Laura Riolli

Information system organizational resilience

The literature on individual and organizational resilience is reviewed. A theoretical model is developed to address the lack of specific research and theory concerning stress and resilience in the information system field as specified by Thong and Yap (Omega 28 (2000) 681). Specifically, in order to understand organizational resilience in the information system field, the proposed model integrates approaches that specify both individual and organizational levels of response. Organizational structures and processes and extra-organizational factors illustrate potential sources of protection and vulnerabilities to stress on the organizational level. On the individual level proximal chronic stressors of situational demands, constraints, and deficient resources are coupled with individual differences such as dispositions, personality, values, and skills that an individual may call upon during exposure to a stressful event. After the model is elaborated, brief research findings are offered as initial support for the model on the individual level. Implications of the framework for information system practice and future research are discussed.

Impact of Fairness, Leadership, and Coping on Strain, Burnout, and Turnover in Organizational Change.

Procedural justice, supervisory style, and personal coping measures were obtained from 103 workers from two units of a nationwide engineering firm during and six months after a time-limited, company-wide computer system change. The two units employed significantly differing procedural justice approaches. Lower procedural justice was predictive of higher burnout, strain, and turnover. The patterns of relationship were somewhat different for burnout and strain, implying that these two affective responses to change might be viewed as distinct from one another. Higher strain was predictive of turnover above and beyond contributions of procedural justice, supervision, and coping, but burnout was not. Implications for application and further research are discussed based on the research findings.

Resilience to traumatic exposure among soldiers deployed in combat.

We examined the influence of positive psychological capital (PsyCap), a metaconstruct that combines established psychological predispositions to be resilient to stress, on the well-being of soldiers during combat deployment. Among U.S. Army personnel deployed in Iraq, cognitive appraisal of stress mediated the effects of trait PsyCap on health symptoms. The indirect effects through appraisal were moderated by levels of exposure to potentially traumatic stimuli. Trait PsyCap covaried more strongly with cognitive appraisals, and had stronger indirect effects through appraisal on health, among soldiers in units with higher levels of potentially traumatic exposures. We discuss implications for research on resilience to trauma in the workplace and for helping workers cope with potentially traumatic exposures.

Positive Emotions in Traumatic Conditions: Mediation of Appraisal and Mood for Military Personnel

The current study examines the relative contributions of cognitions and moods with U.S. military personnel under traumatic stress conditions. Soldiers exposed to traumatic stress conditions reported significantly elevated psychological symptoms. Both cognitive appraisal styles and mood states were related to trait resilience. Both appraisal and mood mediated the relationship between trait resilience and psychological adjustment. Current mood states were a significant predictor of psychological adjustment beyond the trait of resilience and aspects of cognitive appraisal. Positive affect did relate to better psychological adjustment even under traumatic stress conditions.

Firefighters’ Psychological and Physical Outcomes After Exposure to Traumatic Stress: The Moderating Roles of Hope and Personality

Impacts of traumatic stress on psychological and physical outcomes were investigated in a moderated mediation model. Two groups of firefighters participated. The trauma group participated in the Wo...