The structure and strength of achievement motivation: A cross-cultural comparison

An intercultural research project on achievement motivation was originated based on a multifaceted approach. The objective of this study was to analyze the structure of the achievement motive domain for samples from five countries: the United States, the Netherlands, Israel, Hungary, and Japan. We hypothesized that data collected from the various samples will reflect the basic facets suggested by the definitional framework of achievement motivation. In addition, it was hypothesized that the individualistic and collectivistic cultural orientations will have an effect on motive strength. Results from 1868 respondents supported the hypotheses. The three basic facets of the definition of achievement motive: behavior modality (instrumental, affective, or cognitive), type of confrontation (confronting oneself or matching solutions to challenges), and time perspective relative to task performance (before, during, or after performance), were reflected as major determinants of the data. Achievement tendencies were highest for U.S.A. respondents (individualistic culture) and lowest for the Japanese and the Hungarian respondents (collectivistic societies). Theoretical implications as well as suggestions for further research were outlined.     

Achievement motive: A reconceptualization and new instrument

A questionnaire based on a facet definition of achievement motive was devised to assess achievement tendencies amongst managers. The facet definition provided guidelines for the creation of items and the formulation of hypotheses concerning the structural relations among components of achievement motive. The questionnaire was then administered to a sample of 190 middle managers in a large industrial corporation in Israel. As hypothesized, results reflected three facets of achievement motive. (1) type of confrontation. (2) time perspective of task performance and. (3) behavioural modality. Six measures formed from a combination of items related to the first two facets were found to be internally reliable. Moreover, three of these measures dealing with readiness to confront uncertainty, to solve problems and to take calculated risks were found to predict at a significant level actual manager performance. Discussion focused on a multifaceted rather than unitary approach to achievement motive and implications for assessing its relationship to performance in various settings.     

Motivations of aspiring male and female entrepreneurs

This study examines the motives that stimulate individuals into becoming business proprietors. More specifically, it aims to discover if entrepreneurs have multiple motives for creating their enterprises, if non-economic motives predominate over economic ones, and if men and women have similar reasons for business founding. Results, based on personal interviews with 35 men and 34 women, indicate that both genders have a variety of reasons for founding and that women, as well as men, are primarily motivated by autonomy, achievement, a desire for job satisfaction and other non-economic rewards. A desire to make money is not, however, an unimportant motive. Turning to differences in motives we find that women are less concerned with making money and often choose business proprietorship as a result of career dissatisfaction. They also see entrepreneurship as a means of meeting simultaneously their own career needs and the needs of their children.     

A biosocial model of entrepreneurship: the combined effects of nurture and nature

Why do people get involved in the creation of new ventures? Prior research suggests entrepreneurial behavior has multiple causes. Nurture explanations; often couched in terms of sociological theories like social learning have been popular. Aspects of nascent entrepreneurs' social contexts, notably their family business background, have been associated with new venture creation. But nature also appears to play a role. Other research has linked heritable biological factors, including testosterone, with the career choice to launch a new venture. This study presents theory and evidence linking the combination of both sociological and biological factors with new venture creation: a biosocial model of entrepreneurship. Empirical results indicate new venture creation is more likely among those individuals having a higher testosterone level in combination with a family business background. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Political will,political skill,and political behavior

The current study used Mintzberg's (1983) conceptualization of political will and political skill to evaluate the predictors and consequences of political behavior at work. As elements of political will, we hypothesized that need for achievement and intrinsic motivation would predict the use of political behavior at work. Furthermore, we argued that political skill would moderate the relationship between political behavior and emotional labor. Data gathered from employees (N = 193) representing a wide array of organizations substantiated the proposed relationships. Specifically, need for achievement and intrinsic motivation were positively associated with political behavior. In turn, those opting to employ political behavior at work experienced a higher degree of emotional labor, but this relationship was found to operate differently at low and high levels of political skill. Specifically, emotional labor was a consequence of political behavior for those low in political skill, but emotional labor reactions from political behavior were neutralized for individuals high in political skill. Implications of these results, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Entrepreneurial motivation: A review of the literature and an agenda for future research

Given the substantial impact that new ventures have on the global economy, understanding what motivates entrepreneurs is of both practical and theoretical importance. Although research on the nature, causes, and consequences of entrepreneurial motivation has grown rapidly, it has evolved in distinct theoretical silos that tend to isolate motives based on the phase of business development (e.g., initiation, growth, and exit) rather than acknowledge that individuals often traverse all these phases and experience multiple types of motivation throughout their entrepreneurial journey. To advance the study of motivation in the fields of entrepreneurship and organizational behavior and provide a means through which these advancements can contribute to our understanding of how motivation drives the start-up, growth, and exiting of businesses, we organize and review the extant literature on entrepreneurial motives based on the phases of the new venture process. In doing so, this article develops a roadmap of the current state of entrepreneurial motivation research and its nomological network and provides suggestions to guide future research in extending our understanding of motivation in the entrepreneurship domain as well as in traditional organizational settings.     

Alumni and their alma mater: A partial test of the reformulated model of organizational identification

Organizational identification is defined as a perceived oneness with an organization and the experience of the organization's successes and failures as one's own. While identification is considered important to the organization, it has not been clearly operationalized. The current study tests a proposed model of organizational identification. Self-report data from 297 alumni of an all-male religious college indicate that identification with the alma mater was associated with: (1) the hypothesized organizational antecedents of organizational distinctiveness, organizational prestige, and (absence of) intraorganizational competition, but not with interorganizational competition, (2) the hypothesized individual antecedents of satisfaction with the organization, tenure as students, and sentimentality, but not with recency of attendance, number of schools attended, or the existence of a mentor, and (3) the hypothesized outcomes of making financial contributions, willingness to advise one's offspring and others to attend the college, and participating in various school functions. The findings provide direction for academic administrators seeking to increase alumni support, as well as for corporate managers concerned about the loyalty of workers in an era of mergers and takeovers.     

Are “job hoppers” trapped in hedonic treadmills? Effects of career orientations on newcomers' attitude trajectories

Joining a new organization to change jobs is an influential event in an employee's career. Thus, inter-organizational job changes have sparked growing scholarly interest, especially in the temporal dynamics involved in detaching from organizations and adapting to new ones. While it is widely accepted that employees adapt differently to job changes, the influence of employees' career orientations on changes in job attitudes has not yet been considered. This is surprising given that a key difference between self-centered and organization-centered career orientations is a positive attitude toward job changes. Building on hedonic adaptation, we examined how career orientations influence changes in job satisfaction and turnover intention throughout a job change. We compared self-centered and organization-centered employees using random coefficient modeling on two longitudinal data sets with voluntary job changers. Our results illustrate that self-centered career orientations foster a stronger decline in job satisfaction with the new employer, as well as a larger increase in turnover intention, than organization-centered career orientations. In contrast, employees with organization-centered career orientations experienced an upward trend in job satisfaction toward the end of the first year. Our findings offer important implications for research on the determinants of job attitude trajectories when individuals join a new organization.     

镇江市应急救援现状调查与分析

以镇江市安监局提供的应急救援预案申报、应急预案演练和培训、预案修订和互助协议签订、应急救援设备物资台账等21项指标调研数据为基础,根据数理统计的相关方法,对调研数据进行统计和分析.通过分析发现,国有企业、三资企业和外资企业在企业预案衔接和企业互助协议签订方面仍有欠缺;私营企业在应急救援建设方面相对薄弱,集中体现在应急教育不专业、不具体;应急演练不规范、不全面;缺乏预案修订和应急物资检查制度等.根据调研中发现的问题提出企业园区化建设的方法,利用园区管理的集中性和统一性,将应急救援技术政府外包,以提高企业应急救援能力.     

The structure of personal values: a conical representation of multiple life areas

The objective of the present study was to analyze the structure of personal values. Based on previous investigations, we proposed a multifaceted definition of values from various life areas (or domains). Structural hypotheses concerning the relationships between the definitional framework and empirical observations were formulated. Using data obtained from two samples of Israeli respondents (153 business students and 146 computer personnel), the hypotheses were examined and supported. Two basic sets of components: life areas (work, religion, culture, sports, politics, and life in general which primarily concerns home and family) and modalities (material, affective, and cognitive), were distinguished and confirmed by means of factor analysis and facet analysis. A three-dimensional conical representation of the personal values domain was revealed. The structural analysis reflected several differences among the attributes of life areas, such as the obligatory or optional nature of their activities. Theoretical implications as well as suggestions for further research are outlined.     

Gender and career success: A typology and analysis of dual paradigms

Despite women's advancements in the workplace, gender inequality persists. We classify and test two frameworks used to explain gender differences in career success: unequal attributes and unequal effects. The unequal attributes framework suggests that gender is related to other attributes, which result in unequal career outcomes for men and women (i.e., a mediated effect). The unequal effects framework suggests that even when men and women share the same attribute or circumstances, they are rewarded differently, such that individual attributes have unequal effects on career outcomes for men and women (i.e., a moderated effect). We collected survey data from a gender‐balanced sample of 394 business school alumni. Using structural equation modeling to test the unequal attributes framework, we found that work hours, career orientation, having a nonemployed spouse, and working in a predominantly female job were unequal attributes that explained gender differences in career success. Using multigroup path analysis to examine unequal effects, we found that being agentic, married, having children at home, and working in a predominantly female workplace had unequal effects in relation to career success for men and women. We find support for both models across three categories of career success antecedents (i.e., personal, family, and job attributes).     

Antecedents and outcomes of employee perceptions of intra‐organizational mobility channels

Employees' beliefs about how promotions are awarded within their organizations can have important consequences. We conducted two studies that focus on perceptions of the criteria used to make promotion decisions. In Study 1, we identified two types of perceived promotion criteria, performance‐based and nonperformance‐based. Then we use justice and social exchange theories to develop a model linking employee perceptions of promotion criteria to performance via their relationships with promotional justice and organizational commitment. In a sample of 305 employee–supervisor pairs, we found that both promotional justice and organizational commitment mediated between perceptions of promotion criteria and supervisor rated in‐role and extra‐role performance, and that having received a promotion in the past predicted attributions that promotions were based relatively more on performance or nonperformance criteria. Study 2 further examined the role of promotions themselves in the formation of perceptions of promotion criteria. Drawing from image and attribution theories, we hypothesized that the relationship between having received a promotion or not and perceptions of promotion criteria depends on ego defensiveness. In a sample of 145 employees, we found that those who scored high on ego defensiveness and who had not been promoted were especially likely to attribute promotion decisions to nonperformance criteria. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pre‐training perceived social self‐efficacy accentuates the effects of a cross‐cultural coping orientation program: Evidence from a longitudinal field experiment

Analyzing additional data from a longitudinal field experiment, the present research investigate whether pre‐training perceived social self‐efficacy (PSSE) may moderate cross‐cultural training effectiveness. On the basis of the interactionist perspective, we hypothesized that sojourners with high pre‐training PSSE would benefit more from a cross‐cultural coping orientation program, called “Realistic Orientation Program for Entry Stress” (ROPES), than sojourners with low pre‐training PSSE. As a result, the treatment effects (the ROPES program over the control program—a traditional cross‐cultural orientation program) would be more positive for high‐PSSE sojourners than for low‐PSSE sojourners. Seventy‐two incoming graduate students from East Asia entering a large US public university were randomly assigned to either a ROPES program or a control program, and were assessed pre‐entry and multiple times post‐entry. The results strongly supported our predictions, as the hypothesized PSSE × Treatment interactions were observed on a comprehensive set of training outcomes based on multisource data. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

COVID-19 and individual performance in global virtual teams: The role of self-regulation and individual cultural value orientations

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, global virtual teams (GVTs) have become increasingly important. Drawing on conservation of resources theory and self-regulation theory, we examined the mechanism and process underlying individuals' performance in GVTs in this specific situation. We posit that the local severity of the pandemic has a negative effect on individuals' performance in GVTs and that self-regulation functions as a coping mechanism in times of pandemic-related ambient stress, reducing its negative effect on performance. We suggest that three cultural value orientations, that is, uncertainty avoidance, collectivism, and long-term orientation, explain different levels of self-regulation, which in turn moderates the relationship between the local severity of the pandemic and individual performance in GVTs. Based on a sample of 2727 individuals from 31 countries participating in an international business consulting project during the early stage of the unfolding pandemic, we show that (a) the local severity of the pandemic had a negative effect on individuals' performance, (b) the negative effect of the pandemic on performance is weaker for individuals with high self-regulation, and (c) uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation are positively associated with self-regulation, which mediates the moderating relationship between the cultural value orientations and the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and individual performance in GVTs.     

Crafting a job on a daily basis: Contextual correlates and the link to work engagement

This study focused on daily job crafting and explored its contextual determinants and one motivational outcome (i.e., work engagement). Job crafting was conceptualized as “seeking resources,” “seeking challenges,” and “reducing demands.” Participants were 95 employees from several organizations who completed a 5‐day diary survey. As hypothesized, we found a 3‐factor structure for the job crafting instrument, both at the general and day levels. We hypothesized and found that the combination of high day‐level work pressure and high day‐level autonomy (active jobs) was associated with higher day‐level seeking resources and lower day‐level reducing demands. Furthermore, we found that day‐level seeking challenges (but not resources) was positively associated with day‐level work engagement, whereas day‐level reducing demands was negatively associated with day‐level work engagement. Findings suggest that job crafting is a daily employee behavior with implications for management practice and future research. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Situational constraints on the achievement – performance relationship: a service sector study

The present study sought to extend our knowledge of the relationship between work values and job performance. Situational constraints were examined as moderators of the relationship between the value of achievement and performance in a service‐sector field setting. In the present setting, sales promotions removed situational constraints on performance during three of the six time periods examined. In general, average levels of performance were higher, and there was greater variance in performance when situational constraints were removed. Situational constraints moderated the relationship between the value of achievement and objective performance dimensions, although effect sizes were modest. Further, the present study adds to the small group of studies that have found a direct relationship between achievement and performance in a field setting. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Political behaviors as moderators of the perceptions of organizational politics—work outcomes relationships

This study investigates the complexities involved in the relationships between perceptions of politics and work outcomes by examining the effects of political behavior on that relationship. More specifically, we suggest that political behavior may serve as a form of control or as a mechanism for coping with highly political organizational environments perceived by individuals to be aversive. As such, we propose moderating roles of self‐promotion and ingratiation on the relationships between perceptions of politics and the work outcomes of satisfaction with job in general, satisfaction with supervision, and intent to leave. It was hypothesized that increased exercise of self‐promotion and ingratiation behaviors would mitigate the negative effects of perceptions of organizational politics on those specific outcomes. Hypotheses were supported for the proposed relationships between self‐promotion and two of the work outcomes: satisfaction with supervision and intent to leave. Significant effects were also found for ingratiation; however, they were opposite to those proposed for the perceptions of organizational politics–intent to leave relationship. Implications of results and areas for future research are discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thriving at work: Toward its measurement,construct validation,and theoretical refinement

Thriving is defined as the psychological state in which individuals experience both a sense of vitality and learning. We developed and validated a measure of the construct of thriving at work. Additionally, we theoretically refined the construct by linking it to key outcomes, such as job performance, and by examining its contextual embeddedness. In Study 1, we conducted second‐order confirmatory factor analyses in two samples, demonstrating initial support for the two‐dimensional structure of thriving. We provided evidence for the convergent and discriminant validity of thriving in relation to theoretically related constructs, such as positive and negative affects, learning and performance goal orientations, proactive personality, and core self‐evaluations. In Study 2, across two different samples, we further assessed construct validity by establishing a relationship between thriving and career development initiative, burnout, health, and individual job performance, explaining significant variance beyond traditional attitudinal predictors, such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Finally, in Study 3, we focused on understanding the contextual embeddedness of thriving. We found differences in reports of thriving across two points in time, when substantial changes are occurring in peoples' work lives and across contexts (i.e., work and non‐work). Implications for theory and practice, as well as directions for future research, are discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Change in frontline supervisors’ safety leadership practices after participating in a leadership training program: Does company size matter?

Introduction: The majority of construction companies are small businesses and small business often lack the resources needed to ensure that their supervisors have the safety leadership skills to build and maintain a strong jobsite safety climate. The Foundations for Safety Leadership (FSL) training program was designed to provide frontline leaders in all sized companies with safety leadership skills. This paper examines the impact of the FSL training by size of business. Methods: Leaders, defined as foremen or other frontline supervisors, from small, medium, and large construction companies were recruited to participate in a study to evaluate the degree to which the FSL changed their understanding and use of the leadership skills, safety practices and crew reporting of safety-related conditions. We used linear mixed modeling methods to analyze pre-post training survey data. Results: Prior to the training, leaders from small and medium sized companies reported using safety leadership skills less frequently than those from large ones. After the training, regardless of business size, we observed that the FSL training improved leaders understanding of safety leadership skills from immediately before to immediately after the training. Additionally, leaders reported greater use of safety leadership skills, safety practices, and crew reporting of safety-related conditions from before to two-weeks after the training. However, those from small and medium sized companies reported the greatest improvement in their use of safety leadership skills. Conclusions: The FSL training improves safety leadership outcomes regardless of the size company for which the leader worked. However, the FSL may be even more effective at improving the safety leadership skills of leaders working for smaller sized construction companies or those with lower baseline levels of safety leadership skills. Practical applications: The majority of construction companies employ a small number of employees and therefore may not have the resources to provide their frontline leaders with the leadership training they need to be effective leaders who can create a strong jobsite safety climate. The Foundations for Safety Leadership (FSL) training can help fill this gap.     

The proactive component of organizational behavior: A measure and correlates

This study investigated a personal disposition toward proactive behavior, defined as the relatively stable tendency to effect environmental change. We developed an initial scale to assess the construct and administered it to a sample of 282 undergraduates. Factor analysis led to a revised, unidimensional scale with sound psychometric properties. A second sample of 130 undergraduate students was used to determine the relationships between the proactive scale and the ’Big Five‘ personality domains: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. In a third sample of 148 MBA students, we assessed the proactive scale's relationships with three personality traits and three criterion measures. Consistent with hypotheses, scores on the proactive scale correlated with need for achievement, need for dominance, and independent measures of the nature of subjects' extracurricular and civic activities, the nature of their major personal achievements, and peer nominations of transformational leaders. We discuss the potential of the proactive construct to enhance our understanding of, and ability to predict, a wide range of behaviors.