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1 – 10 of over 65000Basic science, sometimes called “curiosity-driven research” at the National Science Foundation and other places, starts with a question that somehow stays in the mind, nagging for…
Abstract
Basic science, sometimes called “curiosity-driven research” at the National Science Foundation and other places, starts with a question that somehow stays in the mind, nagging for an answer. Such questions really are “puzzles”; they arise in an intellectual field or context, asking someone to fit pieces to an improving but incomplete picture of the social world. What makes a worthwhile puzzle is a missing part in understanding the picture, or a new piece of knowledge that does not seem to fit among other parts. Sometimes creative theorists can imagine a solution to one of the holes in the puzzle. If they are also empirical scientists, they devise ways to get evidence bearing on their ideas, and some of those ideas survive to give more complete and detailed pictures of the world. This chapter is the story of puzzles and provisional solutions to them, developed by dozens of men and women investigating status processes and status structures, using a coherent perspective, for over half a century.1
Brian D. Lyons and Nathan A. Bowling
Unlike general codes of conduct, little is known about whether peer reporting policies achieve their intended purpose – that is, to increase the base rate of peer reporting…
Abstract
Purpose
Unlike general codes of conduct, little is known about whether peer reporting policies achieve their intended purpose – that is, to increase the base rate of peer reporting counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). The purpose of this paper is to use a person-situation perspective to examine if and when peer reporting policies impact the base rate of peer reporting CWBs.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected data from 271 employed participants and used moderated regression to examine whether policy presence and strength (situational variables) enhanced the relationship between a subjective obligation to report CWBs (person variable) and the base rate of peer reporting CWBs. This study also explored whether these interactions differ by CWB target (i.e. the organization vs coworkers).
Findings
Both situational variables – policy presence and policy strength – moderated the relationship between an obligation to report CWBs and the base rate of peer reporting CWBs. The interactions also differed by CWB target.
Originality/value
This study represents one of the initial academic investigations into the effectiveness of peer reporting policies. It primarily draws on the person-situation perspective to explain why peer reporting policies should influence the base rate of peer reporting CWBs. The results support the impact of peer reporting policies, but also suggest the benefit of examining different targets of CWB to help clarify when peer reporting policies are actually effective.
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Pascale G. Quester and Justin Smart
A conjoint analysis study of consumers’ choice of a popular product examined whether consumption situation and involvement influenced significantly the importance allocated by…
Abstract
A conjoint analysis study of consumers’ choice of a popular product examined whether consumption situation and involvement influenced significantly the importance allocated by consumers to a number of key attributes determined by a sample of experts and product users. A large sample drawn from diverse wine retail outlets was asked to rank ten hypothetical wine products, the purchase of which related to three different consumption situations. While price remained the most important factor overall, all three other attributes were ranked differently depending upon the intended usage situation and the level of product involvement exhibited by respondents.
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Muhammad Zubair Alam, Muhammad Rafiq, Adnan Alafif, Sobia Nasir and Jawad Bashir
Research in the field of intrapreneurial behaviour (IB) is developing in terms of the personality results of employees in various occupations. An important developing field is the…
Abstract
Purpose
Research in the field of intrapreneurial behaviour (IB) is developing in terms of the personality results of employees in various occupations. An important developing field is the study of how personality traits (PTs) influence occupational results. While previous theories like situationism focus on the impact of situations, the role of situations as a catalyst for personality in the context of IB has not been explored. Theories like person-job fit have also established the personality-job resemblance for performance measures. This paper aims to conceptualize the activation of PTs for IB responses from employees using trait activation theory (TAT).
Design/methodology/approach
The TAT explains the personality-triggering effect in diverse situations for performance measures. Plenty of research studies have established IB of employees as a performance measure at the individual level that further rejuvenates organisational performance measures. The current study aims to conceptualise how personality and situational factors interact to affect IB outcomes in firms using the TAT. Employees in different occupations utilise personality coherent conflict handling styles (CHS) to manage conflict situations, which might serve as situational cues to activate personality effects in employees engaged in IB.
Findings
A theoretical framework for understanding how situational cues activate PTs for IB development has been proposed in this study.
Practical implications
The findings of the study have repercussions for pedagogy and the practices that are currently used in human resource management.
Originality/value
The study concludes with a series of propositions by arguing and supporting literature on existing conceptions of the trait activation process. Attempting to advance the conceptualisation of TAT, the study also offered implications for theory, pedagogy and practice regarding the relationship between PTs, CHS and IB.
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Shane Connelly and Brett S. Torrence
Organizational behavior scholars have long recognized the importance of a variety of emotion-related phenomena in everyday work life. Indeed, after three decades, the span of…
Abstract
Organizational behavior scholars have long recognized the importance of a variety of emotion-related phenomena in everyday work life. Indeed, after three decades, the span of research on emotions in the workplace encompasses a wide variety of affective variables such as emotional climate, emotional labor, emotion regulation, positive and negative affect, empathy, and more recently, specific emotions. Emotions operate in complex ways across multiple levels of analysis (i.e., within-person, between-person, interpersonal, group, and organizational) to exert influence on work behavior and outcomes, but their linkages to human resource management (HRM) policies and practices have not always been explicit or well understood. This chapter offers a review and integration of the bourgeoning research on discrete positive and negative emotions, offering insights about why these emotions are relevant to HRM policies and practices. We review some of the dominant theories that have emerged out of functionalist perspectives on emotions, connecting these to a strategic HRM framework. We then define and describe four discrete positive and negative emotions (fear, pride, guilt, and interest) highlighting how they relate to five HRM practices: (1) selection, (2) training/learning, (3) performance management, (4) incentives/rewards, and (5) employee voice. Following this, we discuss the emotion perception and regulation implications of these and other discrete emotions for leaders and HRM managers. We conclude with some challenges associated with understanding discrete emotions in organizations as well as some opportunities and future directions for improving our appreciation and understanding of the role of discrete emotional experiences in HRM.
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My purpose is to describe for strategic management scholars in Africa, particularly graduate students and new faculty members, dynamic analysis and its significance in the African…
Abstract
Purpose
My purpose is to describe for strategic management scholars in Africa, particularly graduate students and new faculty members, dynamic analysis and its significance in the African context so as to assist in the study of dynamic phenomena.
Design/methodology/approach
I discuss various types and methods of dynamic analysis. Dynamic analysis has been used extensively in such fields as cognitive psychology, social psychology, and management in Western countries.
Findings
I illustrate the various dynamics by reviewing four illustrative studies. I also provide procedures for studying dynamics in the African context.
Research limitations/implications
I discuss the strengths and limitations of dynamic analysis and suggest ways of maximizing its potential.
Practical implications
The technique is a source particularly for graduate students of strategy in Africa. They can use it to supplement other approaches in studying strategic management phenomena.
Originality/value
This chapter discusses a typology of dynamic analysis consistent with empirical or variable modeling approaches. The lack of such a typology in the context of Africa makes it a valuable contribution. Thus, it fills a contextual gap in the research methodology literature.
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This chapter proposes a model of person-situation interactions to explain when individuals react to demographic diversity in their work places. Qualitative research reported here…
Abstract
This chapter proposes a model of person-situation interactions to explain when individuals react to demographic diversity in their work places. Qualitative research reported here suggests individual identities likely influence reactions to diversity and should be considered in conjunction with traditional situational factors. The model developed from this research looks at interactions between high and low identification with demographic categories and strong and weak situational cues toward such categories to explain when individuals are most likely to respond (or not respond) to diversity. The proposition that motivated reactions to diversity are observable only when both situational and personal factors contribute is advanced.
Robin A. Cheramie and Marcia J. Simmering
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of situational factors in improving learning for trainees with low conscientiousness.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of situational factors in improving learning for trainees with low conscientiousness.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 117 employees completed a survey questionnaire in the context of a training intervention. Perceptions of conscientiousness, legitimacy, and accountability were used to predict employee learning in a training context. Moderated multiple regression was used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
Results support interactions of conscientiousness and perceived accountability to predict learning such that learners who are low in conscientiousness showed higher levels of learning when perceived accountability was considered strong than when perceived accountability was considered weak. There was no support for the proposed interaction of conscientiousness and perceived legitimacy to predict learning.
Practical implications
Results support the view that organizations should implement formal controls to increase perceived accountability and improve learning. Trainees with low conscientiousness had higher levels of learning in situations with strong accountability perceptions.
Originality/value
The study is one of the few to evaluate perceived accountability in a field study, whereas most previous research has evaluated this concept in lab experiments. Therefore, the findings support the wide range of perceived accountability that exists in most organizations. The results imply the need for more accountability controls within an organization to increase learning in a training context.
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The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how first-time offenders and habitual criminals, while displaying wide differences in offense frequency, appear to follow a similar…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how first-time offenders and habitual criminals, while displaying wide differences in offense frequency, appear to follow a similar pattern in committing crime.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual approach is adopted in this paper.
Findings
It is argued that criminal thinking is the common denominator in both patterns, the difference being that habitual criminals have a higher resting level of proactive and reactive criminal thinking than first-time offenders. With an earlier age of onset, the habitual criminal may be more impulsive and reactive than first-time offenders, which partially explains why most low-rate offenders are not identified until adulthood.
Practical implications
Because actual and perceived deterrents to crime correlate weakly, if at all, it is recommended that perceived environmental events and criminal thinking be the primary targets of prevention and intervention programs.
Social implications
Environmental stimuli, such as events that produce general strain, increase opportunities for crime, reinforce criminal associations, irritate the individual and interfere with the deterrent effect of perceived certainty, can both augment and interact with criminal thinking to increase the likelihood of a criminal act in both first-time offenders and habitual criminals.
Originality/value
The unique aspect of this paper is that it illustrates that certain features of crime and criminality are found across offending levels, whereas other features are more specific to a particular level.
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Yu-Shan (Sandy) Huang and Ruping Liu
Dysfunctional customer behavior (DCB) is costly and problematic for organizations. This research seeks to understand how DCB spreads and how businesses can effectively deal with…
Abstract
Purpose
Dysfunctional customer behavior (DCB) is costly and problematic for organizations. This research seeks to understand how DCB spreads and how businesses can effectively deal with it through employee intervention.
Design/methodology/approach
This research conducted a survey study and an experimental study to examine the proposed model.
Findings
Through two studies, we discovered that when an employee intervenes to stop DCB and is perceived as having high coping ability, observing customers learn from the employee’s action, resulting in reduced empathy toward the dysfunctional customer and diminished intentions to engage in DCB. Conversely, if they perceive the employee as having low coping ability, the intervention backfires, enhancing the observers’ empathy toward the dysfunctional customer and consequently leading them to engage in more DCB.
Originality/value
This research unveils an additional mechanism that explains the spread of DCB. It also contributes to the employee intervention literature by shedding light on when employee intervention can backfire. Further, our application of social learning theory along with the person-situation interaction literature offers a fresh perspective in explaining service exchanges.
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