Search

Expectancy theory has found increasing use iii the study of such variables as worker effort, performance, and satisfaction. This paper suggests some mathematical modifications of expectancy theory which extend its use to the prediction of leader behavior. Data from a field study of naval aviation maintenance crews and a field study of public works maintenance shop supervisors found that a leader's actual behavior could be predicted from the theory. These results suggest that expectancy theory not only has the ability to account for leader behavior in a real life setting, but also helps us to understand the antecedents of such behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the articles published in the December 1973 issue of the journal "Organizational Behavior and Human Performance." The articles reflect growing awareness that many important probabilistic inference tasks are hierarchical in the sense that they involve complex conditioning patterns among events. Each event forms a link in an often lengthy inferential chain leading from observables to primary hypotheses whose relative likeliness is to be determined. Three articles in this journal are concerned with various formal issues in hierarchical or cascaded inference. A general model by Scott Barclay and Clinton W. Kelly for hierarchical inference shows rather clearly just how complex the essential conditioning patterns among inferential events can be. The Schum-Kelly article examines a special case of hierarchical inference in which the reliability or credibility of sources of inferential information is an issue. This paper illustrates the absolute necessity for careful prescriptions about the independence and conditional independence of events.

The occurrence or nonoccurrence of an event D has inferential significance. We query n sources or sensors who make individual reports about the occurrence or nonoccurrence of D. Their reports are either mutually confirming or there is some pattern of conflict among them. In this paper we develop expressions termed adjusted likelihood ratios which prescribe the inferential or diagnostic impact of the joint confirming or conflicting reports from the n sources. These expressions combine information about the inferential impact of D (and its complement D) with information about the reliability of each source. We only consider the case in which the reporting behavior of any subset of the sources is not itself an inferentially significant event. Appropriate independence and conditional independence assumptions are necessary. Our formulations of adjusted likelihood ratio are applicable to a variety of medical, legal, military, and other inferential tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expectancy theories of work motivation specify a multiplicative relationship between valence of job outcomes (V) and expectancy (E) that effort will lead to these outcomes. But both E and V are typically measured using scales lacking a rational zero point and thus at best interval in nature. Multiplication of such scales is theoretically not a meaningful operation. This paper demonstrates that transformations of E and V scales which change only the location of the nonmeaningful zero point can greatly alter obtained correlations between E × V and measures work motivation or effort. Two potential solutions to this problem are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much research effort has recently been expended in assessing a construct known as organizational climate. Many researchers have opted to measure the construct via perceptual self-report questionnaires. The present paper, through literature review and logical argument, questions the independence of climate factors from those identified in research on work attitudes. Two work attitude measures and 90 organizational climate items were administered to 499 employees of one company. Cluster analysis of the cluster scores generated for each measure revealed substantial redundancy of climate factors with regard to work attitude factors, Assessing climate via perceptual self-report measures may result in the replication of the work attitude literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops the hypothesis that hierarchical structure and external control in organizations are antecedent variables leading to low achievement, low creativity, and high aggression. An intervening variables of belief systems is postulated and a consistency motivational hypothesis is suggested. Data supportive of the hypothesis is reviewed and implications are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with a leadership change experiment conducted in a major component part (sub-system) of a manufacturing organization (system). The leaders (foremen) in seven of eight groups comprising an entire department of critical importance in the organization were reassigned on 2 days' notice in accordance with an experimental plan designed by the author. The nature of the experiment and associated data provide an unusual opportunity for an empirical field test on certain central aspects of open systems theory as applied to formal organizations.² [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficiency of the power-function model in describing and predicting the adaptation of existing groups to new technologies has been demonstrated in a large number of industrial settings. The generality of this function in describing a second category of adaptation--that of newly established groups to existing technologies-is investigated in this paper. The adaptation of different sets of newly formed groups to two experimental tasks was investigated; twelve groups of three subjects were given a business simulation task and 11 groups of five subjects were given a common symbol task of the Bavelas-Leavitt type. It is concluded that the power-function model describes the adaptation of both sets of groups very efficiently and that a strong relation- ship between the parameters of this model may provide a method of predicting group adaptation curves at the initiation of task performance. The practical implication of these findings for organizational planning, co-ordination, and control are described. A set of behavioral elements common to the industrial and experimental processes are identified and discussed as a possible beginning in the development of a theory of group adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that organizational researchers should study triads and the process of coalition formation more intensely since triads contain several organizational properties that are not found in smaller groups. A triad task is proposed that offsets many shortcomings of previous tasks used to study three person groups. Procedural variations and psychological properties of the task are discussed as are reformulations of traditional issues in triad theory that seem feasible given the properties of the triad task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problems in interpretation have arisen in Dodson's modification of Bayes's theorem which is the original formulation for use in multistage inference situations. This paper gives a model for which Dodson's algorithm is appropriate, and contrasts this model to a model developed by Gettys and Willke (Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 1969, 4, 125-141). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following four papers are modified versions of papers delivered in a symposium titled "The Role of Financial Compensation in Managerial Motivation" held during the Spring, 1965 meetings of the Midwestern Psychological Association. Dunnette presents an instrumental model of managerial motivation and discusses its implications for research on the motivational effects of compensation. He also reviews research related to Preferences (motives) most often found to be salient for managers. Lawler summarizes previous research on the effects of secret salary policies on manager satisfaction and presents results of another recent study showing that policies of pay secrecy have several costs not generally recognized. Secrecy apparently blurs managers' perceptions of what others earn; they overestimate the salaries of peers and of subordinates and this can lead to greater pay dissatisfaction and the belief that job performance is rather unimportant in determining pay. Weick reviews the psychological literature bearing on the effects of insufficient rewards on the intensity of effort. He reviews evidence in support of the relationship, postulates several properties of experimental procedures to explain the effects, and suggests that propositions from frustration or cue-utilization theory may afford the most parsimonious explanation of the relationship. Finally, Opsahl provides an overview of current, knowledge about managerial compensation and its effect on managerial job behavior, and suggests areas in need of further intensive research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]