The Effect of Upward Feedback on Managerial Behavior

Un feed-back de gratification a été donné par des subordonnés aux managers australiens d'une firme internationale de prestation de services. Dans cette recherche quasi-expérimentale, la perfomance au travail de ces managers, a pu être observée six mois plus tard par les subordonnés comme s'étant accrue par rapport à la performance initiale et à ceux obtenus par un groupe de comparaison. L'efficacité personnelle modère la portée de ces résultats suggérant qu'elle joue un rôle clé en déterminant des réactions comportementales au feed-back de gratification. L'orientation vers un but d'apprentissage fut corrélée de manière significative à leur performance subséquente.
Upward feedback from subordinates was provided to Australian managers in an international professional services firm. The job performance of the managers in this quasi-experimental study was observed by subordinates to be significantly higher six months later, compared to both initial performance and subordinate ratings of a comparison group. Self-efficacy moderated this finding, suggesting that it plays a key role in determining behavioral reactions to upward feedback. The managers' learning goal orientation correlated significantly with their subsequent performance.     

The Effect of High-Anxiety Situations on Conspiracy Thinking

The aim of the present studies was to examine a possible relationship between anxiety and conspiracy thinking about ethnic and national groups. Two hundred university student volunteers participated in 3 studies. Study One (N?=?87; mixed male and female sample) found that state-anxiety and trait-anxiety, measured with the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), were positively correlated with conspiracy thinking about Jewish people, Germans and Arabs. Study Two (N?=?46; male sample) and Study Three (N?=?67; female sample) were designed to check whether a high-anxiety situation (connected with waiting for an examination) would increase conspiracy thinking. Findings from Studies Two and Three showed that the pre-exam (high-anxiety) situation increased conspiracy thinking about Jewish people. This effect was not mediated by state-anxiety. Hence, further research should focus on searching for possible mediators of the relationship between a pre-exam situation and conspiracy thinking. The obtained results are consistent with previous findings showing that conspiracy thinking about Jewish people is sensitive to situational factors and with findings on links between anxiety and processing information about threat-related stimuli.     

Never Mind the Trolley: The Ethics of Autonomous Vehicles in Mundane Situations

Trolley cases are widely considered central to the ethics of autonomous vehicles. We caution against this by identifying four problems. (1) Trolley cases, given technical limitations, rest on assumptions that are in tension with one another. Furthermore, (2) trolley cases illuminate only a limited range of ethical issues insofar as they cohere with a certain design framework. Furthermore, (3) trolley cases seem to demand a moral answer when a political answer is called for. Finally, (4) trolley cases might be epistemically problematic in several ways. To put forward a positive proposal, we illustrate how ethical challenges arise from mundane driving situations. We argue that mundane situations are relevant because of the specificity they require and the scale they exhibit. We then illustrate some of the ethical challenges arising from optimizing for safety, balancing safety with other values such as mobility, and adjusting to incentives of legal frameworks.     

The Effect of Adaptive Organizational Culture on Long-Term Survival

Purpose

Organizational culture is a critical resource for organizations to adapt to dynamic environments and to survive in the long term. Unfortunately, a lack of clarity exists in the conceptualization of adaptive cultures and little empirical research investigates its impact on survival. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was twofold: (1) to identify, define, and develop a measure of adaptive organizational culture and (2)  to demonstrate the effect of adaptive culture on organizational survival.

Design/Methodology/Approach

An adaptive culture rating scale was developed based on a review of the existing literature. Ninety-five organizations founded prior to 1940 were rated on nine characteristics of adaptive culture. Ratings were used to predict likelihood to survive using a Cox regression with proportional hazards survival analysis.

Findings

Exploratory factor analysis revealed two broad factors of adaptive culture, values toward change and action-orientation. Findings indicate organizations with adaptive cultures were more likely to survive.

Implications

The present effort provided evidence that culture can serve as an adaptive mechanism with effects spanning decades. Leaders should focus on establishing adaptive cultural norms and values in order to increase chances of surviving.

Originality/Value

This is one of the first historiometric studies to develop and utilize a measure of adaptive culture. Further, this study looked at the impact of adaptive culture on long-term organizational outcomes using survival analysis, a statistical technique not often employed in the organizational literature.

     

Introducing Survival Ethics into Engineering Education and Practice

Given the possibilities of synthetic biology, weapons of mass destruction and global climate change, humans may achieve the capacity globally to alter life. This crisis calls for an ethics that furnishes effective motives to take global action necessary for survival. We propose a research program for understanding why ethical principles change across time and culture. We also propose provisional motives and methods for reaching global consensus on engineering field ethics. Current interdisciplinary research in ethics, psychology, neuroscience and evolutionary theory grounds these proposals. Experimental ethics, the application of scientific principles to ethical studies, provides a model for developing policies to advance solutions. A growing literature proposes evolutionary explanations for moral development. Connecting these approaches necessitates an experimental or scientific ethics that deliberately examines theories of morality for reliability. To illustrate how such an approach works, we cover three areas. The first section analyzes cross-cultural ethical systems in light of evolutionary theory. While such research is in its early stages, its assumptions entail consequences for engineering education. The second section discusses Howard University and University of Puerto Rico/Mayagüez (UPRM) courses that bring ethicists together with scientists and engineers to unite ethical theory and practice. We include a syllabus for engineering and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) ethics courses and a checklist model for translating educational theory and practice into community action. The model is based on aviation, medicine and engineering practice. The third and concluding section illustrates Howard University and UPRM efforts to translate engineering educational theory into community action. Multidisciplinary teams of engineering students and instructors take their expertise from the classroom to global communities to examine further the ethicality of prospective technologies and the decision-making processes that lead to them.     

创业者领导行为与企业绩效：创业企业发展阶段的调节效应

本文旨在探讨创业者领导行为对企业绩效的影响,着重考察了创业企业发展阶段的调节效应。通过对117家创业企业的问卷调查,结果发现：（1）创业企业发展阶段显著调节创业者转换型领导对财务、成长绩效的影响和创业者交易型领导对财务、成长和创新绩效的影响;（2）环境动态性正向调节创业者转换型领导对财务、成长和创新绩效的影响,负向调节创业者交易型领导对财务、成长绩效的影响;（3）环境动态性在创业者转换型领导影响财务、成长绩效,以及创业者交易型领导影v向财务绩效过程中的调节效应模式受到创业企业发展阶段的显著调节。     

记忆的生存加工优势效应

近年来,一些研究者使用生存加工范式来研究记忆,并发现了记忆的生存加工优势效应。本文首先介绍生存加工优势效应的含义及其研究范式,然后介绍生存优势产生的可能原因,即在长期的进化过程中,记忆的机制是为了解决人类祖先的适应性问题而设计的,因此产生记忆的生存优势效应。同时,还分析了记忆生存加工优势效应产生的其他可能原因以及对生存优势效应的争论。最后提出了今后需要进一步研究的问题。     

生存优势效应的理论解释

生存优势效应指对学习材料进行“生存加工”,其提取正确率最高。研究者试图用主题加工、一致性效应、情绪加工和自然选择等理论对生存优势效应进行解释。研究发现主题加工、一致性效应和情绪加工不足以说明生存优势现象,自然选择理论似乎可以更好地对此加以解释,但目前自然选择理论尚缺乏直接的实验证据支持。文章结合已有研究具体分析了最近的未来研究应该关注的焦点问题,例如,自然选择理论的直接证明,并对直接证明的方案等进行了尝试性的讨论。     

Survival Ethics in the Real World: The Research University and Sustainable Development

We discuss how academically-based interdisciplinary teams can address the extreme challenges of the world’s poorest by increasing access to the basic necessities of life. The essay’s first part illustrates the evolving commitment of research universities to develop ethical solutions for populations whose survival is at risk and whose quality of life is deeply impaired. The second part proposes a rationale for university responsibility to solve the problems of impoverished populations at a geographical remove. It also presents a framework for integrating science, engineering and ethics in the efforts of multidisciplinary teams dedicated to this task. The essay’s third part illustrates the efforts of Howard University researchers to join forces with African university colleagues in fleshing out a model for sustainable and ethical global development.     

人际情境对幼儿联合Simon效应的影响机制

联合Simon效应是考察幼儿共同表征能力的一个有效指标,本研究采用联合Simon任务范式通过两个实验考察幼儿联合Simon效应稳定产生的年龄阶段以及不同人际情境对该效应的影响机制。实验1首先以3个年龄段幼儿为研究对象来考察幼儿联合Simon效应产生的年龄阶段,以揭示共同表征能力的发生发展趋势。实验2在实验1基础上以出现稳定联合Simon效应的5岁幼儿为研究对象,进一步考察该能力水平是否受到人际情境的影响及背后的机制。结果表明,与3岁相比,4岁幼儿开始出现联合Simon效应,但尚不稳定,5岁幼儿的联合Simon效应达到更加稳定水平;不同人际情境对幼儿的共同表征能力产生影响,相较合作情境,竞争情境对幼儿联合行动的共同表征能力有抑制作用。本研究结果很好地支持了参考编码理论,并拓宽了对共同表征理论的理解。     

The Concept of Situations

The concept of situations has a long past, but the conceptualization of situations only has a short history. This article provides a survey of the concept of situations. Based upon Milgram’s [Human Relations 18 (1965), 57] vision toward ‘a compelling theory of situations,’ the authors examine the concept of situations in three specific literatures: definitions of situations, taxonomies of situations, and interrelationships among persons, situations, and behaviors. To further integrate the literature, the authors propose that the essence of a situation is its affordance of human goals, and that situations are largely characterized by two specific principles of goal processes (what happened, is happening, or might happen to people’s goals) and goal contents (the specific goals afforded in the situation).     

Performance Trends and Salesperson Evaluations: The Moderating Roles of Evaluation Task,Managerial Risk Propensity,and Firm Strategic Orientation

Understanding managers’ evaluations of salesperson performance is important for both theoretical and pragmatic reasons. We examine several factors that moderate the influence of performance trends on salesperson evaluations provided by practicing sales managers. Preliminary data from a pilot study indicate that performance trends exert a stronger influence on salesperson evaluations that are prospective (e.g., making a hiring decision) rather than retrospective (e.g., providing an annual evaluation). Study 1’s findings reveal an additional contingency by demonstrating that these trend effects were particularly pronounced for risk-taking sales managers providing prospective evaluations. Finally, evidence from Study 2 documents the moderating influence of firm strategic orientation by showing that trend effects were most prominent for managers making forward-looking evaluations under the aegis of a prospector-based strategic orientation. The latter two studies also offer mediational evidence indicating that trends influence performance evaluations by affecting inferences about a salesperson’s future productivity.     

管理心理学的现状与发展趋势

本文在综合分析了国内外管理心理学发展概况的基础上认为,在适应经济全球化和企业不断变革的情况下,组织变革、领导行为、激励机制和组织文化是管理心理学的研究新热点,管理心理学的发展趋势是重视组织层面的变革研究,强调对人力资源的系统开发,研究领域不断拓展,更加关注国家目标.并提出了管理心理学研究的近期目标和中长期发展目标的建议.     

投资者情绪与上市公司投资水平——迎合还是保守?

资本市场的投资者并不完全理性,会出现对股票价格的高估或低估.本研究以2003 ～ 2010年我国上市公司为对象进行研究,发现在面对非理性的投资者时,公司管理者同时存在迎合心理和保守主义倾向,且受到公司融资约束条件的影响.迎合渠道是投资者情绪影响公司投资水平的主要渠道,即使是低融资约束的公司,也表现出了显著的迎合行为,而高融资约束的公司则对投资者情绪的效应更敏感.但是,只有在低融资约束情况下,部分公司才会在投资决策中表现出保守主义倾向.     

The Early Identification of Managerial Talent

Research was conducted to determine if managerial motivation can be identified during the period of graduate education, or whether it emerges only subsequent to industrial employment. 106 graduate business students were tested with the Miner Sentence Completion Scale (MSCS) which was scored to give an Item Score and a Rare Score. 41 indicated a desire for managerial employment, 32 a desire to teach, and 33 a desire for specialized or professional employment in business. The mean MSCS Item Scores for these groups were 7.71, .59, and 1.27, respectively; the Rare Scores, 1.00, ?1.72, and ?dash;1.36. In both instances the scores for those with managerial goals were significantly above those for the other groups (p < .01). These results support the conclusion that managerial motivation develops prior to the initiation of the business career, and exerts a strong influence on vocational choice.     

The Effects of Self-Efficacy on Behavior in Escalation Situations

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the hypothesis that perceptions of self-efficacy influence, in various ways, behavior in escalation situations. Self-efficacy beliefs for finding oil were measured for 527 petroleum geologists as they decided, at increasing levels of negative feedback in the form of dry wells, whether to persist with an unproductive venture in petroleum exploration. Experiment 1 employed a within-subject design and found a significant main effect of both negative feedback and initial self-efficacy. Differences in intentions to escalate between low and high self-efficacy individuals were apparent at all levels of negative feedback. No moderating effect of self-efficacy, however, was discernible. Experiment 2 employed a between-subjects design and multiple regression analysis. Like Experiment 1, Experiment 2 revealed a significant main effect of negative feedback and initial self-efficacy. Post-feedback self-efficacy was found to mediate the effects of negative feedback on the escalation tendency. Implications of these results for the self-efficacy and escalation literatures are discussed.     

内隐绩效模型对管理决策的影响作用研究

本文在以往绩效模型和内隐绩效模型的研究基础上,运用实验模拟方法,研究了内隐绩效模型对管理决策的影响作用,结果发现：在不同决策任务条件下,内隐绩效模型存在显著差异．并随着决策任务变化而变化;内隐绩效模型影响决策者的决策偏差,周边绩效一定程度上对任务绩效起补偿作用。     

The Impact of Managerial Coaching Behavior on Employee Work-Related Reactions

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between perceived managerial coaching behavior and employee work-related outcomes.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data were collected from 482 employees in a Korean public organization. The collected data were analyzed by structural equation modeling with a two-step approach.

Findings

The hypothesized conceptual model was adequately supported by the sample data. Further investigations suggested managerial coaching, which had a direct impact on employee satisfaction with work and role clarity and an indirect impact on satisfaction with work, career commitment, organization commitment, and job performance.

Implications

Findings provide empirical support to the hypothesized conceptual model of managerial coaching outcomes in organizations. Study findings offer evidence regarding prospective, but unexamined, benefits of managerial coaching. Such knowledge can be also used by practitioners for selecting and developing effective managers and leaders and understanding and managing employee attitudes and behaviors in organizations.

Originality/Value

This article is one of the first studies to provide evidence for the influence of managerial coaching behavior on employee role cognition, work attitudes, and performance. Since there is no commonly acknowledged theory or conceptual model for managerial coaching outcomes, this finding of the current hypothesized model can notably contribute to the research on managerial coaching. Furthermore, to date, no study of managerial coaching in Asian cultural contexts has been identified.