Joan F. Brett

Some Differences Make a Difference: Individual Dissimilarity and Group Heterogeneity as Correlates of Recruitment, Promotions, and Turnover

Schneiders (1987) attraction-selection-attrition model and Pfeffers (1983) organization demography model were used to generate individual-level and group-level hypotheses relating interpersonal context to recruitment, promotion, and turnover patterns. Interpersonal context was operationalized as personal dissimilarity and group heterogeneity with respect to age, tenure, education level, curriculum, alma mater, military service, and career experiences. For 93 top management teams in bank holding companies examined over a 4-yr period, turnover rate was predicted by group heterogeneity. For individuals, turnover was predicted by dissimilarity to other group members, but promotion was not. Team heterogeneity was a relatively strong predictor of team turnover rates. Furthermore, reliance on internal recruitment predicted subsequent team homogeneity.

Goal orientation and goal content as predictors of performance in a training program

The antecedents and consequences of content goals for participants in a complex skill-training program were examined in a longitudinal study. Using LISREL 8 to test a mediated model, it was found dispositional goal orientation was related to the content of goals that individuals adopted for the training program. Not all content goals were related to training performance; only content goals with a skill improvement focus had a positive relationship with performance. Results provide a richer understanding of the antecedents of content goals and their relationship to performance and have implications for managers and for the administration of training programs.

Men's and Women's Perceptions of the Gender Typing of Management Subroles

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which subroles inherent in managerial positions are gender-typed and whether men or women engage in relatively more gender typing of managerial roles. We obtained perceptions of 19 management subroles from 263 business students in the United States Results confirmed predictions that some subroles are viewed as more feminine in nature whereas other subroles are perceived as more masculine. Male respondents saw most subroles as more masculine in nature than did female respondents. Results are discussed in terms of implications for researchers studying management, as well as for managers in the workplace.

Negative affectivity and the reporting of stressful life events.

Maddi, Bartone, and Puccetti (1987) and Schroeder and Costa (1984) reported inconsistent findings regarding the impact of negative affectivity (NA; i.e., neuroticism) contaminated life event items on observed life event-illness relationships. Here, unlike the previous studied, such contaminated items were nonjudgmentally identified. Among a sample of managers and professionals, it was found that NA-contaminated items correlated significantly with three measures of well-being (depression, life satisfaction, and physical symptoms) and that uncontaminated items were unassociated with the well-being indicators. Moreover, in two of three cases, the correlations between contaminated items and the well-being measures were significantly different from the correlations between uncontaminated items and the well-being indicators. Therefore, we concluded that prior life event-well-being findings are inflated considerably by the use of NA-contaminated events. Suggestions for future life events research that incorporate the NA construct are detailed.

Stairways to Heaven: An Interlocking Self-Regulation Model of Negotiation

We introduce an interlocking self-regulation model of negotiation. A central tenet of this new model is that negotiation is both external (getting the other side to offer what you want) and internal (deciding whether to want what the other side offers). We discuss important issues implicit in this model, and we propose strategies by which negotiators reduce discrepancies between standards and offers, incorporating research on the role of attributions.

360-Degree Feedback to Leaders: Does it Relate to Changes in Employee Attitudes?

This study examined the extent to which changes in leader behavior 1 year after a 360-degree feedback intervention related to changes in employee attitudes. Participants were 145 leaders and their subordinates, peers, and manager. The results indicated that improved subordinate ratings of the leader on consideration, performance orientation, and employee development related to increased subordinate engagement and satisfaction as well as reduced intentions to leave following 360-degree feedback to leaders. This study demonstrates that improved leader behavior following 360-degree feedback is related to improved employee attitudes.

Effective Delivery of Workplace Discipline Do Women have to be More Participatory than Men

This study investigated the effectiveness of male and female managers when they engaged in the masculine-oriented managerial behavior of discipline. A sample of 155 employed students rated their managers. When managers reportedly allowed two-way discussion with employees, their subordinates reported improved behavior. Two-way discussion and timely and private discipline behaviors were related to fewer negative outcomes. Male and female managers did not differ on discipline behaviors; however, manager gender by behavior interactions indicated that when women were low on two-way discussion, employees reported fewer improvements. This finding suggests that women may experience costs that men do not when they fail to discipline in a considerate way. Our results suggest that when females provide two-way discussion and discipline in private, they realize more improvements in employee behavior than males.