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Summary The relationship between organizational culture and financial performance remains elusive even though researchers have studied it for some time. Early research suggested that a strong culture that aligns members’ behavior with organizational objectives boosts financial performance. A more recent view is that, because strong cultures promote adherence to routines and behavioral uniformity, they are less effective in dynamic environments. We suggest that the relationship between culture and performance can be reconciled by recognizing that culture encompasses three components: (1) the content of norms (norm content); (2) how widely members agree about norms (culture consensus); and (3) how intensely organizational members hold particular norms (norm intensity). We hypothesize that “strong cultures”—where a high consensus exists among members across a broad set of culture norms—can contribute to better financial performance even in dynamic environments if norm content intensely emphasizes adaptability. We test this hypothesis in a sample of large firms in the high-technology industry. Firms characterized by higher culture consensus and intensity about adaptability performed better three years later than did those characterized by lower consensus, lower intensity about adaptability, or both. We discuss how parsing culture into content, consensus, and intensity advances theoretical and empirical understanding of the culture–performance relationship. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Four studies examined the effect of a perceived unique opportunity on compliance. In all four studies, participants who believed they had an opportunity available to few others were more likely to agree with a request than participants who believed the opportunity was widely available or participants who received no opportunity information. We attribute the effect to a widely held heuristic that one should take advantage of unique opportunities. Study results demonstrated that people respond to a perceived unique opportunity even when supplies are not limited and when the opportunity is the result of pure chance. The results of a mediation analysis supported the interpretation that the perceived uniqueness of the opportunity underlies the effect.

Much of the research on emotions and decision making has focused on how desire to avoid regret influences choices and post-decision information search. Recently van Dijk and Zeelenberg (2007) demonstrated that under certain circumstances individuals will seek out information about an alternative even though this information may induce regret about a previous decision. In two experiments, we extend this finding and show that curiosity is least likely to affect information seeking when the initial choice is made from fewer alternatives (a regret-inducing “near miss”) and the outcome of the choice is negative.

Background: Shifts in the environment can compel health care organizations to change their strategies. However strategic change frequently fails because individuals do not adopt the behaviors necessary to successfully implement the new strategy. Purpose: This study explores how three variables—agreement with new strategy, leaders’ actions, and groups’ general orientation toward change—can influence members of physician teams to take actions supporting a strategic shift aimed at improving patient satisfaction. Methodology: Physicians in 37 specialty departments in a large health care organization were surveyed regarding their support for a new customer service initiative, the actions of department leaders, and generalized norms supporting change. The results of the survey were linked to changes in patient satisfaction for the department. Results: Normative support for the specific strategic change was directly related to increased patient satisfaction 1 year later. The interaction between norms supporting change readiness and the quality of leadership was positively related to change in patient satisfaction. Practice Implications: Successfully implementing a strategic change often requires getting individuals to change their behaviors. Leaders can enhance the results of the change by working to develop general norms such as teamwork and tolerance for mistakes that increase general readiness for change with the group.

Although there is clear evidence that particular words and phrases evoke emotional reactions, little research has explored these in the context of negotiations. In two studies, we identify words that trigger emotional responses in the other party in conflict‐laden negotiations and demonstrate how the perception of negotiators is affected by the use of those words. Words that elicit emotional responses are likely to increase the perception that the party using them is unfair but paradoxically increase the optimism of observers that the conflict will be successfully resolved. This effect is influenced by the gender of the observer.

This study investigates the role of work group norms in promoting innovation in high-technology organizations. Through structured discussions, samples of senior executives identified organizational patterns and norms associated with successful innovation. Based on the results, a survey was developed and administered to a set of managers. Results show four norms associated with increased group innovation: support for risk taking, tolerance of mistakes, teamwork, and speed of action. An instrument to assess these norms is developed.

Past research has found that trait positive affect as measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and extraversion as measured by the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) are highly correlated. We examined the relation between these two measures within the context of three social behaviors. Approximately 4 months before graduation, college seniors entering the job market completed the PANAS and the NEO-FFI and reported on their social activities during college. Three months later, these students were contacted again and described their job search strategies and success at obtaining follow-up job interviews. Trait positive affect scores and extraversion scores were highly correlated and both predicted behavior in each of the three areas investigated. Regression analyses indicated that trait positive affect predicted behavior in all three areas after the effects of extraversion were removed. However, extraversion did not add significantly to predicting behavior in any of the three areas after the effects of trait positive affect were removed. The findings have implications for the conceptual relation between extraversion and trait positive affect.

Understanding the relationship between personality and behavior requires accounting for a broad set of traits within each person and the demands of a specific role or situation. To address these requirements, we assessed the relevance or ordering of traits within an individual (an idiographic approach) and compared these orderings across individuals occupying similar organizational situations (a nomothetic approach). We illustrate the utility of this semi-idiographic approach with a longitudinal study of Masters of Business Administration (MBA) students. The MBAs whose personalities were more similar to a template of the successful young manager received more job offers upon graduating and, subsequently, earned higher salaries, were more likely to be working full-time, and had changed jobs less often than did those who fit the managerial template less well.

Although there is substantial evidence that personality constructs are valid predictors of job performance, there is less systematic evidence of how personality characteristics relate to success in the interviewing process. Measures of the Big Five personality markers were obtained from a sample of graduating college seniors (n= 83) who were engaged in a job search. At a later time these students reported the strategies used in the job search and success in generating follow-up interviews and job offers. Extraversion, Openness to Experience, and Conscientiousness were positively related to the use of social sources (e.g., talking to others) to prepare for interviews. Conscientiousness was positively related to the use of non-social preparation. Use of social sources for preparation for initial interviews was positively related to the likelihood of receiving follow-up interviews and job offers. The results suggest that personality is related to interviewee's success in part through actions taken well before the interviewing process begins and in part through the interviewers' inferences of the applicants' personality during the interview.

© The Author(s) 2014. Studies of organizational culture are almost always based on two assumptions: (a) Senior leaders are the prime determinant of the culture, and (b) culture is related to consequential organizational outcomes. Although intuitively reasonable and often accepted as fact, the empirical evidence for these is surprisingly thin, and the results are quite mixed. Almost no research has jointly investigated these assumptions and how they are linked. The purpose of this article is to empirically link CEO personality to culture and organizational culture to objective measures of firm performance. Using data from respondents in 32 high-technology companies, we show that CEO personality affects a firm’s culture and that culture is subsequently related to a broad set of organizational outcomes including a firm’s financial performance (revenue growth, Tobin’s Q), reputation, analysts’ stock recommendations, and employee attitudes. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research on organizational culture.

Two studies were conducted to examine the relation between personality and the use of social influence strategies in the workplace. In Study 1, MBA students reported how often they used various influence tactics with their peers at work. They also completed measures of the Big Five personality dimensions, desire for control, and self-monitoring. Canonical correlation analyses found several significant relations between the reported use of influence strategies and personality. High scores on extra-version, self-monitoring, and desire for control predicted more and more varied use of influence strategies. In Study 2, coworkers of the Study 1 participants indicated the extent to which they believed the student used each of the influence strategies and how effective they believed that person was at influencing them. The use of rational persuasion and efforts to involve the other person were related to perceived effectiveness, whereas relying on others to influence a coworker was seen as ineffective.

Narcissism is characterized by traits such as dominance, self-confidence, a sense of entitlement, grandiosity, and low empathy. There is growing evidence that individuals with these characteristics often emerge as leaders, and that narcissistic CEOs may make more impulsive and risky decisions. We suggest that these tendencies may also affect how compensation is allocated among top management teams. Using employee ratings of personality for the CEOs of 32 prominent high-technology firms, we investigate whether more narcissistic CEOs have compensation packages that are systematically different from their less narcissistic peers, and specifically whether these differences increase the longer the CEO stays with the firm. As predicted, we find that more narcissistic CEOs who have been with their firm longer receive more total direct compensation (salary, bonus, and stock options), have more money in their total shareholdings, and have larger discrepancies between their own (higher) compensation and the other members of their team.

Using a sample of forty-five new product teams this study examines how groups interact with their organizational environment. Four key activity sets were identified: ambassador, task coordinator, s...

The use of portable computers connected to high-speed networks is changing the way groups do their work. Such systems reduce the need for teams to be co-located by allowing team members to communicate with one another and access a wide range of databases. Despite the growing use of such systems, relatively little research has looked broadly at how these systems affect aspects of group process and performance. We interviewed individuals in 10 firms that are implementing mobile computing in work groups. Based on those interviews, we describe how mobile computing is changing interdependent work and speculate on how it may influence job scope and team empowerment, group composition, supervisory practices, and socialization processes. We also conclude that attention to both the functional and informal characteristics of knowledge management systems associated with mobile computing can influence group processes and performance.

Improvement of the quality of MBA teaching requires use of evaluation instruments unique to the problems and concerns of MBA students. This study used critical incident methodology to develop and evaluate a behaviorally based system to gauge the perception of MBA students regarding teaching quality. Perceptions fell into five distinct categories: instructor's accessibility to the student; instructor's application of course material; instructor's knowledge of the subject; instructor's preparation and organization; and instructor's empathy for the student.

Boundary-spanning positions require occupants to interact with groups whose norms may differ from one another. It was hypothesized that individuals holding these positions would perform better if they were sensitive to social cues and able to adapt their behavior to fit the circumstances. 93 field representatives (average age 30.5 yrs) who acted as boundary spanners were given the Self-Monitoring Scale. Results show that significant relationships existed between job performance and an individual difference variable (self-monitoring) that assessed the ability of respondents to adjust their self-presentation to fit the situation; self-monitoring was most important during the period of early tenure. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)

Previous research indicates that self-monitoring may be an important psychological construct. However, little evidence on the personality correlates of self-monitoring has been accumulated. This study investigated associations among self-monitoring and measures of Murray's needs assessed by the Adjective Check List. Analysis shows that there are interpretable patterns of individual needs associated with facets of self-monitoring. Implications of these findings for prior research on self-monitoring are discussed.