Edward J. O'Connor

Identification in Face-to-Face, Hybrid, and Pure Virtual Teams: Untangling the Contradictions

Identification is a persons sense of belonging with a social category. Identification in virtual organizational teams is thought to be especially desirable because it provides the glue that can promote group cohesion despite the relative lack of face-to-face interaction. Though research on virtual teams is exploding, it has not systematically identified the antecedents or moderators of the process by which identification develops, leaving a number of gaps and apparent contradictions. The purpose of this paper is to begin to untangle the contradictions and address some of the gaps by tracing the mechanisms and moderating processes through which identification develops in hybrid and pure virtual settings, and the ways that these processes differ from face-to-face settings.

The behavioral and affective consequences of performance-relevant situational variables

Abstract Results of two studies are reported. Four of the situational variables identified as relevant to performance settings in Study I were experimentally manipulated in order to create facilitating and inhibiting treatment conditions in Study II. Results indicated that performance, affective responses, and the relationship between these two variables tended to be affected by performance-relevant situational characteristics. Implications for this neglected research area are discussed.

When Hot and Cold Collide in Radical Change Processes: Lessons from Community Development

A groups tendency to protect its identity often inhibits it from initiating radical change. For this reason, external interventions are typically needed to engage a group in reexamining and moving beyond its current identity. If threatened by these external interventions, however, identity beliefs can become emotionally heated and resistant to the cognitively rational efforts of outsiders. At the same time, the insider groups emotional energy is essential to mobilize and sustain radical change. This paper draws on community development theories and practices, as well as identity theories, to develop a model that traces the dynamic processes by which hot emotional interpretations and relatively colder cognitive interpretations interact to initiate, mobilize, and sustain radical change. It highlights the roles that emotion and cognition play as both barriers and essential facilitators of the change at different stages of the process, and proposes a set of strategies for managing them.

The Joint Influence of Situational Constraints and Goal Setting on Performance and Affective Outcomes

The major prediction in the present investigation was that increases in goal dificulty would be associated with increases in task performance only in the absence of severe situational constraints. In order to test this and associated predictions, a laboratory study was conducted using a 2 (facilitating versus inhibiting task settings) x 3 (low versus moderate versus high goal levels) experimental design. Results supported the constraint x goal difficulty interaction prediction using a measure of self-set personal goals and tended to do so using the manipulated goal difficulty level. In addition, situational constraints were found to be significantly associated with the performance and affective outcome variables and self-set goal level was found to be significantly associated with performance. These results are discussed with regard to both the goal setting and situational constraint literatures.

An integrative model for organization-wide quality improvement: lessons from the field.

This article describes a model of CQI that is designed to characterize the elements necessary for successfully improving quality at an organization-wide level; describe and understand the organizational dynamics in implementing an organization-wide effort; and aid in diagnosing and solving common implementation challenges. Three cases illustrate the model and how it can be used.

Informational Cues and Individual Differences as Determinants of Subjective Perceptions of Task Enrichment

The influences of both manipulated enrichment informational cues and individual differences on subjective job perceptions were examined. Results indicate that both the manipulation and individual d...

Implementing new technology: Management issues and opportunities

Abstract The effective implementation of new technologies is an important element in solving the productivity problem faced by the United States. We argue that successful implementation requires the understanding and managing of peoples attitudinal and behavioral reactions to technologically driven change. Current knowledge regarding these reactions is reviewed and a framework relevant to conceptualizing this information is described and exemplified. Based on this framework recommendations are advanced for enhancing implementation success through the understanding and management of psychological and behavioral responses to technologically driven change.

The Measurement of Job Satisfaction: Current Practices and Future Considerations

Data are reviewed which indicate that a lack of standardized measurement is currently apparent within the job satisfaction literature. While several other instruments were used repeatedly, 71 measures (46% of the 155 instances in which job satisfaction was measured) appeared only once in five leading journals during the 1973 to 1975 period. Similar results were evident when data from 1976 to 1978 were examined. The authors argue that the continued usage of non-replicated measures may be doing a great disservice to the job satisfaction field not only by failing to provide fair tests of conceptual propositions but by precluding the incremental building of knowledge across studies. Three alternative strategies are discussed and arguments are presented supporting the current need for serious thought concerning the nature of experienced satisfaction and for rigorous construct validation of job satisfaction measures.

Identifying Moderator Variables Using Multiple Regression: A Reply to Darrow and Kahl

Darrow and Kahls (1982) paper on detecting moderator variables is misleading because it contains both logical and methodological problems. The present paper was written to respond to two of those problems: their distinction between pure and mixed moderators and their choice of model for testing for moderator effects. In this paper we show that the distinction between pure and mixed models is uninformative and that the standard hierarchical regression model represents the appropriate method for identifying moderator variables.

Expended Effort and Academic Performance

With effort defined from student reports, this study shows a negative relationship, even with other variables partialed out.