Ethan P. Waples

A Sensemaking Approach to Ethics Training for Scientists: Preliminary Evidence of Training Effectiveness.

In recent years, we have seen a new concern with ethics training for research and development professionals. Although ethics training has become more common, the effectiveness of the training being provided is open to question. In the present effort, a new ethics training course was developed that stresses the importance of the strategies people apply to make sense of ethical problems. The effectiveness of this training was assessed in a sample of 59 doctoral students working in the biological and social sciences using a pre–post design with follow-up and a series of ethical decision-making measures serving as the outcome variable. Results showed not only that this training led to sizable gains in ethical decision making but also that these gains were maintained over time. The implications of these findings for ethics training in the sciences are discussed.

The influence of discrete emotions on judgement and decision-making: A meta-analytic review

During the past three decades, researchers interested in emotions and cognition have attempted to understand the relationship that affect and emotions have with cognitive outcomes such as judgement and decision-making. Recent research has revealed the importance of examining more discrete emotions, showing that same-valence emotions (e.g., anger and fear) differentially impact judgement and decision-making outcomes. Narrative reviews of the literature (Lerner & Tiedens, 2006; Pham, 2007) have identified some under-researched topics, but provide a limited synthesis of findings. The purpose of this study was to review the research examining the influence of discrete emotions on judgement and decision-making outcomes and provide an assessment of the observed effects using a meta-analytic approach. Results, overall, show that discrete emotions have moderate to large effects on judgement and decision-making outcomes. However, moderator analyses revealed differential effects for study-design characteristics and emotion-manipulation characteristics by emotion type. Implications are discussed.

A Meta-Analysis of Ethics Instruction Effectiveness in the Sciences

Scholars have proposed a number of courses and programs intended to improve the ethical behavior of scientists in an attempt to maintain the integrity of the scientific enterprise. In the present study, we conducted a quantitative meta-analysis based on 26 previous ethics program evaluation efforts, and the results showed that the overall effectiveness of ethics instruction was modest. The effects of ethics instruction, however, were related to a number of instructional program factors, such as course content and delivery methods, in addition to factors of the evaluation study itself, such as the field of investigator and criterion measure utilized. An examination of the characteristics contributing to the relative effectiveness of instructional programs revealed that more successful programs were conducted as seminars separate from the standard curricula rather than being embedded in existing courses. Furthermore, more successful programs were case based and interactive, and they allowed participants to learn and practice the application of real-world ethical decision-making skills. The implications of these findings for future course development and evaluation are discussed.

PERSONALITY AND ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING IN RESEARCH: THE ROLE OF PERCEPTIONS OF SELF AND OTHERS

This study examined basic personality characteristics, narcissism, and cynicism as predictors of ethical decision-making among graduate students training for careers in the sciences. Participants completed individual difference measures along with a scenario-based ethical decision-making measure that captures the complex, multifaceted nature of ethical decision-making in scientific research. The results revealed that narcissism and cynicism (individual differences influencing self-perceptions and perceptions of others) showed consistently negative relationships with aspects of ethical decision-making, whereas more basic personality characteristics (e.g., conscientiousness, agreeableness) were less consistent and weaker. Further analyses examined the relationship of personality to metacognitive reasoning strategies and social-behavioral response patterns thought to underlie ethical decision-making. The findings indicated that personality was associated with many of these social-cognitive mechanisms which might, in part, explain the association between personality and ethical decisions.

Creativity and Ethics: The Relationship of Creative and Ethical Problem-Solving

Students of creativity have long been interested in the relationship between creativity and deviant behaviors such as criminality, mental disease, and unethical behavior. In this study we wished to examine the relationship between creative thinking skills and ethical decision-making among scientists. Accordingly, 258 doctoral students in the health, biological, and social sciences were asked to complete a measure of creative processing skills (e.g., problem definition, conceptual combination, idea generation) and a measure of ethical decision-making examining four domains: data management, study conduct, professional practices, and business practices. It was found that ethical decision-making in all four of these areas was related to creative problem-solving processes with late-cycle processes (e.g., idea generation and solution monitoring) proving particularly important. The implications of these findings for understanding the relationship between creative and deviant thought are discussed.

Managing Creative Performance Important Strategies for Leaders of Creative Efforts

The problem. Decades of research on performance management has been undertaken in an effort to improve both the validity of the process and the effectiveness of its outcomes (Budworth & Mann, 2011). This issue becomes even more potent when discussed in relation to those individuals attempting to foster creative efforts within organizations. The solution. This article reviews literature on creative performance in organizations and how performance management tactics can enhance the effectiveness of leaders who seek creative products and services from their employees in the new knowledge and service-based economy of the 21st century. More specifically, we attempt to integrate the findings in the literature related to creativity with the literature on leadership and performance management to offer suggestions for specific practices leaders can engage in to foster creative performance from individuals who are working in either routine (i.e., not thought of as requiring high levels of creativity) or nonroutine (i.e., generally considered creative) positions. Stakeholders. The suggestions within this article should be of interest to professionals in the HRD field, particularly those who are interested in leader development. In addition, these suggestions may be of interest to the HRD professional within an organization that intends to increase or encourage the creative capacities of both leaders and subordinates.

The impact of content and structure on a case-based approach to developing leadership skills

Case studies are frequently used in a number of organisational training settings. However, there has been little empirical study of how these cases can be most effective for developing leadership skills. The present study tests the impact of case content and structural features on the acquisition and transfer of leadership skills. Content features include explanations for failure, lessons learned and making forecasts. Structural features include chunking information, advanced organisers and presenting related types of information together. Results suggest that training using case studies is most effective when both case content and structural features are either present or absent. Having content without structure can hinder performance. Furthermore, participants in the case-based training conditions outperformed participants in the principle-based training conditions on a learning task. The implications for the development of Tacit Knowledge and leadership skills are discussed.

A Real Options Reasoning Approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Integrating Real Option Sensemaking and CSR Orientation

In this article we explore the conceptual relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) orientation and real option reasoning. We argue that the firms attitude, communication, and behavior toward CSR will act as significant determinants to the firms sensemaking approach to real options; that is, if and how it (the firm) acknowledges, receives, and manages strategic real options. Integrating the previous work of Basu and Palazzo with Barnett, we propose a new model that extends the influence of CSR orientation/character to general strategic decision making while simultaneously developing the attention‐based view to real options.

Closing Comments on ‘Leading for Innovation’ We’ve Only Just Begun

The Problem: Insights and recommendations on developing leaders of creative efforts have been offered from various scholars and practitioners in this issue. However, we felt it would best serve the overall effort of this issue to provide several specific linkages between the overall themes presented. The Solution: In this closing piece, we briefly summarize the articles within this issue of Advances in Developing Human Resources. Stakeholders: This synthesis is intended to integrate key aspects of each article within the issue in order to stimulate further thought, and eventually action, for scholars and practitioners in Human Resource Development (HRD) and other related fields.

A Desire for the Dark Side: An Examination of Individual Personality Characteristics and Their Desire for Adverse Characteristics in Leaders

ABSTRACT Powerful and charismatic leaders are often highly desired by organizations and the followers that work within them. However, leaders who are highly skilled at developing relationships and accomplishing what they need to are often those individuals who rate very high on personality traits or characteristics that are considered “dark.” Although much attention has been paid to leaders and dark characteristics, we know much less regarding the dark side of leadership and followers’ susceptibility to these leaders. This article investigates the extent to which follower traits (i.e., the dark triad and the Big Five) predict a follower’s propensity to accept leader behaviors indicative of psychopathy (measured via the Hare P-Scan). Results suggest a follower’s psychopathy leads to the desire for dark leaders. Implications and future research suggest a more in-depth examination of followers and why certain individuals desire dark leadership, as well as examining negative environments.