The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the implementation of an internally created performance appraisal system as well as the subjects' overall satisfaction with the implementation. The system was implemented at a major technology consulting firm in the US. The subjects of this study were three levels of employees of the firm. An employee survey conducted annually at the firm included questions relating to the implementation of the performance appraisal system. Eight years of employees' responses to three key questions were analyzed. Employees' perceptions of the appraisal feedback aiding increased performance, their belief about the implementation assisting with their career management, satisfaction with the initiative, and their understanding of the requirements for promotion were captured by this survey. Trend analysis indicates that employees at the firm perceived their career path knowledge unimproved, their understanding of promotion criteria unimproved as a result of the implementation. Employees did not indicate overall satisfaction with the implementation and the employee's belief about their skills and abilities utilization did not improve post implementation.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of and the subjects' overall satisfaction with the implementation of an internally created performance appraisal system. The system was implemented at a major technology consulting firm in the US. The subjects of this study were manager level employees of the firm. An employee survey conducted annually at the firm included questions relating to the implementation of the performance appraisal system. Eight years of managers' responses to six key questions in the Career Development category were analyzed. Managers' perceptions of their contribution to the firm, their understanding of what career paths are available to them, their understanding of the requirements for promotion, as well as their overall satisfaction with the implementation of the performance appraisal system were captured by this survey. Trend analysis indicates that managers at the firm perceived their career path knowledge improved and their understanding of promotion criteria improved as a result of the implementation. Overall satisfaction with the implementation did not improve enough to site confidence in managers' perceptions for the period immediately after the implementation; managers' responses to the actual implementation were disagreeable to neutral. Managers did not feel their impact on the organization improved as …

The present study examined the perceptions of teams and managers on team potency levels as a function of stage of team development. Drawing from the power and influence literature, potency was established as a means by which to assess team's internal dynamics. Stage of team development was separated into four categories including pseudo, potential, real and high performance teams. Archival data included 45 teams and managers gathered from the manufacturing and service industries. Results indicated a significant linear relationship between team perceptions of team potency and stage of team development. Additionally, potency perceptions of teams significantly differentiated between the four stages of team development. Manager perceptions of team potency produced non-significant results. Possible explanations of the results as well as implications for practice and future research are provided.

The effects of multiple interventions in organizational development change were studied in a comprehensive meta-analytic review. Thirteen organizational interventions were assessed on five outcome variables based upon previous research of six major meta-analytic reviews. Findings based on 138 studies indicated that there were no significant effects of multiple interventions on positive organizational change as opposed to individually implemented interventions. The findings are not congruent with previous findings of organizational development change, and possible issues surrounding these differences are discussed.

The purpose of this research study was to identify the specific components of team training that contribute most to a team's ability to perform effectively. The analysis conducted involved examining the relationship between the Training Support System Survey (Hall, 1998) along with the Training Strategies and Training Content sub-scales, and the overall measure of team performance from Beyerlein's (1996) Perceptions of Team Performance survey. Results were mostly inconclusive, due to limitations of the research. However, a few interesting findings were found related to team training for different types of teams. In addition, this research is helpful in moving toward a better understanding of the relationship between team training and team performance and pointing toward the need for additional research in this area.

The study utilized the covariance structure comparison methodology - Multigroup Analysis in Structural Equation Modeling - evaluating measurement equivalence of English and Spanish versions of an employee opinion survey. The concept of measurement equivalence was defined as consisting of four components: sample equivalence, semantic equivalence, conceptual equivalence and scalar equivalence. The results revealed that the two language versions of the survey exhibited acceptable measurement equivalence across five survey dimensions Communications, Supervision, Leadership, Job Content & Satisfaction and Company Image & Commitment. Contrary to the study second hypothesis, there was no meaningful difference in opinion scores between English-speaking and Spanish-speaking respondents on the latent construct of Job Content & Satisfaction.

This research project was inspired by a survey that was designed to help an organization determine how well it was doing in its efforts to empower associates and achieve a goal of continuous improvement. Initial review of the survey created suspicion that the survey was not built around the appropriate dimensions to accurately measure the level of empowerment in organizations. As such, the survey was psychometrically analyzed to determine the validity of the instrument as a measure of empowerment. Additionally, an extensive review of the literature was performed to determine new dimensions that would most accurately measure empowerment. Eight dimensions (culture, trust, accountability, leadership, ability, commitment, responsibility, and communication) were put forth as the most appropriate to measure empowerment. Subject matter experts with knowledge and experience in the area of organizational empowerment reviewed the new dimensions for accuracy and fit with the original survey items.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a direct test of higher-order and lower-order writing abilities needed for police report writing. This test was specifically designed to address report writing deficiencies experienced by police in the training academy. Descriptive statistics were examined, and relationships between this test and writing ability dimensions included on a separate, indirect, multiple choice test were investigated. Direct and indirect scores were correlated with training academy performance. Because both tests assessed higher-order and lower-order writing abilities, comparisons were made to determine which type of test was most appropriate for assessing the different types of writing skills. Results indicated that the direct test was a valid predictor of academy performance. Direct methods of measurement were found to be better than indirect methods for assessing higher-order writing skills. For lower-order writing skills, the indirect method appeared to be a better measure than the direct method.

The relationship between perceived leader behavior and work group behavior was examined. Archival survey data was used in the analyses. The company that developed the survey randomly selected 595 employees to complete the survey. Results suggest there is a strong and significant relationship between leader and subordinate behavior. Group members who report that their leader demonstrates a particular behavior also report that their work group demonstrates the same or similar behavior, suggesting that subordinates may be modeling the behavior of their leader. Leadership behaviors related to trust, availability, respect, conflict, and support seem to be the best predictors of work group behavior. Furthermore, whether or not group members have received team training appears to have an effect on their perceptions of their leader and work group. The challenge for leaders is to understand modeling principles so that they can facilitate the modeling of functional rather than dysfunctional behaviors.

Managerial self-awareness is thought to impact leadership. A multi-rater feedback instrument was used to gather performance data on 70 managers in a large multi-national airline in regards to five leadership dimensions: making sound decisions, driving for results, effective communication, self-management, and innovation. Difference scores between self and direct reports were calculated and used as the operational definition of managerial self-awareness. T-tests were run to examine the difference between high performers and average performers. No significant differences were found. Additionally, correlational measures between the five leadership competencies and the managerial self-awareness measure indicated statistically weak relationships.

The impact of training on virtual team effectiveness was assessed in five areas: communication, planning tasks and setting goals, solving problems and making decisions, resolving conflict, and responding to customer requirements. A 12-page survey was developed exploring all aspects of virtual teams. 180 surveys were distributed, 52 were returned representing 43 companies. Training led to higher effectiveness in planning tasks and setting goals, solving problems and making decisions, and conflict resolution, but not in communication and responding to customer requirements. Training may not solve all the problems that virtual teams will encounter; however, training will make the challenges easier to handle.

This study investigates the effects of eight organizational support systems on virtual team effectiveness in five areas: communication, planning tasks and setting goals, solving problems and making decisions, resolving conflict, and responding to customer requirements. One hundred and eighty surveys were sent to information technology managers and collaborative team members, representing 43 companies. The results indicated that developing new roles for IT professionals and senior managers significantly increased virtual team effectiveness in several areas. The findings support the theory that organizations that utilize virtual teams must create high-level structures, policies, and systems to support the teams and the information tools they use.

Use of competency models has exploded in recent years. Unfortunately, the empirical research to validate such systems is scarce. This study explores the relationship between Competency-based Performance Management Systems and sales performance to determine whether the use of these systems increases performance. Performance data from sales representatives in a medical products company were examined to determine changes in performance following the introduction of the Competency-based Performance Management System (N=64). Correlations with performance were obtained for each competency dimension to determine if any factors were highly correlated with performance and if state-factors were more positively correlated with performance than trait-factors (N=66). The study found no significant relationship between implementation of a Competency-based Performance Management System and sales performance. Also state-factors were not more positively correlated with sales performance than trait-factors.

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) is an established psychological construct that represents work behavior that is not required but contributes to improved organizational performance. This study examined the relationship of cognitive job satisfaction and OCB in a military organization. Several demographic variables previous identified to be related to OCB were also measured. Cognitive Job Satisfaction was significantly related to both self and supervisor ratings of OCB. The magnitude of correlations of pay and job cognitions with altruism and conscientiousness dovetailed with previous research results in field studies with much larger sample sizes. Government service civilians had significantly higher mean self-rated OCB than military personnel. Age and tenure were significant moderator variables in this relationship, but did not have significant main effects. Tenure was significantly correlated with self-rated OCB and both its factors, altruism and conscientiousness. Insufficient statistical power due to few respondents and range restriction due to pre-selection limited the ability to find significant group differences.

In the study of team-based organizations most of the research has focus on the internal make-up and structure of teams. Recently there has been more interest in the effects that environment has on teams. With this new focus Support Systems in organizations have become an area of interest. Examining the perceptions of workers with respect to support systems of organizations could give insight into performance. This study specifically examines the interaction between a team's shared perception of the support in their environment and the level of support in their environment. The interaction between the two does seem to have a strong relationship with perceived performance. How do the two concepts interact, and what does this mean for organizational designers? Both questions are discussed.

Subjects in this study were 5,523 respondents from a survey which was sent to households throughout the United States. The purpose of this study was to examine two basic components of career orientation: career indecision and career insight. Correlational analyses found relationships between career indecision and average job tenure, industry leaving intentions, industry staying intentions, and job satisfaction. Correlational analyses found relationships between career insight, industry staying intentions and job satisfaction. Multiple regression analyses were run using both career indecision and career insight as independent variables found that they had useful levels of incremental validity in predicting industry leaving intentions and job satisfaction. Potential uses of the two-dimensional career indecision - career insight model are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the criterion-related validity of an assessment center's competency dimension ratings, exercise ratings, and standardized test scores. Numerous studies have clearly demonstrated assessment centers display substantial evidence of content and criterion-related validity. However, the inability of assessment centers to display construct-related validity has caused a great deal of concern among researchers. The suggestions of these researchers are addressed through a more detailed examination of the criterion-related validity of an assessment center. Despite a number of methodological issues, two competency dimensions and two components stand out as viable predictors of the criteria used in this study. Examination of individual and incremental validity coefficients reveals the Strategic Focus and Attracting and Developing Talent competency dimensions, the In-Basket exercise, and the Watson-Glaser scaled score consistently predict the criteria used in this study. The implications of these results for future research are discussed.

An abundance of theories exists on what constitutes appropriate team leadership; What seems to be lacking is how the "followers" react when exposed to their tenets. This particular study involves testing a contemporary model (Stewart & Manz, 1995) via interview statements that seem to indicate that a certain form of team leadership is taking place. Once determined, the effectiveness of the leadership "style" that is in effect is assessed using ten different performance dimensions to determine if that style is successful (or detrimental) in any of those areas. Leadership "tools" from other theories and models are examined as well.

The purpose of this project was to examine team compensation systems and to evaluate the impact of their critical elements--level (what to motivate), compensation mixture (what rewards motivate), and employee perceptions (how to motivate)--on team effectiveness. Twenty-three organizations, 108 teams, and 769 team members participated in this study. Project results found that teams that utilized team level rewards, especially when associated with a complete compensation mixture, had significantly higher team effectiveness scores compared to teams that utilized only individual level rewards. With respect to employee perceptions, results found that: (a) perceptions of system understanding, measure controllability, pay-for-performance, and payout frequency, particularly, were significant components of employee compensation system satisfaction; and (b) employee compensation system satisfaction and perceptions of compensation system effectiveness were significantly related.

Much research has been undertaken to determine how Subject Matter Expert characteristics affect job analysis outcomes. The current study seeks to discover if performance levels are related to current incumbents ratings of their positions. A group of 114 corporate associates, from two administrative positions, served as Subject Matter Experts (SME) for this study. Separate job analyses for each position were conducted using the Job Analysis Task Checklist. The results for each job were analyzed to determine if SME performance levels affected job analysis outcomes. The results for both jobs showed that there were very few differences in job analysis results as a function of SME performance levels.

A stress management intervention was developed and integrated into the services provided by one of the nation's largest outplacement consultants. The purpose of the intervention was to aid outplacement clients in the management and resolution of stress associated with job loss and career transition. Based on the results of this study, the intervention had the effect of helping treatment participants maintain their levels of effective coping when compared to nonparticipants. This study supports the hypothesis that stress management training can be helpful for unemployed individuals and may impact their emotional well-being as they go through the job search process.

This study is intended to analyze employee acceptance of an alternative reward system that reinforces continuous learning, teamwork, major expansion of individual capabilities, business knowledge application, and business unit (team) performance. This system is in contrast with traditional pay systems that reward seniority and individual performance determined by the subjective ratings of a direct supervisor, with pay increases based mainly on current job grade (and the availability of higher job grades within the company) and comparison with market value of the job. Individuals from three areas of a major electronics manufacturing company in the southwestern part of the United States served as subjects.

Organizational commitment is most commonly defined as a measure of an employee's commitment to the company or larger organization. In a longitudinal study, the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire was administered to 123 first line manufacturing supervisors in a defense contracting firm. After a one year check, subjects were grouped into categories of voluntary and involuntary turnover. The results suggest that significant relationships exist among the variables of departmental commitment, turnover and tenure. However, the study failed to show any relationship between organizational commitment and turnover.

The training needs of managers in the public and private sectors were investigated and compared. Future trends in training that are foreseen by these managers were also researched. Forty-four public sector managers and 34 private sector managers completed a questionnaire covering such topics as: current training needs, current training efficiency, and future trends in training. Topics covered included an overview of the problem, identification and explanation of current trends in topical literature, results of the research, and conclusions drawn from the findings. The results indicated a small difference in current training needs of the two sectors. Recommendations for future studies included a larger sample population and a follow-up study of the private sector managers.