The Big, Gig Picture: We Can\u27t Assume the Same Constructs Matter

I am concerned about industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology\u27s relevance to the gig economy, defined here as the broad trends toward technology-based platform work. This sort of work happens on apps like Uber (where the app connects drivers and riders) and sites like MTurk (where human intelligence tasks, or HITs, are advertised to workers on behalf of requesters). We carry on with I-O research and practice as if technology comprises only things (e.g., phones, websites, platforms) that we use to assess applicants and complete work. However, technology has much more radically restructured work as we know it, to happen in a much more piecemeal, on-demand fashion, reviving debates about worker classification and changing the reality of work for many workers (Sundararajan, 2016). Instead of studying technology as a thing we use, it\u27s critical that we “zoom out” to see and adapt our field to this bigger picture of trends towards a gig economy. Rather than a phone being used to check work email or complete pre-hire assessments, technology and work are inseparable. For example, working on MTurk requires constant Internet access (Brawley, Pury, Switzer, & Saylors, 2017; Ma, Khansa, & Hou, 2016). Alarmingly, some researchers describe these workers as precarious (Spretizer, Cameron, & Garrett, 2017), dependent on an extremely flexible (a label that is perhaps euphemistic for unreliable) source of work. Although it\u27s unlikely that all workers consider their “gig” a full time job or otherwise necessary income, at least some workers do: An estimated 10–40% of MTurk workers consider themselves serious gig workers (Brawley & Pury, 2016). Total numbers for the broader gig economy are only growing, with recent tax-based estimates including 34% of the US workforce now and up to 43% within 3 years (Gillespie, 2017). It appears we\u27re seeing some trends in work reverse and return to piece work (e.g., a ride on Uber, a HIT on MTurk) as if we\u27ve simply digitized the assembly line (Davis, 2016). Over time, these trends could accelerate, and we could potentially see total elimination of work (Morrison, 2017)

Little Things That Count: A Call for Organizational Research on Microbusinesses

The purpose of this Incubator is to encourage organizational researchers to attend to the most common type of business in the United States—the microbusiness. After defining and describing these businesses, we propose research questions on defining and managing performance, organizational citizenship, and work–family conflict in this novel business setting

Performance Management in Family Microbusinesses

The purpose of the these studies was to develop and validate a grounded theory of performance management in United States family microbusinesses, or businesses with fewer than 10 employees, at least one of whom is a family member. U.S. microbusinesses comprise 75% of private sector businesses and account for 12 million employees (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015). Despite their majority presence, industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology research has often focused on larger businesses (Levy, 2006; May, 1997; Tetrick, Slack, Da Silva, & Sinclair, 2000), potentially limiting our knowledge and relevance to considerable numbers of businesses and employees.In Study 1, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 microbusinesses managers about managing and motivating their employees’ performance. The central phenomenon driving performance management in these businesses was caring for employees as individuals. Theoretical relationships with other categories influencing or affected by this phenomenon – such as differentiating communication across employees and resulting employee performance – were also grounded in the data. Additionally, participants evaluated the fit of current I-O psychology recommendations for performance management to their own businesses, and generally reported that the same objectives were important (e.g., good employee performance), but the process of managing employees was generally more as-needed or event-based and personalized to suit each employee best. In Study 2, I collected quantitative self-report data from a new sample of microbusiness managers with up to 20 employees (N = 235, including 128 responses from family businesses with less than 10 employees) and largely supported selected theoretical propositions from Study 1. Results indicated that creating a family or personalized environment typically improved employee performance and customer service quality, as well as potentially reduced employee turnover. However, communication differentiation was positively associated with employee turnover, and additional mixed effects were found based on business sizes. These studies extend I-O psychology and the theory of performance management to the domain of microbusinesses and provide concrete recommendations for the practice of performance management in these businesses

All of the Above?: an Examination of Overlapping Organizational Climates

We examined the largely unexplored issue of strong associations between multiple specific climates (e.g., for safety and for service). Given that workplaces are likely to have more than one specific climate present, it is important to understand how and why these perceptions overlap. Individual ratings (i.e., at the psychological climate level) for seven specific climates and a general positive climate were obtained from 353 MTurk Workers employed in various industries. We first observed strong correlations among a larger set of specific climates than typically studied: climates for collaboration, communication, fair treatment, fear, safety, service, and work-life balance were all strongly correlated. Second, we found that two methodological mechanisms—common method variance (CMV) due to (a) measurement occasion and (b) self-report—and a theoretical mechanism, general climate, each account for covariance among the specific climate measures. General positive climate had a primary (i.e., larger) impact on the relationships between specific climates, but CMV—especially due to measurement occasion—also accounted for significant and non-negligible covariance between climates. We discuss directions for continued research on and practice implementing specific climates in order to accurately model and modify perceptions of multiple climates

Seriously?: Estimates of Gig Work Dependence Vary with Question Wording

In this presentation, Brawley Newlin examines whether gig workers respond differently to questions about their dependence on gig income based on question wording and/or based on objective dependence measures (e.g., number of dependent children, hours worked in the gig). Results show that about half of the variability in responses is due to question wording, and half is due to more objective dependence factors

Textbook Remix: An Introduction to LibreTexts for OER Editing

So, you’ve found an open textbook that you really like, but it’s not quite right for your class? LibreTexts might be the answer! Join us for this informal webinar to learn a little more about this online platform designed for customizing and distributing open textbooks. From Gettysburg College, Scholarly Communications Librarian Mary Elmquist will provide an introduction to the platform, its structure and features, and Dr. Alice Brawley Newlin, Assistant Professor of Management, will speak on her ongoing experiences using LibreTexts to edit and implement an open textbook for a Statistical Methods course. This session should provide insight for both instructors interested in LibreTexts for their own projects and for librarians and other staff on campus who work to support OER adoption. Please bring your questions, as there will be plenty of time for Q&A

The Evolution of a Structured Writing Accountability Group (SWAG)

In this Friday Forum, Professors Chas. Phillips (Political Science), Alice Brawley Newlin (Management), and Patturaja Selvaraj (Management) will cover two key aspects of their ongoing Structured Writing Accountability Group (SWAG). First, we\u27ll talk about we have varied the structure of the SWAG since Summer 2018, including our celebratory end-of-year conference in 2019 which was sponsored through the generosity of the Provost’s Office grants for Faculty Reading/Writing Groups. Second, we\u27ll briefly highlight the projects and products we have accomplished through our SWAG. Though the principles of the SWAG are simple, participating in this group has greatly enhanced the rate and quality of our research outputs. We hope to share with others how the structure has been successful for us in order to inspire others to develop their own SWAGs. We look forward to interdisciplinary discussions of ways to modify and improve SWAGs\u27 success

On the Conditional and Unconditional Type I Error Rates and Power of Tests in Linear Models with Heteroscedastic Errors

Preliminary tests for homoscedasticity may be unnecessary in general linear models. Based on Monte Carlo simulations, results suggest that when testing for differences between independent slopes, the unconditional use of weighted least squares regression and HC4 regression performed the best across a wide range of conditions

Faculty and Student Perspectives on Open Education at Gettysburg College

Commercially available textbooks and course materials are often expensive for students and sometimes don’t cover topics in exactly the way you might prefer to teach. Freely available and completely adaptable open educational resources (OER) have risen in popularity in recent years, both nationwide and locally, as a way to address both issues. Join us to hear from Alice Brawley Newlin (Management), Tasha Gownaris (Environmental Studies), Chris Oechler (Spanish), and Ryan Nedrow ’22 to hear about their experiences with OER in the classroom. Panelists will talk honestly about the benefits, drawbacks, challenges, and successes associated with open course materials in order to give you a better sense of whether OER might be a good fit in your own context

Efficacy of Online Training for Improving Camp Staff Competency

Preparing competent staff is a critical issue within the camp community. This quasi-experimental study examined the effectiveness of an online course for improving staff competency in camp healthcare practices among college-aged camp staff and a comparison group (N = 55). We hypothesized that working in camp would increase competency test scores due to opportunities for staff to experientially apply knowledge learned online. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyse the cross-level effects of a between-individuals factor (assignment to experimental or comparison group) and within-individual effects of time (pre-test, post-test #1, and post-test #2) on online course test scores. At post-test #2, the difference in average test scores between groups was ~30 points, with the treatment group scoring lower on average than the comparison group. Factors that may have influenced these findings are explored, including fatigue and the limited durability of online learning. Recommendations for research and practice are discussed