Douglas M. Mahony

Network Theory of Organization: A Multilevel Approach

Management research regularly considers social networks and their effects on a wide range of organizational phenomena. Scholars employing the social network perspective have generated a considerable body of organizational research, with much of this scholarship single-level in its focus: exploring how networks of individuals, groups, or firms relate to organizational outcomes at the same level of analysis. However, given that organizations are multilevel systems, a network theory of the organization should, by definition, be multilevel in its scope, considering how networks at one level of the organizational system influence networks at higher and/or lower levels. In this article, the authors overlay canonical multilevel theory on the social network perspective to derive postulates defining the broad theoretical domain of a multilevel network theory of organization. The link between these two theoretical perspectives is the graph theoretical notion of systems of nested networks, allowing the authors to examine how an observed network structure at one level of the system of organizational networks relates to network structures and effects at higher or lower levels of the system.

A Multilevel View of Intragroup Conflict

In the years since the last major review of conflict, the primary thrust in the research on conflict in organizations has shifted the emphasis away from dyadic conflict and toward the study of intragroup conflict. Influenced by Jehns work, this body of research has largely focused on distinguishing between conflict types; most notably task versus relationship conflict. However, this research has focused on within-level relationships, thus neglecting the multilevel nature of intragroup conflict and its emergence processes. After reviewing the antecedents of conflict across levels, the authors examine the constructs and processes common to the intraindividual, dyadic, and group levels as well as those that are unique to each level and the cross-level influences of those constructs. The authors conclude by proposing a multilevel model of group conflict that integrates the individual, dyadic, and intragroup levels of analysis.

Decision-Making about Workplace Disputes: A Policy-Capturing Study of Employment Arbitrators, Labor Arbitrators, and Jurors

Firms are increasingly turning to the controversial practice of employment arbitration to resolve workplace disputes. Yet little is know about how decisions are made by employment arbitrators or how their decisions compare to those made in traditional dispute-resolution forums. This study uses a policy-capturing design and hierarchical linear modeling to compare how decisions about termination cases are made by employment arbitrators, labor arbitrators, and jurors. The results indicate significant differences in the overall willingness to uphold termination, with labor arbitrators being the most likely to rule in favor of the employee, followed by jurors, employment arbitrators judging statutory and for-cause claims, and employment arbitrators judging statutory-only claims. Significant differences were also observed between categories of decision makers in the weight given to procedural compliance, evidence of discrimination, employee work history, and stress-inducing personal circumstances.

The portability of career‐long work experience

Purpose – The aims of this paper are to expand understanding on the portability of work experience and to understand how an employees level of propensity to trust interplays with perceived value of previous career‐long work experience to affect on‐the‐job performance.Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 127 new employees of three newly opened locations of a national full‐service restaurant chain were surveyed during the orientation phase of their jobs. This was followed up three‐four weeks later by job performance ratings from supervisors.Findings – The higher the perceived value of previous work experience the stronger the relationship between industry work experience and job performance. Also, the higher the perceived value of previous work experience the weaker the relationship between propensity to trust and job performance.Research limitations/implications – Because this study concentrated on a single firm in a single industry, generalizability to other industries may suffer.Practical implicati...

The Role of Compensatory and Retributive Justice in Determining Damages in Employment Disputes

This study draws on theories of compensatory and retributive justice to examine how jurors and employment arbitrators reach decisions regarding awards and damages in cases involving allegations or wrongful discharge. The authors hypothesized that the decision to provide compensatory justice would be determined by both employee and employer attributes, whereas the decision to provide both compensatory and punitive justice would be determined by employer attributes. These hypotheses were tested using a policy-capturing exercise in which the decision makers were asked to make an award and damages determination in cases in which an employee was challenging his or her termination. Results generally support the hypotheses. Findings suggest that within the context of employment disputes, both jurors and employment arbitrators are influenced by a justice-providing motive that involves both compensating the victim and exacting retribution.