Jeffrey Muldoon

The Hawthorne legacy

Purpose – This paper seeks to analyze the contribution that the Hawthorne studies made to the discipline of management. The recent scholarly trend has been to attack the Hawthorne studies on the grounds of methodology and originality. However, the only way to accurately view the Hawthorne studies is to recreate the intellectual environment in which the studies were conducted. Why did this version of human relations rather than Dennisons or Williamss emerge as the scholarly contribution?Design/methodology/approach – Both primary and secondary sources were utilized in the research. The focus was from the time period of 1930 to 1958. More contemporary work was considered as well.Findings – Contemporary scholars viewed Hawthorne as being more thorough and complete than previous work. They also viewed the study as a contribution in light of some methodological issues and political biases.Practical implications – Performing temporal analysis allows the perceived strengths and weaknesses of scholarly works to ...

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...

The Hawthorne studies: an analysis of critical perspectives, 1936-1958

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to analyse the academic context of the Hawthorne studies from 1936. More specifically, great attention was paid towards those articles that were critical of the Hawthorne studies. This study aimed to analyse why the Hawthorne studies were so criticized during the time period. Design/methodology/approach The author analysed various critical articles/books from the time period. The author developed the sample through the use of Landsberger’s Hawthorne Revisited. The author used one of the first critical articles, Daniel Bell’s, as a means to analyse the critics. In addition, secondary literature was used to place the articles in context. Findings The author found that the majority of the critics were sociologists; these criticisms reflected larger debates in sociology in terms of theory, method and ethics of research. They reflected the great changes that occurred in sociology during the time period, as opposed to industrial/organizational psychology, for example, where there was little criticism at the time. Originality/value The purpose of this study was to continue the work of Muldoon (2012) and Hassard (2012) and place the work of the Hawthorne studies in a larger academic context.

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.