Fostering innovation in functionally diverse teams: The two faces of transformational leadership

Empirical research on the effects of functional diversity on team innovation has yielded largely inconsistent results, showing positive, negative, as well as nonsignificant effects. For capitalizing on the positive potential inherent in functionally diverse teams, opening the black box between cross-functionality and team innovation by analysing mediating and moderating processes thus seems to be highly relevant. In this article, task and relationship conflicts are introduced as mediators of functional diversity and team innovation. Within this framework, transformational leadership is discussed as a moderator. It will become apparent that the role of transformational leadership in fostering the innovativeness of cross-functional teams is rather ambiguous. The discussed mediators and the moderator transformational leadership are integrated into a comprehensive framework and propositions for future research are derived.     

Team innovation and team effectiveness: The importance of minority dissent and reflexivity

Past research suggests that minority dissent in teams may foster team innovations. It is hypothesized, however, that minority dissent would predict team innovations only when teams have high levels of reflexivity - the tendency to overtly reflect upon the group's objectives, strategies, and processes and adapt them to current or anticipated circumstances. This hypothesis was tested in a field study involving a heterogeneous sample of 32 organizational teams performing complex, ill-defined tasks. Results showed more innovation and greater team effectiveness under high rather than low levels of minority dissent, but only when there was a high level of team reflexivity. Avenues for future research are discussed.     

An experience-sampling measure of job satisfaction and its relationships with affectivity,mood at work,job beliefs,and general job satisfaction

In this article, we proposed an experience-sampling method of measuring job satisfaction, assessed the contributions of average levels of mood at work and job beliefs to the prediction of job satisfaction, and examined the role of mood in mediating the relationship between affectivity and job satisfaction. The study involved a three-phase multisource longitudinal design that included experience-sampling surveys in the second phase of the study. Results suggested that average levels of experience-sampled job satisfaction indicate the general attitudinal construct of job satisfaction. As expected, pleasant mood at work and beliefs about the job made independent contributions to the prediction of job satisfaction (as measured with an overall evaluation and with an experience-sampling measure). In support of our mediation hypotheses, pleasant mood mediated the affectivity?–?job satisfaction relationship and the mediating effect was much stronger when job satisfaction was assessed with the experience-sampling method.     

Assessing knowledge-intensive work environment: General versus situation-specific instruments

The aim of the present study is to examine to what extent general and situation-specific work environment instruments capture the salient work characteristics in a knowledge-intensive context. We conducted qualitative open-ended interviews with 30 employees (24 men and six women) from a Norwegian university department. The information from the interviews was content-analysed and coded on the scales of five work environment instruments; two general instruments (the General Nordic Questionnaire for Psychological and Social Factors at Work [QPSNordic] and the Job Diagnostic Survey [JDS]) and three situation-specific instruments (Assessing the climate for creativity [KEYS], Situational Outlook Questionnaire [SOQ], and the Organizational Climate Measure [OCM]). The results showed that situation-specific work environment instruments covered significantly more statements about the work environment than the general instruments. More statements could be categorized on the organization and individual levels, compared to group and leadership levels. The situation-specific instruments covered more statements than general instruments at the organization level. These statements were mainly related to the organizational context, social and relational characteristics, and encouragement of creativity and organizational impediments to creativity. The findings support the value of situation-specific instruments for assessing the work environment in knowledge-intensive organizations.     

A response to Dr Anthony Daniels

One of the sources of the diversity within psychotherapy is the conceptualization of the body. There are three main ways in which the body is seen. These correspond to three levels within the Wilber (1996) structural model. At level 1 the body is seen as something quite separate from the mind. We can treat the mind independently and leave the body to other specialists, such as medical doctors. If we do deal with the body, it is only in an external and behavioural way. At level 2 the body is seen as integrated with the mind, and the client is encouraged to see it this way too. One of the aims is bodymind unity. The body is continually referred to, and may be touched or asked to go through certain motions as part of the therapy. At level 3 the body is seen as the site for symbolic representations of divine archetypes, and reference is made to the subtle body. Both mind and body are seen as part of something greater, the soul. All three of these approaches are to be found within psychotherapy. It is argued that, unless these divisions are taken seriously, psychotherapy will remain confused. It is already confusing to others. By removing this particular form of confusion, it will be easier for psychotherapists to know what they are doing, and the scope and limits of their own particular orientation. Of these three versions of the body, the third is probably the least well known, but is growing the fastest. More lengthy attention is therefore paid to that.     

Amélioration de la qualité de vie au travail dans les unités de soins : la démarche ORSOSA

Improve the quality of working conditions is a major issue for healthcare workers who have to deal with productivity obligations and multiple procedures. Based on the magnet hospital concept, the ORSOSA study (prospective cohort study of 4000 helthcare workers) helped develop and validate a methodolody that allows to quickly diagnose the levels of psychological and organizational constraints (CPO) from the staff’s point of view / of the staff. The ORSOSA method relies on an organisational psychologist who launches a dynamic during the diagnostic feedback phase. He gets the team to appropriate the strengths and weaknesses and to rank their recommendations. This article presents an overview of the method and it the first stages of its evaluations.     

Development of Community Psychology

The growth and development of community psychology in Zambia has been necessitated by many social problems encountered by Zambians be they health, economic or psychological. The work of governmental and nongovernmental organizations at community level has contributed to the development of this sub-field of psychology. Community psychology in Zambia has many challenges to overcome, including the lack of trained manpower and availability of funds. Community psychology has great potential to contribute to the wellbeing of different communities in Zambia.     

Community Psychology and Quality of Life in Tanzania

The purpose of this study was to explore the status of community psychology and its contribution to the quality of life in Tanzania. The study was based on both literature review and interviews. First, social responses to problems such as malaria, food insecurity, domestic violence, environmental changes, and HIV/AIDS are discussed. This is followed by a report on the results of five face-to-face interviews of individuals working in the fields of psychology, sociology, social work, counseling and public health. The participants were predominantly from the Capital City of Dar es Salam and one hailed from the city of Mbeya, 850 km from Dar es Salaam. The interviews were exclusively conducted in English as all participants were fluent in English, though it was their second language. On the basis of the literature review and the interviews, it was concluded that although community psychology has made some progress in contributing to quality of life in Tanzania, it is a field of great potential which must be further explored for the benefit of Tanzanians.     

Community Psychology: The Case of Cameroon

Community psychology in Cameroon is a budding discipline even its practice, given the scarcity of professionals with specialised training. However, this paper highlights public and private community-oriented projects that resonate with the principles of community psychology. The demands are high with the impact of globalisation, corruption, poverty and HIV/AIDS. Yet it is evident that professional responses to these demands will be slow because even the teaching, research and use of the main discipline of psychology face major problems, blocking its expansion and use. There is the need for strong academic and professional leadership that is usually blocked by tribalism, weakness in the pedagogy of programmes and underdevelopment and unawareness of social problems including the absence of structures for strengthening institutional capacity. These explain why only rudimentary psychological services exist for Cameroonians. There is therefore an urgent need for the rapid formalisation of community psychology in teaching, research and service for alleviating people's distress in Cameroon.     

A Rogerian Perspective on Empathic Patterns in Southern African Healing

This article offers a reflective comment on the topics presented in this special issue. These topics address the concept of community psychology from various perspectives presented in three thematic categories: The states and form of community psychology; the application of community psychology to vulnerable groups and the concept of service delivery and methodologies. The author highlights trends gleaned from the articles, implicitly or explicitly—that of the efficacy of community psychology as a credible branch of psychology, changes needed in training programmes and the idea of the circularity that is community which exists because of the individual who exists because of community.