John Edward Baur

Team Players and Collective Performance How Agreeableness Affects Team Performance Over Time

Previous research on teams has found that agreeableness is one of the strongest personality predictors of team performance, yet one of the weakest personality predictors of individual-level job performance. In this study, we examined why teams with more agreeable members perform better. Data were collected across 4 months at 5 points in time from 107 project teams. We found that agreeableness affects performance through communication and cohesion and that communication precedes cohesion in time. Furthermore, we found that virtualness moderated the relationships between agreeableness and communication, as well as between agreeableness and team performance, such that teams only benefitted from high levels of agreeableness when interacting face-to-face.

A historical approach to realistic job previews

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to provide some historical understanding of a popular recruitment procedure called a Realistic Job Preview (RJP). As long as individuals have worked for others there has been a need to exchange information about a focal job. Information can be exchanged through myriad channels. The aim here is to trace the origins of RJPs and discuss the initial studies that generated attention and interest in what has become known as “realistic recruitment”. Design/methodology/approach – Along with a historical account, this paper provides a summary of the limitations associated with this method, proposed psychological processes mediating effectiveness of RJPs, and issues with development, mode of presentation, implementation of RJPs, and an important alternative/accompanying technique (ELP). Findings – While this technique has been used for many years, it will continue to be a quality addition to any worker socialization program. Originality/value – The value of this paper is that it p...

Management lore continues alive and well in the organizational sciences

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to identify examples of management lore currently in the organizational sciences. Design/methodology/approach – The authors deliberated and developed a series of examples of management lore in the organizational sciences and surveyed management practitioners concerning their beliefs in the lore hypothesized. Findings – Pervasive beliefs that conflict with academic research exist in management practices. Although many of these ideas are commonly accepted as immutable facts, they may be based upon faulty logic, insufficient understanding of academic research, anecdotal evidence and an overdependence upon common sense. Buckley and Eder (1988) called these as examples of management lore. In this conceptual paper, we identify and discuss 12 examples of management lore that persist in day-to-day management practices. Topics we explore include personality, emotional intelligence, teams, compensation, goals, performance, work ethic, creativity and organizational citizenship...

Toward the pattern-oriented approach to research in human resources management: A review of configurational and category theorizing, methods, and applications

Abstract On many occasions, organizational science research has been referred to as fragmented and disjointed, resulting in a literature that is, in the opinion of many, difficult to navigate and comprehend. One potential explanation is that scholars have failed to comprehend that organizations are complex and intricate systems. In order to move us past this morass, we recommend that researchers extend beyond traditional rational, mechanistic, and variable-centered approaches to research and integrate a more advantageous pattern-oriented approach within their research program. Pattern-oriented methods approximate real-life phenomena by adopting a holistic, integrative approach to research wherein individual- and organizational-systems are viewed as non-decomposable organized wholes. We argue that the pattern-oriented approach has the potential to overcome a number of breakdowns faced by alternate approaches, while offering a novel and more representative lens from which to view organizational- and HRM-related issues. The proposed incorporation of the pattern-oriented approach is framed within a review and evaluation of current approaches to organizational research and is supplemented with a discussion of methodological and theoretical implications as well as potential applications of the pattern-oriented approach.