Beyond the mean: Understanding firm‐level consequences of variability in diversity climate perceptions

We develop and test an organizational‐level model of the consequences of diversity climate for company performance. Drawing from affective events theory and the organizational climate literature, we highlight the role of idiosyncrasies in employees' diversity climate perceptions. Specifically, we consider diversity climate strength (i.e., agreement in employees' climate perceptions) as a boundary condition of diversity climate's organizational‐level effects and expect high climate strength to be particularly beneficial in demographically diverse organizations. Moreover, we introduce collective positive affect as an underlying mechanism of diversity climate's conditional effects on company performance. Hypotheses are tested in a study of 82 German small‐and‐medium‐sized companies with 13,695 surveyed employees. Results show a moderated mediation relationship where diversity climate is only positively related to organizational performance (via collective positive affect) at relatively high diversity climate strength. Although this finding holds for both demographically diverse and homogeneous organizations, post hoc analyses provide initial evidence that a strong climate only helps to realize the effects of diversity climate on collective positive affect when members of age‐ and gender‐related demographic subgroups converge in their climate perceptions. Our study contributes to a better understanding of diversity climate as an effective lever for managing diversity.     

Employees' surface acting in interactions with leaders and peers

Surface acting has been widely studied in organizational research owing to its impact on organizational behaviors and outcomes. Past research almost exclusively has focused on employees' interactions with external parties such as customers, clients, and patients. This study sought to extend this literature by examining the effects of employees' surface acting in interactions with parties internal to the organization (i.e., leaders and peers). Data were collected from 40 work groups (129 focal participants, 40 leaders, and 40 peers) from a large real estate agency company located in Beijing, China. Results showed that employees' surface acting influenced various emotional, relational, and behavioral outcomes. In addition, the present findings revealed that the consequences of employees' surface acting differed across leaders versus peers. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Shared aggression concerns and organizational outcomes: The moderating role of resource constraints

Most research on workplace aggression focuses on the antecedents and consequences of aggression for individual workers. The current study examines how shared workplace aggression concerns relate to internal and external organizational outcomes. Drawing on the work stress, social identity, and social contagion literatures, we propose relationships between unit‐level aggression concerns and unit‐level measures of performance and employee attitudes in a public school sample (2989 employees; 163 schools). We also propose that these relationships differ depending on the resource context of the school. Consistent with our expectations, schools in which teachers had strong shared concerns about aggression also had poorer shared job attitudes and poorer student outcomes, as indicated by average standardized test scores at the school. The impact of shared concerns about aggression on school‐level standardized test scores was stronger for resource‐rich schools than for schools with fewer resources. The current study contributes to organizational research as it establishes that workplace aggression concerns have adverse consequences for the whole organization, not only for the individuals experiencing the events. Our findings demonstrate that employees' shared concerns about aggression have an impact on organizational outcomes and suggest a prevention‐focused approach to workplace aggression. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Supervisor-Directed Emotional Labor as Upward Influence: An Emotions-as-Social-Information Perspective

To access organizational resources, subordinates often strive to influence supervisors' impressions. Moreover, subordinates' interactions with supervisors are known to be ripe with emotions. Nevertheless, research on upward impression management has rarely examined how subordinates' emotion regulation in supervisor interactions may shape their tangible outcomes. The present study introduces subordinates' emotional labor toward supervisors as a novel means of upward influence. Building on the emotions-as-social-information model, we propose that supervisor-directed emotional labor indirectly relates with supervisory reward recommendations by shaping supervisors' liking and perceived competence of subordinates. Moreover, we cast supervisors' epistemic motivation as a boundary condition for these indirect relations. We tested these notions using time-lagged data from 377 subordinates and 91 supervisors. When supervisors' epistemic motivation was higher (but not lower), (1) supervisor-directed surface acting related negatively with supervisors' liking and perceived competence of subordinates and (2) supervisor-directed deep acting related positively with supervisors' liking of subordinates. Liking and perceived competence, in turn, related positively with supervisors' willingness to recommend subordinates for organizational rewards. These findings highlight supervisor-directed emotional labor as an upward impression management strategy with both beneficial (deep acting) and detrimental (surface acting) implications, and they illustrate important mechanisms and a key contingency factor for these consequences.     

Development of extended speech act coding scheme to observe communication characteristics of human operators of nuclear power plants under abnormal conditions

Communication problems have long been regarded as one of the biggest causes of trouble in many workplaces. Consequently, as a part of human error analysis, extensive research has been conducted into communication. The existing research indicates that maintaining reliable communication is essential to securing the safety of a large and complex process or system. To observe the characteristics of communication, verbal protocol analysis using speech act coding schemes have been widely used in much of the related research. However, as existing speech act coding schemes do not provide a sufficient analysis information other than the distribution rate of each pattern, the development of extended communication categories is essential to overcoming the weaknesses of protocol analysis. The objective of this study is to suggest an extended speech act coding scheme and to elucidate the communication pattern characteristics of an operator’s conversation during a simulated abnormal condition in a nuclear power plant (NPP). The expected results are that conversation between operators using Multi-Way communication can increase the accuracy of information delivery and eliminate the possibility of improper operation. Therefore, communication quality control can be regarded as an important research area to minimize the occurrence of human error during communication. From this perspective, the results of this study would be a good starting point to improving the quality of communications in the workplace.     

Some psychological consequences of striking: A six month,longitudinal study

The literature available on organizational psychology has largely neglected the issue of industrial conflict, and little is known about individual psychological effects of industrial conflict such as labour disputes and strikes. Psychological consequences of involvement in a strike were assessed in this research. Data were collected from 117 full-time, white collar union members immediately following a 22 day strike, and again two and six months later. Negatively perceived industrial relations events (e.g. 'strike or lockout', 'being involved in negotiations') were associated with marital adjustment, psychosomatic symptoms and a lack of psychological well-being on completion of the strike, and predicted unfavourable changes in psychological well-being over the next two and six months. A framework for understanding the negative effects of labour disputes and strikes is proposed, and the role of the organizational psychologist when such conflicts occur is considered.     

Brain drain in declining organizations: toward a research agenda

Brain drain (BD) is one of the more detrimental implications of organizational decline and crisis, yet it has only been fleetingly addressed in organization studies. In light of this lacuna, the current paper introduces a conceptual framework of BD during decline. A model featuring both BD antecedents (predictors) and consequences is presented, including an analysis of leavers' behavioral characteristics. The paper offers a set of research propositions and concludes with directions for future study. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Overtime work as the antecedent of employee satisfaction,firm productivity,and innovation

Overtime work has been blamed for the deterioration of employee satisfaction and productivity. However, the organization‐level implications of overtime work as a normative expectation remain unclear. In this study, such effects were analyzed through human capital theory and a causal attribution approach. Various organizational outcomes and boundary conditions were explored in explaining these implications. The analysis of time lagged data from 273 firms affirmed that a firm's overtime level was related negatively to employee satisfaction. However, it was positively related to the firm's productivity and curvilinearly (inverted U‐shaped) related to innovation. The effects of the firm's overtime level on firm productivity and innovation were also moderated by organizational trust. This study highlights the costs and benefits of overtime work as tools for utilizing human capital and reveals the critical contingency of organizational trust that enables firms to attenuate the costs of the overtime level and accentuate its potential benefits.     

A multilevel study of the relationships between diversity training,ethnic discrimination and satisfaction in organizations

The prevalence of diversity training has not been matched by empirical research on its effectiveness. Among the most notable gaps are an absence of attention to its impact on discrimination and limited consideration of organizational‐level factors. Results from employee surveys across 395 healthcare organizations reveal an effect of the extent of diversity training in organizations on ethnic minorities' experiences of discrimination. In addition, the results demonstrate that the consequences of ethnic discrimination for individuals' job attitudes are influenced by organizational‐level phenomenon. These findings highlight the importance of attending to ethnic discrimination as an outcome of diversity training with implications for employee attitudes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An assessment of organizational resilience potential in SMEs of the process industry,a fuzzy approach

In order to establish adequate tools for the modern business environment, and with a need for new mechanisms with the goal of overcoming crisis and emerging disorder, the concept of organizational resilience has emerged. A high level of organizational resilience represents one of an organization's target values during a normal period of operation. In a period of crisis, the presence of resilience is even more needed; this is emphasized in the process industry because in these conditions when one process fails it may cause significant problems in other processes. The contribution of this paper is shown through a fuzzy mathematical model for assessment of organizational resilience potential in SMEs of the process industry. The model is verified through an illustrative example where obtained data suggest measures which should enhance business strategy and improve organizational resilience factors. This study forms the basis for a survey that may include a significant number of organizations from one region and future improvement based on benchmark and knowledge sharing.     

Not all is fair in love and work: coworkers' preferences for and responses to managerial interventions regarding workplace romances

This article proposes a model of coworkers' preferences for and responses to managerial interventions regarding workplace romances (WRs). Specifically, the model examines the antecedents of coworkers' preferences for managerial intervention in WRs and the consequences of whether their preferred intervention is congruent with the actual managerial intervention. According to the model, coworkers' preferences for managerial intervention are influenced by their perceptions of the impact of the WR on the work environment, including perceptions of whether it represents a conflict of interest for the two participants and whether it disrupts the functioning of the work group. These perceptions are affected by factors pertaining to the romance itself, the coworkers themselves, and the organizational context in which the romance occurs. Next, consistent with the organizational justice literature, we propose that coworkers will evaluate the distributive and procedural justice of the managerial intervention according to (a) the congruence between the severity of their preferred managerial action and the severity of the actual managerial action and (b) the congruence between their beliefs about a just process for managerial decision making about WRs and the actual process. Finally, we propose that coworkers who perceive the managerial intervention process and outcomes as unjust will exhibit negative work‐related attitudes (e.g., decreased job satisfaction and organizational commitment) and behavior (e.g., decreased productivity and organizational citizenship behaviors). Implications of the model for future research and organizational practice are discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Understanding organizational embeddedness and career success: Who and what you know

Integrating job embeddedness theory with the sponsored and contest mobility perspectives, we developed and tested a model linking organizational embeddedness with two indicators of career success within the organization (promotion and career satisfaction), via the mediating roles of employees' organizational sponsorship network and job-related human capital development. Data from 188 employees and their supervisors over a 1-year period showed that, after controlling for employees' initial levels of career satisfaction and job performance, only job-related human capital development transmitted the positive effects of organizational embeddedness on promotion and career satisfaction. Supplemental analyses revealed that organizational sponsorship network's positive effects on promotion and career satisfaction were transmitted indirectly, via job-related human capital development. Our findings illustrate the importance of integrating sponsored and contest mobility perspectives and contribute to research on organizational embeddedness by extending its outcomes to include career success within the organization and specifying the process through which organizational embeddedness is related to career success within the organization.     

Dynamic effects of personal initiative on engagement and exhaustion: The role of mood,autonomy, and support

Researchers have neglected dynamic effects of proactive behavior on occupational well‐being. We investigated effects of change in personal initiative over 6 months on changes in emotional engagement and exhaustion over the following 6 months. On the basis of the control‐process theory on affect, we hypothesized that changes in positive and negative moods mediate these effects conditional upon employees' level of perceived organizational support. On the basis of action regulation theory, we assumed that change in job autonomy also acts as a mediator. Data came from 297 employees who responded to 3 surveys separated by 6‐month intervals. Results of latent change score modeling showed that change in personal initiative negatively predicted change in positive mood and, when perceived organizational support was low, positively predicted change in negative mood. In addition, change in personal initiative positively predicted change in job autonomy. Change in personal initiative had negative indirect effects on change in emotional engagement, and positive indirect effects on change in emotional exhaustion through changes in positive and negative moods (but not through change in job autonomy). A reverse causal model did not yield significant indirect effects. Overall, these findings suggest that an increase in proactive behavior can have detrimental effects on occupational well‐being.     

A multi‐level investigation of psychological contract breach and organizational identification through the lens of perceived organizational membership: Testing a moderated–mediated model

Drawing on the perceived organizational membership theoretical framework and the social identity view of dissonance theory, I examined in this study the dynamics of the relationship between psychological contract breach and organizational identification. I included group‐level transformational and transactional leadership as well as procedural justice in the hypothesized model as key antecedents for organizational membership processes. I further explored the mediating role of psychological contract breach in the relationship between leadership, procedural justice climate, and organizational identification and proposed separateness–connectedness self‐schema as an important moderator of the above mediated relationship. Hierarchical linear modeling results from a sample of 864 employees from 162 work units in 10 Greek organizations indicated that employees' perception of psychological contract breach negatively affected their organizational identification. I also found psychological contract breach to mediate the impact of transformational and transactional leadership on organizational identification. Results further provided support for moderated mediation and showed that the indirect effects of transformational and transactional leadership on identification through psychological contract breach were stronger for employees with a low connectedness self‐schema. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The relationship between cell phone use and management of driver fatigue: It's complicated

Introduction: Voice communication may enhance performance during monotonous, potentially fatiguing driving conditions (Atchley & Chan, 2011); however, it is unclear whether safety benefits of conversation are outweighed by costs. The present study tested whether personalized conversations intended to simulate hands-free cell phone conversation may counter objective and subjective fatigue effects elicited by vehicle automation. Method: A passive fatigue state (Desmond & Hancock, 2001), characterized by disengagement from the task, was induced using full vehicle automation prior to drivers resuming full control over the driving simulator. A conversation was initiated shortly after reversion to manual control. During the conversation an emergency event occurred. Results: The fatigue manipulation produced greater task disengagement and slower response to the emergency event, relative to a control condition. Conversation did not mitigate passive fatigue effects; rather, it added worry about matters unrelated to the driving task. Conversation moderately improved vehicle control, as measured by SDLP, but it failed to counter fatigue-induced slowing of braking in response to an emergency event. Finally, conversation appeared to have a hidden danger in that it reduced drivers' insights into performance impairments when in a state of passive fatigue. Conclusions: Automation induced passive fatigue, indicated by loss of task engagement; yet, simulated cell phone conversation did not counter the subjective automation-induced fatigue. Conversation also failed to counter objective loss of performance (slower braking speed) resulting from automation. Cell phone conversation in passive fatigue states may impair drivers' awareness of their performance deficits. Practical applications: Results suggest that conversation, even using a hands-free device, may not be a safe way to reduce fatigue and increase alertness during transitions from automated to manual vehicle control.     

The impact of relative tenure on newcomer socialization dynamics

Although many researchers have examined the impact of organizational tenure on newcomer socialization dynamics, few have explored whether relative tenure influences perceptions and behaviors inside organizations. This study introduces the concept of relative tenure and shows through a sociometric survey of 200 employees across four organizations that an individual's relative position in his or her firm's tenure distribution explains a significantly greater percentage of variance in newcomer status, social network position, and information‐providing behavior than does absolute measures of tenure. The results suggest that organizational growth and turnover may have a bigger impact on newcomer socialization dynamics than has been discussed in the literature. The implications of the findings for socialization researchers and managers are discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“If you treat me right,I reciprocate”: examining the role of exchange in organizational survey response

Survey nonresponse can pose a major threat to the generalizability of organizational survey findings. This paper examines whether organizational members' evaluations of their organizational experiences affect survey response to organizationally sponsored surveys. In particular, we hypothesized that perceived organizational support, social exchange, procedural justice and an individual's inclination to feel exploited in social relationships predicted organizational members' compliance with organizations' requests for survey completion. A longitudinal field experiment conducted in collaboration with the Office of Institutional Research at a large university (sample: n = 622 university students) supported the hypotheses. Organizational members who consciously decided to not participate in organizational surveys perceived their organization as less procedurally just and less supportive. They also reported negative perceptions of their social exchange relationship with their organization, and were more inclined to feel exploited in relationships. Hence, an exchange‐oriented theoretical framework grounded in organizational citizenship behavior theory seems appropriate for the study of survey nonresponse. Implications for survey practice include that survey‐based findings are unlikely to generalize to specific groups of nonrespondents, and that techniques commonly used to increase response rates may not be effective in reaching these groups of nonrespondents. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Insider or outsider? how employee perceptions of insider status affect their work behavior

Many researchers have used the insider–outsider distinction when discussing employment relationships (e.g., Graen & Scandura, 1987; Pfeffer & Baron, 1988). However, there is no known empirical research directly assessing employees' perceptions of their status as organizational insiders. This article is intended as an initial step to theoretically and empirically explore the concept of perceived insider status (PIS). First, we build theoretical arguments describing how organizations may differentiate between insider and outsider employees, leading to differences in perceptions of insider status. We then hypothesize and show empirical evidence that contrasts, but relates, actual inclusion and perceived organizational support to PIS. We subsequently examine two types of discretionary employee behavior, altruism and production deviance, as potential consequences of PIS. Our results suggest that both actual inclusion, as well as perceived insider status, have implications for organizational functioning via discretionary employee behaviors. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Making sense of organizational change: Is hindsight really 20/20?

This qualitative study explores the conceptual links between 2 different approaches to managerial cognition, sensemaking and cognitive bias, in the context of organizational change. A longitudinal case study utilizing both real‐time assessments and retrospective sensemaking data from interviews with 26 hospital employees at 3 points in time was undertaken. Patterns related to individuals' retrospective accounts and real‐time assessments were identified and used to construct 4 prototypical narratives. Data analysis revealed that organizational change was not a markedly negative experience for most informants, which is contrary to the prevailing theme in the literature. This and other findings are discussed in terms of sensemaking and cognitive bias. This study makes 2 contributions to our understanding of how individual's experience and make sense of organizational change over time as (a) little is known about how the process of change unfolds over time at the individual level and (b) extant research has not investigated the extent to which individuals' retrospective sensemaking about organizational change reflects or diverges from their real‐time assessments over the course of the change. More broadly, the study provides insights and focused advice for management researchers regarding the use of retrospective data to understand individuals' perceptions of situations that have already occurred.     

From the outside in: The negative spillover effects of boundary spanners' relations with members of other organizations

Contrary to much boundary spanning research, we examined the negative consequences of boundary spanning contact in multi‐organizational contexts. Results from a sample of 833 Dutch peacekeepers show that employees' boundary spanning contact with members of other organizations was associated with reports of negative relationships with external parties (e.g., work‐specific problems, culture‐specific problems). These negative relationships also had a spillover effect such that they mediated the effect of boundary spanning contact on boundary spanners' negative attitudes toward their own jobs and organization (e.g., job attractiveness and confidence in the organization). Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.