Measures of New Constructs or Old Ones? The Case of Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction

The construct validity of organizational commitment has recently been investigated in several studies. The authors of these studies have concluded that organizational commitment is a valid construct, sufficiently distinct from job satisfaction. Our re-analysis of data reported in these studies, however, suggests that the construct validity evidence is unconvincing. Analysis of meta-analytic results cast further doubt on the discriminant validity of organizational commitment as typically measured. Based on these findings, suggestions for future research are offered

The HR-Firm Performance Relationship: Can it be in the Mind of the Beholder?

This study examined whether respondents’ implicit theories of performance could impact their responses to surveys regarding HR practices and effectiveness. Senior Human Resource and Line Executives and MBA, graduate Engineering, and graduate HR students read scenarios of high and low performing firms and were asked to report on the prevalence of various HR practices and effectiveness of the HR function in each firm. Results indicated that all four groups of respondents held implicit theories that high performing firms were characterized by extensive HR practices and had highly effective HR functions relative to low performing firms. Subjects with substantial work experience reported greater differences between and high and low performing firms than did subjects with relatively little work experience. The implications of these results for research on the HR Practices – Firm Performance relationship are discussed

Measurement Error in Research on Human Resources and Firm Performance: Additional Data and Suggestions for Future Research

Gerhart and colleagues and Huselid and Becker recently debated the presence and implications of measurement error in measures of human resource practices. This paper presents data from three more studies, one of large organizations from different industries at the corporate level, one from commercial banks, and the other of autonomous business units at the level of the job. Results of all three studies provide additional evidence that single respondent measures of HR practices contain large amounts of measurement error. Implications for future research are discussed

Appreciative Inquiry as Organizational Change in a Community Mental Health Setting

poster abstractAppreciative Inquiry (AI) is an approach to organizational change that focuses on the strengths of an organization – discovering what is working well, and generating ideas within the organization for building on those strengths. AI has been applied in a variety of contexts including education, social work, health care, and academia. Little to no research, however, has applied AI to mental health contexts. The current study reports themes from staff member interviews conducted in the early phases of AI applied in a community mental health center (CMHC); these themes paint a picture of this CMHC “at its best” and will be fed-back to employees to lay the foundation for change and enhancing morale among staff. Interviews were conducted by 11 staff who volunteered from various departments and were trained by research staff at an all-day training. Appreciative Interviews first involved asking staff to describe a time they were at their best at this organization. Next, participants were asked to share what it was about themselves, others, and the setting that contributed to this experience. Additionally, interviewees were asked to “dream into the future” and to describe what they wish to see for this organization. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and de-identified. Iterative, consensus-based coding was conducted by a multidisciplinary team that included CMHC staff. Several consistent themes emerged among participants’ stories. Staff at their best frequently reported feeling effective and seeing success in working with consumers. Other themes included working as a team, communicating well, and trusting one another. Stories also involved feeling valued and supported by their supervisors and coworkers. A foundational aspect involved believing in and caring about consumers with whom they work. Themes from participants’ interviews reflect perceptions of this community mental health center at its best and are consistent with tenets self-determination theory and future study

Life at the boundary: Photosynthesis at the soil-fluid interface. A synthesis focusing on mosses

© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. Mosses are among the earliest branching embryophytes and probably originated not later than the early Ordovician when atmospheric CO2 was higher and O2 was lower than today. The C3 biochemistry and physiology of their photosynthesis suggests, by analogy with tracheophytes, that growth of extant bryophytes in high CO2 approximating Ordovician values would increase the growth rate. This occurs for many mosses, including Physcomitrella patens in suspension culture, although recently published transcriptomic data on this species at high CO2 and present-day CO2 show down-regulation of the transcription of several genes related to photosynthesis. It would be useful if transcriptomic (and proteomic) data comparing growth conditions are linked to measurements of growth and physiology on the same, or parallel, cultures. Mosses (like later-originating embryophytes) have been subject to changes in bulk atmospheric CO2 and O2 throughout their existence, with evidence, albeit limited, for positive selection of moss Rubisco. Extant mosses are subject to a large range of CO2 and O2 concentrations in their immediate environments, especially aquatic mosses, and mosses are particularly influenced by CO2 generated by, and O2 consumed by, soil chemoorganotrophy from organic C produced by tracheophytes (if present) and bryophytes