Onne Janssen

Job demands, perceptions of effort‐reward fairness and innovative work behaviour

Building on person-environment fit theory and social exchange theory, the relationship between job demands and innovative work behaviour was assumed to be moderated by fairness perceptions of the ratio between effort spent and reward received at work. This interaction of job demands with perceptions of effort-reward fairness was tested among 170 non-management employees from a Dutch industrial organization in the food sector. Results demonstrated a positive relationship between job demands and innovative work behaviour when employees perceived effort-reward fairness rather than under-reward unfairness.

Fairness perceptions as a moderator in the curvilinear relationships between job demands, and job performance and job satisfaction

Activation theory suggests that intermediate rather than low or high levels of quantitative job demands benefit job performance and job satisfaction among managers. Using an equity theory framework...

Joint Impact of Interdependence and Group Diversity on Innovation

This questionnaire study among 343 members of 41 work teams in a financial services organization examined the effects of individual team members’ perceived task interdependence and perceived goal interdependence on innovative behavior in teams characterized by different levels of group diversity. Multilevel analyses revealed that individual’s perceived task and goal interdependence were not related to innovative behavior in homogeneous teams. In heterogeneous teams, however, task interdependence was strongly and positively related to innovative behavior for individuals who perceived high levels of goal interdependence, and unrelated to innovative behavior for those who perceived low levels of goal interdependence.

How Task and Person Conflict Shape the Role of Positive Interdependence in Management Teams

A literature-based model defining how task and person conflict modify the relationship between positive goal interdependence and decision-making effectiveness in management teams is presented. The model assumes that positive interdependence fosters effective decision making behaviors only if person conflict interferes with task conflict, but not in cases of one-sided task conflict, one-sided person conflict, or no conflict. Survey results obtained from 102 members of management teams illustrate this complex interactive effect of positive interdependence and type of conflict. The proposed refinement of the classic interdependence paradigm may advance recent theory and research on the role of type of conflict in team decision making.

Conflict stress and reduced well-being at work : The buffering effect of third-party help

This study among 108 Dutch social services workers examined whether particularly the intrapsychic tension directly associated with interpersonal conflict at work, i.e., conflict stress, is responsible for reduced well-being in terms of emotional exhaustion, absenteeism, and turnover intentions. Furthermore, we explored whether these detrimental effects were buffered by third-party help. Factor analyses showed that third-party help could be considered an additional conflict management style, next to more traditional behavioural styles such as problem solving and forcing. As expected, conflict stress was positively related to emotional exhaustion, absenteeism, and turnover intentions even when controlled for task and relationship conflict. Furthermore, this relationship was strong for respondents who report low third-party help and nonexistent for respondents who report high third-party help. These findings suggest that third-party help is a successful conflict management strategy to prevent negative outcomes of interpersonal conflict in organizations.

Fatigued and Dissatisfied or Fatigued but Satisfied? Goal Orientations and Responses to High Job Demands

The present study tested dispositional goal orientation as an explanation for variation in responses to high job demands. Survey data from 322 university employees demonstrated that Job demands wer...

Achievement Goals and Interpersonal Behavior: How Mastery and Performance Goals Shape Information Exchange

The present research examines the impact of achievement goals on task-related information exchange. Studies 1 and 2 reveal that relative to those with mastery goals or no goal, individuals pursuing performance goals were less open in their information giving to exchange partners. Study 2 further clarifies this effect of achievement goals by showing that performance goals generate an exploitation orientation toward information exchange. Furthermore, relative to individuals with mastery goals or no goal, people pursuing performance goals enhanced their task performance by utilizing more high-quality information obtained from their exchange partner (Study 1) and protected their task performance by more rigorously disregarding received low-quality information (Study 2).

Goal orientations and the seeking of different types of feedback information

Based on the goal orientation model of feedback-seeking behaviour, goal orientations are proposed to influence employees in the type of information they seek from knowledgeable others in the work environment. As hypothesized, a survey conducted among 170 medical residents of a Dutch university hospital showed that a learning-approach goal orientation had a positive relationship with the seeking of self-improvement information and a negative relationship with the seeking of self-validation information. In contrast, a performance-approach goal orientation was negatively related to the seeking of self-improvement information, while a performance-avoidance goal orientation was positively related to the seeking of self-validation information. Unexpectedly, a performance-avoidance goal orientation was also found to be positively related to the seeking of self-improvement information.

The barrier effect of conflict with superiors in the relationship between employee empowerment and organizational commitment

The author proposes the idea that conflict with superiors has a barrier effect in the positive relationship between employee empowerment and organizational commitment. Superiors with higher authority rankings set and pursue organizational goals and values to which employees with lower authority rankings are expected to become committed. Conflicts with those superiors may hinder empowered employees to develop or maintain high levels of organizational commitment. A questionnaire survey among 91 secondary school teachers in The Netherlands provides empirical support for this suggestion. The moderator effect of conflict with superiors that was proposed and found in this study suggests that psychological empowerment in the workplace interacts with other employee experiences in its effects on an employees commitment to the organization.The author proposes the idea that conflict with superiors has a barrier effect in the positive relationship between employee empowerment and organizational commitment. Superiors with higher authority rankings set and pursue organizational goals and values to which employees with lower authority rankings are expected to become committed. Conflicts with those superiors may hinder empowered employees to develop or maintain high levels of organizational commitment. A questionnaire survey among 91 secondary school teachers in The Netherlands provides empirical support for this suggestion. The moderator effect of conflict with superiors that was proposed and found in this study suggests that psychological empowerment in the workplace interacts with other employee experiences in its effects on an employees commitment to the organization.

Voicing by Adapting and Innovating Employees: An Empirical Study on How Personality and Environment Interact to Affect Voice Behavior

This article reports two studies exploring how cognitive style preferences for adaption-innovation affect the likelihood that employees will voice ideas for organizational change toward their supervisors. As hypothesized, Study 1 demonstrates that innovatively compared to adaptively predisposed police officers are less likely to voice conventional ideas and more likely to voice novel ideas for solving work-related problems. Besides a replication of these findings, Study 2 shows how work satisfaction and the quality of the supervisor as voice manager shape the impact of adaption-innovation on employee likelihood to voice. That is, compared to innovators, adaptors are more likely to voice conventional ideas when they are dissatisfied rather than satisfied with work and perceive their supervisors as effective rather than ineffective voice managers. On the other hand, innovators compared to adaptors report greater likelihood to voice novel ideas when they are satisfied rather than dissatisfied with work and perceive their supervisors as effective rather than ineffective voice managers. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.