Organizational Behavior and Theory Commons^™

Need Fulfilment, Leadership Styles And Effectiveness: A Study Of Two Indian Organisations, Reeta Mohan, Rajeev Mohan

IIMB Management Review

Need fulfilment of an individual in an organisation is very important, because the success of the organisation depends upon the level of motivation of its members, and the appropriateness of the leadership pattern in a particular situation. An extremely motivated group of employees can help the organisation sustain itself even in the worst environmental conditions. On the other hand, its success might be jeopardised if its employees are not motivated toward work. Working on the theory that the needs and values of the leaders may have considerable influence on the type of leadership behaviour they choose, and the fact that …

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. …

Consequences Of Contingent Compensation, James Herschel Turner

Doctoral Dissertations

The principal objective of this study is the explication of the impact of incentives on measures of performance. The effects of contingent compensation (commissions and bonuses) on role stress, job attitudes, and performance outcomes were studied in a multi-industry sample of 255 employees.

It was hypothesized that as compensation contingency increases, role conflict and financial anxiety also increase and the increase in stress would be negatively related to in-role performance, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction. Finally, it was hypothesized that as organizational commitment and job satisfaction are reduced, intent-to-leave will be increased and extra-role performance will be reduced. The sum …

Fairness In Chinese Organizations, Kai-Guang Liang

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the roles of organizational justice and individual cultural characteristics in affecting employees' work attitudes and behaviors, in particular, the contextual aspect of job performance in Chinese organizations. Data were collected from 232 employee-supervisor dyads in three Sino-western joint ventures in the People's Republic of China. Results indicated that distributive justice had a significant impact on one dimension of contextual job performance, i.e., interpersonal facilitation, and various attitudinal outcomes, such as job satisfaction, pay satisfaction, affective commitment and turnover intention. Among the three procedural justice variables (participation at company level, participation at job level, and appeal mechanism) examined, …

The Application Of Role Theory To The Sexual Harassment Paradigm: A Policy Capturing Approach, Lora L. Jacobi

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This research utilized policy capturing techniques to analyze the different factors individuals use when determining sexual harassment. The importance of level of power, verbal behavior, and invasiveness of touch were examined. Additionally, role theory was applied to the sexual harassment paradigm in order to understand how context factors within an organization affect the perception of sexual harassment. Profile analysis was used to determine how the perception of what constitutes harassing behavior is mitigated by one's role in the organization.

Participants were one hundred and five males and one hundred and fifteen females who were either currently employed or employed within …

The Effects Of An Organizational Communication Intervention On Job Satisfaction In A Public Health Organization, Ann Kathleen Riley

All Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of an organizational communication intervention on job satisfaction levels. Nineteen employees of a rural public health department served as the subjects of the study. Archival data was reviewed based on a pre and postjob satisfaction questionnaire administered to subjects in relation to a communication intervention. It was hypothesized that job satisfaction levels would increase as a result of an organizational communication intervention. Results of an independent !-test analysis for overall pre and postjob satisfaction scores did not support this hypothesis. Implications of the study and recommendations for future research are …

Factors Which Improve The Construct Validity Of Assessment Centers: A Review, Filip Lievens

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This article reviews 21 studies which manipulated specific variables to determine their impact on the construct validity of assessment centers. This review shows that the studies regarding the impact of different observation, evaluation, and integration procedures yielded mixed results. Conversely, dimension factors (number, conceptual distinctiveness, and transparency), assessor factors (type of assessor and type of assessor training), and exercise factors (exercise form and use of role-players) were found to moderate construct validity. On the basis of the review, practical recommendations are derived to maximize the probability that practitioners design and administer an assessment center with construct validity. Finally, new perspectives …

Effects Of An Interview Guide On The Accuracy Of Ratings For Applicants With Disabilities, Catherine Quinn Greenwald Mergen

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The problem of bias in the employment interview for applicants with disabilities was addressed with research to identify if a decision aid can increase the decision making accuracy of interviewers. A survey designed to allow participants to rate applicants with five disabilities for three jobs (with three essential functions listed for each job) was used to assess rating accuracy of two groups. Participants who received the decision aid in the form of a Guide to Interviewing People with Selected Disabilities were expected to have more rating accuracy than those participants without access to the Guide. Accuracy was assessed by comparing …

Correcting Turnover Correlations: A Critique, Chuck R. Williams, L. H. Peters

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

In this article, the authors argue that turnover correlations do not need to be corrected. First, they maintain that correction formulas cannot correct for poor construct validity. Second, they discuss the original purposes of turnover correction formulas. Third, the authors describe the logical fallacies of correcting turnover correlations. Finally, they show why turnover correlations are not, as is widely believed, statistically limited to a maximum of .80.

Commitment In The Workplace : Theory, Research And Application : By John P Meyer And Natalie J Allen, New Delhi : Sage Publications, 1997., Anand Kasthuri

IIMB Management Review

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Individual, Contextual, And Moral Intensity Factors On Environmental Ethical Decision Making, Brenda L. Flannery

Management and Entrepreneurship Department Publications

Most extant studies of organizational ethical decision making have been remiss in doing one or more of the following: (a) building theoretical foundations; (b) encompassing the individual, contextual, and issue-specific determinants impacting ethical judgments; (c) offering testable hypotheses; and/or (d) establishing methodological rigor. This study confronted those challenges aiming to understand the decision intentions of top managers in the metal finishing industry concerning the treatment of hazardous wastewater. This study employed an extended version of Ajzen's (1988) theory of planned behavior. The theory accommodatingly modeled the individual (i.e., attitudes, self-efficacy, personal moral obligation), contextual (subjective norms, organizational climate, and financial …

A Survey Of Health Care Personnel's Perceptions Toward Diversity In The Workplace, Jacqueline Elaine Sharpe

Health Services Research Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the diversity climate in a large teaching military hospital by assessing the perceptions of employees regarding the organizational climate, including aspects of the climate related to ethnicity, gender, age, physical ability, sexual orientation, and job level. All 3,176 eligible employees based in the medical center were invited to participate, 1,252 did so (RR = 40%). Participants were 37% minority, 57% females, 25% officer, 30% enlisted, and 45% civilian. Twenty-four percent were at the managerial level. Perceptions of the diversity climate were measured using the Diversity Survey Instrument (the reliability and validity of …

A Structural Model Of Antecedents And Consequences Of Satisfaction With Growth And Development, Greg E. Loviscky

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Because downsizing and re-organizing have altered the social contract between employers and employees, employees have found additional incentive to grow and develop by adding to their portfolio of skills. In order to establish the validity of satisfaction with growth and development, an hypothesized model is tested and compared with competing models. 'our hundred and sixty three employees from a large southeastern city completed a questionnaire that examined attitudes regarding satisfaction with growth and development, general job satisfaction, and hypothesized antecedents (i.e., context and individual variables) and consequences (i.e., organizational commitment) of satisfaction with growth and development. LISREL VIII (Joreskog & …

"Managing” Stress: Emotion And Power At Work By Tim Newton With Jocelyn Handy And Stephen Fineman Sage Publication, 1995., R Ravi Kumar

IIMB Management Review

The book under review makes a concerted effort to explain the genesis and growth of interest in stress and also to provide direction in managing new sources of stress.

The Tacit Dimension Of Organizational Learning, Thomas Reeder Robinson

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This research was conducted to observe the self-reflections of an organizational participant group to further understand the organizational learning phenomenon. The participant group consisted of the 15 managers, spanning three levels of management, of a large engineering group in the southeastern United States.

The intent of the research was to generate theory, rather than to test theory. To accomplish this objective, a qualitative research methodology in a participatory action framework was modeled from Keating's (1993) Organizational Learning Process (OLP) to co-construct participants' organizational reflections. The methodology included individual interviews designed to elicit spontaneity that co-generated organizational perspectives. These perspectives were …

The Effects Of Training On Women's And Men's Perceptions Of Sexual Harassment, Isabel M. Rivera Ledoux

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sexual harassment is a continual problem in the workplace; however, most sexual harassment research focuses on problems associated with sexual harassment rather than evaluating the potential for training programs to resolve such problems. This study examined two training programs to evaluate the potential effects of training on the differences between the perspectives of women and men on sexually harassing behaviors. The first training program served as a control group, and the second emphasized the discrepancies between female and male experiences of sexually harassing behaviors. It was predicted that women and men who become aware of the psychological pain experienced by …

An Air Force Guide To Team Building, Roy M. Gozum

Theses and Dissertations

Team structures are used extensively in civilian, government, and military organizations to accomplish modem task demands that almost always exceed the capabilities of single individuals. As team structures became larger and more complex, managers realized the need for formal team building education. Team building programs serve to facilitate an environment for productive teamwork. However, despite the apparent importance of teams, most organizations overlook the implementation of formal team building programs. Therefore, the purpose of this research is two-fold. First, this thesis examines the evolution and importance of teams, and the subsequent need for the development of formal team building programs. …

The Effects Of Perceived Upward Influence Rewards And Personality Moderators On Job Satisfaction And Productivity In An Employee Suggestion Program, David J. Braun

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The extent to which work satisfaction, task satisfaction, suggestion quantity and suggestion quality may be affected by upward influence and reward in a suggestion program was investigated using 160 students as subjects. Locus of control and growth need strength were investigated in terms of their effects as personality moderators. Subjects offered suggestions during three trials for nine topics representing university problems. The percentage of suggestions accepted by a review committee was manipulated as four levels of an upward influence condition (0'/o, 25'/0, 50'/o and 75'/o). In addition, subjects were randomly assigned to either a no-reward or reward condition, in which …

A Test Of The Theory Of Reasoned Action At The Group Level Of Analysis, Thomas A. Fitch, Edward A. Mccarty

Theses and Dissertations

A vast array of studies exist which have sought to explore the relationships between behavioral intentions, job satisfaction, turnover and performance at the individual level of analysis. Recent efforts to move to the group level of analysis have shown some promise, but few exist. The crux of the issue under consideration here was whether or not there was utility in treating attitude-intention-behavior linkages as group level phenomena. Both Schneider (1987) and George (1990' contend that, while individual analysis cannot be discounted as a means of understanding behavior, there is also value in examining group-level phenomena. The purpose of this study …

A Study Of Usn Aircrew Attitudes Regarding Technology's Ability To Replace The Naval Flight Officer On Typical Combat Missions Carrier Based Aircraft Are Tasked To Perform, Robert E. Britt, William J. Cain

Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzed survey responses of 290 Navy pilots and Naval flight officers (NFOs) regarding their perceptions of technology's ability to replace the NFO in typical combat missions carrier-based aircraft are tasked to perform. The study is a follow-on to a similar USAF effort conducted with pilots. The objective of this study is to provide operator input to the critical crew complement issue. These missions vary significantly in complexity and in demands placed on the aircrew. The survey instrument and analysis methods were designed to detect and evaluate these differences. The USAF study concluded that-the perception of a requirement for …

A Comparison Of Users' And Providers' Perceptions Of Critical Spacelift Vehicle Characteristics And Capabilities, Dawson S. Oslund, Mark M. Shafer

Theses and Dissertations

This study compares spacelift vehicle users' and providers' perceptions of critical spacelift vehicle characteristics and capabilities. The researchers conducted a mail survey of military, commercial, and civil spacelift vehicle users and providers to determine a criticality rating for each of the 22 characteristics and capabilities identified through a literature review. Primary results of the study indicate: (1) the three most critical characteristics and capabilities are reliability, launch cost, and resilience; (2) the three least critical characteristics and capabilities are man-rateable, reusability, and gross lift-off weight; (3) only launch cost has a significantly different mean 'criticality rating among spacelift vehicle users …

The Impact Of Leadership Style And Subordinate Charisma On Organizational Outcomes, Amy L. Vick

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Three hundred and forty members of the administration and finance departments in a loc~l university participated in a study designed to examine the relationships between leadership style (transformational, transactional, laissez-faire) and job satisfaction, rated leader effectiveness, effort, group cohesiveness, performance, group effectiveness, organizational involvement, role clarity, role conflict, intent to turnover, and absenteeism. Correlation and regression analyses indicated that transformational leadership often is associated with improved levels of important work outcomes. In addition, regardless of leadership style, followers high in charisma are more satisfied when their leader demonstrates a lower level of charisma. Lastly, the "falling dominoes" effect of transformational …

A Test Of Bass's Model Of Transformational Leadership Among Managers In The Dominican Republic, Nancy Urbaez Echavarria

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study tested the generalizability of Bass's theory of transformational leadership to employees of a company in the Dominican Republic. A Spanish translation of Bass's Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) was used to assess the leadership styles. The factor structure for Dominican workers was not identical to the structure observed in United States samples. Nevertheless, the pattern of results followed rather closely the pattern observed in United States samples. Consistent with research conducted in the U.S., subordinates who had transformational leaders reported more satisfaction and effectiveness and greater effort and organizational innovativeness than subordinates who had transactional or laissez faire leaders. …

Career Achievement Of Employed Adult Women As A Function Of Family Variables, Kimberly Sue Wright

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While women's career development is beginning to be addressed in the literature, little is known about the variables which influence women's career achievement. The purpose of this study was to identify a subset of family variables which would predict career achievement for women. This study investigated the differences between high and low achievement women with respect to the following variables: marital/relationship status, number of children, parental education levels, parental occupation levels, birth order, relationship with parents (support, rejection, overinvolvement) and general family functioning. iii The participants were 140 women between the ages of 25 and 45 who were employed full …

Nothing Recedes Like Success - Risk Analysis And The Organizational Amplification Of Risks, William R. Freudenburg

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Professor Freudenburg believes that there is room for improvement in Risk analysis, particularly in drawing on systematic studies of human behavior in the calculation of real, empirical probabilities of failure. The need is argued to be especially acute where technological Risks are associated with low expected probabilities of failure and are managed by human organizations for extended periods of time. This permits complacency to set in.

The Organizational Impact Of Smoke Break Management In Strategic Air Command, Glenn G. Hinken

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the organizational impact of smoke break management in Strategic Air Command. Analysis of data from a survey questionnaire showed that although the smoking and smoke break issues touched the majority of the people in SAC and almost every smoker surveyed reported taking smoke breaks, just 27 percent of respondents reported their organization had a smoke break policy. Most of these respondents indicated the policies were lenient in terms of regulating the time and duration of the breaks. Smokers reported spending an average 41.09 minutes per day taking smoke breaks. This figure differed significantly from the time smokers …

Computer Use In The Scientific Office, Douglas L. Miller

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Over the past two decades computers in research and development organizations have become a complex and integral part of the work process. Yet to date only a handful of systematic investigations have addressed issues involving scientists' or other professionals' use of computers, and very little is known about factors influencing use (Bikson and Gutek, 1983; Blacker and Brown, 1986; Collopy, 1988; Gasser, 1986; Helander, 1985; Nickolson, 1985; Pope, 1985). As a result, this research was designed to address four objectives. The first was to develop and evaluate a descriptive model of variables influencing scientists' computer use. The second objective was …

The Effects Of Training And Feedback Format On Reactions To In-Basket Feedback And On In-Basket Performance, Michael G. Fedorko

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of training and feedback format on reactions to in-basket feedback and on in-basket performance. Performance was evaluated with a 2 (Training) x 3 (Feedback) x 2 (In-Basket) x 5 (Dimension) repeated measures factorial design. Reactions were evaluated with a 2 (Training) x 3 (Feedback) x 2 (Questionnaire) repeated measures factorial design. The Training factor was comprised of frame-of-reference training (designed to prepare the recipient to receive the feedback) and a control condition (a lecture on Mintzberg's managerial role classification system). The Feedback factor was comprised of written feedback, oral feedback, …

The Effect Of Different Approaches To Goal Setting On Goal Commitment, Eileen Mary Piersa

All Master's Theses

This study assesses the goal commitment generated by different approaches to goal setting. The participants were the directors, board presidents, staff, board members and volunteers of two non-profit organizations. One group explored their history as an organization, significant events and the impact of those events before carrying out the same goal setting process as the other group. Self-efficacy was measured before the exercise began. Goal commitment was measured after participants prioritized goals and selected subgoals on which to take action. The hypothesis that cognitively reviewing past history would lead to greater commitment was rejected. A second hypothesis that the self-efficacy …

Preschoolers' And Third Graders' Sorting Preferences And Strategic Knowledge Of Taxonomic Associative And Perceptual Organizational Strategies, Helene Ann Hembrooke

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated strategic use and metamemory concerning taxonomic, associative, and perceptual organizational strategies. Preschool and third grade children were asked to sort stimuli which varied orthogonally along three dimensions; taxonomically, associatively, and perceptually. Free recall was assessed. Each child also completed one of two metamemory tasks; a paired comparison or a peer teaching task. The order of the memory/metamemory tasks was counterbalanced within age groups. The results showed that older children sorted by taxonomic and associative attributes while younger children exhibited no sorting preference. Older children recalled significantly more pictures, although no significant age differences in recall clustering were …