Megan W. Gerhardt

Personality and Leadership: A Qualitative and Quantitative Review

This article provides a qualitative review of the trait perspective in leadership research, followed by a meta-analysis. The authors used the five-factor model as an organizing framework and meta-analyzed 222 correlations from 73 samples. Overall, the correlations with leadership were Neuroticism = -.24, Extraversion = .31, Openness to Experience = .24, Agreeableness = .08, and Conscientiousness = .28. Results indicated that the relations of Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, and Conscientiousness with leadership generalized in that more than 90% of the individual correlations were greater than 0. Extraversion was the most consistent correlate of leadership across study settings and leadership criteria (leader emergence and leadership effectiveness). Overall, the five-factor model had a multiple correlation of .48 with leadership, indicating strong support for the leader trait perspective when traits are organized according to the five-factor model.

The Role of Cognitive Style and Risk Preference on Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy and Entrepreneurial Intentions

The purpose of the current study is to address the distinctive roles of cognitive style and risk preference on four types of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intentions. More specifically, we examine how both cognitive style and risk preference separately and interactively contribute to an individuals assessment of his/her own skills and abilities as well as to his/her own entrepreneurial intentions. This study investigated these relationships using an international sample of 528 entrepreneurial students across three universities. Results indicated that individuals with a high risk preference had higher levels of entrepreneurial intentions and opportunity-identification efficacy, whereas individuals with a low risk preference had higher levels of relationship efficacy, and tolerance efficacy. Individuals with an intuitive cognitive style were also found to have lower perceived self-efficacy concerning the establishment of relationship with investors, the economic management of the new venture, and their capacity to tolerate ambiguity. However, intuitive individuals who had a high preference for risk exhibited higher levels of opportunity identification efficacy. Finally, contrary to our final hypothesis, analytic individuals with a low preference for risk had higher levels of relationship and tolerance self-efficacy than intuitive individuals with a high risk preference. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Understanding the Impact of Proactive Personality on Job Performance The Roles of Tenure and Self-Management

The current study investigated the moderating impact of job tenure and the mediating process of self-management on the relationship between proactive personality and performance. Using a sample of 95 sales executives, results indicated a significant interaction between proactive personality and job tenure. In addition, there was an indirect effect of self-management behavior on the relationship between proactive personality and performance. Such findings suggest that a proactive personality may be differentially related to performance dependent on job tenure and that self-managing behaviors may be a key linking mechanism between proactive personality and performance. Implications for both research and practice are discussed.

The importance of being … social? Instructor credibility and the Millennials

Using the framework of generational identity, the current study explores how a range of characteristics impact Millennial perceptions of instructor credibility. Millennial Generation student ratings of the impact of competence, character, and sociability on instructor credibility were compared to faculty ratings of the same characteristics. Results reveal that both groups consider competence and character to be similarly relevant to overall instructor credibility, but that Millennial learners value sociability when assessing credibility significantly more than faculty do. Additional analyses explore the impact of instructor sociability on types of student engagement.

The Importance of Perceived Task Difficulty in Goal Orientation—Assigned Goal Alignment

This study investigated the moderating effect of perceived task difficulty on the relationship between goal alignment and task performance. Using a sample of 131 participants, the relationship between trait learning goal orientation, assigned goal condition, and task performance was assessed. Results indicated that goal alignment was not significantly related to task performance overall. Perceived task difficulty did significantly moderate this relationship.

A Conversation With Ray Aldag and Belle Rose Ragins The 2013 Midwest Scholars of the Midwest Academy of Management

As editors of this special issue, we strive to showcase interesting and timely scholarship that focuses on current topics in management, as well as seek ways to continue to strengthen the connection between JLOS and the Midwest Academy of Management. In this vein, we are proud to feature this conversation with Drs. Ray Aldag and Belle Rose Ragins, the 2013 Midwest Scholars. They discuss their reactions to what we view as critical, timely challenges in the field of management and provide developmental advice for students and junior faculty.

A Bridge Over Troubled Water A Former Military Officer, Corporate Executive, and Business School Dean Discusses the Research–Practice Divide

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of concern regarding the gap between academic research and the ongoing daily practice of running businesses. In this article, we interview an individual who successfully made the transition not only from practice to research, but from military service to corporate life and then to academics. Professor Earl Walker is a retired U.S. Army Colonel who commanded armor units in Vietnam, worked as a corporate executive, and then transitioned into academic teaching and later academic administration. Over the course of his academic career, he has served as the dean of three business schools. In the interview, Walker describes his perceptions of the practice–research gap, revealing that it is in some ways smaller and other ways larger than others believe it to be.