A.B. Freeman School of Business

A model of the unionization process is proposed, tested, and generally supported. The constructs of work environment, instrumentality beliefs, and labor union image are hypothesized as trigger, augmenter, and veto influences, respectively, of pro union voting intentions. In addition, the role of referent others is hypothesized to be a determinant of pro union voting intention.

This study was designed to simultaneously analyze the influence of mood and interpersonal affect on the performance appraisal process. Results suggest that affect consistency, as opposed to mood consistency, is likely to influence the weighting of recalled performance information and ratings subsequently assigned. Surprisingly, a mood-incongruent effect also occurred when weighting the performance information. Aside from affective influences, the raters assigned the most weight to positive performance incidents, however, the raters remembered more of the negative performance. Implications for appraisal practice and directions for future research are discussed.

The literature on the appraisal of persons with disabilities is reviewed. This literature suggests inconsistent and conflicting effects for ratees' disability on performance ratings. We review several theoretical arguments for why there may be bias in the performance appraisal of employees with disabilities and outline some of the conditions under which bias will most likely occur. A more broad based review of some potential processes underlying appraisal decisions is presented to explain why such inconsistencies should be expected. These processes are used to develop a model of the appraisal process for persons with disabilities which can be used to guide future research in this area. The model focuses on raters' cognitive processes, the quality of leader-member exchange, performance standards, rater attributions, and the consequences of the performance appraisal process. Practical implications of this process-oriented view of the appraisal of persons with disabilities are also discussed.

There is a history of interest in appraisal instruments as a means of improving the accuracy of ratings. But cognitive models have suggested an alternative role for instrumentation. The present study involved 125 subjects in an attempt to examine whether the format ofthe instrument, and the timing ofits introduction, might influence cognitive processing of performance information and, in turn, recall and rating accuracy. Subjects received either a task-or trait-based instrument, either before observing performance, before a recall task, or before ratings. Both the type of scale and the timing of its introduction affected the organization of information in memory which, in turn, was related to recall accuracy. Raterjudgment processes were affected as well. Implications for future research, and especially practice, are discussed.

was designed to analyze cognitive charactermoderators associated with sex bias in lhe results of this study suggest that sex bias influential factor during rater recall. Ratees ^ . performing in sex-incongruent occupations were found to receive deflated ratings in situations where their gender was not distinct within the group of ratees to be evaluated. Interpretations, limitations, implications, and directions for future research are discussed. suggests that "any discussion of discrimination should begin with the reality that major segments of American society are economically disadvantaged." Within the five major non-farm occupations measured, women in 1991 were compensated an average of only 72 percent of the medium weekly earnings for men occupying those same types of jobs (U.

A finding by is that job expert ratings on the PAQ correlate highly with ratings obtained from college students who are given no information about jobs other than their titles. One possible explanation for this finding is that the PAQ measures only trivial or common knowledge about work that both experts and naive observers possess. This particular view, of course, has serious implications for the use of the PAQ. In this paper we point out a problem in the way Smith and Hakel calculated the convergent validity between expert raters and naive raters. We also present the results from a replication study that indicate convergent validities are much lower than those reported by Smith and Hakel. Additional points are presented in order to caution against the interpretation that the PAQ measures only common knowledge about jobs.

Interpersonal affect has been found, in prior laboratory research, to be related to ratings of job performance. Such findings have been taken to mean that affect creates bias in ratings. The present study was conducted to determine if this relationship would hold up in a field setting. The present study was also designed to examine how structured diary-keeping, and the nature of the appraisal instrument, might be related to affect-appraisal relationships. The results for 85 raters, and 404 ratees, suggested that affect was significantly related to all ratings, but more strongly related to trait-like ratings than task/outcome-like ratings, and that having raters keep performance diaries actually increased the strength of the relationship between affect and ratings. We concluded that affect may not be a biasing influence on ratings, but may be a result of better subordinate performance. Results from an analysis of the diary content supported this conclusion. Implications for the role of affect on ratings and the nature of the relationship between past performance and interpersonal affect in field settings are discussed.

Purpose – This paper proposes a methodology for governing expatriate assignments in the context of corporate-level objectives. Design/methodology/approach – The approach taken is to envisage expatriate managerial assignments within the theoretical framework of agency theory and the knowledge-based view of the firm. The paper begins with the view that knowledge acquisition and integration is a primary goal for most expatriate

Failure to adapt is one of the most often cited reasons for the premature return of expatriate assignees. This chapter reviews and builds on research that suggests that the expatriate socialization process involves multiple stakeholders. We review the state of the expatriate socialization literature and introduce recent theoretical developments on the process of expatriate socialization by adopting the host country national's (HCN) perspective, and propose that HCNs have a potentially important role as socializing agents for expatriates. Drawing on social identity and justice theories, we identify relevant social cognitions and organizational practice that influence HCN coworkers' decision to play this role -providing social support and sharing information with expatriates. A broader definition of expatriate success that includes the outcomes of HCNs is also proposed. We conclude by highlighting new theoretical perspectives and research directions for developing our understanding of the expatriate socialization processes.

 Performance appraisal has been the focus of considerable research for almost a century. Yet, this research has resulted in very few specific recommendations about designing and implementing appraisal and performance management systems whose goal is performance improvement. We believe that a reason for this is that appraisal research became too interested in measurement issues and not interested enough in ways to improve performance, although some recent trends in the area have begun moving the field in the right direction. We review these trends and their genesis, and propose a motivational framework as a means of integrating what we have learned and generating proposals for future research that focus on employee's performance improvement.

 Performance appraisal has been the focus of considerable research for almost a century. Yet, this research has resulted in very few specific recommendations about designing and implementing appraisal and performance management systems whose goal is performance improvement. We believe that a reason for this is that appraisal research became too interested in measurement issues and not interested enough in ways to improve performance, although some recent trends in the area have begun moving the field in the right direction. We review these trends and their genesis, and propose a motivational framework as a means of integrating what we have learned and generating proposals for future research that focus on employee's performance improvement.

The study of organizational behavior has begun to move towards a consideration of cognitive processes underlying behavior. Researchers have increasingly become concerned with what "goes on in a person's head" in trying to understand and predict behavior in organizations. This research has begun investigating perceptual variables, decision making, and even the role of memory in determining how a worker or a manager is going to react to his or her environment. The three papers which make up this Special Issue reflect the broad spectrum of cognitive variables that have become part of our field.

We explore perceived creativity in scholarship as it relates to scholarly reputation in the field of management. The effects of quantity (total refereed publications, national paper presentations) and quality (proportion of articles in premier journals, editorial activity, research awards) dimensions of scholarly activity are also considered. Our results suggest that the quality dimensions are positively associated with reputation, but that the perceived creativity of a scholar's work further influences reputation, and partially mediates the relationship between some quality measures and reputation. These results suggest that quality, creativity in particular, is more important than quantity for the accumulation of reputation.