Kenneth L. Bettenhausen

Clarifying the Attributes of Organizational Crises

Abstract A clear understanding of the attributes of a crisis is crucial for its prediction, management, and control. However, crises are described by a wide array of attributes that are often contradictory and/or imprecise. In this article we describe three subsets of crises: technological disasters, crises of decline, and developmental crises. We reduce imprecisions by differentiating between those attributes that describe all crises from those that are specific to a subset. We provide a rationale as to how competing attributes co-exist. Implications for the study and management of crises are discussed.

The Impact of Purpose, Participant Preconceptions, and Rating Level on the Acceptance of Peer Evaluations

This study investigates the effects of appraisal purpose (feedback vs. grading), participant preconceptions, and favorability of the peer ratings on user acceptance of peer evaluations in an experiential management course. The results indicate more favorable acceptance of the peer evaluations when used for grading purposes and when initially viewed as beneficial. The validity of the research setting as well as possible explanations of these results are discussed, followed by suggestions for future research on the acceptability of peer evaluations as a management tool.

When organizational politics matters: The effects of the perceived frequency and distance of experienced politics:

Drawing from literature linking organizational politics with effects of challenge or hindrance stressors, this study investigated the effects of the frequency and psychological distance of positive and negative conceptualizations of perceived politics on the impact to the individual. It was hypothesized that the frequency of political behavior would exhibit an inverted-U-function relationship with favorable evaluations of political behavior and that this relationship would be moderated by distance. Two independent samples were used to test the hypotheses. Results for negative conceptualizations of perceived politics indicated a curvilinear frequency–evaluation relationship such that moderate levels of negative or dysfunctional politics are evaluated more favorably than either high or low levels. The distance of the political behavior was further found to moderate this relationship, with distant politics having little effect on the frequency–evaluation relationship, but politics with nearby impact yielding more negative evaluations as frequency increased. For positive conceptualizations of perceived politics, results revealed that respondents evaluated this form of politics more favorably the more it occurred. Further, positive political behavior was reported to be less desirable when its impact was believed to be at a distance rather than being felt by respondents personally. Implications are discussed.