Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Understanding The Importance Of Ambition In The Workplace, Jeff Bean

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Though a common term, ambition is a multifaceted concept that is vastly under researched despite it being labeled necessary for success in the workplace. Of even greater irony is that several sources indicate a significant majority of the reason that employees leave organizations is due to a perceived lack of career development or opportunity, a problem that speaks directly to talent management practices. In light the costly nature of this problem and the presence of sophisticated talent management professionals in large and medium-sized organizations which comprise half or more of the workforce, it causes one to question the assumptions that …

Does Extrinsic Motivation Affect Creativity Within Diverse Teams?, Gitanjali K. Viswanathan

Honors Theses

This study analyzes the relationship between extrinsic motivation and creativity in teams. The moderation effect of functionality, openness to experience, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and diversity within a team is also considered. A survey was constructed and distributed to students within Sections 1 and 6 of the course Principles of Management at The University of Mississippi. Survey data were collected from 77 respondents and used for hierarchical regression and moderation analysis. The results of this study do not support extrinsic motivation as a significant predictor of creativity. Functionality, agreeableness, and conscientiousness each demonstrate a separate, significant interaction effect with extrinsic motivation. However, …

Finding The Ghost With The Machine: Breaking Through The Assessment Center Validity Ceiling By Exploring Decisional Processes Using New Sources Of Behavioral Data Within Virtual Assessments, Brett W. Guidry

Open Access Dissertations

Decades of assessment center (AC) research has resulted in an inevitable “validity ceiling” whereby increasing the validity of the AC method is becoming increasingly difficult. To overcome this challenge, new avenues for collecting and evaluating AC participant behaviors must be explored, with a particular focus on overcoming the inherent limitations of human observation—a hallmark of the AC method. This study examines detailed logs of AC participant behaviors captured automatically and unobtrusively during a computer-based simulation assessment. Using a decision making framework, basic characteristics of the new behavioral data are tested against existing theories of decisional efficacy. The construct-related validity of …

Using Latent Class Cluster Analysis To Identify And Profile Organizational Subclimates: An Exploratory Investigation Using Safety Climate As An Exemplar, Amy Frost Stevenson

Doctoral Dissertations

Organizational climate refers to the shared meaning organizational members attach to the events, policies, practices, and procedures they experience as well as to the behaviors they see being rewarded, supported, and expected (Schneider, Ehrhart, & Macey, 2011). Climate scholars have most frequently used referent-shift consensus and dispersion composition models (Chan, 1998) to conceptualize and measure organizational climate. Based on these models, climate emergence has been characterized by low variance or high consensus of individual-level climate perceptions (Chan, 1998; Ehrhart, Schneider, & Macey, 2013; Hazy & Ashley, 2011; Kuenzi & Schminke, 2009) within formally defined organizational groups (e.g., work teams).

Climate …

Evaluating Indicators Of Job Performance: Distributions And Types Of Analyses, Richard J. Chambers Ii

Doctoral Dissertations

Distributions of job performance indicators have historically been assumed to be normally distributed (Aguinis & O'Boyle, 2014; Schmidt & Hunter, 1983; Tiffin, 1947). Generally, any evidence to the contrary has been attributed to errors in the measurement of job performance (Murphy, 2008). A few researchers have been skeptical of this assumption (Micceri, 1989; Murphy, 1999; Saal, Downey, & Lahey, 1980); yet, only recently has research demonstrated that in certain specific situations job performance is exponentially distributed (Aguinis, O'Boyle, Gonzalez-Mulé, & Joo, 2016; O'Boyle & Aguinis, 2012). To date there have been few recommendations in the Industrial-Organizational Psychology literature about how …

Creativity In Organizations: Antecedents And Outcomes Of Individual Creativity, Goran Calic

Open Access Dissertations

In this dissertation I set out to expand our collective understanding of creativity in organizations. I accomplish this through three related studies, each organized into independent chapters of this dissertation.

The first study explores how demands of organizations, particularly strategic contradictions faced by decision makers, affect creative processes and products. In this chapter I develop the theory of paradoxical creativity, which posits that creative discovery is a function of how strategic contradictions are perceived by decision-makers. The key insight of the theory of paradoxical creativity is that strategic contradictions have independent effects on the two stages of creative discovery (generation …

Disability Visibility And Stigma Threat: Effects On The Performance, Stress, And Self-Control Of Disabled Workers, William Brice

Open Access Theses

Having a stigmatized disability is a depleting experience. For those with a disability, there are many factors that contribute to potential performance decrements in any given situation. Visibility of the disability, and the stigma connected to the disability are two such factors—which I argue based on research on motivation, regulation, and stress, contributes to the regulatory depletion experienced by disabled individuals. I conducted an experimental study where participants took part in a workplace simulation. Participants were given an artificially simulated disability and both the visibility of the disability and the stigmatizing nature of the disability were manipulated. I found a …

Does The Way We Measure Fit Matter? : Predicting Behaviors And Attitudes Using Different Measures Of Fit, Jennifer A. Cavanaugh

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The literature on person-organization (P-O) fit has been plagued with inconsistencies in the conceptualization, operationalization and measurement of P-O fit. Despite numerous studies examining the relationship between P-O fit and outcomes, these inconsistencies in measurement and operationalization have led to mixed findings concerning specific individual outcomes. The goal of this dissertation was to address some of these inconsistencies by examining the relationship between P-O fit, using perceived and subjective measures of fit, and attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. In addition, previously unexplored mediators of the P-O fit-outcome relationships were examined.

Owner-Manager Separation And The Structure Of It Governance In Small Business, Jeffrey S. Saffer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small business owners and small business managers tend to favor different information technology (IT) governance structures. Such differences can lead to ineffective management and control of IT in small businesses. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the extent and nature of the association between owner-manager separation in small businesses and the structure of IT governance in the businesses. Agency theory formed the theoretical framework of this study. Data were collected using a web-based survey and randomly sampled 3,697 small business owners and managers located in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Chi-square statistics indicated no significant association between owner-manager …

Professional Hurt: The Untold Stories, Ruby Macksine Brown

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine professional hurt across the public services of the Commonwealth Caribbean with a view toward creating what could probably be the first body of knowledge that will offer insights into its nature and relationship with the practice of leadership. The study also sought to explore an understanding of professional hurt that could inform the design of leadership development programs to help develop leaders who can navigate or avoid hurt. I utilized the biographical research approach to access the lived experiences of 20 public sector leaders across 9 independent Commonwealth Caribbean islands. Narrative thematic …

Development And Implementation Of It-Enabled Business Processes: A Knowledge Structure View, Rick Brattin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As competitive pressures mount, organizations must continue to evolve their business processes in order to survive. Increasingly, firms are developing new IT-enabled business processes in response to rising competition, greater customer expectations, and challenging economic conditions. The success rate of these projects remains low despite much industry experience and extensive academic study. Managerial and organizational cognition represents a potentially fruitful lens for studying the design and implementation of IT-enabled business processes. This view assumes that individuals are information workers who spend their days absorbing, processing, and disseminating information as they pursue their goals and objectives. Individuals develop cognitive representations, called …

Justice Expectations And Applicant Perceptions, Bradford S. Bell, Anne Marie Ryan, Darin Wiechmann

Bradford S Bell

Expectations, which are beliefs about a future state of affairs, constitute a basic psychological mechanism that underlies virtually all human behavior. Although expectations serve as a central component in many theories of organizational behavior, they have received limited attention in the organizational justice literature. The goal of this paper is to introduce the concept of justice expectations and explore its implications for understanding applicant perceptions. To conceptualize justice expectations, we draw on research on expectations conducted in multiple disciplines. We discuss the three sources of expectations – direct experience, indirect influences, and other beliefs - and use this typology to …

Connective Leadership: The Chief Nursing Officers' Relationship With Staff Nurses, Mary Ellen Clyne

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Can Leadership Be Developed By Applying Leadership Theories? : An Examination Of Three Theory-Based Approaches To Leadership Development, Joshua C. Laguerre

Honors Projects

Investigates the possibility of leadership development by application of leadership theory. Through a critical literature review, examines empirical studies utilizing three development approaches: Fiedler's Contingency Model, Burns and Bass's Transformational Leadership Theory, and Avolio's Authentic Leadership Theory. Concludes that, while leadership can be generated employing any of these theories, an overall framework for developing leadership is lacking. Presents a possible framework, based on the transformational and authentic leadership models.

A Correlational Study Of The Relationship Between Sense Of Humor And Positive Psychological Capacities, Larry W. Hughes

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

The constructs of sense of humor (Lefcourt, 2002) and positive psychological capacities (PsyCap; Luthans, 2002a) have been heralded as important phenomenon within the growing field of positive psychology, especially within the organizational sciences. Additionally, a sense of humor has been found to be related to positive affective experiences. Leaders can develop followers' confidence, hope, optimism and resiliency for what Avolio and Luthans (2006) called sustainable, veritable performance. The hypotheses presented and tested here will advance the theoretical and empirical discussion of leadership in organizations by linking several emerging constructs of interest, both in academe and practice. This study marks an …

Corporate And Individual Influences On Managers' Social Orientation, Joachim W. Marz, Thomas L. Powers, Thomas Queisser

WCBT Faculty Publications

This paper reports research on the influence of corporate and individual characteristics on managers' social orientation in Germany. The results indicate that mid-level managers expressed a significantly lower social orientation than low-level managers, and that job activity did not impact social orientation. Female respondents expressed a higher social orientation than male respondents. No impact of the political system origin (former East Germany versus former West Germany) on social orientation was shown. Overall, corporate position had a significantly higher impact on social orientation than did the characteristics of the individuals surveyed.

Medical Students' Personality Characteristics And Academic Performance: A Five-Factor Model Perspective, Filip Lievens, Pol Coetsier, Filip De Fruyt, Jan De Maeseneer

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Objectives: This study investigates: (1) which personality traits are typical of medical students as compared to other students, and (2) which personality traits predict medical student performance in pre-clinical years. Design: This paper reports a cross-sectional inventory study of students in nine academic majors and a prospective longitudinal study of one cohort of medical students assessed by inventory during their first pre-clinical year and by university examination at the end of each pre-clinical year. Subjects and methods: In 1997, a combined total of 785 students entered medical studies courses in five Flemish universities. Of these, 631 (80.4%) completed the NEO-PI-R …

Religious Involvement And Dispositional Characteristics As Predictors Of Work Attitudes And Behaviors, Tami Leigh Knotts

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to empirically examine the effects of (1) religious involvement on job attitudes, (2) dispositions on job attitudes, and (3) religious involvement on workplace behaviors. This study also assessed whether job attitudes mediated the effect of religious involvement an workplace behaviors or the interaction effect of religious involvement and dispositional characteristics on workplace behaviors.

Higher levels of religious involvement were hypothesized to lead to more positive work attitudes and behaviors. Conservative and self-transcendent values along with positive well-being were expected to lead to positive attitudes at work. The effect of religious involvement on work behaviors …

A Social-Cognitive Approach To Salesperson Work Motivation, Lawrence Scott Silver

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to apply a social-cognitive model of motivation, used extensively in educational psychology, to a sales setting. The topic pertaining to work motivation and its importance is evidenced by the amount of research devoted to the topic. The literature examined for this study was selected from the fields of industrial/organizational psychology, educational psychology, and marketing/sales. Specifically, this study addressed the following research questions: (1) To what extent is salespeople's goal orientation determined by their implicit personality theory? (2) Do salespeople's goal orientation determine their behavior pattern? (3) Does optimism moderate the relationship between salespeople's implicit …

An Empirical Examination Of Individual, Issue-Related, And Organizational Determinants Of Ethical Judgments, Sean Robert Valentine

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to empirically examine an ethical decision-making model that contained individual, issue-related, and organizational factors. At the individual level, the relationship between two job attitudes, job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and ethical judgments was assessed. At the issue-related level, the association between moral intensity and ethical judgments was examined. At the organizational level, the relationship between ethical context and ethical judgments was examined. The hypothesized moderating effect of ethical context on the relationship between job attitudes and ethical judgments was also tested.

A national sample of 3,000 sales professionals was used to test the hypotheses. …