Effects of Diversity Management on Attachment

The theoretical underpinnings of this paper explain the process of organizational transformation to value differences and the attitudinal transformation of minority and majority individuals to appreciate diversity. As an empirical test of these theories, the research investigated absenteeism and psychological attachment in 2 Fortune 100 conglomerates in different stages of managing their diversity. Cox (1991) suggests that organizations evolve toward multiculturalism, a state in which employee differences are valued and appreciated. Analyses of 284 respondents reveal that majority and minority employees in a more multicultural firm experienced greater attitudinal attachment. Study results suggest that a culture that stresses inclusion of all individuals will have a positive impact on the demographic majority.     

Relation of Type A behavior to performance and satisfaction among sales personnel

Many of the personal characteristics frequently associated with successful sales performance are very similar to behaviors which are a part of the Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern. This study investigated the relationship between Type A behavior and sales performance, as well as job satisfaction, among a sample of 355 life insurance agents. No significant differences were found between Type A and B agents and three measures of sales performance and one measure of general job satisfaction. Type A behavior among the sample was associated with measures of stress and number of health complaints. Possible explanations for the lack of Type A-performance and Type A-satisfaction relationships are discussed as is the importance of the association with stress and health complaints.     

Development of an Organizational Diversity Needs Analysis (ODNA) Instrument

Researchers have suggested that diversity is beneficial in organizational settings under conditions in which managers can manage it effectively. The goal of the current paper was to develop a general, theoretically anchored measure of diversity needs. Such an instrument could be used to evaluate the existing diversity climate in an organization. Once the climate is assessed, managers can, if necessary, develop, implement, and assess a customized training program to improve their institution's diversity-management practices. A two-study approach is used to examine, determine, and test an eight-dimension instrument, designated the Organizational Diversity Needs Analysis survey.     

Education as a moderator of goal setting effectiveness

The majority of empirical support for Locke's (1968) goal setting theory is based on a series of well designed and rigorous laboratory experiments with educated college students performing rather simple arithmetic and memorization tasks. There is little known about what role educational attainment plays in responsiveness to goal setting in a field setting. A sample of 128 skilled technicians working under an assigned goal setting program were studied in order to learn about the moderating impact of education on the relationship between performance and six goal setting properties. Speculation is advanced as to why education is an important moderator variable for specific types of goal setting properties.     

Worksite stress management interventions

Despite the general agreement that stress plays a role in everyday life, there continues to be substantial controversy about how stress can be managed at the worksite. During the last decade, our knowledge of stress management interventions has increased substantially. Despite this improvement, deficiencies in the literature exist. In this article, we offer a framework that may be used for viewing organizational stress interventions, briefly review some of the stress management intervention literature in the context of this framework, and identify future needs that may be particularly appropriate for organizational psychologists to address.     

Expectancy theory predictions and behaviorally anchored scales of motivation: An empirical test of engineers

The present study involved 375 engineers and 110 supervisory team engineers. A partial replication of the Arvey and Neel (1974) and the Landy and Guion (1970) research involving behaviorally anchored scales of motivational effort was first investigated with a number of engineering groups. In addition, a behaviorally specific motivational effort rating scale was developed for and tested in the company. The organizational specific scale results were examined and compared to those generated from the Landy and Guion (1970) scale. It was found that the organizationally specific and engineer relevant scale is a better predictor of two types of expectancies.