Gossip in the workplace has generally been ignored by researchers and often criticized by practitioners. The authors apply a transdisciplinary evolutionary approach to argue that gossip is a natural part of social organizations and that certain conditions can encourage socially-redeeming gossip. They draw on case studies involving cattle ranchers, members of a competitive rowing team, and airline company employees to juxtapose the nature and functions of gossip across a wide set of communities. They find that workplace gossip can serve positive functions when organizational rewards—measured in contextspecific currencies—are fairly allocated at the level of small-scale groups rather than the level of individuals within groups. Given the diversity of their case studies, the authors are able to identify financial and nonfinancial rewards that facilitate group-serving gossip in different environments. Their findings make sense in light of an evolutionary perspective that recognizes similarities between the range of environments in which humans have primarily evolved and the workplace conditions that invite socially-redeeming gossip.
107 citations
TL;DR: The authors introduced the conceptual foundations of cultural intelligence at the organizational level and elaborates on its three factors: process, position, and path capability. Drawing on EA, they introduced the concept of CQ at organizational level.
Abstract: This study introduces the conceptual foundations of cultural intelligence (CQ) at the organizational level and elaborates on its three factors: process, position, and path capability. Drawing on Ea...
101 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present findings on the nature and operation of gossip that emerged from an empirical study of organizational communication during a chief executive officer (CEO) succession process, finding that gossip appears to be experienced as an integral part of sensemaking and social exchange and not as a phenomenon that can be fully understood in isolation to the formal and other types of informal communication that contribute to these processes.
Abstract: This article presents findings on the nature and operation of gossip that emerged from an empirical study of organizational communication during a chief executive officer (CEO) succession process. By studying gossip within the context of a broader study of change-related communication, new insights were gained that extend, and in some respects challenge, commonly accepted views of the nature of gossip. The findings suggest gossip is experienced as coupled to or embedded in the other forms of change communication employees encountered across the CEO succession process. Gossip appears to be experienced as an integral part of sensemaking and social exchange and not as a phenomenon that can be fully understood in isolation to the formal and other types of informal communication that contribute to these processes. These findings provide the foundations for a theory of embedded organizational gossip that is offered here as a framework for further empirical study.
101 citations
TL;DR: Although the importance of organizational failure has fostered a steady stream of research, a review of the literature suggests that the majority of studies have focused on firms in the private sector as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Although the importance of organizational failure has fostered a steady stream of research, a review of the literature suggests that the majority of studies have focused on firms in the private sec...
100 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of team members' self-managing behaviors in regard to three dimensions of team effectiveness was investigated and the moderating effect of task routine was examined.
Abstract: This study investigates the role of team members’ self-managing behaviors in regard to three dimensions of team effectiveness. Furthermore, this study examines the moderating effect of task routine...
94 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated direct and interactive relationships between perceived organizational support (POS), leader-member exchange (LMX), gender, locus of control, and practice of career self-management behaviors.
Abstract: This article reports the findings of a study, conducted in a UK new media company, that investigated direct and interactive relationships between perceived organizational support (POS), leader—member exchange (LMX), gender, locus of control, and practice of career self-management behaviors. The results show that it is the interactive relationships that have stronger links with internally focused career self-management behavior, whereas the direct associations, with the exception of LMX, are more closely related to externally oriented career self-management activities. POS moderates the relationship between both gender and locus of control and internally focused career self-management behavior, suggesting that it may send out a signal to certain employees about how supportive the organizational environment is of career self-management. Men and women are shown to act in different ways, depending on the level of POS that they receive, whereas POS encourages individuals with an internal locus of control to engage in internal career self-management behavior, in line with trait activation theory. LMX operates more directly, suggesting that it is a source of practical help with career self-management aimed at furthering the career within the organization; interaction results show that, when LMX is absent, men and those with an internal locus of control engage in internal networking behavior, presumably to find other sources of such help.
TL;DR: In this article, the roles of mentors' and proteges' emotional intelligence and trust in the mentors in formal mentoring relationships were examined, and a complementary interaction effect of mentoring provided was positively associated with the willingness to mentor others in the future.
Abstract: This study examined the roles of mentors’ and proteges’ emotional intelligence and proteges’ trust in the mentors in formal mentoring relationships. Using reports from both mentors and proteges in 147 formal mentoring dyads, results of partial least squares analysis indicated that mentors’ emotional intelligence directly and indirectly related to mentoring provided through proteges’ trust in the mentors, whereas proteges’ emotional intelligence was only indirectly associated with the mentoring provided through their trust in the mentors. A complementary interaction effect of mentors’ and proteges’ emotional intelligence on proteges’ trust in the mentors was also found. Finally, mentoring provided was positively associated with proteges’ willingness to mentor others in the future. Implications regarding mentor— protege matching and development for effective formal mentoring programs and future theory development are discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, reactions to feedback, not feedback per se, influence performance, and reactions are proposed to mediate the influence of feedback-related characteristics on performance, using longitudinal data and previous performance as a control variable.
Abstract: Although feedback is advocated as a means for influencing performance, empirical investigations indicate that the effect of feedback on performance is not uniformly positive. In the proposed model, reactions to feedback, not feedback per se, influence performance. In response to the lack of research on causal mechanisms linking feedback to performance and calls for such research, reactions are proposed to mediate the influence of feedback-related characteristics on performance. Feedback-related characteristics central to models of performance feedback that also corresponded with the three characteristics of the due process model served as antecedents to reactions. Using longitudinal data and previous performance as a control variable, results of structural equation modeling evidenced strong support for the proposed model as antecedents substantially related to ratees’ reactions, and ratees’ reactions indeed influenced subsequent performance. Organizations should design appraisal systems in accordance with...
TL;DR: This article examined data from the 2007 U.K. floods using institutional theory and practice theory lenses and found that learning from crisis ultimately results in "lessons learned" being institutionalized in new norms, tools, and infrastructure.
Abstract: Data from the 2007 U.K. floods are examined using institutional theory and practice theory lenses. We note that learning from crisis ultimately results in “lessons learned” being institutionalized in new norms, tools, and infrastructure. As the basis of legitimate action for coping in the future, they may provide a measure of resilience, but crisis management and recovery is an active and emergent process. Learning must also identify the ability to create resilience by developing the capacity and ability to be creative when such “lessons learned” prove inappropriate in an emerging scenario. This has implications for policy learning processes that may be difficult to justify since public inquiries are also institutionalized events that require “legitimate” recommendations to codify learning.
TL;DR: In this article, the influence of boundary employee units' perceptions of organizational values oriented toward creating a good service climate and their own service behavior during service transactions was evaluated. And the results confirmed the importance of both roles in improving customer perceptions of service quality.
Abstract: This study simultaneously tests the influence of two resources that boundary employee units can use to improve service quality. The first is the boundary employee units’ perceptions of organizational values oriented toward creating a good service climate. The second is the boundary employees’ competences oriented to providing the service, that is, their own service behavior during service transactions. Moreover, organizational climate and organizational facilitators are also analyzed as antecedents of the two resources. The sample consisted of 117 boundary employee units aggregated from 349 boundary employees and 1,157 customers. Structural Equation Modeling analysis confirmed that service quality perceived by customers can be predicted by both service climate and service behavior perceived by boundary employee units. Moreover, organizational facilitators and organizational climate are significant antecedents for higher levels of service climate. Therefore, results confirm the importance of both roles in improving customer perceptions of service quality. 1
TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a model by postulating antecedents and mediators related to interemployee linkages as the key drivers of task effectiveness, in which task effectiveness is affected indirectly by expressiveness, outcome, and task interdependence through the mediation of knowledge sharing.
Abstract: This study proposes a model by postulating antecedents and mediators related to interemployee linkages as the key drivers of task effectiveness, in which task effectiveness is affected indirectly by expressiveness, outcome, and task interdependence through the mediation of knowledge sharing and interemployee helping. This study conducts empirical testing of the proposed model by investigating online knowledge workers from business organizations in Taiwan and confirms the applicability of interemployee linkages in understanding task effectiveness. This study contributes to the literature related to job effectiveness by validating idiosyncratic drivers of interemployee helping and by performing an operationalization of social interdependence. Lastly, managerial implications and limitations of the research are provided.
TL;DR: The authors examined perceived stereotype threat in a promotion context using a written job knowledge test and found that race and ethnic identity would predict perceptions of stereotype threat and that the effect of stereotypes on test performance would be mediated by state anxiety and specific self-efficacy in a specified sequential order.
Abstract: This field study examined perceived stereotype threat in a promotion context using a written job knowledge test. The authors hypothesized that race and ethnic identity would predict perceptions of stereotype threat and that the effect of stereotype threat on test performance would be mediated by state anxiety and specific self-efficacy in a specified sequential order. Using structural equation modeling analyses of data from two public safety departments in a metropolitan city indicated support for this model. However, the stereotype threat effect was small, which may be because of the use of a job knowledge test, a promotion sample, or the composition of the applicant pool. Noteworthy contributions include the use of a self-report measure of stereotype threat, inclusion of two mediator variables in a theory-based sequence, and a test of the stereotype threat effect in an actual employment context.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored whether high-quality social relationships could compensate for a low level of safety climate in manufacturing organizations in Israel and found that the quality of the relationship with supervisors did not moderate the relationship between supervisors' and employees' climate perceptions.
Abstract: Previous studies have explored the role of social relationships, mainly with the supervisor, in promoting a high organizational safety climate. Not much is known, however, about the effect of social relationships when the safety climate is low. This study explored whether high-quality social relationships could compensate for a low level of safety climate. Hypotheses were tested among 673 employees and 46 managers from 46 departments in 11 manufacturing organizations in Israel. Results of both partial least squares and mixed-model procedures showed that employees’ climate perceptions mediate the relationship of supervisors’ climate perceptions with employees’ safety behavior. In addition, employees’ climate perceptions interacted with the quality of relationships with colleagues to affect safety behavior. However, the quality of the relationship with supervisors did not moderate the relationship between supervisors’ and employees’ climate perceptions. The results suggest that high-quality social relations...
TL;DR: Failure is the most fundamental feature of both biological systems and human social and economic organisations, as Ormerod (2005 p14 ) notes as discussed by the authors, and failure is one of the great unmentionables.
Abstract: Introduction This special issue focuses on understanding the causes and management of organizational failure. Over the years far more organizations have failed than have succeeded. Yet, within business and management research, the study of organizational failure has always been considered as secondary to organizational success. Failure is commonly seen as being of less significance or, at best, as being complementary to research on organizational success. “Failure is the most fundamental feature of both biological systems and human social and economic organisations,” as Ormerod (2005 p14 ) notes. “Of all the species that have ever existed, 99.99 per cent have failed in the most dramatic way. They are extinct. In America, more than 10 per cent of all companies fail every year, with more than 10,000 closing every week. Yet the existence of failure is one of the great unmentionables” (Ormerod, 2005: page 14). However, recently scholars from different disciplines including business history (Fridenson, 2005), economics (Ormerod, 2005), business management (Finkelstein, 2003; Wilkinson & Mellahi, 2005), strategic management (Mellahi & Sminia, 2009), and political science and law (Balleisen, 2001) have been calling for more research on business and organizational failure. This surge in interest in organizational failure is due in part to the wash up of the global financial crisis. High profile corporate failures caused by accounting frauds and deceits (e.g., Enron, Parmalat and WirldCom), fatal accidents (e.g., BP’s Texas City refinery fire), environmental disasters (e.g., BP’s oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico) and high levels corporate meltdowns as a result of the current global economic crisis (e.g., Northern Rock, AIG, and Freddie Mac) (Gillespie & Dietz, 2009: 127) have thrown failure into sharp relief.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the interrelationships between McClelland's motives and specific aggregate-level cultural dimensions and personality factors, revealing significant relationships between the achievement, affiliation, and power Motives, and the cultural dimensions of Performance Orientation, Humane Orientation and Power Distance, respectively.
Abstract: Using a cross-cultural sample of 17,538 managers from 24 countries, this study explores the interrelationships between McClelland’s motives and specific aggregate-level cultural dimensions and personality factors. The results reveal significant relationships between the Achievement, Affiliation, and Power Motives, and the cultural dimensions of Performance Orientation, Humane Orientation, and Power Distance, respectively. Support for posited relationships between the managers’ motives and aggregate-level personality, as measured by the Big Five factors, was also obtained. Finally, the results demonstrate that the relationships between McClelland’s motives and managers’ aggregate-level Big Five factors are moderated by the cultural dimensions of Performance Orientation, Humane Orientation, and Power Distance.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the practice of problem-based learning in organizational contexts and its contribution to organizational learning, and propose a learning that is context dependent based on the context.
Abstract: This article explores the practice of problem-based learning (PBL) in organizational contexts and its contribution to organizational learning. It proposes a learning that is context dependent based...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address how top managers activate their organizational identity concepts during strategic decision making, and find that cognitive associations that are achieved through decision integration, desired future image, and information sharing are keys in making identity dimensions accessible, thus enabling the activation of organizational identity in these top managers' minds.
Abstract: This article addresses how top managers activate their organizational identity concepts during strategic decision making. It integrates the social cognition and strategic management literature by employing the accessibility principle in strategic management processes. Data were gathered through interviews and case scenario—based questionnaires from top managers in four Indonesian pharmaceutical companies. Analysis suggests that cognitive associations that are achieved through decision integration, desired future image, and information sharing are keys in making identity dimensions accessible, thus enabling the activation of organizational identity concepts in these top managers’ minds. Results also indicate an association between perception of control and top managers’ ability to activate concepts of organizational identity. The article discusses the theoretical and practical implications of findings.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a learning case by Major League Soccer (MLS) from its failed predecessor, the North American Soccer League (NASL), depicting patterns of learning in four aspects: control, foreign players, media relationships, and financial viability.
Abstract: Organizations are often encouraged to learn from the failures of others. However, failures can be extremely complicated and multifaceted, defying clear cause attribution. Learning organizations face challenges in adopting and implementing the lessons of such failures and many times are unable to appropriately correct the root causes. Using a grounded theory approach, the authors present a learning case by Major League Soccer (MLS) from its failed predecessor—the North American Soccer League (NASL), depicting patterns of learning in four aspects: control, foreign players, media relationships, and financial viability. The authors propose a two-stage process model of vicarious learning from failure based on two fundamental processes: cause attribution and lesson implementation.
TL;DR: In this article, structural and managerial antecedents of strategy failure exist and the extent to which these determine failure is different under conditions of high and low adherence to strategy, and the authors support these arguments and demonstrate that the drivers of failure differ according to the unusual strategy process environment of both types of firms.
Abstract: The authors contend that structural and managerial antecedents of strategy failure exist and the extent to which these determine failure is different under conditions of high and low adherence to strategy. Our results support these arguments and demonstrate that the drivers of failure differ according to the unusual strategy process environment of both types of firms. Resource scarcity is found to be a common antecedent to strategy failure in organizations regardless of adherence. From there, managerial conditions (symbolic information use, strategy championing, and tenure) drive strategy failure in high-adherence firms. However, only structural conditions (formalization and resource scarcity) are antecedents of strategy failure in low-adherence firms, while failure is mitigated by centralized decision making.
TL;DR: In the United States, newly chartered banks are subject to increased regulatory scrutiny during their early years of operation to ensure their long-term viability as the record number of bank fail.
Abstract: In the United States, newly chartered banks are subject to increased regulatory scrutiny during their early years of operation to ensure their long-term viability As the record number of bank fail