MEASUREMENT ERROR IN RESEARCH ON THE HUMAN RESOURCES AND FIRM PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIP: FURTHER EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS

Our earlier article in Personnel Psychology demonstrated how general-izability theory could be used to obtain improved reliability estimates in the human resource (HR) and firm performance literature and that correcting for unreliability using these estimates had important implications for the magnitude of the HR and firm performance relationship. In their comment, Huselid and Becker both raise criticisms specific to our study and broad issues for the field to consider. In our present article, we argue, using empirical evidence whenever possible, that the issues and criticisms raised by Huselid and Becker do not change our original conclusions. We also provide new evidence on how the reliability of HR-related measures may differ at different levels of analysis. Finally, we build on Huselid and Becker's helpful discussion of broad research design and strategy issues in the HR and firm performance literature in an effort to help researchers make better informed choices regarding their own research designs and strategies in the area.     

Dearly Departed: How Often Do Congregations Close?

We establish for the first time a national mortality rate for religious congregations by determining the 2005 status of congregations in the 1998 National Congregations Study sample. The annual mortality rate for religious congregations is 1 percent, which is among the lowest mortality rates ever observed for any type of organization. This unusually low mortality rate probably indicates an organizational population whose weakest members live on in a weakened state rather than an organizational population that is unusually robust all the way down to its most vulnerable members.     

KEEN TO HELP? MANAGERS' IMPLICIT PERSON THEORIES AND THEIR SUBSEQUENT EMPLOYEE COACHING

Although coaching can facilitate employee development and performance, the stark reality is that managers often differ substantially in their inclination to coach their subordinates. To address this issue, we draw from and build upon a body of social psychology research that finds that implicit person theories (IPTs) about the malleability of personal attributes (e.g., personality and ability) affect one's willingness to help others. Specifically, individuals holding an "entity theory" that human attributes are innate and unalterable are disinclined to invest in helping others to develop and improve, relative to individuals who hold the "incremental theory" that personal attributes can be developed. Three studies examined how managers' IPTs influence the extent of their employee coaching. First, a longitudinal field study found that managers' IPTs predicted employee evaluations of their subsequent employee coaching. This finding was replicated in a second field study. Third, an experimental study found that using self-persuasion principles to induce incremental IPTs increased entity theorist managers' willingness to coach a poor performing employee, as well as the quantity and quality of their performance improvement suggestions.     

Losing a self‐expanding relationship: Implications for the self‐concept

Previous research suggests that new relationships expand the self‐concept. The present research applies concepts from the self‐expansion model to examine the conditions under which relationship dissolution may influence the self‐concept. We hypothesized that the more expansion provided by a relationship predissolution, the greater the contraction of the working self‐concept postdissolution, and that this pattern would remain when controlling for predissolution closeness. These hypotheses were tested using recall of relationship qualities for recently dissolved relationships (Studies 1 and 2), as well as with a priming experiment (Study 3). The findings over the 3 studies supported both hypotheses. Those with higher levels of self‐expansion in predissolution relationships showed more detrimental impact on their working self‐concept postdissolution, even after controlling for predissolution closeness.     

ON THE CORRECT TREATMENT OF INVERTED EARTH

Abstract: The Inverted Earth case has seen fierce debate between Ned Block, who says it defeats the causal-covariational brand of wide representationalism about qualia, and Michael Tye and Bill Lycan, who say it does not. The debate has generated more heat than light because of a failure to get clear on who is supposed to be proving what, and what premises can be deployed in doing so. I argue that a correct understanding of the case makes it clear that the causal covariation theory is in deeper trouble over Inverted Earth than is generally supposed even by the theory's detractors.     

Review of the Comprehensive Assessment Program: Achievement Series

A school's achievement tests influence how students are evaluated by teachers, parents, counselors, and, eventually, the students themselves. Counselors, as a consequence, need to work with different constituencies in the school system to ensure that achievement tests are providing useful information and are being used constructively. For this function, counselors work as members and, perhaps, as leaders of a team. The following article summarizes the process and findings of a school district's evaluation of an achievement test to illustrate a team evaluation and the kind of evidence a team uses in recommending adoption or rejection of a test.     

a consensus method to reduce conflict

The authors describe a five-step model of conflict reduction suitable for use by practicing counselors. They present the model in how-to-do-it fashion, supplementing it with illustrations. They describe the reactions of eight counselors who used the model in 37 conflict cases and present the responses of the persons involved in the conflicts.