Angelo S. DeNisi

The effects of feedback interventions on performance: A historical review, a meta-analysis, and a preliminary feedback intervention theory.

the total number of papers may exceed 10,000. Nevertheless, cost consideration forced us to consider mostly published papers and technical reports in English. 4 Formula 4 in Seifert (1991) is in error—a multiplier of n, of cell size, is missing in the numerator. 5 Unfortunately, the technique of meta-analysis cannot be applied, at present time, to such effects because the distribution of dis based on a sampling of people, whereas the statistics of techniques such as ARIMA are based on the distribution of a sampling of observations in the time domain regardless of the size of the people sample involved (i.e., there is no way to compare a sample of 100 points in time with a sample of 100 people). That is, a sample of 100 points in time has the same degrees of freedom if it were based on an observation of 1 person or of 1,000 people. 258 KLUGER AND DENISI From the papers we reviewed, only 131 (5%) met the criteria for inclusion. We were concerned that, given the small percentage of usable papers, our conclusions might not fairly represent the larger body of relevant literature. Therefore, we analyzed all the major reasons to reject a paper from the meta-analysis, even though the decision to exclude a paper came at the first identification of a missing inclusion criterion. This analysis showed the presence of review articles, interventions of natural feedback removal, and papers that merely discuss feedback, which in turn suggests that the included studies represent 1015% of the empirical FI literature. However, this analysis also showed that approximately 37% of the papers we considered manipulated feedback without a control group and that 16% reported confounded treatments, that is, roughly two thirds of the empirical FI literature cannot shed light on the question of FI effects on performance—a fact that requires attention from future FI researchers. Of the usable 131 papers (see references with asterisks), 607 effect sizes were extracted. These effects were based on 12,652 participants and 23,663 observations (reflecting multiple observations per participant). The average sample size per effect was 39 participants. The distribution of the effect sizes is presented in Figure 1. The weighted mean (weighted by sample size) of this distribution is 0.41, suggesting that, on average, FI has a moderate positive effect on performance. However, over 38% of the effects were negative (see Figure 1). The weighted variance of this distribution is 0.97, whereas the estimate of the sampling error variance is only 0.09. A potential problem in meta-analyses is a violation of the assumption of independence. Such a violation occurs either when multiple observations are taken from the same study (Rosenthal, 1984) or when several papers are authored by the same person (Wolf, 1986). In the present investigation, there were 91 effects derived from the laboratory experiments reported by Mikulincer (e.g., 1988a, 1988b). This raises the possibility that the average effect size is biased, because his studies manipulated extreme negative FIs and used similar tasks. In fact, the weighted average d in Mikulincers studies was —0.39; whereas in the remainder of the

Communication with Employees Following a Merger: A Longitudinal Field Experiment

This study examined the impact of a realistic merger preview, a program of realistic communications, on employees of an organization that had just announced a merger. Employees in one plant received the preview and those in another received limited information. Results based on four collections of data indicated that the preview reduced dysfunctional outcomes of the merger. Those effects continued over the duration of the study and, in some cases, measured attributes returned to levels comparable to their levels before the merger was announced. We discuss implications for organizations contemplating mergers or acquisitions and for researchers interested in such activities.

Modeling new venture performance: An analysis of new venture strategy, industry structure, and venture origin☆

Abstract This study examined the relative role of strategy, industry structure, and origin (independent vs. corporate or parental venture) on the profitability and growth of 247 new ventures in two segments of the information processing industry: computer-related and communications-related equipment manufacturing. Each of the 247 ventures was eight years old or less. Most previous research examining the role of these three factors in new venture performance has examined them singularly or in limited combinations with very few firms in their sample. The theoretical agenda in this study was to advance this research stream by simultaneously examining origin, strategy, and industry structure as well as the interaction between strategy and industry structure using a large sample of new ventures. The applications agenda in the study was to uncover patterns in the interactive role of strategy, structure, and origin that might provide meaningful insights to aid strategic decisions in new ventures. From the theoretical perspective, the study found that variability in new venture performance was better “accounted for” when all three factors were included in a statistical model. Overall, these results suggested that new venture strategy and industry structure and their interaction are essential for understanding new venture performance while origin is secondary (more important in explaining market share growth than higher profitability). Several study findings may be of interest to the practicing new venture strategist. The study uncovered eight basic strategy patterns across the 247 firms. A detailed description of these eight distinct patterns is provided in Appendix A of this article. Overall performance results suggest that no one strategy is always the best new venture strategy. But when we examined the fit of different strategies with different industry structures, we were able to distinguish high from low performing new ventures dramatically. In other words, specific new venture strategies were very effective in some industry settings and ineffective in others. For example, new venture entrepreneurs were able to successfully enter and compete in high barrier industries by employing strategies emphasizing superior product quality and higher customer service. Alternatively, when entry barriers were low, strong marketing skills offered the best advantage. The key to the success of these marketing-oriented ventures was the establishment of a distribution system in which products were pulled through by their strong brand identification and name recognition. These venture managers supported brand identification and name recognition with a high level of advertising and promotion experience and gave constant attention to adding new channels of distribution. Although earlier studies suggested that parented new ventures are more effective in achieving profitability, origin was not a significant explainer of profitability for the new ventures in this study. Much has been written recently that argues for creating an entrepreneurial climate in a corporation. Many corporations have wholeheartedly embraced efforts to foster an independent spirit among parented ventures, so much so that many corporations have attempted to replicate an independent climate in their corporate-sponsored start-ups. Rather than an origin difference between new ventures, perhaps it is the difference in the climate or spirit of the venture, or more specifically the manner in which the corporation manages the start-up, that accounts for profitability differences.

A closer look at interpersonal affect as a distinct influence on cognitive processing in performance evaluations.

To date, cognitive and affective influences on performance evaluations have been addressed separately, although it is likely that affect may influence ratings indirectly through its impact on the cognitive processing involved in the evaluation. Eighty-three management students participated in a study of the influence of affect on the cognitive processing of performance information. The results suggest that an affect-consistency bias influences ratings even though the cognitive processes that require some judgment indicated a bias toward both affect-consistent and affect-inconsistent performance. Additional findings suggest that the practical utility of affect as something distinct from past performance perceptions may be limited in field settings

The impact of ratee's disability on performance judgments and choice as partner : The role of disability-job fit stereotypes and interdependence of rewards

An experiment assessed the impact of disability-job fit stereotypes and reward interdependence on personnel judgments about persons with disabilities. Students (N = 87) evaluated 3 confederates. The experiment varied disability of the target confederate (dyslexia vs. nondisabled), task, and dependence of rater rewards on partner performance. Two disability-task combinations represented stereotypical poor fit and good fit. Dependent variables were performance evaluations, performance expectations, and ranking of target as a partner. There was negative bias against the confederate with dyslexia in poor-fit conditions. In the interdependent reward condition, there was a negative main effect for disability, regardless of fit. No effects for disability were found on performance ratings or expectations. Results indicate the need to consider disability-job fit stereotypes and consequences to raters when assessing the impact of disability on personnel judgments.

In Search of Adams' Other: Reexamination of Referents Used in the Evaluation of Pay

The paper provides a reexamination of Goodmans (1974) study of the referents used in evaluating pay. The present field research, largely in corroboration of Goodman (1974), found that perceptions of pay equity with respect to three classes of referents are strongly associated with pay satisfaction. In addition, pay valence was found to be associated with perceptions of equity vis-a-vis referent classes. This research was generally not supportive of Goodmans identification of factors affecting the selection of referents. Implications for future research are discussed.

Managerial Reactions to Employee Dissent: The Impact of Grievance Activity on Performance Rating

This study explored whether managerial reactions to grievance activity introduced bias into the process of performance appraisal. Using panel data techniques and data on unionized employees in a pu...

Organization of information in memory and the performance appraisal process : Evidence from the field

No studies dealing with cognitive processes in performance appraisal have been conducted in field settings, raising questions about the usefulness of this research for practice. The field experiments described here, conducted in 2 organizations, were designed to evaluate interventions that laboratory research has suggested enable raters to better organize performance information in memory: structured diary keeping and structured recall. After these interventions, raters had more positive reactions to the appraisal process, were better able to recall performance information, and produced ratings that were less elevated and better able to discriminate between and within rates. The implications of these results for practice and for cognitive research in performance appraisal are discussed, along with the limitations of these studies and the problems with criteria for evaluating ratings in the field.

A Meta-Analytic Examination of Realistic Job Preview Effectiveness: A Test of Three Counterintuitive Propositions

Abstract We present a model of realistic job previews (RJPs) and, using separate meta-analyses, examine three counterintuitive hypotheses about their operation. We found modest support for two of the three hypotheses. Findings indicate that RJPs reduce the rate of job acceptance among persons with prior exposure to the job and increase the rate of job acceptance among persons with no prior exposure to the job. Results also indicate that RJPs can be more effective in reducing turnover if the organization is able to restrict the exit of new employees for a period of time after the RJP. Finally, RJPs show a pattern of being more effective in reducing turnover after longer periods of time following administration of the RJP; however, this pattern failed to reach conventional significance levels.

Performance Appraisal, Performance Management, and Firm-Level Performance: A Review, a Proposed Model, and New Directions for Future Research

AbstractThere has been a long history in management and industrial/organizational psychology of studying methods to improve performance at work. These efforts have traditionally been concerned with individual-level performance (with some attention paid to team performance as well); even when research began to more broadly consider the topic of performance management instead of just performance appraisal. However, the often unstated assumption was that, if an organization could effectively improve the performance of individual employees, this would accrue to improvements in firm-level performance as well. A review of the literature suggested that this link had never really been established in a direct way. Instead, we found considerable support for relating “bundles” of human resource (HR) practices to firm-level performance, and several models for how these practices could create the transformation from individual-level to firm-level performance. We drew upon several of these models, from somewhat diverse...