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Idiosyncratic deals (or i-deals) are mutually beneficial, personalized agreements of a nonstandard nature that are negotiated between individual employees and their employers. This article outlines the development of a 16-item measure of i-deals negotiated by job incumbents. Across four studies, the authors developed a reliable scale with a multidimensional factor structure that replicated across three separate samples. Study 1 was aimed at verifying that they had appropriately specified the domains across which i-deals are negotiated. In Study 2, the authors developed a measure of i-deals and confirmed its reliability and factor structure. Studies 3 and 4 provided further evidence for the psychometric properties of the i-deals measure and examined antecedents and outcomes of i-deals. Overall, the results indicate that employees negotiate i-deals across four content domains (i.e., schedule flexibility, location flexibility, task and work responsibilities, and financial incentives) and that i-deals have important implications for work attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine employee perceptions of fairness and work morale as mediators of the relationship between leader reward behavior and employee behavior. Design/methodology/approach – A matrix of meta-analytic estimates containing the focal variables (leader reward behavior, fairness, morale, and employee behavior) was constructed following a literature review of published studies. This matrix was then analyzed using structural equation modeling to test a series of nested models. Findings – Leader reward behavior is positively related to higher task performance and organizational citizenship behavior, and fewer intentions to turnover. These relationships are mediated by employees' perceptions of fairness and work morale. Research limitations/implications – The paper extends the leadership literature by identifying two mechanisms (viz., fairness and morale) through which leader reward behavior relates to employee behavior. Possible limitations are the drawbacks associated with meta-analysis (e.g. inability to make causal inferences). Practical implications – Rewarding subordinate performance alone is not sufficient to increase task performance and organizational citizenship behavior and decrease turnover intentions. Instead, managers must ensure that their contingent reward behaviors are seen as fair by employees in order to have favorable effects. Originality/value – To date, research on possible mediators of the effects of leader reward behavior has been scarce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses theoretical conceptualizations of arrogance, results of studies of arrogance in the workplace and its detrimental effects on leadership. Distinctions between arrogance and several related personality characteristics narcissism, hubris and confidence are explained. The negative impact of arrogance on individuals and organizations is described. Practical recommendations for dealing with arrogant employees are also provided.

Core self-evaluation (CSE) represents the fundamental appraisals individuals make about their self-worth and capabilities. CSE is conceptualized as a higher order construct composed of broad and evaluative traits (e.g., self-esteem and generalized self-efficacy). The authors review 15 years of CSE theory and research, focusing in particular on the outcomes, mediators, and moderators of CSE via qualitative and quantitative literature reviews. Meta-analytic results support the relation of CSE with various outcomes, including job and life satisfaction, in-role and extra-role job performance, and perceptions of the work environment (e.g., job characteristics and fairness). The authors conclude with a critical evaluation of CSE theory, measurement, and construct validity, highlighting areas of promise and concern for future CSE research. Key topics requiring further research include integrating CSE within an approach/avoidance framework, ruling out alternative explanations for the emergence of the higher order construct, testing the possibility of intraindividual change in CSE, evaluating the usefulness of CSE for staffing and performance management, and moving beyond CSE to also consider core external evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Values, attitudes, and goals are often automatically activated, yet organizational research has relied predominantly on techniques that measure these phenomena at explicit or conscious levels. In this study, the authors validated an indirect measure designed to assess employee self-concept at implicit levels. Because self-concept is believed to operate primarily at implicit levels, it was hypothesized that an indirect measure would be an effective predictor of work criteria. The criteria examined were task performance, citizenship and counterproductive behavior, and the quality of supervisor—subordinate relations. Consistent with predictions, the indirect measure—a word fragment completion task—contributed more to the prediction of criteria than the direct measure— self-report survey items with summated rating scales. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for the use of indirect measures in applied settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across 2 experiments, we examined motivational processes elicited by justice-related experiences. Specifically, we examined the effects of justice on recipients' self-identity and regulatory focus. As predicted, those who experienced unfairness had a strong individual identity and prevention focus owing to the threats of social rejection and economic exploitation communicated by unfairness. Conversely, individuals exposed to fairness had strong interdependent identities and promotion focus owing to the favorable economic and socioemotional information communicated by fairness. These effects were accentuated among participants who reported high sensitivity to injustice and internal loci of control. Our findings are important because they highlight causal associations between justice and key motivation constructs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we examined relationships between trait affectivity and work performance. However, because trait affectivity is believed to operate primarily outside awareness, we assessed it using techniques designed to measure content at explicit and implicit levels. Although results were consistent across the explicit and implicit measures (i.e., positive affectivity was positively related to task performance and citizenship behavior, whereas negative affectivity was negatively related to task performance and positively related to counterproductive behavior), the implicit measure predicted greater proportions of variance in supervisor-rated criteria and did so incremental to the explicit measure. We discuss the implications of these results for theory and practice, and highlight the potential usefulness of implicit measures for applied research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effects of organizational values on employee attachment. Factor analytic results across two studies indicated that organizational values cluster into interdependent and independent factors. In Study 2, organizational values data were collected from supervisors, and identity and attachment data were collected from subordinates. As predicted, relationships involving interdependent and dependent values were contingent on employee identity. Specifically, interdependent organizational values predicted turnover cognition and organizational commitment for employees who reported strong collective identities. Independent organizational values, on the other hand, predicted the commitment of employees with strong individual identities. Implications of these results and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although organizational commitment is a multidimensional construct, researchers have tended to examine the independent effects of its different forms. However, doing so creates potential problems of model misspecification and under-prediction if interactions exist among different commitments. In this paper we discuss theoretically plausible interactions among different commitments, the patterns of which are expected to vary depending on the nature of the criterion and the foci of commitment. We then test these predictions via empirical data. Results revealed a ‘synergistic’ pattern of effects for discretionary outcomes, such that levels of organizational citizenship behaviour and strain were most favourable when employees reported high levels on multiple commitments. Importantly, no evidence was found for competitive effects between commitments, such that high levels on multiple commitments are detrimental. We discuss the implications of our findings for research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theory of core self-evaluation (CSE) has provided organizational scholars with a framework for describing disposition-based effects on work attitudes and behaviors. Although the CSE construct has been useful for predicting various phenomena, there are potential weaknesses concerning how it is conceptualized and used. We review limitations regarding CSE theory, its measurement, and specific traits, and provide recommendations for addressing them. Key recommendations include strengthening the theory underlying CSE, specifying CSE as an aggregate construct with causal indicators, representing CSE as a multidimensional construct rather than a scale score, and incorporating a trait that reflects approach motivation. Theoretical and empirical evidence that relate to our recommendations are presented. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employee self-concept is a critical self-regulatory variable in organizational settings. In this paper, we discuss the relevance of self-concept for organizational commitment, and propose that self-concept levels moderate relationships between commitment and its antecedents. Using an experimental design in which we primed the working self-concept of employed participants, we found support for our hypotheses. Specifically, relationships between affective commitment and its antecedents (organizational support, procedural justice, and company and supervisor satisfaction) were more pronounced for employees with salient collective self-concepts. Alternatively, relationships between continuance commitment and its antecedents (outcome and supervisor satisfaction) were stronger for employees with salient individual self-concepts. We discuss the implications of our findings and suggest directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the present study was to examine the intersection of employees' self-concept, a pivotal self-regulatory mechanism, with their organizational commitment. We supported our hypothesis that unique associations exist between affective commitment and collective self-concept, due to their shared group-oriented focus and internalization of collective goals and norms. Furthermore, we observed unique associations between continuance commitment and individual self-concept, likely owing to a shared emphasis on preserving personal investments and avoiding adverse outcomes. We also show that self-concept moderates relationships between commitment and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), such that affective (continuance) commitment–OCB relationships were stronger for employees with high collective (individual) self-concept levels. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1994, R. G. Lord and P. E. Levy proposed a variant of control theory that incorporated human information processing principles. The current article evaluates the empirical evidence for their propositions and updates the theory by considering contemporary research on information processing. Considerable support drawing from diverse literatures was found for propositions concerning the activation of goal-relevant information, the inhibition of goal-irrelevant information, and the consequences of goal completion. These effects were verified by meta-analytic analyses, which also supported the meaningfulness of such effects on the basis of their unstandardized magnitudes. The authors conclude by proposing new directions for this version of control theory by invoking recent theorizing on goal emergence and the importance of velocity and acceleration information for goal striving and by reviewing research in cognitive neuroscience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource‐based theories posit that exerting self‐control to regulate one's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors depletes people's available self‐regulatory resources, leaving them depleted and less able to exert self‐control in subsequent activities. Although the detrimental effects of depletion are well‐established, we challenge this prevailing view by proposing that depletion can have unexpected beneficial effects. Across multiple studies, our current research provides evidence that depletion shifts consumers' attention on benefits of creativity, and in turn influences their subsequent creative engagement. Specifically, we found that depletion increases consumers' persistence in creative activity, and this beneficial effect of depletion on creative engagement is explained by their attention on benefits of creativity. Furthermore, we explore a boundary conditions of this depletion‐creative engagement effect by demonstrating that the effect could be attenuated for individuals who are not open to new experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extant leader-member exchange (LMX) literature holds that LMX and LMX differentiation have various consequences on the focal employees’ work-related outcomes. Since the levels of LMX might change as a result of exchanges in work interactions, scholars recently have raised the importance of adopting a more dynamic view in this literature. With the present research, we aim to examine the relationship between the change of LMX, the change of relative LMX (RLMX), and work-related effort. In particular, we focus on the concurrent effects of LMX-and-RLMX changes on the focal employees’ work-related efforts. Drawing on self-regulation theories, we propose that LMX trajectories and RLMX trajectories serve as two independent feedback loop forms regarding the attainability of achieving favorable LMX within teams, which jointly affect the focal employee work efforts. We collected multi-wave and multisource data from 328 employees in 42 workgroups and archival records from an insurance call center. The results indicated that negative LMX change was correlated with higher effort (i.e., the number of calls). Moreover, polynomial regression and response surface analyses revealed a positive relationship between follower LMX–RLMX change incompatibility and work effort. Our dual-dynamic model indicates the importance of considering concurrent changes in both LMX and RLMX to understand better the dynamic processes and outcomes of LMX in work teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]