Susan J. Ashford

Feedback as an individual resource: Personal strategies of creating information

Abstract This paper proposes a model of individual feedback seeking behaviors (FSB). Individuals are posited to seek feedback while negotiating their organizational environments in the pursuit of valued goals. The model portrays several motivations for FSB based on the value of feedback to individuals and outlines two predominant strategies of FSB, monitoring and inquiry. The costs and benefits of each strategy are discussed. Hypotheses concerning both an individuals level of FSB and subsequent strategy choice are subsequently derived. FSB is proposed as an important component of the feedback process. The concluding discussion focuses on the contribution of this perspective to the current organization behavior feedback literature.

Reflections on the Looking Glass: A Review of Research on Feedback-Seeking Behavior in Organizations:

This paper presents and organizes the results of two decades of research on feedback-seeking behavior according to three motives: the instrumental motive to achieve a goal, the ego-based motive to protect one’s ego, and the image-based motive to enhance and protect one’s image in an organization. Each motive is discussed with reference to its impact on the frequency of feedback seeking, seeking method (whether by inquiry or monitoring), timing of feedback seeking, choice of the target of feedback seeking, and the topic on which feedback is sought. The role of context in influencing these patterns is also discussed. Issues in the literature are identified throughout, and the review ends by identifying five promising areas for future research.

Reading the wind: how middle managers assess the context for selling issues to top managers

Issue selling is an important mechanism for creating change initiatives in organizations. This paper presents two studies that examine what middle managers think about as they decide whether or not to sell strategic issues to top management. In Study 1 middle managers identify themes that indicate a favorable or unfavorable context for issue selling. Top management’s willingness to listen and a supportive culture were the most often named contributors to context favorability, while fear of negative consequences, downsizing conditions and uncertainty were thought to signal that a context was unfavorable for issue selling. Study 2 identifies factors that middle managers associate with image risk in the context of issue selling. Violating norms for issue selling, selling in a politically vulnerable way and having a distant relationship with top management were regarded as major contributors to a middle manager’s level of image risk. Both studies enrich our understanding of the social psychological mechanisms that undergird the strategic change process.© 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Individual Strategies for Coping with Stress during Organizational Transitions

This article examines the coping mechanisms employees used to adapt to a major organizational transition. Research was conducted to assess both coping resources and coping responses. The sample consisted of employees of the Bell Telephone System who had to cope with the companys recent divestiture. The results of a multivariate analysis suggest that perceived uncertainty and fears about the impact of the transition were related to employee stress. This relationship was only moderately affected by the coping mechanisms. Feelings of personal control and the ability to tolerate ambiguity were linked with improved stress levels, whereas active attempts to structure the situation by obtaining information and feedback either failed to affect or actually increased stress levels. The author concludes with implications of this research for the management of change.

Conveying more (or less) than we realize: The role of impression-management in feedback-seeking.

This paper reports two studies concerning impression management, impression formation, and feedback-seeking. Study 1 demonstrated that people seek less feedback when being observed and respond to situational norms regarding the appropriate frequency of seeking. However, Study 2 showed that when an individual has a superior performance history, seeking enhances observers’ impressions of the seeker’s personal characteristics and performance potential in the organization. The implications of these findings for feedback-seeking and the provision of feedback in organizations are discussed.

Commitment Propensity, Organizational Commitment, and Voluntary Turnover: A Longitudinal Study of Organizational Entry Processes:

This study investigated the effect of commitment propensity (a summary concept comprising personal characteristics and experiences that individuals bring to the organization) on the development of subsequent organizational commitment and voluntary turnover In a field setting where situational influences on attitudes and behaviors were very strong, commitment propensity, measured prior to the individual s entry into the organization, predicted subsequent organizational commitment, measured at five points in time after entry. Moreover; initial commitment, measured at time of entry, predicted voluntary turnover across a 4-year period. The implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Dealing with Discrepant Expectations: Response Strategies and Managerial Effectiveness

This study examined the relationship between four strategies for managerial responses to the discrepant expectations of constituents and managerial effectiveness as perceived by superiors, subordin...

Red Light, Green Light: Making Sense of the Organizational Context for Issue Selling

This paper analyzes the contextual cues female managers attend to when considering raising gender-equity issues at work. Study 1 provides a qualitative look at the range of cues indicating context favorability, including demographic patterns, top management qualities, and cultural exclusivity. Study 2 experimentally manipulates these cues and reveals that the exclusiveness of organizational culture is the most potent cue affecting willingness to sell a gender-equity issue. A discussion of mediators sheds lights on why cultural exclusivity affects issue selling.

The preservation of self in everyday life: The effects of performance expectations and feedback context on feedback inquiry

Abstract This paper examines the roles of performance expectations, feedback context, and self-esteem in feedback inquiry. Seventy-eight subjects participated in a stock market simulation. Results showed that performance expectations and the public context in which the subjects sought feedback significantly influenced the frequency of feedback inquiry. However, these effects depended on type of feedback (personal performance vs social comparison) being requested and additionally were influenced by self-esteem of the feedback seeker.

2 Old Assumptions, New Work: The Opportunities and Challenges of Research on Nonstandard Employment

Abstract We review the literature on nonstandard work with three aims: to portray the breadth and nature of the research and theorizing to date, to document the challenges and opportunities this domain poses to both practice and theory, and to bring the study of nonstandard work more to the center stage of micro-OB. After defining nonstandard work and documenting scholarly interest in it, we discuss the literature on the experience of nonstandard workers, on managing the nonstandard workforce, as well as that on managing the interface between standard and nonstandard workers. We analyze the themes that are raised in these literatures and point to new research questions that need to be addressed. Research on nonstandard work can enhance our understanding of the nature of work, the relationship between individuals and organizations, and how organizations and individuals can undertake these new work forms.