Impact of Team Members’ Competence on the Development of Team Mental Models and Team Performance
(2011)
This paper makes a contribution to the discussion on microfoundations of dynamic capabilities – actions and interactions in organizations that enable continuous organizational renewal. More specifically, we propose the idea that dynamic capabilities of an organization
are a positive function of corresponding dynamic capabilities of individual and collective actors in the organization. Further, we develop the assumption that not only individual acts of managers but also of individuals and teams without managerial responsibility relate to dynamic capabilities of the organization. Following a holistic view, we also take into consideration empowering working conditions as enhancing factor of this function. To
examine these roots of dynamic capabilities, we use a multi level model of competence provided by Wilkens, Keller and Schmette (2006) that operationalizes the concept of dynamic
capabilities provided by Teece (2007) on a concisely behavioural base. We investigated our hypotheses with a standardized questionnaire in a case study of a German plant engineering company with 112 participants and found first support for our assumptions. Our results show an impact of individual dynamic capabilities on dynamic capabilities of the organization which is mediated by team dynamic capabilities. Psychological and social-structural empowerment moderated this relationship. A case-specific interpretation and implications for future research and practice are discussed.
Psychological Capital as Mediator between Transformational Leadership and Adaptive Performance
(2013)
Moderating Role of Self-control Strength with Transformational Leadership and Adaptive Performance
(2013)
Based on a longitudinal sample of employees from the U.S. financial services industry (N=121), the present research examined the impact of transformational leadership on followers’ adaptive performance in change processes. Follower personality was taken into account as boundary condition by testing, if follower self-control strength as an individual trait moderated the relationship between transformational leadership and adaptive performance. In line with the developed hypothesis, results from a latent moderated structural equation model showed that followers’ self-control strength attenuated the relationship between transformational leadership and adaptive performance. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
We argue that effective leadership development should be evidence-based, i.e. that it combines the best available scientific evidence with
research in the specific organizational context. To illustrate our proposition, we report findings from a case study in a multinational organization. The goal was to examine which rater source in the company’s 360 degree feedback would provide the most valid information about leadership competencies. Therefore, we explored relationships between 360 degree ratings and assessment center (AC) ratings of the same leadership competencies (N=151). It was predicted that AC ratings show higher overlap with 360 degree ratings for behaviors that specific rating
sources can more easily observe in the ratees’ work life. Results showed that peers were the most accurate observers of leadership competencies in 360 degree assessments, compared to managers and subordinates. This corroborates our argument for an evidence-based instead of an
intuitive handling of 360 degree feedback results. Practical implications and avenues for future research are discussed.
Purpose
Although courage has generally been understood as a powerful virtue, research to establish it as a psychological construct is in its infancy. We examined courage in organizations against the backdrop of positive psychology with a design in the Grounded Theory tradition that connects Positive Organizational Behavior and Positive Organizational Scholarship.
Method
The sample consists of organizations that define courage in their mission statement and organizations without such a definition. It includes employees and executives, exploring workplace courage on the macro as well as the micro level. Eleven organizations and 23 participants contributed to the interview study.
Results
Applying Glaser's theoretical coding, specifically the C-family, we propose that courage arises from a decisional conflict in three major domains: the self, social interaction, and performance. It is located on a continuum between apathy and foolhardiness and can take on reactive, proactive, or autonomous forms. Whether and to what extent courage manifests, is a dynamic process contingent upon organizational structure, culture, and communication climate as well as individual cognitiveaffective personality systems.
Limitations
The model depicts the complexity of the phenomenon, rather than details of its individual components. It goes beyond pre-defined categories and prevailing definitions.
Implications
Modern organizations are characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA).
Courage is crucial in such an environment and can be systematically fostered across the whole human
resource management cycle.
Value
The study advances theory building on courage in the workplace and highlights its potential to be
measured, developed and managed for more effective work performance.