ASA theory: an empirical study of the attraction proposition

This paper reports an empirical test of Schneider's (1987) attraction proposition that organizations attract people who share the organization's values. The values of 621 applicants to nine utility companies in the United Kingdom were compared to (1) the values of people contiguously seeking similar work, (2) the values of employees they might be working alongside, and (3) the values of the organizations' senior managers. The results show an effect for person–vocation fit, but once this is controlled for all significant effects disappear. These results suggest that applicants choose which organization to apply to based on their desire for a particular type of work rather than their attraction for particular companies, which is contrary to Schneider's attraction proposition. In a conclusion at the end of the paper, possible reasons for the rejection of Schneider's attraction proposition are discussed. It is argued that the factors of familiarity, proximity and exposure are critical to applicants' behavior and should be incorporated into ASA theory

The social construction of leadership education

Most leadership theories assume that leadership is a quality of leaders (e.g., trait theory), or a response to environments (e.g., situational theory), or a combination of both (e.g., contingency theory). In all these approaches leadership is something knowable and definite. However, after years of research there is no agreed definition of what leadership is or any universal agreement about who might be regarded a leader. This paper outlines an alternative approach in which leadership is a contested construct and describes two engaging teaching techniques that align pedagogic approach with the underlying theory. In doing so this paper makes a case for the adoption of socially-constructed theories in leadership education<br /

The embedded academic : a management academic discovers management

In this autobiographical essay, I reflect on three years living a double life as both a management academic and a manager of a department. In particular, I think about the relevance of my own course material to doing a managerial job. Much to my amazement, I found that I rarely used management theory and instead it was my training as an academic that was most helpful to me as a manager. In the concluding section, I consider how I intend to change my management teaching to make it more relevant and useful for prospective and current managers.<br /

Selecting for fit: a direct test of Schneider's selection proposition

This paper reports an empirical test of Schneider's (1987) selection proposition that organizations select people who share the organization's values. The values of 412 applicants to nine utility companies in the United Kingdom were captured and their fit to (1) the values of the organization as viewed by members of the Top Team (P–OV fit), (2) the values of the recruiting departments as viewed by employees within those departments (P–DV fit), and (3) the values of people working in those recruiting departments (P–P fit) was calculated. The results show that selection outcomes are positively associated with P–P fit, negatively associated with P–DV fit, and not associated at all with P–OV fit. Selection effects for fit were small and only present when there was some form of face-to-face contact between applicants and selectors. At the end of the paper, a conclusion discusses the implications of these findings for the fit literature in general and Schneider's selection proposition in particular. Some managerial implications are also considered

Management as a contextual practice: the need to blend science, skills and practical wisdom

This paper contributes to the debate regarding whether or not management is, or should become, a profession. Using the principles of dialectic logic, arguments for the thesis that management is a profession and the antithesis that management is more akin to an art or a craft are critically reviewed. Aristotle’s intellectual virtues episteme (science), techne (skills) and phronesis (practical wisdom) are introduced as a synthesis to this debate. Rather than characterizing management as a profession, it is argued that management is a contextual practice that requires a blend of all three intellectual virtues

Person-organization fit as a vehicle for knowledge sharing and creation

Tacit knowledge is difficult to transfer. It is also context specific. Hence it is often argued to be a key strategic asset and as such attention to how it is created and transferred in organisation in critical to strategists. The transfer of tacit knowledge is however still a challenge. It is known that shared communication and socialization are important processes in the transfer of tacit knowledge and person&ndash;organization fit (POF) is associated with such phenomena. Hence we argue that POF is likely to shape the transfer of tacit knowledge with higher levels of one resulting in higher levels of the other. We explore the interaction of tacit knowledge and POF fit and develop a matrix that suggests a complex interaction between the two.<br /

Blue sky thinking : using projective techniques to stimulate discussion, reflection and insight

The prime purpose of this session is to share a new use of projective techniques to stimulate discussion, reflection and insight with students. The session will provide an introduction to the nature and use of projective techniques and an explanation why images of the sky were chosen as the stimuli. Then, the majority of the session will consist of an opportunity to experience this new technique in a simulated session. The session will end with a plenary discussion and a review of the effectiveness and applicability of the technique.<br /

Comparing and contrasting person-environment fit and misfit

For previous Fit e-Conferences, we have presented various aspects of our research on how person-environment (PE) fit and misfit compare. We have argued that because so little is known about how individuals experience fit and misfit at work, qualitative, exploratory research was called for (Talbot &amp; Billsberry, 2007; 2008). Last year, our e-conference contribution detailed how using causal mapping in PE fit research would enable individuals&rsquo; experiences of fit and misfit to be captured and, as well as generating rich idiographic data, would further be amenable to nomothetic analysis (Talbot, Ambrosini &amp; Billsberry, 2009). This paper briefly reviews why we set out to research employees&rsquo; fit and misfit perceptions, how we used causal mapping and discusses the main findings from our research.<br /

Definitions of fit and misfit in Northern Europe : insights from a cross-national research collaboration

This paper addresses the well-established definitional issues in the organisational fit and misfit literatures. In particular, it reflects upon the poorly defined nature of the terms &lsquo;fit&rsquo; and &lsquo;misfit&rsquo; and the way they are used by researchers across languages and national borders. During a scholarly visit of the second author to the first author&rsquo;s laboratory, it quickly became apparent that their understanding of the two terms was subtly different. These differences are discussed and implications developed. The paper ends with suggestions for how these differences might be systematically studied.<br /