Randall G. Sleeth

Empathy and complex task performance: two routes to leadership

Abstract When we perceive someone as a leader, it is often because we are impressed with his/her mental abilities and his/her ability to perform complex tasks. Yet, there is a small but growing body of conceptual work suggesting that our perception of someone as a leader is affected by his/her emotional abilities as well. This article develops a model proposing two distinct behavioral routes that influence perception of an individual as a leader in a small group. One route influences people to perceive leadership from displays of emotional abilities, such as empathy. The other route influences people to perceive leadership from displays of mental abilities, such as complex task performance. Our test of the hypothesized model using structural equation modeling showed a good fit and support for the proposed relationships.

Career development, collective efficacy, and individual task performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis that perceived collective efficacy would mediate the effects of self‐efficacy on individual task performance.Design/methodology/approach – An assessment center design with 147 participants in 49 three‐person groups was used.Findings – It is found that for individuals working on an assigned group goal, perception of the groups collective efficacy, rather than self‐efficacy, has a direct influence on task performance.Research limitations/implications – Future researchers should examine the extent to which cognitive intelligence influences collective efficacy effects.Practical implications – The research suggests that perceptions of collective efficacy and team support may influence early career developmental task performance.Originality/value – This paper found that collective efficacy might be more important than individual efficacy in predicting individual task performance in some circumstances.

Leadership in Computer-Mediated Communication: Implications and Research Directions

Despite the importance of interpersonal influence processes in computer-mediated communication (CMC) environments, the emergence and functioning of leaders in CMC settings remains unstudied. An initial model and propositions address the possible extension of selected leadership models beyond face-to-face (FTF) communications and into the non-face-to-face CMC environment. We (1) model relevant variables for CMC leadership, (2) briefly review the implications of selected leadership models regarding these CMC variables, and (3) extend leadership models into the CMC sphere.

Individual task choice and the division of challenging tasks between men and women

Challenging experiences are considered important for career development, and previous studies have suggested that women have fewer o f those experiences in their jobs than men have. However, the nature and possible determinants of this gender gap in job challenge have hardly been empirically studied. In the present study, the authors examine (a) gender differences in individuals’ choice to perform challenging tasks and (b) gender differences in the allocation of challenging tasks in opposite-sex dyads. Results show that the men and women in the sample did not differ in their individual choice to perform challenging tasks, but after task allocation in opposite-sex dyads men ended up with more of the challenging tasks, whereas women ended up with more of the nonchallenging tasks. The authors discuss the possible consequences of these results for women’s career development.

The case for speech synthesis: an experiment in human engineering

Abstract Despite expected widespread use of computer speech synthesis in manufacturing and production applications, no one has yet determined the effects of synthesized speech on task performance. This laboratory study introduced speech synthesis in replicating parts of two previous experiments that had used human-voice feedback. Both instructions and productivity feedback were examined for their effect on arithmetic manipulation tasks. Findings show that there are interaction effects; it appears necessary to develop profiles of persons and conditions which predict how computer speech synthesis may be used most productively. We must attempt to determine the way that speech synthesizers may replace and enhance the communication process, while maintaining high motivation of people who interact with these machines.

Using communication consultants to rightsize successfully

Successful rightsizing requires that managers preserve the morale and productivity of the remaining employees. A communication consultant can offer invaluable guidance on how to 1) maintain employees morale, 2) help employees perceive the layoffs as fair, 3) take care of employees who have lost their jobs, 4) assist management with layoff decisions, 5) help remaining employees cope with change, and 6) maintain effective communication with workers. On these sensitive topics, management will benefit from advice which is external, expert, and soundly based.

When and How Will Market Competitors Keep or Change Strategy

For animals and for firms, learned habits and mimicking successful others mostly aid survival—except when they do not. In this issue of OMJ, Major, Maggitti, Smith, Grimm, and Derfus “use the awareness–motivation–capability (AMC) perspective developed by Chen and colleagues (Chen, 1996; Chen, Su, & Tsai, 2007) to examine the tension between a firm’s tendency to automatically repeat its own past competitive activity or to imitate others versus its capability and desire to be more selective and less predictable.” Building a theoretical and empirical case, they argue that some firms may repeat past actions “reflexively” informed (and limited) by past actions, and they will make only slow and incremental changes. Also reflexively, some firms may imitate actions of successful competitors. Both classes of reflexive processes can stem from limitations on information and processing. Resulting programmed or routine decisions do not represent particularly broad planning and might not increase organizational effectiveness. Major et al. note that “What would cause one firm to imitate some rivals, but not others, is yet unclear.” They propose that variations in “awareness, motivation, and capability to engage other firms in rivalry” lead firms to base competitive activity both (a) reflexively from their own and others’ experiences and (b) contextually based upon “more strategic and less predictable” cognitive selections. Applying accepted approaches with structured content analysis, they examined as a dependent variable a count of marketing activities (e. g., mergers and acquisitions, alliances, product introductions, advertising campaigns and product announcements, and product innovations) of “2,164 industry-specific, firm–rival dyads from 11 industries ranging from hard goods manufacturers and general retailers to utility providers and national supermarkets over a 6-year period.” Independent variables included measures of marketing activity, performance, industry leadership, and similarity in industry standing—lagged by 1 year. Major et al. considered contextual effects on a firm’s selective behavior and future competitive activity, including prior focal firm performance, rival firm performance, rival industry leadership, and similarity in industry standing. They examined four hypotheses about the interplay of reflexive and selective behavior and found “consistent support for the main effects of both the focal firm and rivals prior levels of competitive activity on future firm activity level, providing evidence of the existence of reflexive competitive behavior. There is also support for selective behavior in the influence of certain contextual factors.” They found, however, that prior performance of rivals did not affect rivals’ level of influence and that industry leaders provided elevated influence. Further, rival–firm similarity did affect the relationship between rival prior marketing activity and the focal firm’s future marketing activity. The study demonstrates that (in terms of marketing activities) firms can act both reflexively and selectively, and they can learn from their own and from rivals’ activity. Consequently, Major et al. note that (a) firms cannot predict the behavior of rivals from past behaviors alone, (b) firms may gain decision-making advantages by recognizing which rivals act reflexively and which act selectively, and (c) competing firms do select particular rivals for imitation. This well-presented article promises to stimulate much further research.

Psychological Contract, Leader–Member Exchange, and Perceived Organization Support—How Do They Interact?

In “A Social Exchange Model of Psychological Contract Fulfillment: Where Do Promises, Expectations, LMX, and POS Fit In?” Anjali Chaudhry and Amanuel G. Tekleab address outcomes of the employee–employer relationship associated with fulfillment of promises and fulfillment of expectations, in a context that includes perceived organizational support (POS), leader–member exchange (LMX), affective commitment, and turnover. The article provides insight into three aspects of social exchange theory: content of the exchange relationship, parties to the exchange relationship, and the process of the exchange relationship. The authors comment with appropriate citations that psychological contract (PC) theory envisions organizations with multiple agents that play a role in shaping as well as fulfilling employee desires in an employment relationship. Thus, “We do not know whether in the mind of the employee, the content of the exchange relationship obligates a particular agent (e.g., manager), the organization, or both” (p. 159) Accordingly, Chaudhry and Tekleab’s interests required that for PC fulfillment they distinguish between associated promises and associated expectations. In their survey they note, “Promises are things your organization has committed to provide to you in exchange for your contributions. Expectations are things that were not promised but you expect your organization to provide to you in exchange for your contributions” (p. 162). In order to provide meaningful comparisons, and to overcome flaws they noted in prior studies, Chaudhry and Tekleab

What It Takes for Expert Advice to Lead to Improved Public Policy

In this issue of OMJ, Matthew W. McCarter and Bryan L. Bonner report on a series of three laboratory studies by which they examined the practical issue of how advice from external experts might affect willingness of individuals to cooperate to contribute to the development of a real-world public good, such as a wind farm to generate electricity for a community. Part of their addition to the literature arises from simultaneously considering the presence of two standard types of uncertainty that affect the decision to cooperate and contribute: social uncertainty and outcome variance. From existing prior research they can assert that the likely presence of such uncertainties makes individuals susceptible to possibly seeking advice from thirdparty experts, who will thereby provide informational social influence. With their three studies, McCarter and Bryan examined combinations and interactions among valence of advice

Plan the Intensity of Your Exercises

upon past successes, helps justify the time required to conduct longer exercises, and helps instructors provide rich experiences with reasonably assured results. The rationale for considering the process of combining exercises begins with the recognition that succeeding with an exercise requires accommodation of physical and time limits, varied participant perceptions and needs regarding the experience, and stated learning objectives. We see problems with two approaches to meeting this challenge. In the first, instructors feel pressured into structuring initially open-ended activities into prepackaged experiences (&dquo;this is what you should have done and what should have happened&dquo;). This approach saves time, but creates a false