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Full-Text Articles in Business
Counterproductive Work Behavior, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul
Counterproductive Work Behavior, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul
Umbrella Summaries
What is counterproductive work behavior? Counterproductive work behavior (CWB), also sometimes referred to as workplace deviance, is defined as “voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational norms and in so doing threatens the well-being of an organization, its members, or both” (Robinson & Bennett, 1995, p. 556). CWB is one of the three main domains of workplace performance, along with task performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB; Dalal, 2005). CWB and OCB are thought to be conceptually opposite constructs; CWB is behavior that harms an organization, whereas OCB is behavior that helps an organization. Indeed, CWB and OCB are modestly and …
Employee Engagement, Megan Paul
Employee Engagement, Megan Paul
Umbrella Summaries
What is employee engagement? Consensus on the exact definition of employee engagement is still evolving, but commonalities involve attitudes and behaviors related to high personal investment in one’s work. One definition is “a relatively enduring state of mind referring to the simultaneous investment of personal energies in the experience or performance of work” (Christian, Garza, & Slaughter, 2011, p. 95). The most commonly used measure of engagement, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, assesses engagement through three factors: vigor (high energy levels and persistence), dedication (enthusiasm and inspiration), and absorption (high concentration and engrossment) (Schaufeli, Salanova, Gonzalez-Roma, & Bakker, 2002; Schaufeli, …
Employee Fit, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul
Employee Fit, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul
Umbrella Summaries
What is employee fit? Broadly defined, fit is said to be the “compatibility between individuals and organizations” (Kristof, 1996, p. 3). Early theories of fit proposed that alignment between individuals’ personalities and their environment would lead to greater personal success and happiness; for example, those with social personalities would find the greatest fulfillment in work roles involving helping people, such as a social worker or nurse (Holland, 1985). Since then, the idea of fit has been expanded to include not just alignment of personality, but also attitudes, values, preferences, needs, goals, knowledge, skills, and abilities (Kristof-Brown et al., 2005). Fit …
Role Stress, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul
Role Stress, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul
Umbrella Summaries
What is role stress? A work role consists of “a pattern of behaviors perceived by an employee as behaviors that are expected” (Tubre & Collins, 2000, p. 156). When perceived work role expectations are unclear, incompatible with other expected behaviors, or too much to handle, role stress is said to occur (Tubre & Collins, 2000). Role stress is typically broken down into three main types: role ambiguity, role conflict, and role overload. Role ambiguity refers to a situation in which employees are unsure about what their responsibilities are, what behaviors are expected of them, and what the standards are for …
Transformational Leadership, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul
Transformational Leadership, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul
Umbrella Summaries
What is transformational leadership? Transformational leadership refers to leadership behaviors that transcend the basic employment contract and help motivate followers to achieve beyond expectations (Antonakis et al., 2003; Bass, 1999). Transformational leaders seek to “uplift the morale, motivation, and morals of their followers” (Bass, 1999, p. 9). Through the four facets of transformational leadership (idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration), transformational leaders help followers create meaning, selfactualize, feel part of a collective, find greater self-worth, and achieve great things (Bass, 1999). The dimensions of transformational leadership are further detailed below. ► Idealized influence: This dimension of transformational …
Leader-Member Exchange, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul
Leader-Member Exchange, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul
Umbrella Summaries
What is LMX? Leader-member exchange (LMX) refers to the quality of relationship exchange formed between a leader and their subordinate (Gerstner & Day, 1997). Note that in this context, leaders may include supervisors, not just upper-level leaders such as managers or administrators. LMX theory is based on the idea that leaders develop unique relationships with each follower, and the quality of this relationship then has the power to influence various attitudes and behaviors (Illies et al., 2007). Whereas most leadership theories focus entirely on the role that a leader plays, LMX differs in that it emphasizes the dyadic nature of …
Political Skill, Megan Paul
Political Skill, Megan Paul
Umbrella Summaries
What is political skill? Political skill refers to “the ability to effectively understand others at work, and to use such knowledge to influence others to act in ways that enhance one’s personal and/or organizational objectives” (Ahearn et al., 2004, p. 311). Unlike organizational politics, which involve selfserving and detrimental behavior, political skill involves positive, sincere, and effective influence (Ferris et al., 2005). The primary measure of political skill is the 18-item Political Skill Inventory, which assesses political skill through four factors: social astuteness, interpersonal influence, networking ability, and apparent sincerity. Example items from each factor, respectively, include “I always seem …
Learning Styles, Megan Paul
Learning Styles, Megan Paul
Umbrella Summaries
What are learning styles? The concept of learning styles is the idea that people differ in the way that they learn best, and instructors should determine each trainee’s optimal style and then use training methods that match the trainee’s style (Pashler, 2009). There are dozens of different learning style classifications, including such styles or dimensions as visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile modality preferences (Dunn & Greggs, 2003, cited in Coffield et al., 2004); concrete vs. abstract and sequential vs. random (Gregorc, 1982a, cited in Coffield et al., 2004); holistic vs. analytic and verbalizer vs. imager (Riding & Raynor, 1998, cited …
Trainee Reactions, Megan Paul
Trainee Reactions, Megan Paul
Umbrella Summaries
What are trainee reactions? Trainee reactions refer to “subjective evaluations learners make about their training experiences” (Sitzmann et al., 2008, p. 280). Commonly referred to as “level 1” evaluations (e.g., Kirkpatrick, 1998), reactions are the most commonly used type of training evaluation and are measured with post-training surveys. Though measures are occasionally included in published research, there are no universal or even widely used measures. Instead, questions are developed by each organization or trainer based on their particular goals and interests. As a result, there is significant variation in what is measured. Originally, reactions referred only to how well a …
Compensation, Megan Paul
Compensation, Megan Paul
Umbrella Summaries
What is compensation? For the purposes of this review, compensation is defined in two primary ways: a) pay and b) pay satisfaction. Pay refers to “the amount of money an individual receives for their job” (Rubenstein et al., 2017, p. 6). It is sometimes measured as the exact amount or in terms of pay levels (Judge et al., 2010). Pay satisfaction is about an employee’s feelings about their pay, either in general or in terms of more specific aspects. Depending on how it is measured, pay satisfaction often also includes feelings about benefits, which might be more appropriately called compensation …