Search results

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how individual interviewers’ dispositional cognitive motivations may influence interview interactions and outcomes. More specifically, this study explores the influence of the need for cognition, need for cognitive closure, and accountability on the relationship between first impressions and selection decisions.

In total, 41 graduate students were assigned the role of interviewers and were tasked to interview 331 undergraduate students at a large Midwestern university. The selection interview was designed to recruit qualified undergraduate students to the MBA program of the university.

First impressions significantly influenced selection decisions, but did not influence interviewers’ behaviors. Moreover, multilevel analyses reveal that interviewers’ need for cognition and accountability moderate the relationship between first impression and selection decisions, albeit in different direction. Need for cognition strengthens, whereas accountability weakens the relationship between first impression and selection decision.

A potential interviewer bias is apparent, where interviewers high on need for cognition tend to weight first impressions more in the decision process. However, this bias was not directly observable, since interviewers’ behaviors during the interview were not affected by first impressions.

The present study goes beyond previous research on first impressions in the employment interview, finding that dispositional differences account for the tendency to weigh first impressions in the selection decision.

The purpose of this paper is to examine Koslowsky and Schwarzwald’s (2009) recent conceptualization of the interpersonal power interaction model which assumed that the choice of power tactics in conflict situations is a sequential process including antecedents, mediators, and the choice of influence tactics. The mediation process is the new component of the model, thus the authors tested two potential mediators – perceived damage and negative emotions – in the choice process.

Managers (n=240) were presented with conflict scenarios involving one of their subordinates (low/high performing) and differed by conflict type (relations/task and principle/expediency). They indicated the influence tactics they would utilize in the given situation for gaining compliance and completed a series of questionnaires: perceived damage engendered by disobedience, resultant emotion, cognitive closure, and demographics.

Results indicated that perceived damage, directly and through the mediation of resultant negative emotions, influenced the tendency to opt for harsh tactics. This trend was further affected by the managers’ gender and cognitive closure.

The discussion addresses the empirical validity of the model, the role of rationality and emotion in the process of choosing influence tactics. Practical implications concerning the usage of harsh and soft tactics and the limitation of the self-report method were also discussed.

The contribution of the study is twofolded: proving the empirical validity of the new conceptualization of the model and explaining the dynamic involved in the choice of influence tactics.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how third‐party managers' cognitive need (motivational tendency) for closure influences their decisions on how to intervene in conflict.

The data were collected from 61 undergraduate business students. All participants had managerial experience and may represent future managers. Participants read a scenario describing a hypothetical conflict between members of a project team and evaluated the likelihood of choosing different strategies to intervene in the conflict.

Results showed that individuals with a high need for closure were more likely to choose an autocratic procedure and less likely to choose mediation than individuals with a low need for closure. The option of letting disputants resolve the conflict themselves was somewhat unattractive to those with a high need for closure.

The use of a scenario approach may limit the generalizability of the results. Future studies should examine the need for closure in field settings. The results of this study extend the theory of managerial dispute resolution by showing how individual difference factors influence the choice of conflict intervention strategies.

The ability to manage conflict effectively is critical for third‐party managers. Managers need to understand how their need (or motivation) for closure influences how they choose to intervene in conflict. These choices influence managerial effectiveness.

This is one of the first papers to examine the influence of individual difference factors, such as the cognitive need for closure, on the choice of managerial conflict intervention strategies.

Assuming that organizations are open and have increasingly permeable boundaries, one risks overlooking the strategies employed by organizations to defend their own logics and routines, as illustrated by the example of the implementation of active labor market policies. It is often assumed that only open, networked organizations can fulfill the demand of offering individualized employment and social services to citizens. On the basis of an in-depth case study, we show how a jobcenter organization dealt with these challenges by developing its own decision-making criteria on a procedural, structural, and personal dimension. This implies not only cognitive openness but also operational closure and increased internal “requisite variety,” in the language of systems theory.

Purpose – This chapter proposes a theoretical framework – the Conflict Templates Model – that depicts how people conceptualize their outcome interdependence in conflict and negotiation situations. We focus on perceptions of outcome interdependence in dyadic conflicts, with a particular emphasis on intergroup interactions.

Approach – Integrating ideas and concepts from game theory with social psychological principles, we propose that: (a) people's mental representations of interdependence are predictably constrained to a small set of mixed-motive games; (b) different motivational goals often lead group members to endorse different games to describe the same intergroup conflict; and (c) these interdependence perceptions influence parties' strategic behavior, and ultimately, their outcomes.

Findings – We review empirical evidence that provides initial support for each of these propositions and discuss future directions for research on the mental representation of conflict and negotiation.

Originality/value – We generate a number of novel predictions concerning the mental representation of conflict. We also discuss how identifying disputants' mental representations can help conflict managers devise effective strategies for managing and resolving conflicts.

The present paper aims to identify an important moderator of the effect of leader's fairness on the conflict handling style adopted by followers. Based on the uncertainty management model the authors hypothesize that the motivation to reduce uncertainty, reflected by individual differences in need for cognitive closure, moderates the use of constructive conflict handling style as a response to variation in leader's perceived procedural fairness.

A correlational study was conducted on a sample of 175 Italian public employees. Each participant filled out a questionnaire. Data analysis was carried out performing a series of multiple regression analyses.

Consistent with previous research, regression analysis showed that perceived leader's fairness promoted a more constructive approach to manage conflict with leaders. More importantly this relationship was stronger under high rather than low need for cognitive closure.

Present results suggest that in order to favor a solution‐oriented conflict handling style, leaders should promote perceptions of procedural fairness, especially among those with high need for closure.

This is one of the first studies that looks at a moderator of the relationship between leader's fairness and constructive conflict management. It integrates literature on procedural fairness and cooperation. Furthermore, as the current research focuses on need for closure, it has important implications with regard to the uncertainty management model.

The purpose of this paper is to study whether diverting auditors to erroneous accounts leads to higher effectiveness and detection of errors. Also, this paper investigates the effect of the need for cognitive closure of auditors on audit effectiveness and detection of errors in the presence of audit management.

The authors used a financial statement containing a diverting statement and several errors for measuring audit management and used a survey to measure auditors’ need for closure. Research sample consisted of 79 independent auditors having above three years of audit experience. The set of financial statement and questionnaire (measuring the need for closure of auditors) was given to auditors and they had enough time to fill them.

Results show that diverting auditors to accounts containing error does not lead to higher effectiveness and detection of errors. Also, auditors need for closure character does not affect their effectiveness and detection of errors in the financial statements.

Diverting auditors to erroneous accounts leads to higher detection of earning management. With this regard, the results increase the awareness of auditors that diverting auditors away from important errors to easy-to-detect erroneous accounts leads to their belief of achieving the audit objectives by detecting phony errors and misstatements. In other words, the results alert auditors of managers’ techniques of audit management.

This study contributes to the literature on audit management and need for cognitive closure of auditors in Iran’s audit environment and introduces these concepts to this environment. The paper will be of value to Association of Iranian Certified Public accountants to include stricter measure in appraisal of audit firms’ quality and educate its participants about audit management and mediating effect of the need for closure of auditors on the detection of errors and misstatements in financial statements.

This research aims to explore the notion of fit between subordinates’ need for cognitive closure and supervisors’ power tactics on organizational conflict management.

Two-hundred and ninety employees drawn from six different Italian organizations were recruited for the purpose of this study.

Results indicated that high-need-for-closure subordinates utilized more constructive (solution-oriented) conflict management strategies when their supervisors relied on harsh power tactics, whereas low-need-for-closure subordinates were more inclined to use solution-oriented conflict management strategies when their supervisors relied on soft power tactics. Additionally, results indicated that, overall, supervisors’ use of harsh power tactics increased subordinates reliance on maladapted (control-oriented) conflict management strategies, but even more so for subordinates with low need for cognitive closure.

This study highlights the importance of supervisor–subordinate fit to understand conflict management in organizational setting.