Managing a new collaborative entity in business organizations: understanding organizational communities of practice effectiveness

Companies worldwide are turning to organizational communities of practice (OCoPs) as vehicles to generate learning and enhance organizational performance. OCoPs are defined as groups of employees who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic and who strengthen their knowledge and expertise by interacting on a consistent basis. To date, OCoP research has drawn almost exclusively from the community of practice (CoP) literature, even though the organizational form of CoPs shares attributes of traditional CoPs and of organizational teams. Drawing on Lave and Wenger's (1991) original theory of legitimate peripheral participation, we integrate theory and research from CoPs and organizational teams to develop and empirically examine a model of OCoP effectiveness that includes constructs such as leadership, empowerment, the structure of tasks, and OCoP relevance to organizational effectiveness. Using data from 32 OCoPs in a U.S.-based multinational mining and minerals processing firm, we found that external community leaders play an important role in enhancing OCoP empowerment, particularly to the extent that task interdependence is high. Empowerment, in turn, was positively related to OCoP effectiveness. We also found that OCoPs designated as "core" by the organization (e.g., working on critical issues) were more effective than those that were noncore. Task interdependence also was positively related to OCoP effectiveness. We provide scholars and practitioners with insights on how to effectively manage OCoPs in today's organizations.     

Childhood emotional abuse and attachment processes in the dyadic adjustment of dating couples

In an effort to improve understanding of the mechanisms that link early maltreatment to later outcomes, this study investigated the mediation effects of adult attachment processes on the association between childhood emotional abuse and later romantic relationships among heterosexual couples. College students and their dating partners (N = 310; 155 couples) completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Experiences in Close Relationship Scale, and Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Using the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model (Kenny, Kashy, & Cook, 2006), multilevel modeling results indicated that memories of childhood emotional abuse reported by both students and their partners were significantly associated with attachment strategies, as well as romantic relationship quality. Findings supported hypothesized mediation effects of attachment anxiety and avoidance.     

Young adult identities and their pathways: a developmental and life course model

Developmental and life course studies of young adult identities have focused on 2 dimensions: subjective age and psychosocial maturity. This study examines the developmental synchrony of these 2 processes. In a longitudinal sample of young adults from Add Health (ages 18-22), a person-centered analysis of indicators of these dimensions identified 4 identity profiles. Two depict early and late patterns of identity; the others represent contrasting types of discordance: pseudo-adult, with subjective age more advanced than maturation level, and anticipatory, with subjective age less advanced than maturational level. The profiles vary by gender, socioeconomic status, and race-ethnicity, as well as by adolescent (ages 12-16) pubertal maturation, psychosocial adjustment, and family context. These results provide support for a more holistic, interdisciplinary understanding of adult identity and show that young adult identities in the Add Health sample follow differentiated paths into the adult years, with largely unknown consequences for the subsequent life course.     

The implications of adult identity for educational and work attainment in young adulthood

This study investigates the relation of young adult identities (ages 18-22 years), reflecting subjective age and psychosocial maturity, to educational and career attainment in young adulthood (ages 25-29 years). Add Health data show that having an older subjective age alone does not curtail attainment; the critical issue is the level of psychosocial maturity that accompanies subjective age. Those with older subjective ages and low psychosocial maturation have the lowest attainment at ages 25-29 years, while those with older subjective ages and high psychosocial maturation show considerable progress toward work-related attainment. For those with younger subjective ages, a lower level of psychosocial maturity is not as detrimental to attainment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Human auditory-evoked response: Specific effects of signal strength and performance criterion

Computer-averaged auditory-evoked responses were recorded from the scalp of seven human Sa in order to study the effects of both low-signal levels and different performance criteria upon specific components of the waveform. Noise bursts of ?2, 0. +2. or +6 dB seDl8tion level (SL) were presented contingent upon the S’s correct bisection of a temporal interval as the degree of accuracy required from him was systematically varied. Analyses of variance indicated that a positive peak in the waveform at a latency of approximately 300 msec increased in amplitude as the stringency of the performance criterion increased but showed no change as signal strength varied. The negative peak at approximately 125 msec latency increased with increasing signal strength but remained constant as the stringency of the performance criterion was varied.     

Attitudes and action: The effects of behavioral intent and perceived effectiveness of acts

Based on the assumption that an individual's behavioral intentions mediate the relationship between his attitudes and behaviors, an attempt was made to obtain a direct assessment of (a) subjects' intentions with regard to a series of acts varying in behavioral thresholds and (b) the perceived instrumentality of these acts for achieving one's goals After the reliability of the Intentions Scale was established, it was combined multiplicatively with ratings of perceived effectiveness to form a combined Action Potential Index (AP) The index resulted in significantly greater predictive validity than a conventional attitude assessment instrument. A second study was undertaken to determine the consistency of the AP-index across issues. The high correlations obtained for the AP-index across three issues suggested the operation of an “activism” personality dimension     

The efficacy of progressive relaxation in systematic desensitization and a proposal for an alternative competitive response--the relaxation response.

The theoretical basis of systematic desensitization is reciprocal inhibition in which an alternative, competitive response to anxiety is conditioned to arousal-producing, phobic stimuli. Abbreviated training in progressive relaxation is believed to serve as a competitive response to anxiety by decreasing autonomic nervous system activity. However, physiologic studies of progressive relaxation have not substantiated that its practice is associated with such decreased autonomic activity. Consequently, the use of progressive relaxation has been a confounding factor in the determination of the function of reciprocal inhibition in systematic desensitization. To confirm and refine the theoretical constructs of reciprocal inhibition, it is necessary to test the effects of a response which is competitive to the anxiety response. Such a response may be the relaxation response which is characterized by physiologic changes consistent with decreased autonomic nervous system activity. Derived from meditational practices, techniques which ehcit the relaxation response incorporate the element of focused attention which has been implicated as a critical factor in systematic desensitization. Thus, the use of the relaxation response should be a more appropriate method than progressive relaxation if the therapeutic usefulness of systematic desensitization is indeed due to reciprocal inhibition.     

Belief, knowledge, and uncertainty: A cognitive perspective on subjective probability

This paper presents a cognitive analysis of subjective probability judgments and proposes that these are assessments of belief-processing activities. The analysis is motivated by an investigation of the concepts of belief, knowledge, and uncertainty. Judgment and reasoning are differentiated, Toulmin's (1958) theory of argument being used to explicate the latter. The paper discusses a belief-processing model in which reasoning is used to translate data into conclusions, while judgmental processes qualify those conclusions with degrees of belief. The model sheds light on traditional interpretations of probability and suggests that different characteristics of belief—likelihood and support—are addressed by different representational systems. In concluding, the paper identifies new lines of research implied by its analysis.