Jason Stoner

Understanding the relationship between individualism–collectivism and team performance through an integration of social identity theory and the social relations model

In studying the relationship between individualism–collectivism and team performance, empirical research has shown that individualistic team members exert a negative influence on team performance. However, theoretical understanding of why this relationship exists is lacking. Addressing this gap in the literature, this research proposes a theoretical model of the relationship between individualism–collectivism and team performance by integrating two previously distinct theories, social identity theory and the social relations model. Drawing upon these theories, we propose that team identification, meta-perception accuracy, and team identity will mediate the relationship between individualism–collectivism and team performance. Further, we posit that task interdependence will moderate the relationship between individualism–collectivism and team identifi-cation. In developing our work, we formulate testable propositions which are aligned with the specific relationships shown in our model. After presenting our model and propositions, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our work, and suggest areas for future research.

The relationship between perceptions of politics and depressed mood at work: unique moderators across three levels.

The authors examined the unique moderating potential of need for achievement, perceived organizational support, and faith in management on the relationship between perceptions of politics across 3 hierarchical levels (ones peer level, 1 level up, and at the highest level in the organization) and depressed mood at work. Results from 173 full-time employees, representing a wide range of occupations, supported the hypotheses. Specifically, the authors found that need for achievement interacted with perceived politics at ones peer level, perceived organizational support interacted with perceived politics at 1 level up, and faith in management interacted with politics perceived at the highest levels in the organization to relate to depressed mood at work. Contributions of this study, strengths and limitations, and future research directions are provided.

The Influences of Deception and Computer-Mediation on Dyadic Negotiations

This article reports on an experiment investigating the differences between computermediated and face-to-face negotiations and between negotiators being deceptive about hidden agendas and negotiators without hidden agendas. Our results supported the hypotheses that individuals negotiating via instant messaging are more likely to use forcing negotiating, experience more tension, and have lower deception detection accuracy than individuals negotiating face-to-face. Unexpectedly, it was found that individuals negotiating via instant messaging were more satisfied with the negotiation process than were face-to-face negotiators. Finally, results supported the hypothesis that those being deceptive about hidden agendas experienced higher tension than those without hidden agendas. These findings have several implications for organizations: higher levels of tension from computer-mediated negotiations and from deception can affect the long-term effectiveness of employees, undetected deception in computer-mediated negotiations can have a negative impact on negotiations, and computer-mediation can lead to the use of a forcing negotiation style, which may improve the effectiveness of negotiators with individualistic goals.

The Impact of Vocational and Social Efficacy on Job Performance and Career Satisfaction

Research is presented that examined the impact of social efficacy on the relationship between vocational efficacy beliefs and various job performance dimensions as well as career satisfaction. Results indicated respondents who held low social efficacy beliefs reported higher performance scores than individuals who reported high social efficacy beliefs. Moreover, those with lower social efficacy beliefs reported being more satisfied with their career than their high social efficacy counterparts. Implications of these findings, strengths and limitations of the current study, and directions for future research are provided.

When a brand caught fire: the role of brand equity in product-harm crisis

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate differences in consumer reactions to high- versus low-equity brands in terms of consumer attitude toward the brand, involvement with the brand, company credibility and consumer purchase intentions. Design/methodology/approach – Experimental procedure is conducted to test three hypotheses using 317 consumer participants. The experiment is carried out comparing a high-equity personal computer (PC) brand and a low-equity PC brand involved in product-harm crisis. Findings – The results indicate that, in the case of product-harm crisis, negative consumer perceptions regardless of brand equity level; less negative perceptions for a high-equity brand than for a low-equity brand; and smaller loss in consumer perceptions for a high-equity brand than for a low-equity brand. Research limitations/implications – The findings highlight the importance of brand equity in crisis management explained by covariation theory of attributions. Practical implications – Althou...

Team interdependence and turnover: evidence from the NFL

Purpose - – The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the interactive effect of turnover and task interdependence on performance in work teams. Based on pervious research, the authors contend that turnover will have a negative effect on team performance and this effect will be more pronounced as teams perform highly interdependent tasks. Design/methodology/approach - – Using longitudinal data from the National Football League (NFL), the authors empirically examine the effect of player turnover on NFL team performance (i.e. wins and losses in the subsequent year), and the difference in team performance based on the high/low task interdependence of the work team. Findings - – Findings suggest a negative impact of turnover on organizational performance, regardless of the interdependent nature of work team tasks. In addition, the negative influence of turnover is enhanced by the task interdependence within a team. Originality/value - – This is one of the few studies that examine task interdependence as a moderating variable of the turnover – team performance relationship. More specifically, by examining an industry with high team member turnover (i.e. The NFL), the findings from this study give practicing managers a guide as to which work teams managers should attempt to minimize turnover.

Political skill as a moderator of the relationship between subordinate perceptions of interactional justice and supervisor ratings of interpersonal facilitation

Purpose - – Based on social exchange theory and the norm of reciprocity, interactional justice has been proposed to be an important construct in explaining individual performance. However, meta-analytic results have noted the relationship is modest at best. The present study extends the understanding of the justice-performance relationship by empirically examining how interactional justice and political skill interactively influence contextual job performance. Focusing on interpersonal aspects of justice and performance, the paper proposes that the existence of interactional justice will only lead to improvements in interpersonally facilitative behavior if employees recognize this situation as an opportunity to invest their skill-related assets into the organization. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach - – Integrating research on political skill with social exchange theory, the current study contends that interactional justice stemming from the supervisor will likely lead to employees feeling obligated and/or wanting to help, cooperate, and consider others in the workplace. However, only employees with political skill will be able to recognize the conditions and act appropriately on these conditions. As such, this paper investigates the moderating role of political skill in the interactional justice-performance relationship. The paper used multi-source survey methodology and applied hierarchical moderated multiple regression analysis to test the hypotheses. Findings - – Results from 189 respondents indicated that interactional justice was more strongly related to supervisor-rated interpersonal facilitation when employees possessed higher levels of political skill. This suggests that when both interactional justice and political skill are high, the potential for interpersonal facilitation is also high. Conversely, when one or both are low, interpersonal facilitation is less likely. Originality/value - – Previous articulations and evaluations of the relationship between interactional justice, political skill, and interpersonal facilitation have omitted either situational determinants of motivation or individual differences in job-related skills. With the current study, the paper sought to address these omissions by exploring the interactive effects of interactional justice and political skill on interpersonal facilitation.