Mapping the criterion space for expatriate success: task- and relationship-based performance,effort and adaptation

The paper presents an explicit consideration of the criterion space for expatriate success. Expatriate performance is conceptualized in terms of task completion, relationship building and overall performance. These three dimensions are determined by various features of effort regulation: the amount and pattern of personal resources the expatriate spends on behaviours that constitute his or her position. Drawing upon work motivation and withdrawal literatures, we assess effort in terms of withdrawal cognitions, passive task neglect, active task avoidance, time to proficiency and leader-team exchanges. Effort regulation, in turn, is proposed to be a function of three forms of adjustment (cultural, interaction and work) – which have been the default criterion in past expatriate research. Our model is tested using multi-source data from expatriates, their spouses and their work colleagues. Support for the proposed mapping of successive linkages between adjustment, effort (including the often-studied assignment withdrawal) and performance dimensions provides a more comprehensive perspective of the expatriate criterion space.     

The ongoing feedback system : Experimental with a new managerial tool

This experiment represents a first step in the development of ongoing feedback systems as useful managerial tools. Additional research and testing of systems is needed. The results of this first experiment, however, are encouraging and indicate that if used effectively, such systems have the potential of improving organizational performance while also having a positive effect on employee attitudes. A consistent theme in the experiment has been that feedback systems are managerial tools, and are thus constrained in their value by the knowledge, skill, and motivation of those who use them. Wherever that knowledge, skill, and motivation exist or have been developed, the system appears to produce durable and positive changes, in a number of different work units, at a reasonable cost, and without the constant intervention of consultants. Thus the ongoing feedback system appears to meet the basic criteria for an effective and useful managerial tool and holds promise as a means for building more effective organizations.     

Performance appraisal satisfaction and employee outcomes: mediating and moderating roles of work motivation

The purpose of this study was to explore alternative relationships between performance appraisal satisfaction and employee outcomes in the form of self-reported work performance, affective organizational commitment and turnover intention. A cross-sectional survey of 593 employees from 64 Norwegian savings banks showed that performance appraisal satisfaction was directly related to affective commitment and turnover intention. The relationship between performance appraisal satisfaction and work performance, however, was both mediated and moderated by employees' intrinsic work motivation. The form of the moderation revealed a negative relationship for employees with low intrinsic motivation and a positive relationship for those with high intrinsic motivation. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.     

Individual and contextual predictors of team member proactivity: what do we know and where do we go from here?

Contemporary organizations are placing greater emphasis on team work in order to meet the challenges of an increasingly turbulent business environment. In this context, the relationship between team member proactivity and overall team performance has been the focus of growing interest among management scholars and practitioners alike. Whereas extant scholarship acknowledges that team member proactivity is different from other forms of proactivity (i.e., individual and organization member proactivity), there is still only limited understanding of the factors that predict team member proactivity. Therefore, this paper extends current scholarship by identifying the individual and contextual predictors of team member proactivity and explaining how, taken together, they jointly influence team member proactivity. Building on these findings, the paper also identifies gaps in the current literature and proposes a model of team member proactivity to be tested in future research.     

The Impact of Management Control on Employee Motivation and Performance in the Public Sector

Abstract

This study examines the relations among various types of management control, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and performance in the public sector. We draw on motivation crowding theory and self-determination theory to argue that four different types of management control (i.e. personnel, cultural, action, and results control) are likely to have an influence on intrinsic motivation and/or extrinsic motivation. We test a structural equation model using survey data from 105 similar departments in the public sector. Our findings indicate that the use of personnel and cultural controls is positively associated with employees’ intrinsic motivation, and that the use of results controls is positively associated with employees’ extrinsic motivation. Moreover, both intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation are positively associated with performance. Taken together, these findings support the idea advocated by New Public Management proponents that results control can enhance employee motivation and performance in the public sector. However, the findings also highlight an essential nuance; in addition to results control, personnel and cultural controls are also important, as they enhance intrinsic motivation and performance. This implies that a sole focus on results control is too narrow and can lead to suboptimal levels of employee motivation and performance in the public sector.     

Test of a multidimensional model linking applicant work experience and recruiters' inferences about applicant competencies

Previous research have shown that applicants' work-experience information influences recruiters' hiring recommendations. This study extends previous research by proposing and testing the relationship between applicants' work-experience dimensions (i.e. job tenure, job breadth, leadership experience and challenging job experience) and recruiters' perceptions of applicants' job competencies (i.e. professional knowledge, interpersonal skills, general mental ability and trait conscientiousness). Results from a policy-capturing experiment partially support our hypotheses and show that recruiters use different aspects of applicant work experience to infer different dimensions of applicant job competencies.     

性别、学历、职位等与管理人员的政治技能——基于人口统计特征的分析

本文通过对长江三角洲地区的363名管理人员进行问卷调查,对不同人口统计特征的管理人员在政治技能4个维度的差异进行了比较研究。结果显示,男性管理人员和女性管理人员在政治技能的人际影响和交际能力两个维度上均不存在显著差异,但在社会敏锐度和外显真诚两个维度上存在差异;管理层级对管理人员的政治技能四个维度都有显著影响。年龄、学历以及职业背景对政治技能均不存在显著性差异。     

Perceived investment in employee development,intrinsic motivation and work performance

The purpose of this study was to explore alternative relationships between perceived investment in employee development, intrinsic motivation and different facets of work performance. Three cross‐sectional surveys of a total of 826 respondents from organisations located in Norway showed that the relationship between perceived investment in employee development and work effort was mediated by intrinsic motivation. In addition, intrinsic motivation was found to moderate the relationship between perceived investment in employee development and organisational citizenship behaviour. The form of the moderation revealed a positive relationship only for employees with high levels of intrinsic motivation.     

The relationship between high performance work systems and employee proactive behaviour: role breadth self‐efficacy and flexible role orientation as mediating mechanisms

Drawing on the contextual perspective, this study provides novel empirical evidence on how the organisational context (specifically, the firm's human resource strategy) has an effect on employee proactivity. We use matched data from managers and employees in 102 Spanish professional service firms to examine how high performance work systems contribute to enhance employee proactive behaviours through two motivational variables: role breadth self‐efficacy and flexible role orientation. Results of a multilevel study demonstrate that role breadth self‐efficacy mediates between HPWS and employee proactivity, but flexible role orientation does not mediate this relationship.     

Declared versus actual organizational culture as indicated by an organization's performance appraisal

This study examines the incompatible aspects of the declared and actual organizational norms as cultural aspects. Data were drawn from a performance evaluation conducted in a large multinational pharmaceutical organization. The selected evaluation dimensions are based on the publicly articulated behavioral norms stated by top level management. The empirical model partially supported the hypothesis. Two predictors, intrinsic normative motivation dimensions and professional behaviors, showed some overlap between the declared and the actual evaluative behavior norms. One implication of this study is that organizations should make a substantial effort to instil their desired vision and norms among their members.     

知识型员工绩效的影响因素研究——基于货币激励方式与团队氛围的双重视角

本文通过实验研究的方法,研究了货币激励与团队氛围对知识型员工绩效的影响,并分析了内部动机在上述两组关系中的影响作用。研究结果表明:从货币激励的角度来看,货币激励并不一定会提高知识型员工的绩效,和固定工资相比,与绩效挂钩的薪酬有时反而不利于工作业绩的提高。从团队氛围角度来看,被试者感受到的团队氛围越浓厚,越有利于带来更高的绩效。进一步研究发现,任务绩效会随内部动机的提高而提高,并且,货币激励与团队氛围均会通过影响内部动机进而影响任务绩效。因此,当货币激励对知识型员工绩效产生负效应时,可以通过营造较好的团队氛围提高员工的内部动机进而提高其绩效水平,这为提高员工绩效提供了除货币激励外一种新的方法途径。     

Entrepreneurial human capital,equity concentration and firm performance: Evidence from companies listed on China's Growth Enterprise Market

In this work, a sample of firms listed on China's Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) is employed to investigate the impact of human capital and equity concentration on firm performance. It shows that entrepreneurs' education level, industry experience and technical professional background have a positive impact on firm performance. Moreover, the higher the equity concentration, the better a firm's performance. Entrepreneurs with rich industry experience and a technical professional background tend to collect and condense equity, thereby increasing equity concentration. These findings reveal the relationship between entrepreneurial human capital and ownership concentration and enrich research on firm performance.     

Internet professionals: job skills for an on-line age

The paper explores the increasing popularity of the Internet technology Singapore. It argues that the diffusion of Internet technology to South-East Asia would create new duties and responsibilities for human resource (HR) managers. One such duty is the identification of the skills which professional Internet staff would need to perform their work effectively in organizations. Using a triangulation research method, empirical study has identified the new professional Internet jobs which have emerged the IT industry in Singapore and the skills that professional Internet personnel require do their jobs effectively. Analysis of the findings indicates that professional Internet skills involve both technical and creative abilities and that, in explaining or defining professional Internet skills, it is necessary to use both the technical and the social conceptions of skill. This argument is based on the view that the creative skills include tacit skills so that a definition based solely on the technical conception of skill cannot capture the various dimensions of Internet skills. The implications of the research findings for human resource managers are raised.     

供电企业职业技能鉴定网络化考试探索与实践

职业技能鉴定是企业技能人才队伍建设的重要手段,佛山供电局针对供电企业的职业技能鉴定工作的特点,通过对多年鉴定工作的经验梳理和总结,探索运用信息手段,规范、优化鉴定流程,对技能鉴定工作进行全过程管理,本文重点介绍了佛山供电局职业技能鉴定系统的功能构成和推广应用的实践经验,以供交流。     

Understanding Public and Nonprofit Managers' Motivation Through the Lens of Self-Determination Theory

Abstract

Contemporary public and nonprofit management research has disproportionally emphasized the importance of intrinsic motivation (especially service motivation) but has given comparatively little attention to non-intrinsic motivation. According to self-determination theory (SDT), non-intrinsic motivation moves from identified motivation, introjected motivation, external motivation, to amotivation, depending on their disparate levels of self-determination. The authors examine empirically whether public managers differ from nonprofit managers on these intrinsic and non-intrinsic motivational styles. The findings show that public managers exhibit stronger service motivation, identified motivation, external motivation, and amotivation when compared to their nonprofit peers. In addition, public managers' strong external motivation and amotivation compromise their overall level of self-determination, suggesting that they may be less motivated by their work requirements than are nonprofit counterparts.     

Developing and Utilizing Network Resources: Roles of Political Skill

This study examines the role of political skill in the development and utilization of network resources at the individual level. Drawing on the behavioural and network perspectives as well as political skill literature, we propose that political skill increases one's network resources (developing network), which will benefit his/her performance and career success. Moreover, political skill is hypothesized to strengthen the relationships between network resources and performance and career outcomes (utilizing network). A two‐wave study on a sample of 281 supervisor–subordinate dyads from six electronic firms in China confirms our hypotheses. Our examination of the dual role of political skill facilitates a better understanding of the networking process from the perspective of individual skill/behaviour, thus enriching the behavioural theory and network literature. Implications are discussed and directions for future research are suggested.     

A meta‐analytic investigation of the relationship between HRM bundles and firm performance

Human resource management bundles consisting of multiple complementary practices are typically considered superior to individual best practices in influencing firm performance. This study investigates the relationship between three such bundles (empowerment, motivation, and skill‐enhancing) and business outcomes (retention, operating performance, financial performance, and overall performance ratings). A meta‐analysis of 239 effect sizes derived from 65 studies reveals that HRM bundles have significantly larger magnitudes of effects than their constituent individual practices, are positively related to business outcomes, and display effect sizes that are comparable to or larger than those of high‐performance work systems. These findings reaffirm the case for firm‐level investments in synergistic HRM combinations and highlight the importance of investing in complementary practices. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

变革型领导行为与员工任务绩效——基于四个维度视角的实证研究

近十几年来,变革型领导理论成为领导理论研究的重点,虽然目前关于变革型领导行为的研究成果颇丰,但对其四个维度的深入研究却比较匮乏。实际上,其四个维度对员工的任务绩效可能会产生不同程度甚至不同方向的影响。因此,分维度来研究变革型领导行为对员工任务绩效的影响很有必要。利用3家河北省企业的样本数据验证研究假设发现,理想化影响、智力激发、个性化关怀与员工任务绩效均显著正相关,鼓舞性激励与员工任务绩效不相关。另外发现,理想化影响和智力激发与员工任务绩效的相关性比诸个性化关怀与之的相关性更显著。     

Government Performance and Chief Executives’ Intangible Assets: Motives,Networking, and/or Capacity?

This study explores the impact of chief executives’ intangible assets – motives, capacity and networks – on government performance. Three main hypotheses suggesting a direct relationship between these assets and performance are tested using data from municipalities in El Salvador, where the chief executive is the elected mayor. The research involved an in-field survey of 135 Salvadorian mayors (out of 262) and data collected from national agencies, focusing on two dimensions of municipal performance: service delivery (electricity and running water) and expansion of revenue (with national grants). After controlling for municipal and constituent-level factors, findings indicate that the chief executive’s capacity (specifically mayoral expertise) is positively correlated to municipal delivery of electricity and running water; intrinsic motivation is linked to expansion of water services; and municipalities whose chief executives are nationally networked tend to receive more grant monies. This study contributes to the literature on government performance by assessing the role of chief executives’ intangible assets in the developing context of a relatively newly established democracy in Latin America.