Organizational Science Literature Research Articles

Mindfulness and creative process engagement: the mediating role of workplace relational systems

PurposeDespite widespread recognition of the importance of mindfulness in organizational science literature, little is known about how mindfulness motivates individuals to configure information processing and team member exchange relationships to increase creative process engagement. Drawing on motivated information processing theory, this study conceptualizes and empirically examines whether and how mindfulness motivates individuals toward creative process engagement.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected data through an online survey from 311 respondents working in the Research and Development (R&D) departments of organizations in multiple industries in Pakistan. For analytical purposes, the authors have applied the structural equation modeling technique.FindingsThis study advances a different view of individual mindfulness on the creative process engagement in the following ways. First, mindfulness enables individuals to self-regulate in specific situations and become effective in fostering creative process engagement. Second, this study extends research on relational information processing by linking it to mindfulness and creative process engagement. Relational information processing partially mediates the relationship between mindfulness and creative process engagement. Third, this study highlights that mindfulness motivates individuals to focus more on developing quality working relationships, but they seem less willing to participate in idea generation and problem-solving solutions.Originality/valueThe study findings provide implications for research on mindfulness, creativity and motivated information processing to enhance individuals’ creative process engagements. The authors also discuss the implications for executives on the relational and creative benefits of mindfulness.

From One to Many: A Taxonomy of Abductive Inferences in Organization Science

This article extends the discussion on abduction in organization science, which typically focuses on one type of abduction, to encompass multiple types. Using a logical approach, this article introduces a generalized abduction scheme. We then distinguish four basic types of abductive inferences based on this scheme. The four types can be differentiated according to their primary inference process (selective vs. creative) and primary knowledge outcome (explanatory vs. instrumental). The article contributes to the discussion on abduction in organization science research in three ways. First, the introduction and application of the generalized logical scheme allows us to make the premises of an abductive inference explicit which helps to scrutinize the overall inference made. Second, differentiating between selective and creative abductive inferences is important because they should be evaluated according to different criteria. Third, introducing instrumental abductive inferences to the organization science literature may help to strengthen the inferences of design science research.

Improving Training Motivation and Transfer in Hospitals: Extension of a Conceptual Model.

Health-care professionals undergo numerous training programs each year in order to fulfill licensure requirements and organizational obligations. However, evidence suggests that a substantial amount of what is taught during training is never learned or transferred back to routine work. A major contributor to this issue is low training motivation. Prior conceptual models on training transfer in the organizational sciences literature consider this deficit, yet do not account for the unique conditions of the hospital setting. This chapter seeks to close this gap by adapting conceptual models of training transfer to this setting that are grounded in organizational science. Based on theory and supplemented by semistructured key informant interviews (i.e., organizational leaders and program directors), we introduce an applied model of training motivation to facilitate training transfer in the hospital setting. In this model, training needs analysis is positioned as a key antecedent to ensure support for training, relevant content, and perceived utility of training. We posit that these factors, along with training design and logistics, enhance training motivation in hospital environments. Further, we suggest that training motivation subsequently impacts learning and transfer, with elements of the work environment also serving as moderators of the learning-transfer relationship. Factors such as external support for training content (e.g., from accrediting bodies) and allocation of time for training are emphasized as facilitators. The proposed model suggests there are factors unique to the hospital work setting that impact training motivation and transfer that should be considered when developing and implementing training initiatives in this setting.

INVESTIGATING THE IMPACT OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL JUSTICE ON JOB PERFORMANCE AND OCB OF EMPLOYEES: PATH THROUGH WORK ENGAGEMENT

Purpose of the study: The study intends to find the interaction of Performance Appraisal Justice (PAJ) and work engagement (WE) to predict employee job performance (JP) and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) under the umbrella of fairness heuristic theory (JHT) and social exchange theory (SET). 
 Methodology: Hypotheses testing was done using linear regression data on the data set of 325 respondents. The results are significant and indicated that Justice in the performance appraisal system is positively related to employee outcomes (OCB and job performance) with mediating effect of work engagement. 
 Main Findings: Interaction between exogenous, endogenous, and intervening variables suggests that there is a positive relationship between PAJ and WE and WE mediate the relationship between PAJ and OCB and PAJ JP. In the organizational setting of Pakistan, this study addresses PAJ and its important outcomes which are beneficial for the organization’s effective outcomes.
 Applications of this study: This study throws light on the management, organizational, and administrative sciences literature, especially the human resource, organizations, and industrial behavior perspective. Administrators and human resource managers can apply the findings of this study. The study can be applied to both the public and private sectors.
 Originality/Novelty: Pakistani organizations have high collectivism, uncertainty avoidance and power distance, centralization, bureaucracy, and authority in organizations. Therefore, this study has proved some prominent outcomes as compared to countries with a more constant climate. The study sheds light on very important aspects of workplace behavior such as justice, work engagement, OCB, and performance with a particular focus on developing countries.

Learning in and from projects: the learning modes and a learning capability model

The notion of ‘project delivery’ is well embedded in and across the management and organizational sciences literature – generating a narrative that reflects and recognizes the instrumental nature of projects and programmes in strategy execution. Project management, as a distinct and well-established body of research enquiry, has increasingly sought to focus our attention on the impacts of complexity, risk and uncertainty in projects; the corollary being a desideratum to strengthen our theoretical understanding of how insight and learning from projects may influence improvements to organizational efficiency. The wider literature suggests that organizational learning remains a challenging proposition, particularly in the context of organizations operating in environments of high complexity. In this paper, we enhance the conversation on organizational learning through a series of case studies, generating evidence of thirteen ‘learning modes’. The paper proposes that mature organizations tend to exhibit a greater number of learning modes and that there is a tendency to capture and socialize knowledge with a greater emphasis on the context of the learning situation rather than the learning artefact in isolation. The empirical evidence gathered in this paper forms the basis of a capability model, characterized by the thirteen modes of learning. The model intimates that learning occurs, and is more effective, when knowledge and information are enacted in practice through the learning modes which form a nucleus of the organizational learning capability. The research concludes with a 'call to action' that emphasizes the strategic importance of learning practices and routines in project oriented-organizations.

Social networks and online store performance in emerging economies: the mediating effect of legitimacy

Although it is well established in the literature that social networks affect firm performance, few studies have quantified the effects on online store performance, particularly in the context of emerging economies. Building upon the framework proposed by Hoang and Antoncic (2003), we developed a model to explore the effects of family ties, tie strength, and structural holes on online store performance. Informed by the organization science literature, we incorporated legitimacy as a mediator in our model. Using empirical data collected from 243 online stores operating on Taobao (the largest e-marketplace in China), we found that (1) family ties have a negative effect on online store performance and legitimacy partially mediates this negative effect, (2) tie strength has a positive effect on online store performance and legitimacy fully mediates this positive effect, and (3) structural holes have a positive effect on online store performance and legitimacy partially mediates this positive effect. These insights contribute to a more in-depth understanding of the relationship between social networks and online store performance in emerging economies. Further, this research empirically validated legitimacy’s mediating effect. We conclude the paper with a discussion of theoretical contributions, managerial implications, and future research directions.

The Rules of Social Exchange: Unchanged but More Important Than Ever

Social exchange theory (SET) is one of the most prominent and well-known theories in the organizational sciences literature (Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005). In the focal article, Chernyak-Hai and Rabenu (2018) asserted that SET needs to be adjusted to account for changes in the nature of work, workers, and workplace characteristics. Specifically, they identify that workplaces are now more volatile, complex, uncertain, and ambiguous (Bennett & Lemoine, 2014), and work itself has become more flexible, virtual, and technology dependent; accordingly, today's workers are sourced from a global talent pool and more frequently occupy nontraditional employment arrangements (e.g., freelancing). It is undisputable that the workplace landscape is vastly different from that of the workplace landscape during which early forms of SET were originally articulated (Gouldner, 1960; Homans, 1958).

A Systematic Framework for Multilevel Theorizing in Information Systems Research

Information systems (IS) research usually investigates phenomena at one level of analysis at a time. However, complex IS phenomena may be difficult to address from such a single-level perspective. A multilevel perspective offers an alternative means to examine phenomena by simultaneously accounting for multiple levels of analysis. Although useful guidelines for theory development are widely available, they give little specific attention to developing theory that is conceptualized and analyzed at multiple levels. Multilevel theorizing or developing theory from a multilevel perspective is more complex and involves unique challenges. To promote multilevel theorizing in the IS discipline, we focus on addressing challenges involved in multilevel theorizing and propose a holistic framework for systematically developing theory from a multilevel perspective. Drawing from the organization science and IS literature, the proposed framework harmonizes and synthesizes previous guidelines, providing a practical basis for conceptualizing and studying multilevel phenomena. The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2017.0690 .

Lean Implementation and Organizational Transformation: A Literature Review

Manufacturing organizations are constantly striving to develop more effective and flexible means for managing challenges due to globalization and increasing customer expectations. This has led to increased efforts by the business community to research and implement the Toyota Production System, or lean manufacturing, to address these challenges. These efforts have resulted in numerous publications on lean manufacturing, including research reports, scholarly articles, and trade magazine articles. However, the existing body of knowledge on lean manufacturing is disperse and diverse in nature with respect to the application and implementation of lean tools and practices, making it difficult for researchers and practitioners to gain a real grasp of this topic. In this article, we have comprehensively organized the existing work on implementation of lean manufacturing in a more structured way, enabling engineering management practitioners to more easily identify knowledge and best practices and enabling researchers to identify gaps in the extant literature. Lastly, drawing from the organizational science literature, this article also provides important insights on lean manufacturing from the perspective of organizational learning, innovation, and \\culture.

Compromising innovative behaviour with work shame

While the consideration of negative affect as an influence of innovative behaviour has yielded conflicting results in the organisational science literature, the current study sought to consider the influence of the discrete emotion of shame on innovative behaviour. Research outside of the domain of organisations suggests that shame enacts withdrawal behaviour, the negative form of engagement. Based in Kahn's (1990) suggestion that engagement is comprised of psychological availability, psychological safety and psychological meaningfulness, this study aimed to investigate work shame as a compromise to innovative behaviour, while considering the pathways acting as the mediating mechanism. Employees and managers from two organisations in different industries were surveyed. Through the use of path analysis, findings suggest that work shame exerts an indirect effect on innovative behaviour through psychological availability. Implications for both emotions and innovative behaviour research are considered.

Compromising innovative behaviour with work shame

While the consideration of negative affect as an influence of innovative behaviour has yielded conflicting results in the organisational science literature, the current study sought to consider the influence of the discrete emotion of shame on innovative behaviour. Research outside of the domain of organisations suggests that shame enacts withdrawal behaviour, the negative form of engagement. Based in Kahn's (1990) suggestion that engagement is comprised of psychological availability, psychological safety and psychological meaningfulness, this study aimed to investigate work shame as a compromise to innovative behaviour, while considering the pathways acting as the mediating mechanism. Employees and managers from two organisations in different industries were surveyed. Through the use of path analysis, findings suggest that work shame exerts an indirect effect on innovative behaviour through psychological availability. Implications for both emotions and innovative behaviour research are considered.

Antecedents of Deviant Work Behavior: A Review of Research

Context: Deviant work behavior reflects a class of behaviors generally referred to counter-productive work behaviors that are deliberate, intended to cause harm to the organization and its employees, and in some cases can result in workplace homicide. Identifying antecedents of counter-productive work behaviors (i.e., deviant work behaviors) are important in reducing such behaviors. The dynamics of the work environment when examined critically shed light on the antecedents of deviant work behaviors. Deviant work behaviors usually enacted by employees in unfavorable working conditions, perceived mistreatment by the organization, among other psychological factors. Objective and methods: The rationale of this mini-review is to identify antecedents of deviant work behavior. Specifically, research findings on the explanation and antecedents of deviant work behaviors provided to enable organizational science researchers and practitioners to design programs to reduce incidents of deviant work behavior. In this mini-review, journal articles selected from the organizational science literature to identify antecedents of deviant work behavior. Conclusion: In order for organizations to reduce incidents of counter-productive work behaviors (i.e., deviant work behaviors), identifying and understanding antecedents of counter-productive work behaviors are extremely important. Therefore, organizational science researchers and managers can develop programs to reduce incidents of these behaviors.

Engineering performant, innovative and sustainable health systems

Background : In a time of growing health expenditures and inefficiencies, ageing populations, rise of chronic diseases, co-morbity and technical evolutions, there is a worldwide quest for performant, innovative and sustainable health systems that are, a.o. effective and cost-efficient, patient-centric and co-creative and able to deal with the growing society dynamics. Problem statement : Effectively implementing strategic initiatives that tackle these challenges appears a frightening task since the majority of implementations fail. Current approaches and frameworks addressing organizational changes are fragmented, heterogeneous and mostly descriptive. We aimed to design and develop a more prescriptive, holistic and integrated approach. Literature review : Methodologies, governance techniques, approaches and other “best practices” from a.o. the manufacturing and generic services sector are being applied to health and health care services. We observed the existing organizational science literature and found that most existing approaches are not, or inadequately concerned with design and many share the same underlying mechanistic characteristics: strongly management and planning oriented, focus on internal control that apparently should secure success of future health system organizations. Theory : We summarize the needed concepts and theoretical background of the Enterprise Engineering discipline, including Enterprise Ontology (the implementation-independent essence of organizations) and the DEMO methodology, Enterprise Governance and the Normalized Systems theory. Method : We used the Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM) and demonstration is based on real health reform proposals and (fictitious) anecdotal scenarios. Discussion : Formal publication of architectural principles and requirements according to the Enterprise Architecture discipline aids in: - correlating enterprise design principles to areas of concern, and further to strategic choices, norms and values, and policies; - providing coherent and consistent attention to the various implications of architecture; - defining a coherent and consistent set of follow-up activities defined as key actions (studies, pilots, projects) to enable the architecture to be effective; As main characteristics of using Enterprise Ontology, we demonstrated: - it ensures completeness in unambiguously discerning all activities required to deliver health services; - it aids considering and comparing different implementations of these activities and their executing actor roles in health organizations, people and automation; - the models can be used in “just in time, just enough detail”-mode; - creating the models is possible with an attractive return-on-modeling-effort (ROME); Different strategic choices, areas of concern, as well as functional and constructional requirements are not met at the implementation-independent level. In order to perform optimally and to implement changes successfully, these organizations must operate as a unified and integrated whole, which can only be achieved through deliberate Enterprise Development and Enterprise Governance. Furthermore, we show it is possible to integrate compatible and relevant analysis techniques and improvement/quantification methods to prepare a better, more objective and more “calculated” change reform proposal, or to assess the impact of an existing one. Conclusion: Lack of enterprise integration and coherence has been identified as one of the core reasons for not successfully operationalizing strategic initiatives. In view of the several enterprise aspects, a design approach must be able to address all aspects. Realization must be intentionally designed, as virtually all causes for poor enterprise performance are systemic. Also, a fundamentally different perspective on governance is essential for: (1) addressing enterprise dynamics, complexity and associated uncertainty; (2) iteratively, evolutionary, and emergent development of strategic initiatives and their operationalization and (3) realizing a unified and integrated enterprise organization and operation. The Enterprise Engineering paradigm and integrated with compatible analysis techniques, improvement and quantification methods; provide a solid foundational theory and methodology, different and unified approach for integrating several enterprise aspects that would otherwise be treated incoherently and inconsistently, causing failures in strategic initiative implementations. In relation to the theories underlying our proposal, we experienced: (1) an initial steep learning curve and emergence of the EE Discipline; (2) that not all activities in organizations are transaction based as they experience emergent properties, and can therefore not be expressed in the current EO theory, e.g. strategy development, decision making processes, knowledge workers or enterprise design itself; (3) that the understandability of the produced EO models by the stakeholders must not be taken for granted; (4) a strong desire for an (unattainable) fully codified method. During our research, we also experienced a strong pull towards the financing and expenditure context, both in literature interviews, reform proposals, demonstrative cases and interviews. Another phenomena, was the lack of public availability and scarcity of up-to-date, reliable and comparable data and measures to work with. We have high confidence in the application of our proposal to address problems of inefficiency and unsustainability in health system organization using a deliberate enterprise development and governance approach.

Recognizing citizens in municipal management: an exploratory study based on a content analysis of municipal websites in the province of Quebec

This article explores the usefulness of a recognition framework for the study of the relationship between municipal administrations and citizens. Within the organizational science literature, employee recognition has been shown to enhance their commitment to their organization. In a context where public authorities consistently seek to improve levels of civic engagement, could this conclusion be applied to the relationship between municipalities and their constituents? Following a review of the literature, we present the results of a content analysis of the websites of Quebec municipalities whose populations are greater than 20,000. Three modes of recognition are identified: personalized attention, value confirmation, and gratitude. Recognition practices are also found to vary between municipalities. Our study opens new pragmatic and theoretical horizons in the area of municipal management. Points for practitioners Managers know that showing recognition toward their employees is not only a sign of respect, but a means to mobilize employee commitment to their organization. This article explores the value of this finding for the field of municipal management and, specifically, to the study of the relationship between municipal managers and citizens. Should serving citizens not ultimately mean recognizing their individual identities, civic capacities, and contribution to their community’s vitality?

Alternative Framings, Countervailing Visions: Locating the "P" in Professional Identity Formation.

Professional identity formation in medical education is referenced increasingly as an object for educational reform. The authors introduce core concepts from two largely untapped literatures on identity and formation, contrasting framings on occupational preparation from within the organizational socialization literature with issues of socialization and professional acculturation from a military sciences perspective.The organizational sciences literature emphasizes socializing a workforce to "fit in," raising questions about how organization values might clash with core professional values concerning patient primary and social justice. The military literature, in turn, advances the notions of professional identity as a collective property, and that a particular social other (the public) must participate in shaping the group's identity as a profession.The authors extrapolate from these reviews that the training of physicians-as-professionals, and thus issues of socialization and identity formation, require intentionality and specificity around these contrasting issues. In turn, they argue that medical educators must attend to socializing trainees to a professional group identity while at the same time producing health care professionals who retain the capacity to resist the bureaucratic application of standardized solutions to contemporary problems. Educators must thus strive to identify the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary that will allow physicians-qua-professionals to function as a quasi-subversive work force and to disrupt the very system that helped to shape their identity, so that they may fulfill their mission to their patients.

The Role of Socialization and Core Self-Evaluations in University Organizational Identification

Organizational identification is gaining popularity in the organizational sciences literature and has important implications for the experiences of new undergraduate business students. Researchers ...

The Validity of Conscientiousness Is Overestimated in the Prediction of Job Performance.

IntroductionSensitivity analyses refer to investigations of the degree to which the results of a meta-analysis remain stable when conditions of the data or the analysis change. To the extent that results remain stable, one can refer to them as robust. Sensitivity analyses are rarely conducted in the organizational science literature. Despite conscientiousness being a valued predictor in employment selection, sensitivity analyses have not been conducted with respect to meta-analytic estimates of the correlation (i.e., validity) between conscientiousness and job performance.MethodsTo address this deficiency, we reanalyzed the largest collection of conscientiousness validity data in the personnel selection literature and conducted a variety of sensitivity analyses.ResultsPublication bias analyses demonstrated that the validity of conscientiousness is moderately overestimated (by around 30%; a correlation difference of about .06). The misestimation of the validity appears to be due primarily to suppression of small effects sizes in the journal literature. These inflated validity estimates result in an overestimate of the dollar utility of personnel selection by millions of dollars and should be of considerable concern for organizations.ConclusionThe fields of management and applied psychology seldom conduct sensitivity analyses. Through the use of sensitivity analyses, this paper documents that the existing literature overestimates the validity of conscientiousness in the prediction of job performance. Our data show that effect sizes from journal articles are largely responsible for this overestimation.

The Role of Organizational Social Capital in Performance Management

ABSTRACTThis article introduces the concept of organizational social capital and connects it to research on performance management, providing a conceptual definition and discussing related measurement issues. The article theorizes that structural (“social interaction”), relational (“trust”), and cognitive (“common goals”) organizational social capital foster the use of performance information and thereby relates social capital to an outcome variable that has recently received much attention in research on performance management reforms. The article bridges performance management studies to the broader organizational science literature, pointing out a gap in prior work and setting the stage for further research.

Aspects of Understanding Government’s Public Institutions Behavior Necessary to Design Reforms

Abstract This paper presents some aspects found by the author in his research in field of government public institutions behavior. The author started some years ago to research the modality how should prepare a conceptual transfer of management from the companies practice to government public institutions and to implement them for enhance quality of their results. The main concept of the theoretical research is based on some well-known theoretical remarks. One of this shows that the public institutions are similar entities as companies. Eventually they have higher complexity. Following this logic, the public institutions should be led by management instead public administration. Considering public management and the new public management only some attempts without solving the main problems, the author consider that implementing procedural efficiency oriented management to the government public institution is equivalent with an important changes induced by outside. Preparing the conceptual transfer, for the first period of research was necessary to understand government’s public institution behavior. For this purpose the relational frame was the business organization. In this respect the research compares organizational behavior of companies and public institutions and their reaction to important changes. For understand similarities and differences it was necessary to discover theoretical standpoints regarding companies reaction to important changes induced by outside and main determinants from the organizational sciences literature. In the similar way was studied the public institution reaction and determinants of this to important changes, theoretically through documentary analyses of the literature of public administration. The benchmarking between the reactions of the mentioned two entities discovered different behaviors and the main determinants of the reactions of them to a new form of leading system by management, including modern instruments as knowledge management. The paper conclusions sustain that implementation of modern management systems to government’s public institutions should deal with a different behavior used to know at companies. In this respect, the paper highlights different aspects between companies and public institutions behavior admitting similarities on organizational structure and internal procedures.

Sleepiness at work: a review and framework of how the physiology of sleepiness impacts the workplace.

Sleepiness, the biological drive to sleep, is an important construct for the organizational sciences. This physiological phenomenon has received very little attention in the organizational science literature in spite of the fact that it influences a wide variety of workplace behaviors. In this article, we develop a framework through which sleepiness can be fruitfully studied. We describe (a) what sleepiness is and how it can be differentiated conceptually from related concepts such as fatigue, (b) the physiological basis of sleepiness, (c) cognitive and affective mechanisms that transmit the effects of sleepiness, and (d) the behavioral manifestations of sleepiness in the workplace. We also describe (e) job demand characteristics that are antecedents of sleepiness and (f) individual differences that moderate the aforementioned relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).