Personality differences and buyer-supplier relationships: Psychopathy in executives,gender differences and implications for future research

The buyer-supplier relationships (BSRs) literature to date has neglected the implications of individual personality differences amongst the parties to any relationship, thereby ignoring the complex dynamics of human interaction and behaviors on the progress and performance in such relationships. This Notes & Debates paper takes the view that personality matters, particularly toxic personality traits, and argues that for purchasing & supply researchers a cross-disciplinary approach to the study of BSRs will advance our understanding. Our study brought together psychology and supply management researchers.We begin by arguing that much of the extant literature demotes behavior and personality to peripheral, exogenous, or even irrelevant to the study of BSRs. Second, by focusing on the emergent research into corporate psychopathy, we explore one specific aspect of individual personality differences – psychopathic personality disorder. Third, we present our findings from a study of psychopathy in two executive samples, one consisting of exclusively procurement executives, to illustrate some of the personality traits likely to prevail within BSRs.Key to our argument, we found significant individual differences across our samples. Indeed, the incidence of psychopathic traits was higher than reported in the few prior studies of corporate psychopathy. We also found significant gender differences, marked not only by slightly higher levels of psychopathy in males than females, but by differences in the disposition of psychopathy. We also found that the relationship between psychopathy and seniority was significant, indicative of a relationship between executive status and potentially toxic behaviors.Future studies of BSRs thus need to recognize and account for individual differences in BSRs; such differences are not inconsequential.     

The relationship between expatriates' personality traits and their adjustment to international assignments

This study investigates the relationship between personality traits of expatriates and their adjustment to international assignments. We focused in particular on the Big Five personality traits: extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience. We sampled eighty-three US expatriates in Taiwan and found statistically significant relationships between expatriate adjustment and three personality traits in theoretically reasonable directions. Specifically, our results showed that a US expatriate's general living adjustment in Taiwan is positively related to his or her degree of extroversion and openness to experience. We found that extroversion and agreeableness are both positively related to interaction adjustment (i.e. relationships with local people). Furthermore, a US expatriate's work adjustment is positively related to his or her openness to experience. Unlike prior research on expatriate adjustment, we have examined multiple traits rooted in personality theory, and we have derived hypotheses that are specific to a Chinese context.     

A review of personality and performance: Identifying boundaries, contingencies, and future research directions

This article reviews the literature linking the Big Five personality traits with job performance in order to identify the most promising directions for future research. Specifically, we recommend expanding the criterion domain to include internal and external service-oriented behavior as well as adaptive performance. We also review situational moderators of the personality–performance relationship and suggest additional moderators at the task, social, and organizational levels. Finally, we discuss trait interactions and explain why we expect that our capability to predict employee behavior will be considerably improved by considering the interaction among traits.     

Personality and the creativity of frontline service employees: linear and curvilinear effects

Abstract

Previous studies have investigated the relationship between the Five-Factor model of personality and creativity. As this model has been criticised for providing a limited account of an individual’s personality, this study considers additional personality traits that have recently been investigated in the literature as determinants of employee behaviour. Moreover, we also contribute to the existing body of literature by conducting this study in a service setting, for which we predict personality traits will exert differentiated effects on creativity when compared to other settings. Finally, while past research has focused on linear effects, this study examines the existence of non-linear effects between personality and creativity. The results indicate that personality traits apart from the Five-Factor model have an impact on creativity and that the effects of several personality traits on the creativity of frontline service employees differ from those obtained in other settings. Lastly, the findings also show that five of the personality traits have non-linear effects on creativity, and this may be a stimulus for a new stream of research in the human resources literature.     

Mentoring received by protégés: its relation to personality and mental ability in the Anglo-Saxon organizational environment

Dispositional characteristics, including personality and mental ability, play a substantial role in interpersonal relationships. However, their connection with mentoring, which is a form of interpersonal relationship, has received limited attention. The study empirically investigated the association of mentoring received with the Big-Five of personality and general mental ability in the Anglo-Saxon organizational environment. Furthermore, it integrated the relationship between dispositional traits, mentoring received and career success in a causal path model. Analysis of data collected from 272 white-collar workers suggested no relationships of logarithmic form between mentoring received and personality traits or general mental ability. Hierarchical linear regression indicated that scores on openness and agreeableness made significant contributions to scores on mentoring received over and above the contributions of the demographics and human capital controls. Causal path modelling suggested that the total effects of openness and agreeableness on extrinsic career success were negative while the corresponding effects on intrinsic career success were positive; largely due to the fact that the benefits of mentoring received were stronger for intrinsic than for extrinsic career success. The results were discussed with respect to their contribution to our understanding of the development of mentoring relationships, and their implications for practice and research across national cultural contexts.     

A hermeneutic analysis of critical success factors for Enterprise Systems implementation by SMEs

ABSTRACT

This study employs the critical hermeneutic approach to identifying current knowledge limitations and propose future research directions. Through five hermeneutic cycles of review, analysis, synthesis and interpretation of the existing literature and success stories reported by 30 small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs), this study identifies critical success factors (CSFs) that are unique to SMEs, frequently cited in the literature, and influential as perceived by SMEs. The study offers contributions by providing a synthesis of CSFs for SMEs; highlighting current knowledge gaps; proposing avenues for future research; and demonstrating the suitability of the critical hermeneutic approach to studying CSFs for ES implementation.     

Performance implications of centrality in franchisee advice networks

Although the literature has provided ample evidence for the decisiveness of the franchisor–franchisee relationship in explaining organizational success or failure, performance effects of franchisee–franchisee relationships remain largely unexplored. Yet a growing body of research indicates that by building interfranchisee relationships, franchisees can form advice networks in the chain. Such networks offer privileged access to resources such as knowledge, information, and best practices that help individual franchisees to become more productive. In this context, we study linkages between a franchisee's centrality in franchisee relationships and various individual performance outcomes, using comprehensive data from franchisees in 3 different chains in the largest European franchise market, France. We find that conditional on the specific governance structure of each chain, the results document a strong impact of centrality in advice networks on franchisee performance. Accordingly, we offer theoretical contributions concerning knowledge‐sharing processes in franchise chains, and managerial implications as regards more effective cooperation management in practice, from the perspective of both a franchisee and a franchisor.     

Jumping in at the deep end! The role of motivational forces in starting a new venture

Entrepreneurial motivation is a decisive factor for new venture creation, yet sometimes high motivation does not translate into corresponding behaviour. Comparing the intention-action gap of nascent entrepreneurs, we find that variances in motivation do not sufficiently explain the decision to not pursue a start-up idea. We propose and show that through applying an enhanced version of expectancy theory (ET), it is possible to identify additional personality factors of nascent entrepreneurs which add explanatory power to answer the question, why, out of a seemingly similarly motivated group, some will found a company and others will not. Through framing our study as an attempt to add to the intention-action gap literature by demonstrating the general applicability of ET, yet the need for further contextualisation of the theory, we contribute to previous studies and advance our knowledge in this important field. Our study provides a conceptual model, tests it using data from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED II) and, finally, offers suggestions regarding future research as well as practical implications.

     

A systematic literature review of entrepreneurial opportunity recognition: insights on influencing factors

In the last three decades, research studies investigating how individuals recognize entrepreneurial opportunities have advanced rapidly and have become a key topic in the modern entrepreneurship literature. To advance this important concern further, we present a systematic literature review of the entrepreneurial opportunity research field and its status. Contrary to conventional wisdom, this research suggests that the field is fragmented and empirically underdeveloped. A comprehensive literature analysis shows that only a handful of authors have contributed specifically to developing dialogues related to opportunity recognition and that the topic is considered primarily as an ancillary issue by many authors and academic journals. Based on analyzing 180 articles, we classify existing contributions into six influential factors: prior knowledge, social capital, cognition/personality traits, environmental conditions, alertness, and systematic search. Moreover, by developing a framework, we communicate critical insights regarding the opportunity recognition process. The contribution of individual articles to the proposed factors is presented in a research synthesis table. We conclude by presenting several directions for future research related to opportunity recognition.     

Charity brand personality: can smaller charitable organizations leverage their brand's personality to influence giving

The importance of establishing a strong brand identity has been the focus for consumer brand managers for decades. Organizations develop and communicate a distinctive brand personality as a means of attracting consumers and cultivating long‐term relationships. While the concept of branding has gained recent attention as an important strategy for nonprofit practitioners, little empirical data exist on the role a charity's brand personality might play in attracting donors. A few recent studies of large national charitable organizations provide support that charities exhibit distinctive personalities. This study explores whether smaller, local scope charitable organizations, without the benefit of national brand recognition, also exhibit distinctive brand personalities and whether such brand personalities influence donors. Results from five charitable organizations, from four distinct categories of cause, find that brand personality traits that are both differentiating and relevant to donors influence charitable giving. The findings provide nonprofit practitioners with valuable insights for leveraging their brand's personality to turn donor awareness into commitment and establish a stronger market position. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Goodbye Germany! The influence of personality and cognitive factors on the intention to work abroad

The demand for internationally mobile employees is increasing with globalization. Being able to assess an employee's intention to work abroad already at the stage of hiring becomes an important criteria for employee selection. Cognitions specified by the theory of planned behavior (TPB) were examined as mediators of the relationship between individuals' personality traits and the intention to work abroad. Utilizing a sample of 518 German business students, mediation analysis suggests that the cognitive constructs contained within the TPB fully mediate the relationships between the personality traits of openness to experience and extraversions and the intention to work abroad.     

Developing organisational embeddedness: employee personality and social networking

Abstract

While research has supported the contention that organisational embeddedness can influence voluntary turnover, little research examines how employees develop embeddedness. Understanding how employees develop embeddedness, however, is important to deal with the costly issue of voluntary turnover. This paper suggests that the personality traits of conscientiousness, emotional stability and extraversion can predict embeddedness and that social networking can also shape organisational embeddedness. Embeddedness is expected to negatively impact turnover intentions in turn. Data were collected through self-reported questionnaires (n = 401) in service sector companies in the Caribbean nation of Trinidad. A research design with three waves was used to test the proposed research model. The findings suggest that the personality dimensions of conscientiousness, emotional stability and extraversion predict organisational embeddedness, that social networking impacts embeddedness and that embeddedness predicts intent to turnover. Implications, limitations and future research directions offered by these findings are also discussed.     

Social and economic exchange relationships and performance contingency: differential effects of variable pay and base pay

Abstract

In this study, we tested hypotheses derived from social exchange theory by investigating the relationships between employees’ base and variable pay and their social and economic exchange relationships with their employer. In a cross-lagged study of approximately 30 months duration including 488 respondents, the amount of accumulated base pay was positively related to a social exchange relationship, whereas the accumulated amount of variable pay was positively related to an economic exchange relationship. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings and propose future research on the relationship between pay and social and economic exchange relationships.     

Effects of attention and reliability on the performance of online medical crowdfunding projects: The moderating role of target amount

Medical crowdfunding platform helps numerous patients access enthusiastic donors and address financial difficulties, but many crowdfunding projects fail to reach their target amount. Thus, how a crowdfunding project can attract considerable donors is questionable. This study examines the effects of attention and reliability on the performance of online medical crowdfunding projects and how target amount changes such effects. Based on objective data of 1177 crowdfunding projects from 2016 to January 2018 in a large medical crowdfunding platform in China, we find that the project donor’s attention (the number of forwards and comments) and reliability (the number of dynamic updates, empirical users, and pictures) positively affect the medical crowdfunding performance of the projects. However, target amount weakens the positive effects of the number of forwards and comments in online medical crowdfunding projects. Therefore, project sponsors should set reasonable target fundraising amounts while showing attention and reliability to donors. Compared with previous research that mainly explores the influence of external factors on crowdfunding outcomes from the perspective of donors, this paper focuses on the internal project factors and explores the concerns and trustworthiness of crowdfunding projects, enriching the literature related to fundraising ability in the project.     

The power of personality at work: Core self‐evaluations and earnings in the United Kingdom

Organisations are increasingly taking an interest in personality as certain traits purportedly predict desirable attitudes and behaviours. We examine the relationship between one increasingly popular construct—core self‐evaluations (CSEs)—and earnings. We argue that if high levels of CSEs really are valuable traits, then high CSE individuals should be observed to earn more than those with moderate or low levels of CSEs. Using the nationally representative British Household Panel Survey, we find little evidence that individuals with very high CSEs earn more than those with only moderate levels. However, we do find the existence of a pay penalty for individuals very low in CSEs. Similar patterns emerge for the Big Five model of traits. Although the exact mechanisms remain unclear, our findings imply that organisations should play a greater role in the career development of employees scoring lowly in “desirable” traits—especially in a context of increasing career fluidity.     

From Every Direction—How Personality Traits and Dimensions of Project Managers Can Conceptually Affect Project Success

Based on extensive literature review, this theoretical paper adds to the “soft skill” research stream by enlarging the scope of personality dimensions and their subsequent effects on project success and, second, considers dimensions heretofore not explored within the project management body of knowledge. We posit that a project manager's extent of communication apprehension, degree of innovativeness, level of self‐monitoring, conflict management style, degree of change orientation and Myers‐Briggs (MBTI) personality type can affect project outcomes. Additionally, we conjecture that organizational dynamics such as structure, incentive systems, and organizational project management maturity can moderate the relationship between these personality dimensions and project success.     

Identifying personality traits to enhance trust between organisations: an experimental approach

We investigate an experimental representatives' trust game which resembles trust relationships between representatives of organisations. Personality traits of subjects are elicited by a personality questionnaire (Cattell's 16 PF‐R) which is well established in personnel psychology. For the first time, personality traits are linked to actually observed behaviour in a trust game. Detailed personality profiles are derived and it is shown that they differ significantly between behavioural types. Individuals with low scores in anxiety turn out to be particularly qualified for enhancing trust between organisations. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of new media use on user’s personality traits

With rapid development of internet technology, new media has exerted more and more influence on user’s personality. This research studies how new media use affects user’s personality traits. Through sampling in Shanghai and applying structural equation model to the data, the study explored the path of influence and concluded that new-media use has significant positive effect on extraversion, openness and agreeableness through the sense of belonging, and has significant negative effect on their emotional stability and conscientiousness through self-monitoring. Additionally, the user’s gender significantly moderates the relationship between new-media use and sense of belonging, as the relationship means more for female than for male. Finally, the article suggests some measures and proposals about management of new media.     

Resilience,wellbeing and HRM: a multidisciplinary perspective

Abstract

Research on resilience has accumulated a vast body of knowledge which has assisted in comprehending complex HRM issues in diverse organizational settings. Yet, the existing studies have hitherto not paid sufficient attention to the multifaceted aspects of resilience and occupational contexts. We join the conversation with resilience, wellbeing and HRM by suggesting that investigating resilience from a multidisciplinary perspective situated in varying occupational contexts can advance our collective understandings of the phenomena in important ways. This paper has three general objectives. First, we show that resilience has been a long-standing issue in organizational behavior and organization studies and provide an overview of the puzzles that underpin and trigger this special issue. Second, we highlight the key insights and contributions of the papers included in this special issue by reviewing their theoretical underpinnings, methodological approaches and findings. Finally, we outline a future research agenda on resilience in organizations that can help advance international HRM research.     

Building effective organizations: transformational leadership,collectivist orientation,work-related attitudes and withdrawal behaviours in three emerging economies

Abstract

Previous cross-cultural research on transformational leadership has focused mainly on replicating the augmentation effects of transformational leadership over transactional leadership on followers’ attitudes and behaviours. Relatively few studies have systematically examined cultural impacts in moderating the influence of transformational leadership on work-related outcomes taking a cross-cultural perspective. Using a field survey of 577 employees from banking and financial sectors in three emerging economies, namely: China, India and Kenya, we examined the moderating effect of collectivism on the relationships between transformational leadership, work-related attitudes and perceptions of withdrawal behaviours. Our results found support for the moderating effect of collectivism on the relationship between transformational leadership and work-related outcomes, such as facets of job satisfaction, organizational commitment and perceptions of organizational withdrawal behaviours. In addition, our results lend support to the view that transformational leadership might be effective across cultures. The implications of these findings for future research on transformational leadership and cross-cultural research are discussed.