Thomas G. Cummings

Organization Learning Disorders: Conceptual Model and Intervention Hypotheses

This paper presents a conceptual model that proposes how organization learning disorders influence organization performance. The model suggests that organization knowledge mediates the relationship between learning disorders and performance. Specific organization learning disorders are identified for each of the four phases of organization learning: discovery, invention, production, and generalization. The effect of learning disorders on organization knowledge is explored, and intervention hypotheses for treating the disorders are presented.

A Cybernetic Framework for Studying Occupational Stress

This paper provides a theoreticalframework for the study of occupational stress. The theory is based on a cybernetic model, which the authors feel is consistent with much of the empirical work already engaged in by researchers in the field of occupational stress. This model draws attention to certain information and feedback characteristics frequently neglected in research in this area.

Wanted OD More Alive Than Dead

The authors examine the evolution of organization development (OD) from its exciting startup to its confusing current state, ending with their concern for OD’s future viability. There have been man...The authors examine the evolution of organization development (OD) from its exciting startup to its confusing current state, ending with their concern for OD’s future viability. There have been many ups and downs to the OD field, including its faddish rise in the 1960s, its downturn while under attack in the 1970s, and its subsequent morphing into many forms during the 1980s and 1990s. The current diffuse nature ofODsuggests that it is hardly recognizable in most organizations, portending its possible demise as a historical artifact. However, the authors believe that ODstill has a role to play if it can revitalize itself by taking on a strategic role in organizations to focus its core values on solving problems it has largely avoided or ignored in the past.

A Methodological Critique of Fifty-Eight Selected Work Experiments

This paper evaluates the internal and external validity of 58 work experiments-e.g., job enrichment, participative management, and autonomous group studies. The experiments are classified according to their independent and dependent variables; then each studys research design is evaluated in terms of various threats to internal and external validity. The results show that the attitudinal and performance improvements reported in the experiments are questionable but not altogether implausible. The findings of the studies appear to be generalizable to a wide range of populations and settings. Several suggestions for the improvement of research in this field are presented in light of the results of this critique.

The Influence of Organizational Demography on Customer-Oriented Prosocial Behavior: An Exploratory Investigation

Abstract This research examines the relationship between two constructs that so far have been studied independently of each other: organizational demography and prosocial organizational behavior (POB). Drawing on social psychology and organizational behavior literatures, we develop a conceptual framework that proposes how these constructs are interrelated. The framework suggests two hypotheses. First, diversity variables high in job-relatedness and low in visibility will be positively related to customer-oriented POB. Second, diversity variables low in job-relatedness and high in visibility will be negatively related to such POB. In a field study, we conduct a preliminary test of these predictions. Specifically, we use company records and questionnaire data (from a firm in the nonalcoholic beverage industry) to compute associations between demographic diversity and prosocial behavior in 223 work units. Results provide preliminary support for our hypotheses. Consistent with the first prediction, functional background diversity has a significant positive association (β = 0.26, p

Frequency of myxomatous degeneration of the aortic valve as a cause of isolated aortic regurgitation severe enough to warrant aortic valve replacement.

Abstract The decrease in incidence of rheumatic fever in developed countries has prompted a reassessment of the etiology of valvular heart disease that is seen at the present time. Disorders of connective tissue have emerged as important causes of valve regurgitation. Mitral valve prolapse is recognized as a frequent cause of mitral regurgitation and myxomatous degeneration is frequently present in these valves. 1–5 Myxomatous degeneration of the aortic valve has been thought to be an uncommon cause of aortic regurgitation (AR). Recent studies have suggested that myxomatous degeneration may cause severe AR. 4,6–8 This report describes the histopathologic and echocardiographic features in 96 patients undergoing aortic valve replacement for severe isolated AR.

How High-Involvement Work Processes Increase Organization Performance The Role of Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Employee involvement is a popular approach to improve organization performance. It moves decision making downward in the organization so employees can make decisions and solve problems as quickly and close to their source as possible. One of the most developed and referenced approaches to involvement is Edward E. Lawler’s model of “high-involvement work processes” (HIWP). It describes organizational attributes that contribute to employee involvement and explains how they work together to increase organization performance. Although extensive attention has been paid to Lawler’s model in the literature, empirical tests of the model are still in a preliminary stage. Our study describes and tests a mechanism through which HIWP increases organization performance, organizational citizenship behavior. We find that organizational citizenship behavior mediates the relationship between HIWP and organization performance in a sample of 143 consumer-products organization units. Results also confirm that the HIWP attributes work together synergistically to create opportunities for employee involvement.

Job Characteristics, Alienation, and Work-Related Behavior: A Study of Professional Employees

This study examines relationships between job characteristics, alienation from work, and work-related behavior for a group of professional-level technical and managerial employees of a large manufacturing firm. Results indicate a lack of significant relationships between the nature of jobs and experienced work alienation. However, a broad pattern of relationships exists between alienation from work and measures of work-related behavior. Overall, results suggest that the individual value of organizational success may moderate relationships between job characteristics and experienced alienation. Organizational success appears to be especially important to professional-level employees.

A Concluding Note: Future Directions of Sociotechnical Theory and Research

Addressing the findings of the other articles included in this special issue devoted to sociotechnical systems (STS), the author discusses how STS has grown and developed since its early applications to mechanized production systems. The author finds that STS research and applications are now moving toward service organizations and automated production, transorganizational systems, the identification of conditions necessary for the success of STS, and self-design and action learning by workers. He concludes that the field will continue to remain eclectic and diverse, held together by shared beliefs in work-place democracy and the importance of organizational choice.

The Wilderness Years at JMI

We reflect on JMI’s creation and first five years of publication. This “wilderness” period was marked with a good deal of ambiguity, challenge, and delight. We discuss JMI’s genesis in the innovative and collegial culture of the Western Academy of Management. We identify key founding events that fortuitously pushed the idea of a “nontraditional” journal towards reality. We describe critical decisions that shaped the journal’s initial structure and operations, and reveal our own thoughts and feelings in dealing with those thorny, start-up issues. We highlight how JMI’s practices challenged conventional thinking about management journals at the time. We discuss letting go of JMI and transitioning to a new leadership team.