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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.