Eric W. Liguori

The moderating effect of perceived job characteristics on the proactive personality-organizational citizenship behavior relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore relationships between proactive personality and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). Moderators between these constructs are proposed in order to explain varying levels of dispositional impact on work behavior. These relationships were also tested to see whether proactive personality should be considered a strong or weak trait. Trait activation theory and social exchange theory are used to develop hypotheses. Design/methodology/approach – Data collected via a targeted sampling strategy from 178 supervisor-subordinate dyads spanning multiple industries and organizations were used. Hypotheses were tested using hierarchical linear regression. Findings – Results indicate a positive relationship exists between proactive personality and organizationally directed citizenship behaviors, and that this relationship is moderated by both job autonomy and job meaning. Originality/value – The paper is one of the first to explore the relationship between proactiv...

Sailing away: the influences on and motivations of George Caspar Homans

Purpose – How do social factors motivate and influence scholars when they theorize? By exploring the life of George Homans, this paper aims to illustrate that theories are the products of the theorist, and as such are influenced by individual life experiences.Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on a plethora of archival sources including many personal and autobiographical accounts, this manuscript synthesizes these sources thus providing clear insight into how personal factors and experiences impacted Homanss social exchange theory.Findings – This research concludes that Homanss journey into theorizing was an act of providence; that his early career, personal background, and social capital interacted with several factors beyond his control thus leading to his interest in social exchange processes.Originality/value – This is the first research endeavor exploring the context, sentiments and motivations of George Homans as he began to lay out social exchange theory.

Keeping the peace

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the interaction between self-reported proactive personality, competence, and interpersonal conflict in the prediction of supervisor ratings of organizational citizenship behaviors directed at individuals (OCBI) and organizations (OCBO). Design/methodology/approach – Data were obtained from 165 full-time subordinate-supervisor dyads. Employees self-reported personality and control variable information in wave 1 and competence and interpersonal conflict information in wave 2. Data regarding employee OCB performance were collected from supervisors in wave 3. Findings – Results suggest that OCBs are performed less frequently in stressful circumstances but that proactive personality appears to assuage the effects of stress. Significant two- and three-way interactions suggest the interplay of personal and situational characteristics are more complex in predicting OCBO than OCBI, likely due to its more distal nature. Practical implications – Results of the cu...

Agency theory: background and epistemology

Purpose By revisiting the agency theory literature, this paper aims to both incrementally advance historical viewpoints and reveal four prominent influences on agency theory: Weber and Simon, The Great Depression, Cooperation and the Chicago School. This is critical given that understanding the history behind the authors’ major theoretical lenses is fundamental to using these theories to explain various phenomena. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on a plethora of archival sources and following the influence-mapping approach used by other management history scholars, this manuscript synthesizes historical accounts and archival information to provide a clearer picture of the major historical influences in the formation of agency theory. Findings We shed light on four areas related to management history that helped propel agency theory. Whereas past scholarship has not recognised them as influencers, we find and show how the industrial revolution, unionization, the stock exchange and other management approaches all played a role in the development of agency theory’s core tenants. Originality/value We extend upon the influential people and events that shaped agency theory, thus providing a fuller understanding of the theory’s usefulness. Moreover, we fill in gaps enabling scholars to better understand the context in which the core tenants of agency theory were developed.

The Entrepreneurship Education Imperative: Introducing EE&P

The year 2018 marks the start of the 71st year of entrepreneurship education (EE) in higher education, a field that continues to experience unprecedented levels of scholarly and practitioner attention. Beginning with one course at Harvard University in 1947 (Katz, 2003), EE is now taught at more than 3,000 institutions across the globe (Morris & Liguori, 2016). Given the importance of entrepreneurship to economic prosperity, demand has driven a rapid growth of EE, but this has come at a cost: we grew so fast we outpaced our own understanding of what to teach, how to teach it, and how entrepreneurial learning is best measured (Morris & Liguori, 2016). Although this plagues EE, the last decade has ushered in a surge of EE scholarship, with each new article contributing incrementally to our understanding of how EE can impact our students’ entrepreneurial learning and development. We are still struggling as a discipline to define what EE actually is and for what purpose. For instance, are we emphasizing the development of an entrepreneurial mindset, or are we focusing on venture creation in our educational approaches? Or perhaps both? We are part of an exploding field in critical need Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy 2018, Vol. 1(1) 5–7 ! The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/2515127417737290 journals.sagepub.com/home/eex

Moderators of the personality-performance relationship: An investigation of job meaning and autonomy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether job meaning and job autonomy moderate the relationship between emotional stability and organizational citizenship behavior. Design/methodology/approach In total, 190 supervisor-subordinate dyads completed three surveys. Linear and curvilinear analyses were used to assess the data. Findings Results indicate emotionally stable individuals are more likely to perform OCBOs in low autonomy and/or low job meaning situations than are employees low in emotional stability. Conversely, individuals who have high autonomy and/or high meaning jobs are likely to engage in OCBOs regardless of personality. Research limitations/implications As a survey-based research study, causal conclusions cannot be drawn from this study. Results suggest future research on the personality-performance relationship needs to more closely consider context and the potential for curvilinear relationships. Practical implications Managers should note that personality may significantly affect job performance and consider placing individuals in jobs that best align with their personality strengths. Originality/value This study sheds light on factors which may have led to erroneous conclusions in the extant literature that the relationship between personality and performance is weak.

Technology brokering in action: revolutionizing the skiing and tennis industries

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the true sources of innovation that revolutionized two sports industries – skiing and tennis, tracking the flow of ideas and power of technology brokering through the eyes of the innovator, Howard Head. Design/methodology/approach – Using a focal innovation action-set framework, the authors unite heretofore-disparate pieces of information to paint a more complete picture of the innovation and technology brokering process. Primary source material from Head’s patents, personal memoirs and journals and documented correspondence between him, his brother and his colleagues are augmented with secondary source material from periodicals, media excerpts and the academic literature. Findings – Head stands as an exemplar example of a technology broker, both through his serial practice of recombinant innovation and his savvy exploitation of resources. Results discredit the Great Man Theory of Innovation, while emphasizing the importance of exploiting social capital to realize oppo...

The role of job dedication in organizational citizenship behavior performance

Purpose This paper aims to attempt to clarify differences between organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) and attitudes as well as explore job dedication’s role regarding OCBs. Using social exchange theory, job dedication is hypothesized to mediate the relationship between leader-member exchange (LMX) and OCBs. Design/methodology/approach Hierarchical regression analysis was performed on data obtained from 190 supervisor/subordinate dyads from a number of firms to test the study hypotheses. Findings Results indicate that job dedication fully mediates the relationship between LMX and OCBs directed toward individuals and the organization, thus playing a role in the production of OCBs. Research limitations/implications Due to non-employment of an experimental design, causality cannot be determined. If managers use signals to determine performance, then scholars need to conduct further research to determine what the cues are. Practical implications Managers need to spend time in determining and care whether what they are actually measuring is accurate in terms of spontaneous behaviors performance. Originality/value First, this study has developed an explanation as to how managers can use job dedication as a means to track the behaviors of multiple subordinates based on social exchange theory. Second, this study provides empirical evidence of the mediating role job dedication plays on mediating the LMX/OCBs relationship.

Social Enterprise Academy: Enhancing the Impacts of the Non Profit Sector on Leadership and Job Creation Thru Research Models

The Social Enterprise Academy (SEA) is a new unit in the existing Melton Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of South Alabama. SEA is focused on capacity building and developing new leaders with an entrepreneurial mindset. These entrepreneurial leaders are the future job creators and provide services to sectors that are underserved or omitted from government programs. A research project focusing on measures of entrepreneurial self efficacy, entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial intent are used to develop a baseline for leaders of nonprofit organizations in mid market cities in the United States.

Chapter 8 Re-Designing Lessons, Re-Envisioning Principals: Developing Entrepreneurial School Leadership

Social entrepreneurs and market-driven organizations are those that hold themselves accountable to both social and financial outcomes; they advance their mission by building focused strategies and sustainable business models that address customer needs and yield competitive advantage. In order to apply these market-based approaches toward social solutions, leaders must first be equipped with skills and resources to build organizational capacity that can deliver results. Wendy Kopp, Founder and Executive Director of Teach for America, recently summarized this point during a convening at the Annie E. Casey Foundation of leaders across sectors: “There’s nothing more important than talent and team in organization building as we think about how to get where we want to go”. Teach for America address. Annie E. Casey Foundation Baltimore, MD).