Integrative Conceptual Review Research Articles

Family First: An Integrative Conceptual Review of Nepotism in Organizations

ABSTRACTWorkplace nepotism, the preferential treatment based on kinship or familial ties, is a pervasive phenomenon that permeates every corner of our global workforce, transcending cultures, countries, industries, and organizations. Despite its ubiquitous presence, research on nepotism remains fragmented and scattered, with diverse disciplines seldom converging or cross‐referencing one another. In this integrative review, we synthesize, integrate, and critically assess the extant body of knowledge about workplace nepotism. Our aim is to provide HR scholars with a panoramic view of the known, the unknown, and the uncharted territories to move the field forward. To this end, we first provide a clear conceptualization of nepotism, setting it apart from closely related constructs. Second, we offer a comprehensive review of empirical evidence that summarizes the antecedents, consequences, and theoretical foundations of nepotism. Importantly, our review adopts an actor‐centric perspective, advocating that three main sets of actors are meaningfully involved in nepotism (i.e., instigators, beneficiaries, and third parties), thereby contributing to theory by showing that nepotism may differentially relate to outcomes depending on which actor's perspective is taken. Third, we identify the shortcomings related to theory, methods, and measures, while identifying best practices. In particular, we offer insights into how future scholarship may meaningfully extend this literature. Finally, we provide evidence‐based guidelines for how organizations and their leaders may develop and refine their policies regarding the hiring, promotion, evaluation, and compensation of family members and relatives.

Toxic work climates: An integrative review and development of a new construct and theoretical framework.

Research and the media demonstrate the profound impact hostile work environments have on organizations and their members. Often, the term "toxic work climate" is used to describe patterns of aggressive behaviors that harm individuals and manifest in the broader workplace. However, despite these common references, scholars still know relatively little about what a toxic work climate actually entails, the processes by which they emerge, and their influence on organizational outcomes. The research domain is complex. Within the organizational literature alone, toxic work climates have been described as those that harbor abusive bosses, aggressive employees, and those that show signs of bullying or incivility. Our aim in this integrative conceptual review is to add precision and focus to this multidisciplinary and fragmented literature. Grounding our efforts in multilevel theories, we first introduce an overarching definition of the toxic work climate construct and review research on existing hostile climate types that can appropriately be consolidated under this new heading. We then develop a new theoretical model that outlines the dominant causes and mechanisms by which toxic work climates form, and the main pathways by which they influence employees, teams, and organizations. Finally, we provide a unified path forward for advancing theory, research, and practice, including advice on how toxic climates might be combated in years to come. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

An integrative conceptual review of multiperspective frameworks in personality research and a roadmap for extended applications in organizational psychology.

Multiperspective frameworks, such as the social relations model, socioanalytic theory, the realistic accuracy model, the self-other knowledge asymmetry model, and the trait-reputation-identity model, have advanced understanding of personality over the last 40 years. Due to a resurgence of interest in multiperspective research on personality and other constructs in organizational psychology, we conducted an integrative conceptual review of these specific multirater frameworks and their application in work settings. Our review identifies similarities and differences in these frameworks and suggests that they collectively represent an invaluable resource for personality researchers and the broader field of organizational psychology. Through our review, we distinguish multiperspective frameworks from similar approaches (e.g., multirater designs), track the evolution of these frameworks, and leverage current applications of these frameworks to craft a future research agenda. Our review serves as a roadmap to help scholars apply multiperspective logic more thoroughly and systematically in personality research and beyond. We close with a discussion of practical implications. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

A human-centered perspective on individual risks for digital innovation management: an integrative conceptual review

PurposeFollowing the imperative for human-centric digital innovation brought by the paradigm of Industry 5.0, the article aims to integrate the dispersed and multi-disciplinary literature on individual risks for workers to define, explain and predict individual risks related to Industry 4.0 technologies.Design/methodology/approachThe paper follows the question, “What is the current knowledge and evidence base concerning risks related to Industry 4.0 technologies, and how can this inform digital innovation management in the manufacturing sector through the lens of the Industry 5.0 paradigm?” and uses the method of systematic literature review to identify and discuss potential risks for individuals associated with digital innovation. N = 51 contributions met the inclusion criteria.FindingsThe literature review indicates dominant trends and significant gaps in understanding risks from a human-centric perspective. The paper identifies individual risks, their interplay with different technologies and their antecedents at the social, organizational and individual levels. Despite this, the paper shows how the literature concentrates in studying risks on only a limited number of categories and/or concepts. Moreover, there is a lack of consensus in the theoretical and conceptual frameworks. The paper concludes by illustrating an initial understanding of digital innovation via a human-centered perspective on psychological risks.Practical implicationsFindings yield practical implications. In investing in the adoption, generation or recombination of new digital technologies in organizations, the paper recommends managers ensure to prevent risks at the individual level. Accordingly, the study’s findings can be used as a common starting point for extending the repertoire of managerial practices and interventions and realizing human-centric innovation.Originality/valueFollowing the paradigm of Industry 5.0, the paper offers a holistic view of risks that incorporates the central role of the worker as crucial to the success of digital innovation. This human-centric perspective serves to inform the managerial field about important factors in risk management that can result in more effective targeted interventions in risk mitigation approaches. Lastly, it can serve to reinterpret digital innovation management and propose future avenues of research on risk.

From a spark to a sweeping fire: An integrative conceptual review of group turnover and a theoretical exploration of its development.

The phenomenon of group turnover has generated substantial yet disconnected scholarly interests. Despite valuable insights gained from the collective turnover literature as well as parallel research concerning related or coordinated quitting, a holistic understanding of the unique group turnover phenomenon is needed, both to synthesize existing research across multiple domains and disciplines and to kindle new inquiries regarding its dynamic nature and developmental process. To this end, we begin by conducting an integrative review of research relating to group turnover, reinterpreting it by identifying its common pathways as a function of varying triggers, temporal patterns, and departure destinations. We then leverage the groups literature to explicate group turnover's self-reinforcing and dynamic nature and propose a three-dimensional Interdependence, Temporality, and Emergence (ITE) framework that accounts for its developmental process. Using this framework, we develop an illustrative set of propositions regarding how ITE-related group properties affect the extent to which individual departures might escalate into group turnover of a larger scale and faster speed. Our emphasis on groups as a unique unit of reference thus provides an important conceptual refinement and extension for understanding collective turnover-shifting from a static focus on aggregate exit (rates) to a dynamic focus on the often-coordinated, temporally evolving nature of multiple group member quit events. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Presenteeism Is Reloaded and Ready for Further Research – A Commentary on Priebe, J. and Hägerbäumer, M. (2023)

Presenteeism Is Reloaded and Ready for Further Research – A Commentary on Priebe, J. and Hägerbäumer, M. (2023)

LEADS+ Developmental Model: Proposing a new model based on an integrative conceptual review.

Leaders in academic health sciences centres (AHCs) must navigate multiple roles as an inherent component of their positions. Changing accountabilities, varying expectations, differing leadership capabilitiesrequired of multiple leadership roles can be exacerbated by health system disruption, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic. We need improved models that support leaders in navigating the complexity of multiple leadership roles. This integrative conceptual review sought to examine leadership and followership constructs and how they intersect with current leadership practices in AHCs. The goal was to develop a refined model of healthcare leadership development. The authors used iterative cycles of divergent and convergent thinking to explore and synthesise various literature and existing leadership frameworks. The authors used simulated personas and stories to test the model and, finally, the approach sought feedback from knowledge users (including healthcare leaders, medical educators and leadership developers) to offer refinements. After five rounds of discussion and reformulation, the authors arrived at a refined model: the LEADS+ Developmental Model. The model describes four nested stages, organising progressive capabilities, as an individual toggles between followership and leadership. During the consultation stage, feedback from 29 out of 65 recruited knowledge users (44.6% response rate) was acquired. More than a quarter of respondents served as a senior leader in a healthcare network or national society (27.5%, n = 8). Consulted knowledge users were invited to indicate their endorsement for the refined model using a 10-point scale (10 = highest level of endorsement). There was a high level of endorsement: 7.93 (SD 1.7) out of 10. The LEADS+ Developmental Model may help foster development of academic health centre leaders. In addition to clarifying the synergistic dynamic between leadership and followership, this model describes the paradigms adopted by leaders within health systems throughout their development journey.

Are there cracks in our foundation? An integrative review of diversity issues in job analysis.

Job analysis forms the foundation for accurate, fair, and legally appropriate human resource systems. However, the notion that personnel practices provide fair opportunities, if they are based on systematically collected job analysis data, relies on the assumption that job analysis accurately captures the essence of jobs as they exist for all individuals. This integrative conceptual review provides a framework that integrates the diversity and job analysis literatures, finding that: (a) employees from different demographic groups can have unique yet predictable work experiences and (b) issues and biases in gathering and reporting job analysis data may cloud the documentation of diverse work experiences and perspectives. The conclusions of this review pose implications for both research and practice as we consider the extent to which job analysis may fail to capture wide and inclusive conceptualizations of successful job performance. If job analyses can be approached in a way that facilitates the collection of diverse perspectives, the inclusiveness of HR systems built-off job analyses can be improved, and job analyses can be positioned as a tool for detecting if employees from different demographic groups are assigned objectively different tasks or subjected to different expectations. Our theoretical perspective offers a promising means to understand the experience of work across various groups of employees through job analysis and mitigate (likely unintentional) discrimination that can be facilitated by one of our field's most foundational tools. It also suggests a new and important area of research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Resilience in organization-related research: An integrative conceptual review across disciplines and levels of analysis.

Resilience is a topic of growing interest in the literature focused on organizations. There is an extensive research on resilience but it is embedded in a variety of disconnected literatures that have developed in different research fields, involving varying levels of analysis and different subconstructs. This has resulted in a general confusion surrounding the concept of resilience and its relationship to similar constructs. In this paper, we synthesize this fragmented literature to better understand organization-related resilience and set the stage for future work in this area. First, based on a bibliographic coupling analysis of 1,667 articles, we identify 10 historical clusters that have shaped this domain and highlight how these clusters have developed over time. Second, drawing on recommendations for how research can develop high-quality concept definitions, we analyze subconstructs, conceptual definitions, and measures applied in this domain. Third, we distinguish resilience from related constructs. Overall, our synthesis revealed that resilience is an important and distinct concept in organization-related research. In spite of this, the field has suffered from the presence of a jingle-jangle fallacy, which means that existing conceptualizations of resilience assign different meanings to this label, while at the same time various subconstructs exist. Thus, fourth, we develop a framework integrating the broad literature of organization-related resilience into three distinct themes of research that offer different insights into how entities across levels deal with adversity. In an attempt to provide guidance for research that builds upon this review, we conclude with an agenda for future investigations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Work-leisure blending: An integrative conceptual review and framework to guide future research.

Since the industrial revolution, work and leisure have largely been considered opposing domains. A growing number of organizations, however, enable and/or promote blending leisure activities into the workplace. Similarly, several conceptualizations across different disciplines examine how work and leisure can coexist. These different conceptualizations have yielded a rich but fragmented theoretical account of work-leisure blending. To address this problem, we provide a comprehensive theoretical integration of multiple literature streams where research has explored work-leisure blending. Further, we develop a tripartite dimensional framework designed to elucidate the central dimensions of work-leisure blending (i.e., segmentation-integration, unstructured-structured, and independent-interactive) undergirding this phenomenon. Using this framework as a theoretical foundation, we then discuss important contextual considerations and future research directions related to work-leisure blending. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The Challenge-Hindrance Stressor Framework: An Integrative Conceptual Review and Path Forward

Research on the topic of stressful workplace demands (stressors) has a long and rich history in psychology and management. Today, the challenge-hindrance stressor framework (CHSF) represents one of the key theoretical models of stress through which scholars understand workplace stressors and their effects on individuals with respect to a broad array of proximal and more distal criteria. Although the CHSF has been used in over two decades of research on issues surrounding the effects of stressors, and despite several meta-analyses which have quantitatively summarized and theoretically extended this work, we lack an integrated picture of how the findings from all this research fits together. This not only thwarts the accumulation of knowledge, but it also masks important issues in need of study and hinders the application of knowledge to improve practice. The purpose of this review is to provide a broad overview of the CHSF, and to facilitate a more cohesive understanding of the literature. The review synthesizes the literature to produce an integrative heuristic, speaks to criticisms of the CHSF in light of research evidence, and presents a road map for future research.

First impression effects in organizational psychology.

The study of first impressions, which consistently demonstrate meaningful and surprisingly durable impacts on attitudes, behaviors, and cognitions, is pervasive across psychological disciplines. In this integrative conceptual review, we focus on first impressions within the organizational psychology literature, which have been explored across an impressive variety of topical domains (e.g., selection, socialization, leader-subordinate relationships, job performance, and teams) though largely in fragmented ways. Our review attempts to resolve major differences in how researchers have approached first impression effects to build consensus on what first impression effects are, how they occur, and how long they take to develop. In synthesizing this seemingly disparate body of research, we develop an integrative framework of first impression effects comprising four fundamental elements-cues, motives, processes, and outcomes-that must be considered both individually and collectively to understand first impression effects in organizational settings in their entirety. Using this framework, we take stock of the existing literature and identify important through lines, including the focus on displayer- or perceiver-centric effects and whether first impression effects are presumed to be biased or valid. Our fundamental elements framework can be used to systematically catalog and reconcile prior work, as well as develop stronger, more theoretically cohesive studies in the future. We outline major implications for theory and practice on first impressions in the workplace. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The PCMT model of organizational support: An integrative review and reconciliation of the organizational support literature.

We present an integrative conceptual review that reconciles the organizational support, social exchange, and social support literatures. In particular, we argue that the prevailing, singular conceptualization of organizational support is misaligned with contemporary perspectives on social exchange-which has served as the bedrock for organizational support theory since organizational support theory's inception-and is inconsistent with the social support literature-which has long recognized that support takes several forms. Thus, we draw on both the social exchange and social support literatures to develop four unique forms of organizational support: Teleological, Personalized, Collectivistic, and Monistic Organizational Support. With this enlarged framework for understanding organizational support in hand, we then detail the various research opportunities that the integration of these literatures affords. Specifically, we explain that this framework warrants future research related to the development of new measures, the differential prediction of outcomes, and the discovery of organizational support profiles. We also invoke the social support literature to highlight the potential opportunities in applying optimal matching theory to organizational support, examining relationships between received and perceived organizational support, and identifying the consequences of excessive organizational support. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Supplemental Material for Resilience in Organization-Related Research: An Integrative Conceptual Review Across Disciplines and Levels of Analysis

Supplemental Material for Resilience in Organization-Related Research: An Integrative Conceptual Review Across Disciplines and Levels of Analysis

The Tasks at Hand: An Integrative Conceptual Review and Dimensional Scaling Framework

Tasks are formative to what every working individual does, yet there is increasing ambiguity amid the disjointed state of the task literature which demands a much-needed state of clarification and way to categorize all types of tasks (Grant, 2007; Hackman, 1969; Hackman & Oldham, 1976; Wood, 1986). To rectify this issue, we conduct an integrated conceptual review of the differing task typologies and dimensions that have been explored. In doing so, we first provide a consensus on the definition of tasks and how it should be used in our field. Second, we develop an integrated dimensional scaling framework in which tasks can be categorized based on the three dimensions of task complexity, task significance, and task scope. Finally, we demonstrate how this framework can be applied and expanded upon in research and practice moving forward. Collectively, we hope this elicits debate and continued advancement in our field as we move forward in furthering our understanding of tasks.

Thinking big: An integrative conceptual review of the workplace consequences of obesity and a theoretical extension of the processes that create them.

Obesity is a condition that affects much of the world's population and generates substantial costs to organizations and their employees. Multiple scholarly disciplines have generated a significant body of literature on the workplace consequences of obesity. Strikingly, however, the applied psychology and management literatures-a natural home for such research-have largely ignored this topic while embracing related issues like health, wellness, disability, and others. This paper seeks to invigorate organizational research on obesity by collecting, cataloging, integrating, and extending the disparate research streams that have explored the workplace consequences of obesity. To do so, this paper reviews empirical and conceptual studies on the workplace consequences of obesity, identifies weaknesses limiting the field's growth and impact, and builds an integrative theoretical framework that addresses these weaknesses. In doing so, we extend the field's understanding of the processes leading to-and the boundary conditions related to-obesity's influence on work outcomes for employees. Specifically, we broaden the field's focus by looking beyond the psychological processes (primarily stigmatization) that underlie obesity effects to consider the impact of both economic and medical perspectives as well. In all, this review integrates the multidisciplinary obesity literature by challenging the view that obesity effects can be primarily understood through a stigma-based lens. In so doing, we offer contributions not just to the obesity literature, but to related areas of health and social categorizations as well, and hope to revitalize work on a serious issue facing today's organizations and the people who work in them. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Employee referral hiring in organizations: An integrative conceptual review, model, and agenda for future research.

Employee referral hiring, an organization's use of current employees' social networks (referrers) to fill job openings with new hires (referred workers), is a popular organization practice. This topic has been studied for decades by scholars, and research remains vibrant across several disciplines. While reviews of recruitment methods and their influence on job seekers and organizations exist, they give minimal attention to employee referrals. This gap is critical because an assessment of the employee referral literature exposes numerous theories, deviations in methodological approaches, and other important nuances. The research developed, and emerging across different disciplines, is also disconnected, often overlooking promising findings from each other. Furthermore, the impact of technology and the changing nature of work requires a renewed attention to the methodological and theoretical underpinnings of the referring phenomenon. Our review integrates the multidisciplinary literature to address important knowledge gaps and confront the underlying complexities of the referral hiring phenomenon. We review 101 relevant referral hiring studies from 86 published and unpublished articles across a variety of disciplines, and, in the process, we develop a model of employee referral hiring in organizations. This model portrays the pathways and contextual variables that describe the referring process (e.g., referrer motivations, the hiring process, and referrer and referred worker outcomes). Last, we advance an agenda for future research on this promising topic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Supplemental Material for Thinking Big: An Integrative Conceptual Review of the Workplace Consequences of Obesity and a Theoretical Extension of the Processes That Create Them

Supplemental Material for Thinking Big: An Integrative Conceptual Review of the Workplace Consequences of Obesity and a Theoretical Extension of the Processes That Create Them

Community Representations in Learning Communities

ABSTRACT This conceptual paper revisits a set of pivotal learning community notions filtered through sociological and community psychology perspectives to unravel representations of the community construct within learning contexts. A conceptual review of sociological and community psychology perspectives on the community construct is initially presented. These representations act as lens for a further integrative conceptual review of the community construct in pivotal learning community notions. This integrative conceptual review shows that although most learning communities share a basic set of community representations, some foundational differences are also observed. Our contribution aims to enhance readers’ understanding of how “community” is represented in learning communities, which in turn can inform any design decisions and facilitation strategies by learning community researchers and practitioners.

Evaluating the effectiveness of performance management: A 30-year integrative conceptual review.

This integrative conceptual review is based on a critical need in the area of performance management (PM), where there remain important unanswered questions about the effectiveness of PM that affect both research and practice. In response, we create a theoretically grounded, comprehensive, and integrative model for understanding and measuring PM effectiveness, comprising multiple categories of evaluative criteria and the underlying mechanisms that link them. We then review more than 30 years (1984-2018) of empirical PM research vis-à-vis this model, leading to conclusions about what the literature has studied and what we do and do not know about PM effectiveness as a result. The final section of this article further elucidates the key "value chains" or mediational paths that explain how and why PM can add value to organizations, framed around three pressing questions with both theoretical and practical importance (How do individual-level outcomes of PM emerge to become unit-level outcomes? How essential are positive reactions to the overall effectiveness of PM? and What is the value of a performance rating?). This discussion culminates in specific propositions for future research and implications for practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).