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The purpose of this paper is to use the work of Robert Frost to give insights into the diverse meanings that work holds in daily lived experience. It aims to use this analysis to discuss general ways in which the content and formal properties of poetry allow unique insights into the world of work.

The paper uses the approach of literary criticism and analysis to give insights into how work can be experienced as personally liberating but also culturally stifling, a tool both for and against human self‐fulfilment. After a brief discussion of the use of poetry to understand organizational life, various excerpts from Frost's well‐known and lesser known works are analyzed.

Through a series of passages in Frost's works, the paper shows how these illuminations of the poet's own experiences hold insights by which scholars can understand the experience of work more generally.

It is argued that an understanding of poetry is a way for scholars to expand their understanding of the world of work, both through paying attention to the contents of poems and, more generally, from considering a poetic form of expression as shot‐through with theoretical and epistemic insights.

While some papers have incorporated poetic expressions and explanations for various organizational phenomena, this work represents an attempt to incorporate this rarely studied feature into organizational studies. To the authors' knowledge, the mainstream organizational literature has few if any in‐depth poetic analysis, and none of the work of Frost, whose focus on work is widespread and illuminating.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the potential implications and non-implications for leadership and organization development of a recent systematic review of empirical developments in organizational cognitive neuroscience (OCN).

Butler et al.’s (2016) systematic review of 40 empirical articles related to OCN is re-interpreted in terms of its potential to reveal (non-) implications for practice. OCN is critically discussed, then related to the research findings from studies with two methodological designs.

At this stage of OCN’s emergence, it appears that neuroimaging and physiology-based research methods have equal potential in their implications for practice, though hormonal data poses ethical public interest dilemmas. Both methods cannot be reduced to specific forms of application to practice, but they set an aspirational direction for the future development of leadership and organizations.

There appear to be two paces of translational activity – practitioners are moving more quickly than academics in applying OCN to practice. It is suggested that a meeting of minds may be needed to ensure that any risks associated with applying OCN to practice are minimized or eliminated.

Inter-disciplinary research, like OCN, requires a social consensus about how basic research in cognitive neuroscience can be applied to organizations. A think tank will provide opportunities for deeper engagement and co-production between academics and practitioners.

Critically exploring the potential implications of OCN for practice, by basing the discussion on a systematic review of empirical developments.

The annual holiday party is a long-standing tradition in many organizations, yet academic research has largely left the holiday party unexamined. The present study sheds light on this significant social event by exploring what factors help differentiate successful events from less successful ones.

First, the authors developed a taxonomy of characteristics of good holiday parties using a critical incident technique in which stories of holiday party experiences were analyzed following a mixed-method approach. Second, the authors quantitatively examined the relationships between these characteristics and three outcomes, including perceived organizational support, positive interpersonal interactions, and experienced fun.

The critical incident analysis revealed 11 key characteristics that distinguish good from bad holiday parties. Primary findings from the quantitative study are that games and activities, music, good food, and notable positive leader behavior are key characteristics of more successful events.

As the data were obtained using a traditional survey methodology, further research would be valuable that adopts an experience sampling methodology to capture employee experiences, perceptions, and feelings about holiday parties in real-time before, during, and after an event has occurred.

From an event planning standpoint, this research provides a framework for designing holiday parties and provides evidence as to which features matter most. From a strategic leadership perspective, this research signals that different features of holiday parties can influence different outcomes.

Beyond merely identifying important characteristics, this research provides a framework for further research on holiday parties and identifies theories that can be used in future research to explore the mechanisms that influence how and under what conditions holiday parties impact employees’ experiences at work.

This study aims to examine configurations of person-centered psychological change during organizational restructuring and downsizing in a public sector setting. Drawing on a social cognitive framework of organizational change the authors explore and identify the existence of different groups of employees who demonstrate varied responses (on commitment, engagement and anxiety) to restructuring and downsizing.

Surveys were collected from employees in three longitudinal waves (Time 1 N = 253; Time 2 N = 107; Time 3 N = 93, twelve months apart) at a UK public sector organization shortly before, during and after restructuring and downsizing.

Three classes of response emerged based on levels of and change in anxiety, organizational commitment and work engagement: a positive “Flourishers” profile was identified along with two relatively negative response profiles, labeled as “Recoverers” and “Ambivalents”. Higher levels of job control accounted for membership of the more positive response profile; higher structural uncertainty predicted membership of the most negative response group.

Using a person-centered approach, the authors form an understanding of different types of employee responses to downsizing; along with potential factors that help explain why groups of employees may exhibit certain psychological response patterns and may need to be managed differently during change. Thus, this approach provides greater understanding to researchers and managers of the varied impact that restructuring/downsizing has on the workforce.

To date there has been little research exploring employee responses to organizational restructuring and downsizing that has attempted to take a person-centered approach, which assumes population heterogeneity. Unlike variable centered approaches, this unique approach helps identify different patterns of employee responses to restructuring and downsizing.

The overall goal of science is to build a valid and reliable body of knowledge about the functioning of the world and how applying that knowledge can change it. As personnel and human resources management researchers, we aim to contribute to the respective bodies of knowledge to provide both employers and employees with a workable foundation to help with those problems they are confronted with. However, what research on research has consistently demonstrated is that the scientific endeavor possesses existential issues including a substantial lack of (a) solid theory, (b) replicability, (c) reproducibility, (d) proper and generalizable samples, (e) sufficient quality control (i.e., peer review), (f) robust and trustworthy statistical results, (g) availability of research, and (h) sufficient practical implications. In this chapter, we first sing a song of sorrow regarding the current state of the social sciences in general and personnel and human resources management specifically. Then, we investigate potential grievances that might have led to it (i.e., questionable research practices, misplaced incentives), only to end with a verse of hope by outlining an avenue for betterment (i.e., open science and policy changes at multiple levels).

While Christmas and the holidays are widely celebrated in society at large in the US, the question arises whether doing so has value in today’s organizations. In this light, the present study examined the relationship of workplace holiday practices with positive affect and emotional engagement, along with some boundary conditions of these relationships. Specifically, this research examined the moderating influences of religious orientation, political orientation and political environment.

Data were collected at two points in time via an online survey. At time 1, the participant survey included measures of workplace holiday practices, political orientation and demographic characteristics. At time 2 (approximately two weeks afterward), the participant survey included measures of positive affect and emotional engagement.

Workplace holiday practices were related to both positive affect and emotional engagement. There were slightly stronger effects for the impact of workplace holiday practices among individuals who reside in more conservative (“red”) states in the US on emotional engagement, but not positive affect. Individual political orientation did not moderate the relationships between workplace holiday practices and the outcomes. Counter to expectations, the absence of workplace holiday practices had a stronger negative effect on non-Christians’ emotional engagement than Christians. The interaction between workplace holiday practices and religious orientation with positive affect was nonsignificant.

The data from this research were obtained via a survey methodology. Although data on the independent and dependent variables were obtained at two different points in time, future research could experimentally manipulate features of the work environment related to the celebration of the holidays to more definitively establish cause-and-effect relationships.

This research highlights the value of celebrating Christmas and the holidays. In this light, organizations should not underestimate the potential value of such celebratory activity in promoting employee goodwill. At the same time, organizations must be cognizant that some individuals may value the celebration of Christmas and the holidays more so than others.

This research provides a framework for further research on workplace holiday practices and identifies theories that can be used in future research to explore the mechanisms that influence how and under what conditions workplace holiday practices impact employees’ experiences at work.

The literature on individual differences in innovative work behavior (IWB) reveals inconsistencies in the relations of personality traits and tenure on innovation at work. To provide greater clarity about the effects of these antecedents, the purpose of this paper is to report a study of the moderating effects of tenure on the associations of traits and IWB, and apply a theoretical lens based on the trait-activation theory.

In all, 146 employees of a UK-based financial institution completed measures of conscientiousness and openness, and had three aspects of IWB (idea generation, promotion, and realization) rated by their line-supervisor. All participants were on graduate training programs. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to test the moderating effects of tenure on the associations of the self-reported traits with the supervisor-rated IWB outcomes.

Tenure moderated the effects of conscientiousness on IWB, with highly conscientious employees being less innovative with longer tenure. Tenure moderated the effect of openness with idea generation with highly open employees generating more ideas if they were longer tenured.

Management of innovation requires differentiated strategies based on the personality traits and tenure of individual employees. Implications for recruitment, socialization and development are discussed.

This is the first study to examine empirically the interactions of traits and contextual factors (i.e. organizational tenure) on IWB, framed around a strong theoretical foundation (i.e. trait activation theory). The study also makes notable contributions by measuring innovative behavior using a supervisor-rated and multidimensional approach.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the suitability of the multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) matrix approach for examining construct validity in human resource management (HRM) research. The authors also provide a number of suggestions on how to use MTMM more effectively in HRM research.

The authors start by presenting a basic introduction to MTMM approach. Next the authors briefly review the limitations of MTMM approach and suggested improvements. The authors elaborate on these limitations by providing HRM examples. To further illustrate these issues, the authors review employment interview research.

The construct validity analysis in HRM research suffers from three problematic assumptions of the classical MTMM approach: uncorrelated trait-method units, uncorrelated methods, and uncorrelated traits. The review of interview research shows that classical MTMM approach is by far the most popular approach given its relative simplicity and modest sample size requirements. This popularity stresses the significance of the review in highlighting these issues.

Several improvements to quantify the interpretations of MTMM analysis are available to researchers. This review closely examines how these limitations and proposed improvements influence HRM research, thereby making the methodological advances concerning the MTMM approach more accessible to HRM researchers and practitioners.

The purpose of this paper is to confirm the predictive validity of several antecedents to students' early perceptions of future performance in collegiate courses.

A non‐experimental design was used to test a proposed model based on a review of relevant literature. Students completed surveys capturing the constructs researched.

Students' internal locus of control predicted student perceptions of social integration, academic self concept and grade point average (GPA) and social integration significantly predicted academic self concept. Moreover, academic self concept significantly predicted early perceptions of expected grade beyond the student's current level of performance as measured by his/her current GPA.

Subjects were from one academic program in one university. Also, expected performance was measured with one item, which focused on expected grade, only one aspect of performance. Other aspects of performance and outcomes such as perceived learning or satisfaction with the course could shed more light on the relationships among the constructs under study

Students with an internal locus of control orientation can better leverage self‐confidence to social and academic ends in the classroom and more readily exhibit the sustained goal‐related behaviors requisite for success during transitions to college and subsequent professional placements. Also, students who are encouraged to take personal responsibility for relationships with peers and adjust behaviors are likely to maintain and enhance the quality of these relationships.

The paper's results suggest that instructors who foster/reinforce students' concept of connections between choices and outcomes may be rewarded with enhanced student motivation to perform well in the course.