Shmuel Ellis

Says Who?: Epistemic Authority Effects in Social Judgment

Publisher Summary This chapter features the concept of ascribed epistemic authority offered as a unique perspective on source effects in social judgment. It assumes that both the self and external sources may be assigned different degrees of epistemic authority in different domains and that this determines the ways in which individuals process information, make decisions, and undertake actions. The present framework traces the socio-developmental aspects of epistemic authority assignments and considers individual differences in the distribution of authority assignments across sources. The chapter conceives of epistemic authority ascriptions as meta-cognitive beliefs about a source of information. It introduces a perspective on source effects framed from the subjective standpoint of the informations recipient. This perspective highlights the developmental, individual differences, self-related, and applied aspects of source phenomena. The treatment of source effects in several major models of persuasion is reviewed. A final discussion highlights the unique properties of the epistemic authority and considers its implications for the place of source effects in notions of information processing and human judgment.

Organizational Learning Mechanisms and Managers’ Perceived Uncertainty

The present study examined the relations between perceived environmental/technological uncertainty among managers and intensity of use of organizational learning mechanisms. Confirming the research hypotheses, negative relations were found between the intensity of use of each of the five factors of organizational learning mechanisms (formal learning processes, information dissemination, training, information gathering, information storage and retrieval) and perceived environmental/technological uncertainty. These correlations were higher in the organizations that function under uncertain as opposed to certain environments. Finally, when perceived uncertainty was regressed on the five factors of organizational learning mechanisms, information gathering came out with a positive regression weight, that is, when organizational learning mechanisms like information dissemination, training or information storage and retrieval are held constant, information gathering is positively related to uncertainty.

Systematic Reflection Implications for Learning From Failures and Successes

Drawing on a growing stream of empirical findings that runs across different psychological domains, we demonstrated that systematic reflection stands out as a prominent tool for learning from experience. For decades, failed experiences have been considered the most powerful learning sources. Despite the theoretical and practical relevance, few researchers have investigated whether people can also learn from their successes. We showed that through systematic reflection, people can learn from both their successes and their failures. Studies have further shown that the effectiveness of systematic reflection depends on situational (e.g., reflection focus) and person-based (e.g., conscientiousness) factors. Given today’s unrelenting pace and the abundance of activities in which people are involved, future researchers may want to investigate how to effectively integrate systematic reflection within the busy daily environment of the learner.

The effect of filmed versus personal after-event reviews on task performance: the mediating and moderating role of self-efficacy.

In the current study, we compared the effect of personal and filmed after-event reviews (AERs) on performance, and the role that self-efficacy plays in moderating and mediating the effects of these 2 types of AER on performance. The setting was one in which 49 men and 63 women participated twice in a simulated business decision-making task. In between, participants received a personal AER, watched a filmed AER, or had a break. We found that individuals who participated in an AER, whether personal or filmed, improved their performance significantly more than those who did not participate in a review. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in performance improvement between the personal and the filmed AER, which suggests that the 2 are quite similar in their effect. We also found that the differences in performance improvement between the personal AER group and the control group were somewhat greater than those found in the filmed AER group. Self-efficacy mediated the effect of AER on performance improvement in both types of AER. In addition, the effect of AER on performance improvement was moderated by initial self-efficacy in the personal but not in the filmed AER: The personal AER was more effective, the higher the initial self-efficacy.

The Promise and Pitfalls of Venture Capital as an Asset Class for Clean Energy Investment: Research Questions for Organization and Natural Environment Scholars

If venture capital’s role in clean energy is to be more transformative in creating a sustainable society then the trends we reveal in this paper must gain momentum, but whether these trends will continue to gain momentum is not certain. We therefore encourage organization and natural environment scholars to follow up on the claims we make in this paper and pursue the questions we raise further. This paper reviews both the potential and the limitations of venture capital (VC) as a source of funding for clean energy. We provide preliminary evidence that venture capitalists (VCs) have been adjusting their operating procedures to accommodate clean energy. First, they have been investing larger amounts of money for longer periods of time. Second, they have started to avoid funding high risk production, distribution, and installation manufacturing and production companies and to a greater degree have been funding companies that focus on the intersection between information technology and energy. Third, besides making bigger bets, stretching out their timetables, and avoiding high risk and capital intensive companies, they have been experimenting with investments in companies with very risky technologies. Were these companies to succeed in commercializing these technologies the impact on the natural environment would be very great. We challenge organization and natural environment scholars to take up questions like these and others that deal with clean energy funding. Amongst a number of possible funding sources, what role is venture capital best suited to play? How would it need to change to play a more significant role? What would have to happen for venture capital to stimulate a major breakthrough, one that was of the magnitude of the Internet in transforming our economy and society in a more sustainable direction?

One Out of Many? Boundary Negotiation and Identity Formation in Postmerger Integration

This research investigates how boundaries are utilized during the postmerger integration process to influence the postmerger identity of the firm. We suggest that the boundaries that define the structures, practices, and values of firms prior to a merger become reinforced, contested, or revised in the integration process, thus shaping the firm identity that emerges. In a field study of a series of four sequential mergers, we find that the boundary negotiation process acts as an engine for identity creation in postmerger integration. Our analysis of the process through which postmerger identity is created reveals two stages of identity creation. In the first stage, boundaries are negotiated to leverage and import certain practices and values of the premerger firms; in the second stage, these boundaries are blurred as managers build on the set of imported practices and values to impose further systems that define the postintegration firm. Our research contributes to the identity literature by drawing attention to the important role of boundaries and practices that define the identities of the merging firms. We show how these boundaries get repurposed to create an organization whose identity ultimately represents a departure from the premerger firms while it preserves the aspects of identity that allow members to uphold key values. We also contribute to the literature on postmerger integration by demonstrating the steps through which identity evolves by the staged demarcation and negotiation of boundaries, thus complementing previous treatments of merging firms as a set of fixed organizational attributes in merger contexts.

Group processes and the development of information systems: a social psychological perspective

Abstract This article discusses the influence of intra-group processes on the development of information systems. Two alternative models of the Trinity Concept were compared in terms of the influence of communication patterns and group working procedures on productivity and intra-group relations. The first model has been characterized by individual work and circular communication, and the second by collaborative group work and multi-directional communication. Predictions are been made in favour of the latter over the former.

Perceived error criticality and organizational learning: an empirical investigation

This study examined the effect of error criticality on the likelihood of the development of a learning organizational culture. Four types of organizations differing in error criticality (the severity of the costs of potential error) were compared in terms of the intensity of learning culture, operationalized as shared values of issue orientation, valid information, transparency, and accountability. Consistent with the study’s hypothesis, these shared values were stronger among air traffic controllers and high-tech workers (who face high error criticality) than among psychiatrists and teachers (who face low error criticality). Directions for future research are discussed. Copyright ? 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Cornwallis Emmanuel Ltd.

Risk: a neglected component of strategy formulation

The hypothesis that managers believe risk to be a major component of strategy formulation, with a corresponding effect on the strategic decision‐making process, was subjected to empirical examination. A total of 93 top executives of Israels largest industrial companies, representing various business sectors, responded to the research questionnaire. Although the data supported the major research hypothesis, they also showed that managers are not inclined to use risk‐assessment models. In‐depth interviews with 21 participants supported the findings and suggested possible explanations. Recommendations regarding the formation of risk strategy and the incorporation of risk assessment models to strategic decisions are suggested.

Structural Contingency Revisited: Toward a Dynamic System Model

Structural contingency theory can be reduced to the following equation: Organizational environment/technology/ uncertainty correlate with organizational structure, such that turbulent environment/unit technology/high uncertainty produce an organic structure, while their opposites produce a mechanistic one. The better the fit, so defined, the higher the effectiveness of the organization (e.g., Burns & Stalker, 1961; Pennings, 1975). Although the structural contingency theory was developed during the early 1960s, its appeal to practitioners and business school academics has not diminished. The theory is still endorsed as a managerial tool, and guidelines based on the contingency model continue to appear in managerial textbooks (Daft, 1995; Mintzberg, 1979). It is still attractive because it makes logical sense (to scholars as well as to managers), but scholars have been frustrated by the fact that numerous research efforts have yielded only fragmented empirical support for the theory. Whereas early research was supportive (Burns & Stalker, 1961; Lawrence & Lorsch, 1967; Woodward, 1958), subsequent studies have failed to produce consistent supporting evidence (Dewar & Werbel, 1979; Fry & Slocum, 1984; Kopp & Litschert, 1980; Mohr, 1971; Pennings, 1975). Refinements in the contingency equation that were offered over the years (Child, 1972; Lewin and Stephens, 1994; Schoonhoven, 1981) did not enhance support for the theory.