Joseph E. Champoux

Film as a Teaching Resource

This article discusses using film as a resource for teaching organizational behavior and management theories and concepts. It draws from the film theory and film studies literature to describe films unique qualities as a communication medium. The article describes how film enhances the learning process in ways unavailable in other media. It describes many ways of using films in organizational behavior and management courses, using examples of scenes from several well-known films.

Central Life Interests and Organizational Commitment of Blue-Collar and Clerical Workers

Abstract : Central life interests (CLI) of male blue-collar and female clerical workers were measured along with their overall commitment to their employing organization and their attraction to twelve of its features. Workers with a CLI in work were more highly committed to their organization than those with a CLI in non-work institutions, while those with no preference in CLI appeared to give no special emphasis to the level of their organizational commitment. Some interpretations and conclusions are drawn from the data. (Modified author abstract)

Animated Films as a Teaching Resource

One hundred years of animated cinema offer a rich teaching resource for educators and trainers. This article describes several aspects of animated films and gives a brief history of this film genre. The article argues that animated films are a rich teaching resource for use in organizational behavior and management courses. Included in the article are examples from several animated films, all linked to management and organizational behavior concepts. Interspersing animated film scenes with live-action film scenes can bring variety and vitality to the classroom.

A Multivariate Analysis of Curvilinear Relationships Among Job Scope, Work Context Satisfactions, and Affective Outcomes

This study investigated the curvilinear relationships between Job Scope and Affective Outcomes and the moderating effect of work context satisfactions on those relationships. The analysis used a multivariate design to examine main and interaction effects. The results showed several different relationships between job design and the work context. Those relationships included distraction, enhancement, and compensatory effects of the work context and the job itself. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.

Central Life Interests and Job Satisfaction.

Abstract The perceptual set of the individual worker regarding the centrality of work as a life interest is shown to be related to a measure of job satisfaction. Workers with a work-oriented Central Life Interest (CLI) had the highest job satisfaction measured by the Job Descriptive Index (JDI); those with a non-work-oriented CLI the lowest job satisfaction; and those with a flexible focus CLI an intermediated level of job satisfaction. Furthermore, it was found that a feature of work that was relatively undesirable was so rated on the JDI, regardless of the CLI orientation. Implications of these findings are discussed. Study is based on 430 male, blue-collar workers and 144 female clerical workers in a telephone company, and 336 female clerical workers in 37 branches of a bank.

Workers' Central Life Interests and Personality Characteristics.

Abstract Industrial workers who perceive work as their central life interest (CLI) also describe themselves as having a higher level of decisiveness, initiative, and supervisory ability than workers with other CLI orientations. Workers with CLI orientations in nonwork institutions have the lowest scores on decisiveness, need for occupational achievement, and initiative, and the highest need for job security, of the groups studied. Workers with no anchored CLI had the highest need for self-actualization and need for occupational achievement, of all groups. These personality characteristics are seen as consistent with the CLI orientations of individual workers, suggesting that the personality does “fit” some institutional setting, but not necessarily all those in which the individual functions.

The Moderating Effect of Work Context Satisfactions on the Curvilinear Relationship Between Job Scope and Affective Response

This paper examines the interaction of job scope and satisfaction with contextualfeatures of the job in determining affective response. Data from four samples were analyzed using moderated regression analysis. The results were opposite those predicted from existing theory although consistent with one other published study. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.

Structural Relationships among Facets of Work, Nonwork, and General Well-Being.

Past research on the spillover, compensatory, and no-relationship models has not helped to discover the structural relationships among facets of work, nonwork, and general well-being. A more comprehensive approach is presented and illustrated with data from three empirical studies of German workers. Work is shown to be a less important contributor to general well-being than other facets of life space. Implications for quality of work life interventions and research are discussed.

Workers Central Life Interests and Job Performance.

Abstract : Supervisors ratings of individual workers were related to the central life interests (CLI) of the workers. The group of workers who had a job oriented CLI received the highest ratings from their supervisors among the three CLI groups on initiative and application, cooperation, and quantity of work and were rated low on adaptability. The reverse pattern held for workers with a non-job CLI. Implications of these findings are discussed for their utility in interpreting supervisors orientations in making performance evaluations, as they relate to the characteristics of the rating system.

A Serendipitous Field Experiment in Job Design.

Abstract A longitudinal study over a 5-month period of changes in several jobs was conducted among 244 employees of a federal agency. Seventy-one employees at a single location constituted an experimental group in which the changes were made. An additional 173 employees at scattered field locations formed a comparison group. Data were obtained on perceptions of job content and a number of job attitudes. The data indicated a temporary positive influence of the changes in one set of jobs. People in a group of clerical jobs, however, experienced a “deenrichment” of their jobs as a result of the changes with an accompanying negative effect on their job attitudes and motivation.