Christine L. Porath

Self-regulation: from goal orientation to job performance.

The authors investigated the effects on job performance of 3 forms of goal orientation and 4 self-regulation (SR) tactics. In a longitudinal field study with salespeople, learning and performance-prove goal orientation predicted subsequent sales performance, whereas performance-avoid goal orientation negatively predicted sales performance. The SR tactics functioned as mediating variables between learning and performance-prove goal orientations and performance. Social competence and proactive behavior directly and positively predicted sales performance, and emotional control negatively predicted performance.

What results when firms implement practices: the differential relationship between specific practices, firm financial performance, customer service, and quality.

Previous research on organizational practices is replete with contradictory evidence regarding their effects. Here, the authors argue that these contradictory findings may have occurred because researchers have often examined complex practice combinations and have failed to investigate a broad variety of firm-level outcomes. Thus, past research may obscure important differential effects of specific practices on specific firm-level outcomes. Extending this research, the authors develop hypotheses about the effects of practices that (a) enable information sharing, (b) set boundaries, and (c) enable teams on 3 different firm-level outcomes: financial performance, customer service, and quality. Relationships are tested in a sample of observations from over 200 Fortune 1000 firms. Results indicate that information-sharing practices were positively related to financial performance 1 year following implementation of the practices, boundary-setting practices were positively related to firm-level customer service, and team-enabling practices were related to firm-level quality. No single set of practices predicted all 3 firm-level outcomes, indicating practice-specific effects. These findings help resolve the theoretical tension in the literature regarding the effects of organizational practices and offer guidance as to how to best target practices to increase specific work-related outcomes. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.

Witnessing Incivility Among Employees: Effects on Consumer Anger and Negative Inferences About Companies

We introduce the incivility construct and demonstrate that witnessing an incident of employee-employee incivility causes consumers to make negative generalizations about (a) others who work for the firm, (b) the firm as a whole, and (c) future encounters with the firm, inferences that go well beyond the incivility incident. We demonstrate the process by which these effects occur, showing that anger at the uncivil employee induces these effects. We find that anger leads to rumination about the uncivil encounter and causes customers to make quicker and more negative generalizations about related entities. We also identify boundary conditions for the relationship between incivility and negative generalizations. These process and boundary condition results add theoretically to the literature on incivility as well as that on angers effect on information processing. (c) 2010 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

The Effects of Civility on Advice, Leadership, and Performance

Workplace incivility is rampant and on the rise-with costs to individuals and organizations. Despite the increased need for civility, little is known about potential individual benefits of civility, defined as behavior involving politeness and regard for others in the workplace, within workplace norms for respect (Andersson & Pearson, 1999). Recent research has suggested that being civil may be hazardous to influence, power, and income (see Forni, 2002; Judge et al., 2012).Yet, throughout history, civil behavior has been extolled because it paid dividends to the person who behaved well. The focus of this research is whether that holds true in organizations. Using social exchange theory, we developed hypotheses about how civility benefits people, and investigated this in 2 studies. First, in a 2-wave social network study of a research and development department (n = 31) of a biotechnology firm, we found that people who perceived a colleague as civil would be more likely to seek that person out for work advice and to see that person as a leader. The more the individual was perceived as civil by others in his or her network, the better his or her performance. Being sought out for work advice and being viewed as a leader mediated this effect. In the second experiment (n = 162), we extended our understanding of what drove these benefits. We found that people who are civil were perceived as warm and competent, and these positive perceptions, in turn, helped to explain the benefits garnered. We discuss theoretical and practical implications.

It’s Unfair

Employees sometimes engage in uncivil behavior in the workplace. We ask (a) How commonly do customers witness an employee behaving uncivilly? (b) What negative effects does customers witnessing of an employee’s uncivil behavior have on customers and firms? (c) Why do these effects occur? The results of three studies suggest that it is not uncommon for customers to witness an employee behaving in an uncivil manner. It occurs in many industries. Moreover, witnessing such behavior makes customers angry and creates desires to get back at the uncivil perpetrator and the firm. These effects occur even when a manager’s uncivil comment is aimed at correcting a subordinate’s job-related offense and even when it is delivered offstage, outside of the customer servicescape. Finally, we demonstrate that these effects are driven by customers concerns about deontic injustice from incivility (reaction to a wrongful misconduct that violates fairness standards). These results contribute to the literature on workplace incivility and customer reactions to service encounters as well as the burgeoning literature on customer anger and revenge. We suggest that organizations invest in training programs focusing on employee civility. Managers should receive training in coaching to mitigate against the detrimental effects of incivility.

Destructive de-energizing relationships: How thriving buffers their effect on performance.

In this paper, we establish the relationship between de-energizing relationships and individual performance in organizations. To date, the emphasis in social network research has largely been on positive dimensions of relationships despite literature from social psychology revealing the prevalence and detrimental impact of de-energizing relationships. In 2 field studies, we show that de-energizing relationships in organizations are associated with decreased performance. In Study 1, we investigate how de-energizing relationships are related to lower performance using data from 161 people in the information technology (IT) department of an engineering firm. In Study 2, in a sample of 439 management consultants, we consider whether the effects of de-energizing relationships on performance may be moderated by the extent to which an individual has the psychological resource of thriving at work. We find that individuals who are thriving at work are less susceptible to the effects of de-energizing relationships on job performance. We close by discussing implications of this research.

The Way a Salesperson Manages Service Providers Influences Customers’ Anger About Problems

Reprimands are a way for a salesperson to fulfill managerial responsibilities for quality control. Two experiments investigate the effect of a salesperson’s reprimand of an employee on customers’ feelings of anger after a service infraction. Study 1, which involved 77 undergraduate students in a between-subjects design, shows that compared to no reprimand, a reprimand by a salesperson of an offending employee reduces consumers’ anger toward the firm as well as consumers’ desire for revenge against the firm. We observe these effects because reprimands acknowledge that the customer has been harmed and move blame for the infraction away from the manager. Consistent with this interpretation, Study 2 shows that whereas a reprimand decreases the customer’s anger directed at the reprimanding manager, it fails to decrease anger directed at the offending employee. The exception to decreased customer anger at the manager is when the manager’s reprimand fails to acknowledge harm to the customer. Study 2 involved 91 undergraduate students in a between-subjects design. The experiments’ results have pragmatic implications for ways salespeople should manage subordinates while at the same time managing service recovery.