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While prior research has found that familiarity is beneficial to team performance, it is not clear whether different kinds of familiarity are more or less beneficial when the work has [...]

Various models of representational theory of measurement to analyze observable or non-directly observable properties of an object or operation are presented.

This paper examines the optimal structure of hierarchies when workers differ in the range of tasks they can perform. A hierarchical system may reduce costs by allowing most tasks to be handled by unskilled workers. This may however increase delay for those tasks which must pass through several layers before reaching the appropriate level. The paper characterises an optimal hierarchy when such a trade-off exists.

Participation has an indirect relationship with task performance through goal acceptance. A sample taken from a goal-setting program participated in by 200 employees reveals that participation also has a positive effect on task performance and procedural justice perceptions. The procedural justice perceptions of the goal-setting program, however, does not have any effect on task performance.

The influence of equilibrium task complexity on its selection for multi-stage games is investigated. Three task complexity measures are considered, namely, cardinality of choice space, level of iterative knowledge of rationality and level of iterative knowledge of strategies. The metrics are used to proxy for the degree of cognitive effort needed to play a game. Coordination games with multiple equilibria each being a different division of a fixed pie are analyzed. Results show that subjects consider disparity, although not as importantly as task complexity. Subject choices are also path-dependent. The three task complexity metrics prove to be effective in predicting choice behavior.

This study addressed the problem of task revision, a virtually unresearched issue in the work performance literature. We defined task revision as action taken to correct a faulty procedure, an inaccurate job description, or a role expectation that is dysfunctional for an organization. Two experiments were constructed to measure task revision and test for its determinants. Results showed that goal setting inhibited task revision: instructions to 'do your best' were superior to a specific goal. Facilitators of task revision were the salience of alternatives and being in a supervisory position with accountability pressures. We discuss the implications of these results in terms of the functions of counter-role behavior for organizations and the need to broaden the construct of work performance. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Research is presented describing the development of a meta-analysis criteria evaluation methodology for use in the field of policy analytic activities.