FULL AND ERRANT COACHING EFFECTS ON ASSIGNED ROLE LEADERLESS GROUP DISCUSSION PERFORMANCE

The effect of coaching on Leaderless Group Discussion Performance was examined. Thirty-six female undergraduate subjects participated in six-person assigned role leaderless group discussions. Trained observers evaluated performances in each discussion, which included two 5s from each of three coaching conditions. Ss in full coaching condition received extensive coaching on proper group discussion performance. 5s in the errant coaching condition received improper, but believable, coaching. 5s in the naive, or control, condition received no coaching. Results showed that 5s in the full coaching conditions were rated significantly higher than 5s in the errant or naive conditions. The results were discussed in the light of previous research.     

A MULTILEVEL INTEGRATION OF PERSONALITY, CLIMATE, SELF-REGULATION, AND PERFORMANCE

The purpose of this multilevel study was to test whether regulatory focus mechanisms (promotion focus and prevention focus; Higgins, 1997 , American Psychologist, 52, 1280–1300; Higgins, 2000 , American Psychologist, 55 , 1217–1230) can help explain how group safety climate and individual differences in Conscientiousness relate to individual productivity and safety performance. Results, based on a sample of 254 employees from 50 work groups, showed that safety climate and conscientiousness predicted promotion and prevention regulatory focus, which in turn mediated the relationships of safety climate and Conscientiousness with supervisor ratings of productivity and safety performance. Implications for theory and research on climate, motivation, and performance and avenues for future research are discussed.     

HOW TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP WEAVES ITS INFLUENCE ON INDIVIDUAL JOB PERFORMANCE: THE ROLE OF IDENTIFICATION AND EFFICACY BELIEFS

This study examined how transformational leadership directly and indirectly relates to supervisory‐rated performance collected over time including 437 participants employed by 6 U.S. banking organizations in the midwest. Results revealed that one's identification with his or her work unit, self‐efficacy, and means efficacy were related to supervisor‐rated performance. The effect of transformational leadership on rated performance was also mediated by the interaction of identification and means efficacy, as well as partially mediated by the interaction of self‐efficacy and means efficacy. Implications for research, theory, and practice are discussed.     

IMPROVING RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT SERVICES: IMPLEMENTATION AND NORM-REFERENCED EVALUATION OF A COMPREHENSIVE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Ensuring effective service delivery by direct-care personnel in institutional living units for persons with developmental disabilities historically has been a difficult process, despite considerable attention from researchers, service providers, and governmental regulatory agencies. In this investigation, we conducted a normative evaluation of the extent and quality of treatment services currently provided in residential living units (Experiment 1) and evaluated a comprehensive management system designed to improve such services (Experiment 2). Results of the first experiment, encompassing 22 living units in three states, indicated that on the average two thirds of observed resident behavior did not involve any therapeutic activity. The results also provided social validity for the criteria used to evaluate the quality of treatment provision based on opinions of mental retardation professionals. Results of the second experiment indicated that a behavioral management program implemented during 23 separate time periods across five living units was accompanied by consistent and durable decreases in resident nontherapeutic activity as well as increases in specifically designated habilitative activity. The results provide support for the successful incorporation of behavioral management technology into human service settings on a large-scale, long-term basis.     

LEADER INFLUENCE IN THE ASSESSMENT OF PERFORMANCE

The role requirements of leaders in an assessment group context were manipulated in a laboratory simulation. Discussion leaders (chairholders) either did or did not have first hand contact with an individual who was being assessed. Furthermore, chairholders were either allowed a formal say in the group's decision or were not. As predicted, different configurations of role requirements had an impact on the influence wielded by the chair, as indexed by measures of group process, group decision, accuracy and group member attitudes. Both prior contact and voting rights had direct and interactive effects and served to increase chair influence. Particular role requirement combinations also produced a type of group disruption as reflected in group member ratings of the quality of the session. The results of the study are discussed in forms of implications for the standardization of procedures in assessment center programs.     

EFFECT OF GROUP PERFORMANCE ON SUBSEQUENT INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE:

Abstract— Does group discussion and deliberation on one issue or task influence the members' decisions or opinions on other issues? In contrast to past research looking solely at changes in responses to the same item discussed by the group, this study examined whether group interaction results in members changing the way they make judgments on related items in the future. The results show that group discussion and consensus on one set of judgments led to a significant convergence of judgmental strategies that extended to a related (but different) set of judgments the members made later as individuals.     

A PLAN TO USE PROGRAMMED GROUP EXERCISES TO STUDY CROSS-CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN MANAGEMENT BEHAVIOR

Plan d'utilisation des programmes d'exercices de groupe pour I'étude des différences interculturelles dans le comportement des cadres. — l'A. présente un plan général pour collecter des données interculturelles sur le comportement des cadres, en étudiant comment ils résolvent une série de problèmes administratifs simulés (établir un budget, faire des prévisions, rémunérer les subordonnés, juger les pairs, diriger, communiquer, négocier, etc.). Les coûts de l'étude interculturelle seraient abaissés en incorporant la comparaison dans les programmes de formation pour cadres qui se pratiquent dans divers pays, en coopération avec les équipes des différents centres de formation. Les hypothèses qu'on peut faire à partir des expériences de comportement simulé seraient ultérieurement vérifiées au moyen d'enquêtes basées sur des observations contrôlées des individus dans leur travail réel.     

ONGOING CONSULTATION AS A METHOD OF IMPROVING PERFORMANCE OF STAFF MEMBERS IN A GROUP HOME

A model of ongoing consultation was implemented in a community group home for 8 adults with severe and profound mental retardation. Two consultants, highly experienced in working with people with mental retardation and in the procedures used in group homes, taught staff members to use a token reinforcement system, to engage the adults in a variety of activities, and to improve the content and style of the staff members' interactions with the adults. The consultants taught skills to 9 staff members through brief mini-workshops, direct observation of the staff members' use of the skills during regular activities in the group home, and individual verbal feedback regarding a staff member's performance of the skills. Evaluation of the ongoing consultation process by the 2 consultants showed it to be effective in improving the performance of the staff members and in changing the behaviors of the adults who lived in the home. Continued implementation of the process, however, appeared to be necessary for the behavior changes of staff members to be maintained at high levels.     

BEHAVIORAL MANAGEMENT AND TASK PERFORMANCE IN ORGANIZATIONS: CONCEPTUAL BACKGROUND, META-ANALYSIS, AND TEST OF ALTERNATIVE MODELS

In this study, we provide the conceptual background, meta-analyze available behavioral management studies ( N = 72) in organizational settings, and examine whether combined reinforcement effects on task performance are additive (sum of individual effects), redundant (combined effects are less than the additive effects), or synergistic (combined effects are greater than the sum of the individual effects). We found a significant overall average effect size of ( d. ) = .47 (16% improvement in performance; 63% probability of success), and a significant within-group heterogeneity of effect sizes. To account for this variation, we conducted a theory-driven moderator analysis, which indicated that money, feedback, and social recognition each had a significant impact on task performance. However, when these 3 reinforcers were used in combination, they produced the strongest (synergistic) effect on task performance. Based on our findings, we offer directions for future research, and suggestions for effective application of behavioral management at work.     

BION'S THINKING ABOUT GROUPS: A STUDY OF INFLUENCE AND ORIGINALITY

One of Bion's least‐acknowledged contributions to psychoanalytic theory is his study of the relationship between the mind of the individual (the ability to think), the mentalities of groups of which the individual is a member, and the individual's bodily states. Bion's early work on group therapy evolved into a study of the interplay between mind and bodily instincts associated with being a member of a group, and became the impetus for his theory of thinking. On the foundation of Bion's ideas concerning this interaction among the thinking of the individual, group mentality, and the psyche‐soma, the author presents his thoughts on the ways in which group mentality is recognizable in the analysis of individuals.     

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT, EFFICACY, AND PERFORMANCE IN ORGANIZATIONAL TEAMS

The study empirically links conflict management literature with research on efficacy and organizational teams. Sixty-one self-managing teams with 489 employees were recruited from the production department of a leading electronic manufacturer. Structural equation analysis supports the model that a cooperative instead of competitive approach to conflict leads to conflict efficacy that in turn results in effective performance as measured by managers. Findings suggest how organizational teams can be prepared to make use of their autonomy to deal with problems and conflicts so that they are productive.     

A MULTILEVEL INVESTIGATION OF LEADER– MEMBER EXCHANGE,INFORMAL LEADER EMERGENCE,AND INDIVIDUAL AND TEAM PERFORMANCE

This study examines the antecedents and outcomes of informal leader emergence in work teams. Drawing upon research in vertical and shared leadership, we hypothesized that the relationship between leader‐‐member exchange (LMX) quality and employees’ emergence as informal leaders is moderated by team shared vision such that there is a positive (negative) LMX—leader emergence relationship for teams with high (low) shared vision. Informal leader emergence, in turn, was expected to relate to higher individual and team performance. Results based on multisource and multimethod data collected at 3 points in time (361 followers in 74 work teams) provided support for these hypotheses. The findings highlight the role played by formal leaders and team shared vision in jointly promoting or inhibiting informal leader emergence and thereby impacting individual performance and team effectiveness.     

小团体决策:成员地位差别和任务种类对团体达成一致的影响

本实验研究了成员地位差别(平等组(4—4—4)、杰出组(3—5—5)、突出组(3—3—5)、惯常组(3—4—5))和任务种类(猜谜、人员选择、资源分配、风险决策)对小团体达成一致决策的影响,并预测了五种决策模式:真实模型、权力模型、大多数模型、弱者联合模型和折中模型。结果表明,猜谜问题比较符合真实模型,而突出组(3—3—5)符合权力模型。这与国外得到的研究结果一致,并表现出某些中国人的决策规律。