Tal Katz-Navon

WHEN COLLECTIVE- AND SELF-EFFICACY AFFECT TEAM PERFORMANCE The Role of Task Interdependence

The study examined task interdependence as a structural factor, which influences the emergence of collective-efficacy versus self-efficacy as a team-level construct. It tested for the differential effects of self- and collective-efficacy on team performance and the effects of initial perceptions of self- and collective-efficacy and record of past performance on the development of their subsequent perceptions. Results of a laboratory study demonstrated that collective-efficacy solidified as a meaningful team construct and influenced team performance only when a highly interdependent task required team members to closely interact and coordinate their efforts. Under conditions of low task interdependence, collective-efficacy had no basis from which to emerge as a higher level team characteristic and no significance in what is, in essence, individual performances. In contrast, self-efficacy emerged as a meaningful construct that explained individual performance under low task interdependence conditions.

Readiness to report medical treatment errors: the effects of safety procedures, safety information, and priority of safety.

Background:Medical error reporting is an essential component of patient safety enhancement. However, increasingly, the literature points to a problem of underreporting of treatment errors, mainly as a result of the fear of malpractice lawsuits and limited formal data collection systems. Few studies, if any, have examined the influence of informal aspects of the organization, such as safety climate, on employees’ willingness to report errors. Objectives:This study investigated the relationship between safety climate aspects and personnel readiness to report treatment errors in different hospital departments. Method:The model was tested in 3 hospitals (n = 632 in 44 medical departments of 3 types; internal medicine, surgery, and intensive care). Three safety climate aspects were measured using questionnaires: the way employees perceive the safety procedures, the safety information flow within their department, and the relative priorities given to safety in the department. Readiness to report was measured by tallying each departments annual number of treatment errors reported to the hospitals’ risk management systems. Results:Negative binomial regression analysis indicated that the more personnel perceive procedures as suitable and safety information as available, the higher was their willingness to report treatment errors. These relationships significantly differed depending on the department type. Conclusions:Hospitals should take into account the perceptions of personnel regarding safety procedures and information and understand that these perceptions operate differently in different department types in their effect on the staffs willingness to report treatment errors.

Active Learning: When Is More Better? The Case of Resident Physicians' Medical Errors

An active learning climate facilitates new knowledge acquisition by encouraging employees to ask questions, seek feedback, reflect on potential results, explore, and experiment. These activities, however, also increase a learners chances of erring. In high-reliability organizations, any error is unacceptable and may well be life threatening. The authors use the example of resident physicians to suggest that by adjusting the conditions of priority of safety and managerial safety practices, organizations can balance these potentially conflicting activities. Participants in the study were 123 residents from 25 medical wards. Results demonstrated that the positive linear relationship between priority of safety and safety performance, demonstrated in earlier studies, existed only when the active learning climate was low. When the active learning climate was high, results demonstrated a U-shaped curvilinear relationship between priority of safety and number of errors. In addition, high managerial safety practices mitigated the number of errors as a result of the active learning climate.

Resident physicians’ clinical training and error rate: the roles of autonomy, consultation, and familiarity with the literature

Resident physicians’ clinical training poses unique challenges for the delivery of safe patient care. Residents face special risks of involvement in medical errors since they have tremendous responsibility for patient care, yet they are novice practitioners in the process of learning and mastering their profession. The present study explores the relationships between residents’ error rates and three clinical training methods (1) progressive independence or level of autonomy, (2) consulting the physician on call, and (3) familiarity with up-to-date medical literature, and whether these relationships vary among the specialties of surgery and internal medicine and between novice and experienced residents. 142 Residents in 22 medical departments from two hospitals participated in the study. Results of hierarchical linear model analysis indicated that lower levels of autonomy, higher levels of consultation with the physician on call, and higher levels of familiarity with up-to-date medical literature were associated with lower levels of resident’s error rates. The associations varied between internal and surgery specializations and novice and experienced residents. In conclusion, the study results suggested that the implicit curriculum that residents should be afforded autonomy and progressive independence with nominal supervision in accordance with their relevant skills and experience must be applied cautiously depending on specialization and experience. In addition, it is necessary to create a supportive and judgment free climate within the department that may reduce a resident’s hesitation to consult the attending physician.

A focus on commitment: the roles of transformational and transactional leadership and self-regulatory focus in fostering organizational and safety commitment

ABSTRACT The concept of employees’ commitment is one of the most challenging concepts in the management, organizational behaviour and human resource management literatures and research. The current study focuses on the construct of commitment as an emotional attitude, and expands the concept of general organizational commitment to a new more specific form of commitment, commitment to safety. Furthermore, commitment theorists commonly identify leadership as an important contributing factor to the development of organizational commitment. We aim to explain an underlying motivational mechanism, self-regulatory foci, through which leadership styles foster followers’ commitment. Results of three studies that used different methods (field and experimental), within different samples, demonstrated that transformational leadership was positively associated with followers’ promotion focus, which in turn was positively associated with both followers’ general and affective commitment to safety. Prevention focus mediated the positive relationship between a transactional active leadership style and both followers’ general and continuance commitment to safety. The implications of the findings for theory and practice are further discussed.

Examining the Cross-Level Influence of Dispositional and Team Goal Orientations on Employee Self-Regulation and Performance in a Complex Task Environment

The study examined the mediating role of individual’s self-regulatory processes of deep cognitive strategies (meaningful learning rather than a reproduction of knowledge) and negative affect in the relationship between dispositional and team goal orientations and team member’s performance of complex tasks. Thirty-three research and development teams and their managers participated. Results demonstrated that dispositional performance orientation (focus on success) increased negative affect, which, in turn, lowered employee job performance. Whereas team learning orientation (focus on learning and improvement) decreased negative affect, which, in turn, was associated with higher employee job performance. Additionally, both dispositional and team learning orientations were positively and significantly associated with individuals’ use of deep cognitive strategies. However, deep cognitive strategies were not associated with employee performance. Findings suggest that managers of teams performing complex tasks may want to consider ways to create and sustain a high learning orientation in order to reduce negative affect and increase use of deep cognitive strategies within their teams.