Knowledge that Transforms

This study integrates the concepts of value creation and value claiming into a theoretical framework that emphasizes the dependence of resource value maximization on value-claiming motivations in outsourcing decisions. To test this theoretical framework, it develops refutable implications to explain the firm's outsourcing decision, and it uses data from 178 firms in the publishing and printing industry on outsourcing of application services. The results show that in outsourcing decisions, resource value and transaction costs are simultaneously considered and that outsourcing decisions are dependent on alignment between resource and transaction attributes. The findings support a resource contingency view that highlights value-claiming mechanisms as resource contingency in interorganizational strategic decisions.

Two experiments examined raters' reactions to a forced distribution rating system (FDRS), which, despite its popularity in organizations, has been largely ignored in the empirical research literature. Greater difficulty and less fairness were reported by raters when the FDRS was used for administrative purposes and when there was reduced variability in ratee performance. In addition, the FDRS was found to be more difficult and less fair than a more traditional rating scale format. Finally, difficulty and fairness reactions had significant implications for raters' confidence in their ability to provide feedback to the ratees and their self-efficacy for using the system going forward.

This research reports the findings of three studies (involving a total of five samples) developed to explore the nonlinear relationships of organizational politics perceptions with practically and theoretically relevant work outcomes. Study 1 hypothesized a nonlinear relationship between organizational politics perceptions and job satisfaction. In Sample 1 of this study, a nonlinear relationship was identified, best depicted as an inverted-U form, and Sample 2 replicated this finding. Study 2 hypothesized a U-shaped relationship between politics perceptions and job tension, which was identified in Sample 3 and corroborated in Sample 4. In a single-sample investigation (i.e., Sample 5), Study 3 extended nonlinear conceptualizations by considering moderation (i.e., in the form of perceived resources) and, thus, the possibility of restricted nonlinearity. Results indicated that politics perceptions demonstrated a nonlinear association with job tension (i.e., U-shaped form) only for those with fewer perceived resources. For those with higher levels of perceived resources, no relationship between politics perceptions and job tension existed. Implications of these findings for scholarship and practice are offered.

The globalization of business and the related increase in amount and relevance of international research suggest the need to map the international management field. Building on reviews by Werner (2002) and Werner and Brouthers (2002), this study provides a comprehensive picture of the field by examining the amount and type of international management research in 20 top management journals from 2002 to 2006. An assessment of the pervasiveness of international management topics is also offered through a detailed analysis of international management publication patterns of 10 top management journals.

Previous research on dynamic processes during newcomer socialization has involved longitudinal field designs and state-of-the-art analyses. However, findings from this research either contradict key conceptual issues described by prominent socialization theories or are nondiagnostic regarding these issues. In this study computational modeling was used to (1) represent the presumed underlying processes in these theories, (2) demonstrate that current research does not test these theoretical processes, and (3) suggest the designs needed to support or refute components of dynamic theories.

Within the realm of management and the other social sciences, many scholars have used self-interest explanations to account for individual judgment, decision making, and behavior with respect to a variety of issues in the domains of ethics and justice. In this article, the authors address the descriptive claim that all human behavior can ultimately be traced to underlying self-interest. Reviewing arguments from the philosophical literatures and evidence from management, social psychology, and behavioral economics, the authors argue that exclusively relying on self-interest explanations is a bad scientific strategy that discourages researchers from considering other determinants of how people behave.

Internal and external sources of efficacy beliefs are distinguished. “Means efficacy,” a particular source of external efficacy, is defined as belief in the utility of the tools available for task performance. The authors tested the hypothesis that raising means efficacy boosts performance. In two field experiments, experimental participants were told they got a new computerized system proven to be the best of its kind; controls got the same system with no means-efficacy treatment. In both experiments, means efficacy among experimental participants increased, and they out-performed the controls. A broadened perspective on the efficacy—beliefs construct is elaborated, and practical applications are proposed.

In a field study of 114 participants, the authors tested components of leader—member exchange (LMX) theory within the context of informal organizational networks, finding support for instrumental components within quality LMX relationships. Similarity to leader competence and personality was relevant to follower-rated LMX. In addition, leader centrality moderated the relationship between interaction frequency and follower-rated LMX. Leader-rated LMX quality was related to personality and competence similarity to followers, but only when followers' advice centrality was high. Outside workgroup centrality positively moderated relationships between inside workgroup centrality and LMX quality. Overall, the instrumental value to LMX quality was emphasized more for leaders than for followers.

Applying a social exchange perspective, three studies examine how the effects of perceived organizational support (POS) and perceived supervisor support (PSS) on performance and commitment are constrained by pay contingency. Study 1 shows a negative interaction between POS and pay contingency and a positive interaction between PSS and pay contingency in their effects on performance and nonsignificant interactions regarding commitment. In Studies 2 and 3, which were conducted in high pay contingency field settings, performance was affected by PSS but not by POS, whereas commitment was affected by POS but not by PSS. Implications of these moderation effects are discussed.

The current study examined the interactive relationship between felt accountability and organizational politics perceptions on job satisfaction in three samples, which included employees in a wide array of work settings. We hypothesized that job satisfaction would decline (increase) as felt accountability became more intense for those perceiving heightened (limited) levels of politics. After controlling for demographic factors (e.g., age, gender, and organizational tenure), affectivity (e.g., negative and positive), and nonlinear main effect terms (e.g., felt accountability 2 and politics perceptions 2 ), results supported the study's hypothesized relationship. Namely, findings indicated that accountability predicted unfavorable levels of job satisfaction when coupled with heightened politics perceptions. Implications of results for theory and practice, strengths and limitations, and directions for future research are provided.