Knowledge that Transforms

We propose that the experience and expression of emotional complexity, including the simultaneous and sequential experience of emotional complexity, can be beneficial for leaders’ ability to lead change. Using the social functions of emotions perspective, we suggest that the primary function of emotional complexity is to increase cognitive flexibility. Specifically, we present a model that explains how, when, and why emotional complexity is functional for leaders at the individual and interpersonal levels of analysis. At the individual level, leaders who experience emotional complexity are more cognitively flexible and, thus, make more adaptive decisions. We further propose that not all leaders will experience such benefits from emotional complexity; individual differences of neuroticism and openness to experience will moderate the leader emotional complexity–cognitive flexibility relationship. Extending our analysis to the interpersonal level, we propose that when followers observe leaders expressing emotional complexity, they will make positive inferences of cognitive flexibility and be empowered to act proactively. We explore a relational factor—the followers’ shared vantage point with their leader—and a situational factor—competing demands as moderators of this relationship. We draw attention to the broader implications of our theorizing for research on leadership and emotions and its practical implications for management.

Past research widely demonstrates the importance of employee emotional experiences and processes for individual and small group outcomes. However, theory is lacking on how organizations systematically differ in their affective processes and how these impact important organizational outcomes. To address this problem, we use organizational climate theory to advance the construct of affect climate and provide a conceptual foundation for understanding its processes and effects in organizations. We propose that through various sources of climate, such as company practices, leaders, and routines, organizations can create environments that promote, among employees, (1) certain types of affective experiences or expressions, (2) specific uses of desirable affect for functional goals, and (3) particular ways to manage undesirable emotions and moods. We suggest that these three interrelated processes work together to form one of six unique organizational affect climate types. Further, we develop theory to explain how each affect climate type differentially impacts four strategic outcomes of organizational units: relationship, productivity, creativity, and reliability performance. Ultimately, our theory positions affect climate as another key performance differentiator for organizations, and it provides knowledge of the specific affect climate types that enable or inhibit distinct strategic priorities.

With empirical research on abusive supervision flourishing, there is an increasing need for an integrative framework that accounts for how and why individuals vary in their perceptions, experiences, and responses to abuse over time. To address this need, we integrate theories of emotions to present a multiphase, episodic process model explaining how initial attributions and appraisals combine to give rise to three distinct emotions—anger, fear, and sadness—that, in turn, drive a range of behavioral responses. We build on this foundation to offer new propositions on how various person and situational factors combine at each phase to produce different emotional and behavioral pathways, and we further conceptualize how feedback loops linking the behavioral responses in one episode to the next can result in emotional modulations and increasing (or decreasing) trajectories of adaptation to abuse. We advance the abusive supervision literature by providing a dynamic framework that integrates and organizes existing research, offering new emotions-based explanations for why people exhibit a range of responses to abuse over time, and highlighting areas in need of future research that have the potential to provide a more complete understanding of abusive supervision and its implications for organizations.

We develop a theoretical model, grounded in exchange theory, about the process through which relationships between entrepreneurs and investors develop and influence the growth of new ventures. Our theory highlights the multifaceted relationships that entrepreneurs and investors share—comprising both affective and instrumental dimensions—and the bidirectional exchanges of social and financial resources that build these relationships over time. An exchange theory perspective sheds light on the emergence of different patterns of relationship development over time and how different kinds of resource exchange contribute to new venture growth, contingent on the core problems that a venture faces at a given stage of development. We discuss implications of an exchange perspective on resources and relationships in entrepreneurship for theory, research, and practice.

Many influential theories of organization rest on an analogical foundation: we think of the organization as if it were a governance structure, a nexus of contracts, a social network, or an information processing system. We may invoke an analogy simply to express an idea, but analogy use may also constitute a key part of a theoretical explanation and an argument. In this latter—explanatory—use, we not only think but also reason by analogy. But if analogy use constitutes reasoning, it must also be critically evaluated as such. In this article we first combine ideas from the literature on argumentation and cognitive science to examine how analogies are used in organization theory. We then construct a framework to guide the evaluation of reasoning by analogy. Finally, we show that by understanding how analogies are used and evaluated, we can also gain an understanding of how theories progress.

Burgeoning theory and research signal the prominence of within-individual dynamics in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), with such work focusing primarily on short-term (i.e., minutes, days, weeks) fluctuations that result from a focus on immediate circumstances. But longer-term variations in OCB also occur as people continuously craft identity narratives to tell evolving stories about themselves using selective appropriation of the past, present, and future. By focusing on individuals who have internalized a “good citizen identity” (a reflection of one’s self-concept as a person who demonstrates OCB), we shift attention by presenting theory that speaks to modifications of OCB trends over the course of good citizens’ tenure. We ground our framework in the time-dependent perspectives of sensemaking and dynamic behavior to specify precise temporal relationships between triggering cues and OCB modifications. Specifically, we define a baseline OCB trend and then develop propositions about how sensemaking cues linked to role transitions and work episodes can prompt differences in four trend effects: lag, rate of change, magnitude, and permanence. In doing so we identify circumstances that interrupt good citizens’ ongoing flow and that could spark permanent modifications to OCB.