Journal of Management recent issues

How Executive SHRM System Links to Firm Performance: The Perspectives of Upper Echelon and Competitive Dynamics{dagger}

Lin, H.-C., Shih, C.-T. — 2008-10-08

This study adopts the upper echelon and competitive dynamics perspectives to investigate the mechanisms by which strategic human resource management (SHRM) can create a competitive advantage for a firm. Top management team (TMT) social integration and action aggressiveness are identified as internal-oriented and external-oriented capabilities, respectively, for a teamwork-oriented executive SHRM system to support in enhancing firm performance. Structural equation modeling is performed to test hypothesized relationships. Statistical results demonstrate TMT social integration and action aggressiveness in sequence partially mediate the relationship of an executive SHRM system and firm performance. Action aggressiveness partially mediates the relationship of TMT social integration and firm performance. This study provides further insights into the SHRM, upper echelon, and competitive dynamics perspectives. The research findings also serve to remind top executives to remain alert in developing a set of teamwork-focused executive SHRM practices, building an integrated team, and proactively shaping competitive actions to outperform rivals.

Conventional and Reverse Knowledge Flows in Multinational Corporations{dagger}

Qin Yang, , Mudambi, R., Meyer, K. E. — 2008-10-08

Leveraging knowledge from geographically disparate subsidiaries is a crucial source of competitive advantage for multinational corporations (MNCs). This study investigates the determinants of knowledge transfers to and from newly acquired subsidiaries in three transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe. It is hypothesized that the determinants of conventional knowledge transfers from MNC parents to subsidiaries and reverse knowledge transfers from subsidiaries to MNC parents are based on different transfer logics. A sample of 105 acquired subsidiaries revealed that organizational characteristics are important in conventional knowledge flows from headquarters, so that subsidiaries acquired with competence-creating objectives receive significantly larger inflows. Knowledge characteristics are important in reverse flows to headquarters so that subsidiaries whose knowledge is more relevant are able to transmit significantly larger outflows. Host country locations have significant moderating effects. The significance of the directional context in knowledge transfers is an important new finding.

Customer (In)Justice and Emotional Labor: The Role of Perspective Taking, Anger, and Emotional Regulation{dagger}

Rupp, D. E., Silke McCance, A., Spencer, S., Sonntag, K. — 2008-10-08

This study investigates the impact of customer interpersonal and informational injustice on service workers' emotional labor (surface acting). Results from a study conducted on 152 bank tellers in Germany showed that customers are evaluated by employees as a potential source of unfairness. Perceptions of customer justice were found to interact with individual differences in perspective taking in the prediction of surface acting such that the negative effect of customer injustice on surface acting was stronger for those low in perspective taking (compared to those high in perspective taking). Although anger was expected to mediate this moderated effect, this hypothesis was not confirmed. Considering the results post hoc, a revised theoretical model is proposed based on Cropanzano, Weiss, Suckow, and Grandey's model of justice and emotional regulation. Future research is needed to test this model and determine what leads employees to deploy emotional regulation strategies when faced with unfair customers.

Untangling the Effects of Overexploration and Overexploitation on Organizational Performance: The Moderating Role of Environmental Dynamism{dagger}

Heli Wang, , Jiatao Li, — 2008-10-08

Because a firm's optimal knowledge search behavior is determined by unique firm and industry conditions, organizational performance should be contingent on the degree to which a firm's actual level of knowledge search deviates from the optimal level. It is thus hypothesized that deviation from the optimal search, in the form of either overexploitation or overexploration, is detrimental to organizational performance. Furthermore, the negative effect of search deviation on organizational performance varies with environmental dynamism; that is, overexploitation is expected to become more harmful, whereas overexploration becomes less so with an increase in environmental dynamism. The empirical analyses yield results consistent with these arguments. Implications for research and practice are correspondingly discussed.

Perceptions of Discrimination: A Multiple Needs Model Perspective

Goldman, B. M., Slaughter, J. E., Schmit, M. J., Wiley, J. W., Brooks, S. M. — 2008-10-08

The multiple needs model of justice was used to understand employee reactions to perceived discrimination. In particular, the fulfillment of the three needs discussed in that model—economic, interpersonal, and deontic (ethical)—were tested as consequences of perceived discrimination and as antecedents of job attitudes and turnover intentions. A representative sample of the U.S. workforce (N = 5,605) rated the three needs-fulfillment variables while also rating their perceptions of discrimination, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and intent to leave. The proposed model was supported. This study extends research on perceived discrimination by proposing a role for the multiple needs model of justice through the use of a specific and important role for needs fulfillment. It also extends support for the multiple needs model of justice.

Developing a Measure of Unethical Behavior in the Workplace: A Stakeholder Perspective

Kaptein, M. — 2008-10-08

To date, only one empirically tested measure of the observed frequency of unethical behavior in the workplace exists. This widely used measure focuses on intraorganizational cheating and thus covers only a limited part of the much broader spectrum of unethical behaviors in the workplace. Given the importance of a valid measure, this article uses stakeholder theory as a conceptual basis to develop a broader and multidimensional measure of unethical behavior in eight consecutive steps. Exploratory factor analysis generates five subscales comprising 37 items of unethical behavior primarily related to financiers, customers, employees, suppliers, and society. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrates that a five-factor model has a superior fit to a one-factor model. The subscales display good internal reliability. Preliminary evidence of nomological and criterion-related validity is also provided.

Human Resource Flexibility as a Mediating Variable Between High Performance Work Systems and Performance

Beltran-Martin, I., Roca-Puig, V., Escrig-Tena, A., Bou-Llusar, J. C. — 2008-10-08

Much of the human resource management literature has demonstrated the impact of high performance work systems (HPWS) on organizational performance. A new generation of studies is emerging in this literature that recommends the inclusion of mediating variables between HPWS and organizational performance. The increasing rate of dynamism in competitive environments suggests that measures of employee adaptability should be included as a mechanism that may explain the relevance of HPWS to firm competitiveness. On a sample of 226 Spanish firms, the study's results confirm that HPWS influences performance through its impact on the firm's human resource (HR) flexibility.

Scholarly Influence in the Field of Management: A Bibliometric Analysis of the Determinants of University and Author Impact in the Management Literature in the Past Quarter Century

Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Podsakoff, N. P., Bachrach, D. G. — 2008-07-30

The purpose of this study is to identify the universities and research scholars who have had the greatest impact on the field of management during the past quarter century and the factors that influence their impact. Using bibliometric techniques, the authors examined 30 management journals to identify the 100 most-cited universities and 150 most-cited authors from 1981 to 2004. The analysis included more than 1,600 universities and 25,000 management scholars across five individual time periods. The findings showed that (a) a relatively small proportion of universities and scholars accounted for the majority of the citations in the field; (b) total publications accounted for the majority of the variance in university citations; (c) university size, the number of PhDs awarded, research expenditures, and endowment assets had the biggest impact on university publications; and (d) total publications, years in the field, graduate school reputation, and editorial board memberships had the biggest effect on a scholar's citations.

If You Pay for Skills, Will They Learn? Skill Change and Maintenance Under a Skill-Based Pay System

Dierdorff, E. C., Surface, E. A. — 2008-07-30

Although the use of skill-based pay has increased in popularity, empirical investigations of the effectiveness of this compensation strategy have been scarce. The fundamental premise of skill-based pay is that contingent monetary reward will promote individual learning. The authors empirically examine this essential principle with data spanning 5 years, using latent growth analysis. Results demonstrate that skill-based pay is related to individual skill change and maintenance. Whether or not individuals earn skill-based pay on their initial attempt is associated with subsequent rates of learning. In addition, the frequency with which skill-based pay is received and the total amount earned are both associated with skill development and maintenance.

On the Importance of Conducting Construct-Level Analysis for Multidimensional Constructs in Theory Development and Testing

Wong, C.-S., Law, K. S., Huang, G.-h. — 2008-07-30

On top of not defining explicitly the relationship between multidimensional constructs and their dimensions, many management researchers have conducted their analyses of multidimensional constructs at the dimension level only and assumed that these analyses would be valid at the construct level. This article discusses the potential problems of these practices. Data from two reported management studies are reanalyzed to show that different conclusions might be arrived when analyses are conducted at the construct rather than the dimension level. This finding is especially true when the multidimensional construct is defined under the latent model. Implications are discussed.

Institutional Antecedents of Corporate Governance Legitimacy

Judge, W. Q., Douglas, T. J., Kutan, A. M. — 2008-07-30

The authors studied panel data for corporate governance ratings in 50 countries between 1997 and 2005 to understand what the country-level predictors of corporate governance legitimacy might be. Using neo-institutional theory, they found that all three pillars of institutionalization influenced perceptions of corporate governance at the national level—specifically, (a) the greater the extent of law and order, (b) the more the culture emphasized global competitiveness, and (c) the less the prevalence of corruption, the higher the corporate governance legitimacy within a nation. This study refines and extends the comparative corporate governance literature, as well as the neo-institutional perspective.

Multiple Tasks' and Multiple Goals' Effect on Creativity: Forced Incubation or Just a Distraction?

Madjar, N., Shalley, C. E. — 2008-07-30

The authors examine the effects of multiple goals on three different tasks (i.e., two creativity tasks and one intervening task) and the discretion to switch back and forth between tasks on creative performance. They propose that individuals' focus of attention and cognitive exhaustion may explain the hypothesized effects on incubation and subsequent creativity. Results demonstrate the highest creativity when individuals have goals for all tasks and discretion to switch between them. The results in part are explained by focus of attention and cognitive exhaustion. The authors discuss how multiple tasks'and goals' effect on creativity can lead to forced incubation.

Values Enactment in Organizations: A Multi-Level Examination

Gruys, M. L., Stewart, S. M., Goodstein, J., Bing, M. N., Wicks, A. C. — 2008-07-30

Business writers and practitioners recommend that core organizational values be integrated into employee work life for enhanced organizational productivity, yet no published studies have empirically examined the antecedents and outcomes of values enactment. Using longitudinal data on 2,622 employees, hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) results revealed that tenure and department-level values enactment were significant predictors of individual values enactment. Furthermore, employees who demonstrated high levels of values enactment were less likely to leave, and employees of high or low levels of values enactment in departments whose levels of values enactment matched their own were the most likely to be promoted.

Erratum

2008-07-30

Identification in Organizations: An Examination of Four Fundamental Questions

Ashforth, B. E., Harrison, S. H., Corley, K. G. — 2008-05-05

The literature on identification in organizations is surprisingly diverse and large. This article reviews the literature in terms of four fundamental questions. First, under "What is identification?," it outlines a continuum from narrow to broad formulations and differentiates situated identification from deep identification and organizational identification from organizational commitment. Second, in answer to "Why does identification matter?," it discusses individual and organizational outcomes as well as several links to mainstream organizational behavior topics. Third, regarding "How does identification occur?," it describes a process model that involves cycles of sensebreaking and sensegiving, enacting identity and sensemaking, and constructing identity narratives. Finally, under "One or many?," it discusses team, workgroup, and subunit; relational; occupational and career identifications; and how multiple identifications may conflict, converge, and combine.

Organizational Ambidexterity: Antecedents, Outcomes, and Moderators

Raisch, S., Birkinshaw, J. — 2008-05-05

Organizational ambidexterity, defined as an organization's ability to be aligned and efficient in its management of today's business demands while simultaneously being adaptive to changes in the environment, has gained increasing interest in recent years. In this article, the authors review various literature streams to develop a comprehensive model that covers research into the antecedents, moderators, and outcomes of organizational ambidexterity. They indicate gaps within and across different research domains and point to important avenues for future research.

Team Effectiveness 1997-2007: A Review of Recent Advancements and a Glimpse Into the Future

Mathieu, J., Maynard, M. T., Rapp, T., Gilson, L. — 2008-05-05

The authors review team research that has been conducted over the past 10 years. They discuss the nature of work teams in context and note the substantive differences underlying different types of teams. They then review representative studies that have appeared in the past decade in the context of an enhanced input-process-outcome framework that has evolved into an inputs-mediators-outcome time-sensitive approach. They note what has been learned along the way and identify fruitful directions for future research. They close with a reconsideration of the typical team research investigation and call for scholars to embrace the complexity that surrounds modern team-based organizational designs as we move forward.

Managing Power in the Multinational Corporation: How Low-Power Actors Gain Influence

Bouquet, C., Birkinshaw, J. — 2008-05-05

This article provides a conceptual integration and synthesis of the literature on power and influence in multinational corporations (MNCs). To provide some focus to their synthesis, the authors concentrate on the situation facing, and the strategies pursued by, low-power actors within the MNC network, that is, actors who are currently positioned in relatively weak or low-status positions vis-à-vis other actors. Drawing inspiration from Ghoshal, the authors make a clear separation between ends and means: between the objectives pursued by low-power actors (their ends) and the strategies or tactics they pursue to achieve these objectives (their means). This approach allows the authors to pull together some strands of literature that had previously been entirely separate.

Psychological Influence in Negotiation: An Introduction Long Overdue

Malhotra, D., Bazerman, M. H. — 2008-05-05

This article begins with an analysis of the limited extent to which social influence research has penetrated the field of negotiation. The authors argue that one barrier has been that research on social influence focuses almost exclusively on economic or structural levers of influence. With this background, the article seeks to do the following: (a) define the domain of psychological influence as consisting of tactics that do not require the influencer to change the economic or structural aspects of the bargaining situation, (b) review prior decision research to identify ideas that may be relevant to psychological influence, (c) provide numerous examples of how decision research can be leveraged to create psychological influence tactics for negotiators, (d) consider how targets of influence might defend against the tactics herein considered, and (e) consider some of the ethical issues surrounding the use of psychological influence in negotiation.

Location Matters: Where We Have Been and Where We Might Go in Agglomeration Research

McCann, B. T., Folta, T. B. — 2008-05-05

Agglomeration research investigates the geographic concentration of economic activity. The authors explicate the various explanations for this phenomenon while focusing on a particular class of agglomerations—the spatial concentrations of related firms. The authors review theoretical explanations and empirical evidence around the performance implications of clustering in proximity to related firms. Moreover, they motivate future research by identifying challenges facing researchers in this area and discuss eight distinct groups of research questions with the potential to contribute to the continuing growth of this important research area.

Paternalistic Leadership: A Review and Agenda for Future Research

Pellegrini, E. K., Scandura, T. A. — 2008-05-05

The growing interest in paternalistic leadership research has led to a recent proliferation of diverse definitions and perspectives, as well as a limited number of empirical studies. Consequently, the diversity of perspectives has resulted in conceptual ambiguities, as well as contradictory empirical findings. In this article, the authors review research on paternalistic leadership in an effort to assess the current state of the literature. They investigate the construct of paternalistic leadership and review the findings related to its outcomes and antecedents as well as the various measurement scales used in paternalistic leadership research. On the basis of this review, the article concludes with an agenda for future theoretical and empirical research on this emerging and intriguing new area for leadership research.

How Do Firms Learn to Make Acquisitions? A Review of Past Research and an Agenda for the Future

Barkema, H. G., Schijven, M. — 2008-05-05

How do firms learn to successfully acquire other firms? The authors first review early work, mostly from the 1980s to the mid-1990s, testing the learning curve perspective on acquisitions and exploring some contingencies. They then discuss three more recent streams of research on negative experience transfer, deliberate learning mechanisms, and learning from others, which provide deeper insight into the contingencies and mechanisms of organizational learning in strategic settings such as acquisitions. The article concludes with an agenda for future research.

Erratum

2008-05-05

Relationship Clean-Up Time: Using Meta-Analysis and Path Analysis to Clarify Relationships Among Job Satisfaction, Perceived Fairness, and Citizenship Behaviors {dagger}

Fassina, N. E., Jones, D. A., Uggerslev, K. L. — 2008-03-12

Although perceived fairness and job satisfaction predict organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB), researchers have pondered the conceptual relationships among these constructs. Using path analysis on meta-analytically derived coefficients, the authors compared four models: full mediation (job satisfaction mediates fairness-OCB relationships), partial mediation, independent effects, and a spurious effects model (the job satisfaction—OCB relationship is spurious because perceived fairness is a common cause). The authors found greatest support for the independent effects model: Job satisfaction and different types of perceived fairness accounted for unique variance in OCB dimensions. The article discusses implications for research and practice, and offers suggestions to advance theory in this area.

Resource-Based Advantages in an International Context{dagger}

Brouthers, K. D., Brouthers, L. E., Werner, S. — 2008-03-12

How universal are resource-based advantages? In this study, the authors suggest that differences in nations' institutional environments may influence the applicability of resource-based advantages; for this reason, the effectiveness of such advantages may vary cross-nationally. They hypothesize and find that adding the moderating influence of national institutional environment to a resource-based perspective better explains strategic decisions (entry mode choice) in an international context than does a mere resource-based approach. The analysis also shows that decisions predicted by a model incorporating both perspectives yield better subsidiary performance. Thus, results suggest that, at least in an international setting, resource-based advantages appear to be context specific. Based on these results, the authors conclude that considering country-specific contextual influences on the value of resource-based advantages allows firms to make strategic decisions that improve international subsidiary performance.

The Role of Compensatory and Retributive Justice in Determining Damages in Employment Disputes{dagger}

Mahony, D. M., Klaas, B. S. — 2008-03-12

This study draws on theories of compensatory and retributive justice to examine how jurors and employment arbitrators reach decisions regarding awards and damages in cases involving allegations or wrongful discharge. The authors hypothesized that the decision to provide compensatory justice would be determined by both employee and employer attributes, whereas the decision to provide both compensatory and punitive justice would be determined by employer attributes. These hypotheses were tested using a policy-capturing exercise in which the decision makers were asked to make an award and damages determination in cases in which an employee was challenging his or her termination. Results generally support the hypotheses. Findings suggest that within the context of employment disputes, both jurors and employment arbitrators are influenced by a justice-providing motive that involves both compensating the victim and exacting retribution.

The Moderating Effect of Work--Family Centrality on Work--Family Conflict, Organizational Attitudes, and Turnover Behavior{dagger}

Carr, J. C., Boyar, S. L., Gregory, B. T. — 2008-03-12

Research has explored the role of work—family conflict (WFC), including the antecedents and consequences of this construct. However, few studies have examined the specific role that work—family centrality plays in moderating the relationship between WFC and organizationally related outcomes. Using a sample of 129 employees from a manufacturing plant, we test the moderating influence of work—family centrality on the relationship between WFC and job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and retention. Results indicate that when individuals view work as being more central to their lives, the negative relationships between WFC and organizational attitudes and organizational retention is suppressed.

Board Up the Windows: The Interactive Effects of Hurricane-Induced Job Stress and Perceived Resources on Work Outcomes

Hochwarter, W. A., Laird, M. D., Brouer, R. L. — 2008-03-12

The authors conducted five studies to examine the interactive effects of hurricane-induced job stress and perceived resources on job satisfaction, job tension, and work effort. The authors hypothesized that heightened hurricane-induced job stress would increase adverse reactions for those with fewer perceived resources. Conversely, the authors expected higher levels of perceived resources to neutralize these effects. Results support the hypothesis across studies. Interestingly, job satisfaction improved for those with high levels of perceived resources as hurricane-induced job stress increased in two studies. The authors discuss theoretical implications for traumatic and general stress research, as well as practice, and provide directions for future research.

The Value of Human Capital Specificity Versus Transferability

Sturman, M. C., Walsh, K., Cheramie, R. A. — 2008-03-12

Human capital is a key resource for which firms compete intensely. Human capital theory suggests that firms value both transferable and specific human capital. Yet as transferability increases, specificity decreases. This article examines the value firms place on acquiring executives'human capital as a function of its transferability versus specificity. Using longitudinal data from more than 9,000 executives, this article shows that executives moving to more similar firms receive greater increases to pay than nonmovers and those moving to less similar firms. This article suggests these increases reflect the differential value associated with various types of human capital.