bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Social Defenses Against Organizational Learning
Authors: Bain Alastair
Published: August 2005

It is argued that for organizational learning to occur maladaptive social defenses within the organization have to be altered. The origins of the concept of social defenses are traced through the work of Jaques and Menzies. A new concept of "system domain," and related concepts of "system domain fabric," and "system domain defenses," are proposed in order to account for the difficulties in sustaining organizational change in organizations that share a similar primary task. "Organizational learning" is defined as occurring when there is co-evolution of "organizational container" and "contained." The article distills variables from three successful consultancy/action research projects which are characteristic of organizations that are learning, and it is hypothesized that the creation of "organizational awareness" is necessary for organizational learning to occur.
From Experiments to Network Building: Trends in the Use of Research for Reconstructing Working Life
Authors: Gustavsen Bjorn
Published: August 2005

Many efforts to use the social sciences for the purpose of change and reconstruction have their roots in the idea of the field experiment. In various forms, the field experiment played a dominant role in the period 1930-1970. In more recent years, new patterns have emerged, such as complementary research roles in network building. In this contribution, focus is on the links between the early experiments and today's approaches, to see the latter in terms of responses to the challenges posed by the processes that were triggered off by the field experiments.
The Ecology of Diversity in Organizational Settings: Lessons from a Case Study
Authors: Bond Meg A. , Pyle Jean L.
Published: August 2005

This paper advances a social ecological perspective on the resources necessary to support workplace diversity. It is based on observations from an ongoing organizational case study which used a collaborative inquiry process. We worked with insiders to establish a project steering team, conducted 36 confidential interviews, and met with work units to assess diversity-related concerns. The complex case portrait that emerged illuminates four lessons about the ecology of workplace diversity: (1) the influential role of organizational history and tradition in shaping current diversity dynamics, (2) the importance of understanding how participants' experiences of events may differ, (3) the power of informal organizational processes, and (4) the connections between individual, organizational, and broader cultural values. We discuss these lessons in the context of a three-part definition of support for effective diversity which includes representational, interactional, and cultural components. The goal is to further our understanding of the factors that support or hinder workforce diversity so we may more effectively create settings that are supportive of diversity.
Toward a Phenomenological Framework for the Study of Work and Organizational Stress
Authors: Schabracq Marc J. , Cooper Cary L.
Published: August 2005

In this article, elements from different stress models are embedded in a phenomenological framework for work and organization stress based on practical insights on the one hand and ideas and methods from ethology, microsociology, and cultural anthropology on the other. The framework is compatible with most of the existing research and theoretical views, and pays attention to some lacunas in these views. The central concept is integrity, i.e., the ways in which the process of situated individual functioning is organized in a niche, consisting of a limited set of situations. Integrity refers to the internal integration of individual functioning and the integration of the individual in his or her niche (and thereby in an organization and society at large). Integrity is a multileveled process with considerable individual variation, characterized by signification, morality, and individual experiences, which, with the help of four auxiliary verbs, can be analyzed in terms of individual options for action. Inadequate integrity may result from underdevelopment, decay, change, and intrusions by external events or an ongoing stress process. These can be described as (overlapping, and often coinciding) stress sources. In this respect, the framework makes a distinction between stressors that primarily affect the task itself and stressors that disturb the immediate environment of the task. All these stressors can be described as a matter of too much or too little on a great number of variables, of which usually only the medium range is conducive to adequate integrity. Lastly, attention is paid to stress reactions, which can act as stressors in their own right.
The Unmaking of Management? Change and Continuity in British Management in the 1990s
Authors: Scarbrough Harry
Published: August 2005

In the late 1980s, a series of reports-notably, "The Making of Managers" by Charles Handy-outlined a development path for management in the U.K. This was to be based on the development of an education and training base and the model set by leading corporations. A decade later, this paper reviews current trends in managerial work and employment against the expectations of the late 1980s. In doing so, it distinguishes between the objective condition of British management and its institutionalized meaning within wider British society. It argues that recent accounts of changes in managerial work and employment have focused solely on incremental changes in the empirical domain and have neglected important discursive shifts in the way management is understood and enacted within organizations. These shifts have been catalyzed by the emergence of a series of organizational initiatives-first, Total Quality Management (TQM) and, latterly, lean production and Business Process Reengineering (BPR)-which aim to systematically deconstruct management by emphasizing worker empowerment, delayering, downsizing, and the redistribution of managerial functions. In short, initiatives such as these are contributing to the "unmaking of management." Managerial groups are subject to intensification and polarization, while managerial practices are diffused throughout the work process.
The Rhetoric of Organizational Change
Authors: Finstad Nils
Published: August 2005

This study is a discussion of change strategies: the contextual aspects of change and the rhetoric of change. Change is analyzed along two dimensions: (1) the context of the change initiative in the organization, (2) the relations of the change project to the institutional environment. Four cases are used as examples of inducing change in municipal services. The four cases are part of a national reform project. In Norway, municipalities are important institutions both as arenas for political decisions but also as decentralized instruments for distributing local services. The main purpose of the reform project was to achieve better adjusted services through more interdisciplinary work and local responsibility. Change efforts may be forced on the organization, e.g., by laws, instructions, and frame budgets or they may be triggered by different voluntary mechanisms. The idea of "isomorphism" describes a passive or incremental adaptation to "signals" and from structure imposed by the environment. The idea of eruptive change implies enactment and entrepreneurship in relation to the environment based on signals from within. The contexts for change at different levels in the municipality are associated with different rhetorics. Context variables describe the situation or background on which the change initiatives are interpreted by the institutional actors. The rhetoric of change is the symbolic expression which defines the change process.
Organizational Capital and Joining-up: Linking the Individual to the Organization and to Society
Authors: Tomer John E
Published: August 2005

Do employees ever make efforts on behalf of their employing organization's interests or fellow employees' interests when it is not in their direct self-interest to do so? By drawing on organizational behavior literature relating to the joining-up process, organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior, and integrating these insights with economic theory, this article provides a new explanation of why employees' efforts are typically suboptimal and what organizational activities can resolve this problem. The key variable explaining whether organization members behave responsibly or not is the presence of organizational capital formed either during the joining-up process or in preparation for it.
Exploring the Influence of Gender on Managerial Work in a Thansitional, Eastern European Nation
Authors: Lubatkin Michael , Powell Gary
Published: August 2005

Prior studies of women in management have been conducted primarily from a Western, industrialized, and Anglo-American perspective. Therefore, their findings may not apply to other sociopolitical domains, such as those in transition to market-based economies. This study surveyed Hungarian managers at two different organizational ranks and employed in three different sectors of the economy. Contrary to the "gender-centered" hypothesis, managers' gender did not influence their work-related beliefs, values, or attitudes. However, as suggested by the "situational" hypothesis, the variables of rank and sector had a strong effect on outcomes.
Personal and Organizational Determinants of Perceived Absence Norms
Authors: Gellatly Ian R. , Luchak Andrew A.
Published: August 2005

A two-phase study employed a combination of qualitative and quantitative methodology to study absenteeism in a complex, hospital setting. The primary focus was to identify the bases of employees' beliefs about what is acceptable and expected in terms of absence behavior. Through a series of employee interviews, two different absence cultures were identified. We found evidence that employees' normative perceptions were influenced by their prior personal absence, and by the average level of absence within both their immediate work group and the absence culture to which they belonged. Perceived norms were also shown to predict future individual absence (total days absent) 1 year later. Theoretical and practical implications of this research were discussed.
Examining Resources in an Occupational Community: Reputation in Canadian Forensic Accounting
Authors: Lawrence Thomas B.
Published: August 2005

Occupational communities represent bounded cultures populated by people with similar work identities that transcend organizational settings. In this paper, I examine the relationship between an occupational community's culture and its ability to control strategic resources that advantage its members. Drawing on an empirical examination of the Canadian forensic accounting, I argue that reputation acts as a strategic resource, not only for individual members, but for the community as a whole. The community's practice standards and membership rules work to heighten the importance of individual practitioners' reputations, which in turn benefits client communities by conferring legitimacy on their claims, and restricts entry into forensic accounting. The role of reputation in Canadian forensic accounting serves to illuminate the importance of resources that, rather than being held in some proprietary fashion, are shared among actors who are, ostensibly, in competition with one another.
Social Support and Career Optimism: Examining the Effectiveness of Network Groups Among Black Managers
Authors: Friedman Ray , Kane Melinda , Cornfield Daniel B.
Published: August 2005

As companies look for better ways to manage diversity, one of the approaches that is emerging is the use of female and minority network groups. These groups are not well understood, and there has been no quantitative analysis of their impact on minority employees. Social network theory suggests that network groups should enhance the social resources available to women and minorities and in that way enhance their chance of career success, but some critics of network groups suggest that backlash might produce greater social isolation and discrimination. In this paper, we analyze a survey of members of the National Black MBA Association to find out whether network groups have a positive impact on career optimism, what specific effects of these groups are most beneficial, and whether groups enhance isolation or discrimination. Results indicate that network groups have a positive overall impact on career optimism of Black managers, and that this occurs primarily via enhanced mentoring. Network groups have no effect on discrimination, either positive or negative. There are some indications of greater isolation, but also some indications of greater contact with Whites.
Agency and Organization: Toward a Cyborg-Consciousness
Authors: Wood Martin
Published: August 2005

The presumption that agency is primarily the function or personification of a naturalized human actant can be traced through a Western intellectual tradition which draws upon a dualistic conception of the self as a unified, productive, sovereign subject, and an independent, external, physical other. In this paper, I problematize the prevalence of such Cartesian differentiation. I review an alternative, postfoundational actant ontology, then trace the resemblances in the work on situated knowledges. These orientations challenge the hierarchical division between the internal self and the external other and instead emphasize the relational, material, and performative nature of human being. Drawing on the notion of proximal thinking, I suggest that formal organizations can productively be described as relational spaces, containing multiple and complex frontiers, frames and interfaces, with(in) which ostensibly differentiated and individualistic attitudes toward agency give way to the variety and possibility of the self-in-between; a cyborg-consciousness able to withstand the tension of partial identities and contradictory voices.
The Mechanistic Structure Shift and Strategic Reorientation in Declining Firms Attempting Turnarounds
Authors: Barker Vincent L. , Mone Mark A.
Published: August 2005

Past researchers have observed that declining organizations often experience mechanistic structural changes that centralize authority, increase reliance on formalized procedures, and reduce the amount of information flowing to top managers. Many have proposed that this "mechanistic shift" in declining organizations reduces their adaptive capability by making innovative organizational change in response to decline less likely. However, despite much research on declining firms and their turnaround attempts, many questions about mechanistic shifts remain, such as: (1) To what extent do declining firms become systematically mechanistic when trying to recover from decline? (2) What aspects of declining firms' situations make mechanistic shifts more likely? (3) Do mechanistic shifts reduce the likelihood of large-scale strategic reorientation as declining firms attempt to recover? We sought answers to these questions through an analysis of data from in-depth interviews with top managers (mostly CEOs) at 29 U.S. firms attempting turnarounds from decline. Our primary finding was that mechanistic structure shifts did restrict firms' abilities to change their strategic orientations in response to decline. Highlighting the important role of the context of turnaround attempts, we further found the average declining firm attempting a turnaround did not become more mechanistic, but that turnaround attempts launched from financial crises were significantly more likely to lead to mechanistic shifts. Also, we found that the common practice of replacing the firm's CEO during turnaround attempts had conflicting and paradoxical effects on firms' abilities to enact strategic reorientations.
The Effects of Diversity on Small Work Group Processes and Performance
Authors: Shaw James B. , Barrett-Power Elain
Published: August 2005

Diversity is an increasingly important factor in organizational life as organizations worldwide become more diverse in terms of the gender, race, ethnicity, age, national origin, and other personal characteristics of their members. The exact impact of within-group diversity on small group processes and performance is unclear. Sometimes the effect of diversity seems positive, at other times negative, and in other situations, there seems to be no effect at all. In this article, we suggest that these types of findings might be explained by using a "group-development" model to examine the impact of diversity on group processes and performance. Our model uses concepts from Jackson et al.'s (1995), Milliken and Martins' (1996), and other models, as well as our own concepts, to show how diversity affects group development and performance. Among the concepts included in the model are readily detectable personal attributes, underlying personal attributes, cognitive paradigm dissimilarity, cognitive costs and rewards, diversity management skills, group behavioral integration, and cognitive performance resources. In the pages that follow, we will explain each of the components of the model and suggest specific hypotheses generated from the model.
Organizational Symbolism as a Social Construction: A Perspective from the Sociology of Knowledge
Authors: Strati Antonio
Published: August 2005

This article describes organizational symbolism from a sociology of knowledge perspective and considers both the theoretical and extra-theoretical bases of the symbolic approach. It illustrates the distinctive principles of the symbolic approach with respect to other methods used in the study of organizations, the concepts on which it is based, and the organizational issues on which it has shed significant light. Symbolist studies of organizations have refocused scholarly attention on the multidisciplinary understanding of the logos, ethos, and pathos of organizational life. They have done so by stressing the production of knowledge tout court, rather than concerning themselves with the applicability of the organizational knowledge acquired by this approach for managerial purposes. Organizational symbolism is described in the article as a fluctuating and emerging social construction whose growth and spread has been fostered by support within academia.
From Altruism to Action: Primary Task and the Not-for-Profit Organization
Authors: Dartington Tim
Published: August 2005

This paper examines the concept of primary task, as it has been used in action research and consultancy at The Tavistock Institute and elsewhere. It applies the concept to the not-for-profit organization and argues that primary task should not be thought of opportunistically; it relates to the "mission" of the organization. The three sector model of public, private and voluntary organizations is linked to basic assumptions, as described by Bion and applied to societal institutions. The voluntary sector is considered to have a valency for basic assumption pairing organizational behavior. A case study of a voluntary organization demonstrates the way different stakeholders claim psychological ownership of the enterprise. The paper concludes that the concept of primary task remains important, offering a stable reference point for working with organizations, where the boundary between sectors is increasingly problematic, threatening to overwhelm their original purpose.
Conflict and Conflict Resolution in a Cooperative: The Case of the Nir Taxi Station
Authors: Darr Asaf
Published: August 2005

What conflict resolution mechanisms do democratic worker cooperatives generate and to what extent could these mechanisms be called democratic? This case study tries to address these questions by examining both conflict and conflict resolution in a democratic organization, a 66-year-old taxi cooperative. The conflicts presented stem from three main sources: ethnic origin, local division of labor, and "class" affiliation. These conflicts are resolved through different processes, ranging from a joke-telling ritual to a formal tribunal composed of elected judges. Discussion centers on unique aspects of conflict resolution in a democratic worker cooperative and their implications for studies of conflict resolution in nondemocratic firms.
Cultural and Status Differences in Intergroup Conflict Resolution: A Longitudinal Study of a Middle East Dialogue Group in the United States
Authors: Hubbard Amy S.
Published: August 2005

Supporters of the contact hypothesis have argued that positive intergroup contact is facilitated when participants have equal status with one another. However, the exact dimensions of equal status are often unclear, having been defined variously as equal occupational status, having close friends of another race, or having equal roles in the contact situation. This paper argues that cultural differences between groups must be taken into account, particularly when intergroup contact occurs in formal conflict resolution exercises. Non-Western participants will be at a disadvantage when attempting to find common ground with Western participants in conflict resolution exercises based on Western cultural practices. Based on a 6-year participant observation study of a Palestinian-Jewish dialogue group, this paper argues that familiarity and expertise in using the culture-based rules of interaction play an important but often subtle role in intergroup conflict resolution. Participants must have some basic equality in their ability to function within the dominant culture.
Power and Politics in Grievance Resolution: Managing Meaning of Due Process in an Organization
Authors: Varman Rahul , Bhatnagar Deepti
Published: August 2005

This paper studies the relatively less explored issue of the actual process of grievance resolution from a political perspective. In a steel plant in India, six grievance cases were analyzed from the filing of a grievance to its final resolution. Cases were reconstructed through semistructured interviews and analyzed from a political perspective. The sources of power of the key actors and their influence tactics vis-A-vis one another were found to determine whether the case would be decided in favor of or against the grievant. The understanding of the dynamics in grievance resolution was enhanced when we analyzed cases as episodes nested in the ongoing political process of the organization. A comprehensive understanding of political behavior required analysis at two levels: the explicit-dealing with apparent behavior; and the implicit-exploring the underlying concerns and intents of the actors often manifested through symbols. Implications of multiple levels of political behavior for institutionalizing due process are discussed.
Why Study the Complexity Sciences in the Social Sciences?
Authors: Mathews K. Michael , White Michael C. , Long Rebecca G.
Published: August 2005

Over the past two decades, several new perspectives have emerged in the physical and natural sciences and are collectively referred to as the complexity sciences. Insights from these emerging perspectives have implications that merit consideration for developments and extensions of existing work at the metatheoretical, theoretical, and methodological levels in organization theory. The purpose of this manuscript is to: (a) provide an overview of the complexity sciences, (b) provide a justification and rationale for their inclusion into the social sciences, and (c) review the current organizational literature which utilizes and applies concepts from the complexity sciences to organizational phenomena.
Reflexivity
Authors: Holland Ray
Published: August 2005

Just as the concept "paradigm" energized the human sciences in spite of its many definitions and uses, so now does the concept "reflexive" seem to be of increasing salience, again with many definitions and uses. It is argued that reflexivity, as a fundamental human quality underlies various attempts to understand and intervene in human relationships. By juxtaposing paradigms, reflexivity, and therapeutic progression it is possible to set out several types of reflexivity, some relatively self-contained and others at the edge of our possible "knowledges."
On the Vicissitudes of Cyberspace as Potential-Space
Authors: Civin Michael A.
Published: August 2005

This paper examines some issues which emerge from the use of cyberspace within organizations, focusing on the extent to which cyberspace facilitates and/or interferes with individual and organizational growth. It is argued that the Internet has come to facilitate a form of interaction which may appear largely social and related, while remaining relatively isolated, asocial or at best partially social, self-protective, and removed. This is a form of interaction which is often characterized by partial relationships as well as confusion or ambiguity between what is happening and what is imagined. In much of our relational life, we maintain a tension and dynamic interplay between our experience of ourselves and of the world as structured and ordered and our experience of ourselves and of the world as disordered and chaotic. In the organizational Internet interactions explored in this paper, this tension is often suspended, or at times obliterated. However, it is proposed here that, as profoundly ambiguous and disturbing as these Internet interactions may be, they may at times serve the function of a potential space in which growth is facilitated. In other instances, however, they serve to inhibit or even destroy potential. The theoretical basis for these findings is built on the contributions of Klein, Winnicott, and Matte-Blanco and is illustrated by clinical examples from organizations.
Cultural Theory and Contemporary Management Organization
Authors: Hendry John
Published: August 2005

Mary Douglas's cultural theory of grid and group provides a framework for the description of three distinct cultural types corresponding to three logics for the legitimation of collectivity and collective coercion. Each type is distinguished by characteristic structures of classification, power, and moral order operating at the individual cognitive level. In this paper, the theory is used to illuminate some of the major developments in the structuring of business organizations in the late twentieth century, including the introduction of matrix, project and network organizations, the focus on de-layering, downsizing and outsourcing, and the emergence of concerns with cultural control, organizational learning, and core competence. The problems arising from these developments are discussed in terms of an unresolved conflict between the cognitive frameworks of two of Douglas's cultural types, market, and hierarchy.
The Emotions of Control: A Qualitative Exploration of Environmental Regulation
Authors: Fineman Stephen , Sturdy Andrew
Published: August 2005

Processes of control remain central to managerial and critical theories of organization, but their inherently emotional form has been largely neglected. The experience and expression of emotions are more than simply objects and outcomes of control, they also shape its context, processes, and consequences. Drawing upon observations of interpersonal encounters between environmental regulatory inspectors and industrial managers in the U.K., an emotional framing of the dynamics of control is developed. This presents emotion as a condition and consequence of interacting socioeconomic roles and power structures such as those associated with occupations, gender, and capitalism. It also provides a way of analyzing control that is sensitive to its emotional characteristics and may be applied to other, more conventional control contexts.
The Systems Psychodynamics of a Joint Venture: Anxiety Social Defenses, and the Management of Mutual Dependence
Authors: Gould Laurence J. , Ebers Robert , Clinchy Ross McVicker
Published: August 2005

Joint ventures, mergers and other forms of organizational alliances are rapidly becoming a business necessity. However, on an almost daily basis, experience suggests that such alliances often pose critical dilemmas for those entering into them. Central among these are collaborating across differences in organizational cultures and forging a new organizational identity. At a deeper level, there are also often paranoid concerns and fantasies about the long-term lack of equity in the transfer of knowledge and capability. This paper, therefore, outlines a systems psychodynamic perspective on intergroup and interorganizational relationships for developing an in-depth understanding of some common irrational and emotional difficulties alliance relationships face. It then goes on to describe an illustrative case and concludes with an appraisal of the advantages of a systems psychodynamic conceptual perspective-taking both structure and process into account-which has been neglected or minimized in the literature on organizational alliances.
Organizational Cultures as Holding Environments: A Psychodynamic Look at Organizational Symbolism
Authors: Van Buskirk William , McGrath Dennis
Published: August 2005

The traditional formulation of symbols as "bundles of meaning" has supported many fine-grained analyses of organizational culture. However, it tends to obscure deeper psychodynamic elements that are essential to shaping how culture forms, develops, and dies. This paper adapts the idea of "holding environment" from Winnicott, Kegan, and others to sketch the potential contribution of such a psychodynamic perspective. An illustrative case is presented to support the argument.
Toward a Cross-Cultural Understanding of Work-Related Beliefs
Authors: Niles F. S.
Published: August 2005

Although psychology's contribution to a study of the Protestant Work Ethic (PWE) made a slow start we now have an impressive array of studies which have examined this construct, even cross-culturally, and find that not only is this construct seemingly alive and well, but also that it is espoused more strongly by non-Protestant and non-Western countries. Furnham (1990b) examined a composite of seven scales designed to measure the PWE, and found that several factors could be identified. A study was undertaken to compare the meaning of work in two different cultures, one "Western" Christian (Australian) and the other non-Western Buddhist (Sri Lankan). The results suggest that both cultures have similar perceptions about the meaning of work, but Sri Lankans seem to be more strongly committed to hard work. Although work related beliefs seem to be similar, Sri Lankans do not endorse the belief that hard work leads to success as enthusiastically as Australians do.
Organizational Support in the Workplace: The Case of Korean Hospital Employees
Authors: Yoon Jeongkoo , Lim Jun-Cheol
Published: August 2005

This paper tests three hypotheses on who gets more support from his or her work organization: (1) The validation hypothesis predicts that employees with greater social support from their co-workers and supervisors receive more organizational support, because their support validates or legitimizes organizational support; (2) the positive affectivity hypothesis predicts that employees high on positive affect receive more organizational support, because they are more likable; and (3) the moderation hypothesis predicts that positive affect and social support do not generate organizational support independently, but each acts on the other to affect organizational support. An assessment of the hypotheses over a sample of 1882 hospital employees in Korea provided strong support for the validation hypothesis and partial support for the moderation hypothesis. Contrary to the positive affectivity hypothesis, employees' good disposition in itself works against the bringing forth of relevant organizational support, net of support from their supervisors and co-workers. Additional findings related to the unique features of the current hospital employees in Korea are also reported. Finally, we discuss cross-cultural research implications of the study in more detail.
Predicting Intentions to Report Administrative and Disciplinary Infractions: Applying the Reasoned Action Model
Authors: Ellis Shmuel , Arieli Shaul
Published: August 2005

The present study focuses on the reporting of administrative and disciplinary irregularities. The reasoned action model (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980) is applied to predict officers' intentions to report illegal or irregular activities in the Israeli Defense Forces. The findings show that although the model's two predictors (attitude toward reporting and subjective norm) significantly predicted intention to report, the effect of subjective norm was much stronger than the effect of the attitude component. In spite of the military's strong formal system and although social forces have great potential to impose the reporting norm on an organization's members, actual reporting does not meet expectations. The results are discussed in light of the organizational culture that develops as the combat unit struggles to survive in an extremely turbulent environment.
Work Motivation: The Incorporation of Self-Concept-Based Processes
Authors: Leonard Nancy H. , Beauvais Laura L. , Scholl Richard W
Published: August 2005

This paper proposes a metatheory of work motivation incorporating theories of self-concept that have been proposed in the sociological and psychological literatures. Traditional theories of work motivation are reviewed, and the selfconcept-based sources of motivation are presented. How the self-concept influences behavior in organizations is explained and used to develop a metatheory of motivational sources. Both research and managerial implications of the model are presented.
A Dynamic Model of Work Satisfaction: Qualitative Approaches
Authors: Bussing Andre , Bissels Thomas , Fuchs Vera , Perrari Klaus-M.
Published: August 2005

Traditional work satisfaction research is criticized for its personalistic approach in conceptualization and measurement. Its results are doubted because of the artificially high proportions of satisfied. In order to overcome some of these shortcomings, the extended model of different forms of work satisfaction originally proposed by Bruggemann (1974) is validated. Six forms of work satisfaction (progressive, stabilized, resigned satisfaction; constructive, fixated, resigned dissatisfaction) are derived from the constellation of four constituent variables: comparison of the actual work situation and personal aspirations, global satisfaction, changes in level of aspiration, controllability at work. Results from semistructured interviews, a free Q-sort, and a questionnaire for differentiating forms of work satisfaction for 46 nurses provide support for the model. Various methods proved useful in accessing particular aspects of the underlying cognitive and evaluative processes in the formation of different forms of work satisfaction. Implications for personnel management and studies in organizational behavior (performance, intervention strategies) are discussed.
Resistance and Cooperation: A Response to Conflict Over Job Performance
Authors: Balser Deborah B. , Stern Robert N.
Published: August 2005

Research literature on job performance from both management oriented and industrial relations/sociology of work models is synthesized to produce a more comprehensive understanding of how supervisors manage employee performance problems. Two assumptions are derived from the synthesis: (1) employees are active in accepting and resisting definitions of performance issues made by supervisor; (2) informal interactions regarding the interpretation of performance issues are pivotal in understanding how performance problems are resolved. In a study of university library supervisors we focus on the informal exchanges and characterize them as negotiations over the definition of job performance. We report results from a qualitative study of supervisors' interactions with employees identified as having performance problems. Three types of interactions in informal negotiations are found. We label the supervisors' interpretations of their interactions with employees as conformist, confrontational, or rebellious, designating how supervisors enact their role as agents of the organization.
Testing the Longitudinal Impact of Work Variables and Performance Appraisal Satisfaction on Subsequent Overall Job Satisfaction
Authors: Blau Gary
Published: August 2005

Using a longitudinal sample of medical technologists (MTs) this study found, after controlling for prior overall job satisfaction, individual difference, and organization-level variables, that task responsibilities and employee performance appraisal satisfaction significantly affected subsequent overall MT job satisfaction. Overall job satisfaction significantly declined for repeat-respondents over the 4-year period. Data also suggested that the impact of task responsibilities on overall job satisfaction can dissipate over time, and that the supervisor's role in affecting employee job satisfaction is important. Results and limitations are discussed.
Your Money or Your Life: Behavioral and Emotional Predictors of Money Pathology
Authors: Furnham Adrian , Okamura Ryo
Published: August 2005

This study sought to examine self-reported emotional and behavioral correlates of money pathology, defined as inappropriate behavior with respect to money and associated material goods. In all, 267 British adult subjects completed a battery of questionnaires including Rubinstein's (1981) extensive Psychology Today survey on money and Forman's ipsative measures that describe five Money Pathology Scales (miser, spendthrift, tycoon, bargain hunter, gambler), an overall pathology scale combining the five and his short moneysanity measure. The former measure was factor analyzed and selected factor scores regressed on to the moneysanity measure along with demographic measures in order to attempt to establish which individual difference factors best predicted the different types of money pathology. Thus females were more extravagant, prone to depression, but less likely to take moral risks for money, while richer, more right-wing people tended to be more materialistic. Those with overall less "money sanity" tended more to believe luck and dishonesty were more important in making money; were self-denying and economically pessimistic, and had powerful negative emotions like anger and anxiety around money. Multiple regressions on to the money types showed that between 15 and 30% of the variance could be explained and accounted for, by the selected independent variables (demographic, religious and political belief, illness, and more general attitudes toward wealth). Demographic variables like age, and negative emotions about money were consistent predictors of money pathology. Results are discussed in terms of the small, but growing literature on the psychology of money (Furnham, 1997; Furnham & Argyle, 1998).
An Examination of the Moderating Influence of Breadwinner Role Salience on the Pay-Life Satisfaction Relationship
Authors: Aryee Samuel
Published: August 2005

This study examined the pay-life satisfaction relationship and the moderating influence of breadwinner role salience among a sample of Hong Kong Chinese professional and managerial employees (N = 255). The results of zero-order correlational and moderated regression analysis revealed support for the pay-life satisfaction relationship. The interaction term of pay satisfaction by breadwinner role salience made a significant but rather modest contribution to the explained variance in life satisfaction and this finding was not gender-specific. Results of a subgroup analysis also revealed that the pay-life satisfaction relationship was significant among the low breadwinner role salience group but was nonsignificant among the high breadwinner role salience group. In general, the findings highlight the importance of breadwinner role salience to employees' reactions to the economic conditions of work.
Fair or Foul?: The Effects of External, Internal, and Employee Equity on Changes in Performance of Major League Baseball Players
Authors: Werner Steve , Mero Neal P.
Published: August 2005

We propose six hypotheses that relate employee, internal, and external inequities to changes in performance. We test these hypotheses with a sample of 362 Major League Baseball players. The findings showed that overpayment (as measured by actual employee and external inequities) is a significant predictor of positive performance changes, underpayment is a significant predictor of negative performance changes, and employee equity is a greater predictor of change in performance than internal equity.
Disaggregating the Motives Underlying Tiarnover Intentions: When Do Intentions Predict Thrnover Behavior?
Authors: Vandenberg Robert J. , Nelson Jodi Barnes
Published: August 2005

Although intention to quit an organization represents one of the better predictors of actual turnover behavior, the intention-behavior relationship varies widely across studies. This study argues that one reason for the variability is that individuals possess different motives for stating a high intention of leaving, and it is the motive that accounts in part for when the intention will manifest itself in actual turnover. Using a longitudinal design, expectations were supported in that only those intentions motivated by disaffection with the organization and its values resulted in the loss of employees.
Organizational Sleepwalkers: Emotional Distress at Midlife
Authors: Kets de Vries Manfred F. R.
Published: August 2005

In this paper, attention is paid to a dysfunctional emotional behavior pattern whereby individuals experience very little (or a total absence of) pleasure. Instead, there is a feeling of emotional numbness. Although this phenomenon touches all parts of life, this paper focuses on the organizational context. For some executives, the stresses and strains of midlife (including stresses involving career issues) become the catalyst for this dysfunctional emotional behavior. Their reactions are of a quasi-alexithymic and anhedonic nature. Some of the characteristics of this dysfunctional emotional pattern are delineated in these pages. In addition, the related experience of depersonalization is highlighted. Some of the factors that contribute to these kinds of phenomena are explored. At the end of the paper, a number of recommendations for dealing with these difficulties are given.
Deep Roles: Twelve Primordial Roles of Mind and Organization
Authors: Moxnes Paul
Published: August 2005

The thesis in this paper is that there are 12 archetypal roles in groups and organizations. These "deep roles" have their origin in the roles of the essential family-father, mother, son, and daughter. In groups and organizations, each of these images of family roles will-through the basic defense mechanisms of splitting and projection-be polarized into a good and bad part: The father as God or devil, the mother as queen or witch, the son as crown prince or black sheep, and the daughter as princess or whore. In addition to these eight primary deep roles, there come two secondary ones: the helpers-Shaman and Slave-whose function are to help the family survive spiritually and materially, respectively. The two last deep roles are of a transcendental nature: the hero (winner) and the clown (loser), i.e., the one who has won a good family role, and the one who has lost it-or never gained it. These 12 deep roles are well known from such cultural artifacts as fairy tales and mythology. In groups and organizations, deep roles are attended with power and interest. Those who are attributed a deep role in their organization will have a similar symbolic power as characters in fairy tales and mythology.
Three Social Dilemmas of Workforce Diversity in Organizations: A Social Identity Perspective
Authors: Schneider Sherry K. , Northcraft Gregory B.
Published: August 2005

This paper explores the relationship among three social dilemmas faced by organizations wishing to attain and maintain workforce diversity: the dilemmas of organizational participation, managerial participation, and individual participation. Functional and social category diversity offer benefits for organizations (creativity, adaptation and innovation, and access to external networks), but there are costs which deter organizations from pursuing these benefits. The costs associated with organizational participation in diversity initiatives arise because managers and their employees perceive organizational conflicts and organize their interactions along social identity lines, so that temporal traps and collective fences surround diversity. Resolving the subordinate dilemmas of managerial and individual participation provides the key to resolving the dilemma of organizational participation. Social identity theory is used to understand the dilemmas and to develop possible resolutions, which should make the benefits of diversity more immediately accessible to organizations and society.
Advantages of Groups in Market Transactions
Authors: Choi Chong Ju , Hilton Brian
Published: August 2005

This paper takes individuals as rational economic decision makers but ones operating within well-defined groups not just today but into the future when a reputation for fair dealing will be of significance. The paper explores the functional advantages which might accrue from group membership in such circumstances. As social science makes clear, most groups come into being for social and cultural reasons independent of any obvious immediate economic advantage. For this reason, this paper is exploratory of the boundary between economic reasoning and that of other social sciences. It explores the "bridge too far," cited by Loveridge in the 1993 special edition of this journal. This is a metaphor for the possibility of a meaningful connector between social psychological and economic reasoning. This paper tentatively looks into the relationships that might be established between the specific economic analysis covered by this paper and that deployed in other social sciences. In essence, the paper suggests that both reputational and informational benefits arise from group behavior. These benefits accrue to both its members and others. By extension it is argued that similar advantages can accrue to "families" of products in marketing. In both cases, reputational "linkage" serves as a commitment device (Schelling, 1960) with ensuing benefits to all members of the group or product family. These relationships are seen to mediate the reputational guarantees given to consumers.
Who Believes Us?
Authors: Colbert Amy E. , Rynes Sara L. , Brown Kenneth G.
Published: August 2005

Because research-supported human resource (HR) practices appear to positively affect organizational outcomes, it is important to understand the factors that impact managers’ agreement with HR research findings. The authors drew from two theoretical perspectives to develop and test a model of factors related to managers’ agreement with research findings about effective HR practices. Using structural equation modeling, the authors found that job level and managers’ perceptions of their organizations’ business strategies directly influence managers’ agreement with HR research findings. In addition, managers who read academic journals are more likely to agree with research findings. Implications for reducing the belief gap between academics and managers are discussed.