ABSTRACT As the nature of the U.S. economy has become more service oriented, the field of operati... more ABSTRACT As the nature of the U.S. economy has become more service oriented, the field of operations management has broadened to address the unique problems of managing service operations. Most service operations are highly labor intensive, and efforts to improve system performance cannot ignore the attitudes and behaviors of the workers. The survey-feedback method is a potentially promising technique for operations managers to gauge the attitudes of workers and to allow workers to provide input for solving problems. This paper provides evidence of the usefulness of survey-feedback techniques for operations managers by describing an application in an actual operating environment.The survey-feedback process involves (1) administering a survey instrument to the workers in order to assess their attitudes, (2) conducting feedback sessions to discuss work attitudes and ways of improving performance, and (3) implementing operating changes based on the input provided by the workers. This research involved a two-year project in a major electrical utility where the survey-feedback process was used to reduce the nonproductive time of traveling work crews engaged in repair and maintenance tasks. Prior to the study, a disturbing upward trend existed in the nonproductive time of the work crews.A survey instrument was designed to assess worker attitudes in five areas believed to be related to the problem of time utilization: communication, organizational rewards, job scheduling, supervision, and job satisfaction. Feedback sessions were held in which the summarized survey responses were presented, and potential causes for the high nonproductive time were discussed. Based on the suggestions of the workers, management made a number of operating changes involving equipment maintenance and required training for workers and supervisors.Nonproductive time was monitored by the use of direct observation time study at regular intervals both before and after the changes were made. Also, the survey instrument was administered again at the end of the two-year period to see if the expressed worker attitudes had improved. To provide a basis for comparing performance, a control group of workers was established that participated in the surveys, but these workers were excluded from the feedback sessions and had no input into the operating changes that were made.The results showed that a dramatic downturn in nonproductive time occurred during the two-year study period. The downturn occurred after the operating changes were made, and it was observed in both the test and control groups. The improvement in nonproductive time is related directly to the operating changes made by management. Despite the fact that these changes were based on input provided by the workers, no positive changes in worker attitudes were observed on the survey variables over the two-year period. The results provide evidence that the survey-feedback process can be effective in changing the behavior of workers in a service operation, but not necessarily their attitudes. These results are very similar to the findings of another major study of the survey-feedback method which was done in a completely different operations environment.
We have described the effective leader in terms of several concepts: (1) leadership style as a me... more We have described the effective leader in terms of several concepts: (1) leadership style as a means of sharing the influence of leadership with a ready group; (2) the readiness of a group to successfully exert influence on the practice; (3) the matching of leadership styles with group readiness; and (4) the impact of the environment on the readiness of a group. We have described how all of these elements combine to determine a leader's effectiveness. All elements interact and present the leader with a situation for which he must adopt an appropriate leadership style (Table 1). Several elements combine to change the readiness of a group through four phases - unready, ready, mature, and professional. The leader then matches leadership styles I through IV to these levels of readiness. We believe a dentist will be effective as a leader in proportion to his success in matching an appropriate leadership style to the readiness of his group to perform in its particular environment.
Experiential learning approaches have been especially effective in information systems courses wh... more Experiential learning approaches have been especially effective in information systems courses where 'real-world' scenarios are used to provide a degree of complexity that reflects actual system development projects. Students are shown how the principles of project management can provide a framework for reducing the difficulty and complexity of the development process to a more manageable procedure as they put into practice their knowledge and skills from previous courework in creating working application systems. This paper outlines an experiential approach for teaching the value of information systems project management in the systems development process through the collaborative efforts of the graduate class in Information Technology Project Management, and the undergraduate senior capstone projects course.
Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Community Networking 'Integrated Multimedia Services to the Home', 1995
Communities do not have a predictive mechanism that will help them adapt to rapid technological c... more Communities do not have a predictive mechanism that will help them adapt to rapid technological change. Instead they react to technological change. This reaction may be a resultant reluctance or resistance to use new technology or to change lifestyles and may cause behavioral complications. This paper articulates behavioral challenges facing the community networking effort and suggests ways in which to
Page 1. 6/3/2009 1 You can't always get what you want The motivational effect of need on ris... more Page 1. 6/3/2009 1 You can't always get what you want The motivational effect of need on risky decision making Sandeep Mishra University of Lethbridge May 2008 Risky Decision Making: Foraging The riskier of two options with the same mean ...
When we perceive someone as a leader, it is often because we are impressed with his/her mental ab... more When we perceive someone as a leader, it is often because we are impressed with his/her mental abilities and his/her ability to perform complex tasks. Yet, there is a small but growing body of conceptual work suggesting that our perception of someone as a leader is affected by his/her emotional abilities as well. This article develops a model proposing two distinct behavioral routes that influence perception of an individual as a leader in a small group. One route influences people to perceive leadership from displays of emotional abilities, such as empathy. The other route influences people to perceive leadership from displays of mental abilities, such as complex task performance. Our test of the hypothesized model using structural equation modeling showed a good fit and support for the proposed relationships. D 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
This empirical study of small workgroup peers investigated relationships among perceptions of emo... more This empirical study of small workgroup peers investigated relationships among perceptions of emotional abilities (i.e., empathy, ability to identify others' emotions, and ability to express one's own emotions), cognitive abilities, and leadership emergence. While controlling for cognitive ability and complex task performance, we found that people rated highly on empathy garnered attributions of leadership from their peers. Our study found that an actor's empathy (1) related positively to ratings of task leadership and ratings of relations leadership and (2) mediated the effect of other emotional abilities (i.e., the ability to identify others' emotions and the ability to express one's own emotions) on task and relations leadership. Emotional abilities were unrelated to cognitive abilities or complex task performance. Cognitive abilities and complex task performance earned actors higher ratings on task leadership, but not on relations leadership. The article concludes by relating the results to the new research on authentic leadership. D
ABSTRACT As the nature of the U.S. economy has become more service oriented, the field of operati... more ABSTRACT As the nature of the U.S. economy has become more service oriented, the field of operations management has broadened to address the unique problems of managing service operations. Most service operations are highly labor intensive, and efforts to improve system performance cannot ignore the attitudes and behaviors of the workers. The survey-feedback method is a potentially promising technique for operations managers to gauge the attitudes of workers and to allow workers to provide input for solving problems. This paper provides evidence of the usefulness of survey-feedback techniques for operations managers by describing an application in an actual operating environment.The survey-feedback process involves (1) administering a survey instrument to the workers in order to assess their attitudes, (2) conducting feedback sessions to discuss work attitudes and ways of improving performance, and (3) implementing operating changes based on the input provided by the workers. This research involved a two-year project in a major electrical utility where the survey-feedback process was used to reduce the nonproductive time of traveling work crews engaged in repair and maintenance tasks. Prior to the study, a disturbing upward trend existed in the nonproductive time of the work crews.A survey instrument was designed to assess worker attitudes in five areas believed to be related to the problem of time utilization: communication, organizational rewards, job scheduling, supervision, and job satisfaction. Feedback sessions were held in which the summarized survey responses were presented, and potential causes for the high nonproductive time were discussed. Based on the suggestions of the workers, management made a number of operating changes involving equipment maintenance and required training for workers and supervisors.Nonproductive time was monitored by the use of direct observation time study at regular intervals both before and after the changes were made. Also, the survey instrument was administered again at the end of the two-year period to see if the expressed worker attitudes had improved. To provide a basis for comparing performance, a control group of workers was established that participated in the surveys, but these workers were excluded from the feedback sessions and had no input into the operating changes that were made.The results showed that a dramatic downturn in nonproductive time occurred during the two-year study period. The downturn occurred after the operating changes were made, and it was observed in both the test and control groups. The improvement in nonproductive time is related directly to the operating changes made by management. Despite the fact that these changes were based on input provided by the workers, no positive changes in worker attitudes were observed on the survey variables over the two-year period. The results provide evidence that the survey-feedback process can be effective in changing the behavior of workers in a service operation, but not necessarily their attitudes. These results are very similar to the findings of another major study of the survey-feedback method which was done in a completely different operations environment.
Abstract Despite expected widespread use of computer speech synthesis in manufacturing and produc... more Abstract Despite expected widespread use of computer speech synthesis in manufacturing and production applications, no one has yet determined the effects of synthesized speech on task performance. This laboratory study introduced speech synthesis in replicating ...
Challenging experiences are considered important for career development, and previous studies hav... more Challenging experiences are considered important for career development, and previous studies have suggested that women have fewer o f those experiences in their jobs than men have. However, the nature and possible determinants of this gender gap in job challenge have hardly been empirically studied. In the present study, the authors examine (a) gender differences in individuals' choice to perform challenging tasks and (b) gender differences in the allocation of challenging tasks in opposite-sex dyads. Results show that the men and women in the sample did not differ in their individual choice to perform challenging tasks, but after task allocation in opposite-sex dyads men ended up with more of the challenging tasks, whereas women ended up with more of the nonchallenging tasks. The authors discuss the possible consequences of these results for women's career development.
Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis that perceived collective efficacy w... more Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis that perceived collective efficacy would mediate the effects of self-efficacy on individual task performance. Design/methodology/approach -An assessment center design with 147 participants in 49 three-person groups was used. Findings -It is found that for individuals working on an assigned group goal, perception of the group's collective efficacy, rather than self-efficacy, has a direct influence on task performance. Research limitations/implications -Future researchers should examine the extent to which cognitive intelligence influences collective efficacy effects. Practical implications -The research suggests that perceptions of collective efficacy and team support may influence early career developmental task performance. Originality/value -This paper found that collective efficacy might be more important than individual efficacy in predicting individual task performance in some circumstances.
Despite the importance of interpersonal influence processes in computer-mediated communication (C... more Despite the importance of interpersonal influence processes in computer-mediated communication (CMC) environments, the emergence and functioning of leaders in CMC settings remains unstudied. An initial model and propositions address the possible extension of selected leadership models beyond face-to-face (FTF) communications and into the non-face-to-face CMC environment. We (1) model relevant variables for CMC leadership, (2) briefly review the implications of
... Virginia Commonwealth University Mark A. Siders ... Attempts to estab-lish a causal link betw... more ... Virginia Commonwealth University Mark A. Siders ... Attempts to estab-lish a causal link between corporate culture and organizational perfor-mance have yielded unclear outcomes and results (Pennings & Gresov, 1986; Lim, 1995; Arogyaswamy & Byles, 1987). ...
ABSTRACT As the nature of the U.S. economy has become more service oriented, the field of operati... more ABSTRACT As the nature of the U.S. economy has become more service oriented, the field of operations management has broadened to address the unique problems of managing service operations. Most service operations are highly labor intensive, and efforts to improve system performance cannot ignore the attitudes and behaviors of the workers. The survey-feedback method is a potentially promising technique for operations managers to gauge the attitudes of workers and to allow workers to provide input for solving problems. This paper provides evidence of the usefulness of survey-feedback techniques for operations managers by describing an application in an actual operating environment.The survey-feedback process involves (1) administering a survey instrument to the workers in order to assess their attitudes, (2) conducting feedback sessions to discuss work attitudes and ways of improving performance, and (3) implementing operating changes based on the input provided by the workers. This research involved a two-year project in a major electrical utility where the survey-feedback process was used to reduce the nonproductive time of traveling work crews engaged in repair and maintenance tasks. Prior to the study, a disturbing upward trend existed in the nonproductive time of the work crews.A survey instrument was designed to assess worker attitudes in five areas believed to be related to the problem of time utilization: communication, organizational rewards, job scheduling, supervision, and job satisfaction. Feedback sessions were held in which the summarized survey responses were presented, and potential causes for the high nonproductive time were discussed. Based on the suggestions of the workers, management made a number of operating changes involving equipment maintenance and required training for workers and supervisors.Nonproductive time was monitored by the use of direct observation time study at regular intervals both before and after the changes were made. Also, the survey instrument was administered again at the end of the two-year period to see if the expressed worker attitudes had improved. To provide a basis for comparing performance, a control group of workers was established that participated in the surveys, but these workers were excluded from the feedback sessions and had no input into the operating changes that were made.The results showed that a dramatic downturn in nonproductive time occurred during the two-year study period. The downturn occurred after the operating changes were made, and it was observed in both the test and control groups. The improvement in nonproductive time is related directly to the operating changes made by management. Despite the fact that these changes were based on input provided by the workers, no positive changes in worker attitudes were observed on the survey variables over the two-year period. The results provide evidence that the survey-feedback process can be effective in changing the behavior of workers in a service operation, but not necessarily their attitudes. These results are very similar to the findings of another major study of the survey-feedback method which was done in a completely different operations environment.
We have described the effective leader in terms of several concepts: (1) leadership style as a me... more We have described the effective leader in terms of several concepts: (1) leadership style as a means of sharing the influence of leadership with a ready group; (2) the readiness of a group to successfully exert influence on the practice; (3) the matching of leadership styles with group readiness; and (4) the impact of the environment on the readiness of a group. We have described how all of these elements combine to determine a leader's effectiveness. All elements interact and present the leader with a situation for which he must adopt an appropriate leadership style (Table 1). Several elements combine to change the readiness of a group through four phases - unready, ready, mature, and professional. The leader then matches leadership styles I through IV to these levels of readiness. We believe a dentist will be effective as a leader in proportion to his success in matching an appropriate leadership style to the readiness of his group to perform in its particular environment.
Experiential learning approaches have been especially effective in information systems courses wh... more Experiential learning approaches have been especially effective in information systems courses where 'real-world' scenarios are used to provide a degree of complexity that reflects actual system development projects. Students are shown how the principles of project management can provide a framework for reducing the difficulty and complexity of the development process to a more manageable procedure as they put into practice their knowledge and skills from previous courework in creating working application systems. This paper outlines an experiential approach for teaching the value of information systems project management in the systems development process through the collaborative efforts of the graduate class in Information Technology Project Management, and the undergraduate senior capstone projects course.
Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Community Networking 'Integrated Multimedia Services to the Home', 1995
Communities do not have a predictive mechanism that will help them adapt to rapid technological c... more Communities do not have a predictive mechanism that will help them adapt to rapid technological change. Instead they react to technological change. This reaction may be a resultant reluctance or resistance to use new technology or to change lifestyles and may cause behavioral complications. This paper articulates behavioral challenges facing the community networking effort and suggests ways in which to
Page 1. 6/3/2009 1 You can't always get what you want The motivational effect of need on ris... more Page 1. 6/3/2009 1 You can't always get what you want The motivational effect of need on risky decision making Sandeep Mishra University of Lethbridge May 2008 Risky Decision Making: Foraging The riskier of two options with the same mean ...
When we perceive someone as a leader, it is often because we are impressed with his/her mental ab... more When we perceive someone as a leader, it is often because we are impressed with his/her mental abilities and his/her ability to perform complex tasks. Yet, there is a small but growing body of conceptual work suggesting that our perception of someone as a leader is affected by his/her emotional abilities as well. This article develops a model proposing two distinct behavioral routes that influence perception of an individual as a leader in a small group. One route influences people to perceive leadership from displays of emotional abilities, such as empathy. The other route influences people to perceive leadership from displays of mental abilities, such as complex task performance. Our test of the hypothesized model using structural equation modeling showed a good fit and support for the proposed relationships. D 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
This empirical study of small workgroup peers investigated relationships among perceptions of emo... more This empirical study of small workgroup peers investigated relationships among perceptions of emotional abilities (i.e., empathy, ability to identify others' emotions, and ability to express one's own emotions), cognitive abilities, and leadership emergence. While controlling for cognitive ability and complex task performance, we found that people rated highly on empathy garnered attributions of leadership from their peers. Our study found that an actor's empathy (1) related positively to ratings of task leadership and ratings of relations leadership and (2) mediated the effect of other emotional abilities (i.e., the ability to identify others' emotions and the ability to express one's own emotions) on task and relations leadership. Emotional abilities were unrelated to cognitive abilities or complex task performance. Cognitive abilities and complex task performance earned actors higher ratings on task leadership, but not on relations leadership. The article concludes by relating the results to the new research on authentic leadership. D
ABSTRACT As the nature of the U.S. economy has become more service oriented, the field of operati... more ABSTRACT As the nature of the U.S. economy has become more service oriented, the field of operations management has broadened to address the unique problems of managing service operations. Most service operations are highly labor intensive, and efforts to improve system performance cannot ignore the attitudes and behaviors of the workers. The survey-feedback method is a potentially promising technique for operations managers to gauge the attitudes of workers and to allow workers to provide input for solving problems. This paper provides evidence of the usefulness of survey-feedback techniques for operations managers by describing an application in an actual operating environment.The survey-feedback process involves (1) administering a survey instrument to the workers in order to assess their attitudes, (2) conducting feedback sessions to discuss work attitudes and ways of improving performance, and (3) implementing operating changes based on the input provided by the workers. This research involved a two-year project in a major electrical utility where the survey-feedback process was used to reduce the nonproductive time of traveling work crews engaged in repair and maintenance tasks. Prior to the study, a disturbing upward trend existed in the nonproductive time of the work crews.A survey instrument was designed to assess worker attitudes in five areas believed to be related to the problem of time utilization: communication, organizational rewards, job scheduling, supervision, and job satisfaction. Feedback sessions were held in which the summarized survey responses were presented, and potential causes for the high nonproductive time were discussed. Based on the suggestions of the workers, management made a number of operating changes involving equipment maintenance and required training for workers and supervisors.Nonproductive time was monitored by the use of direct observation time study at regular intervals both before and after the changes were made. Also, the survey instrument was administered again at the end of the two-year period to see if the expressed worker attitudes had improved. To provide a basis for comparing performance, a control group of workers was established that participated in the surveys, but these workers were excluded from the feedback sessions and had no input into the operating changes that were made.The results showed that a dramatic downturn in nonproductive time occurred during the two-year study period. The downturn occurred after the operating changes were made, and it was observed in both the test and control groups. The improvement in nonproductive time is related directly to the operating changes made by management. Despite the fact that these changes were based on input provided by the workers, no positive changes in worker attitudes were observed on the survey variables over the two-year period. The results provide evidence that the survey-feedback process can be effective in changing the behavior of workers in a service operation, but not necessarily their attitudes. These results are very similar to the findings of another major study of the survey-feedback method which was done in a completely different operations environment.
Abstract Despite expected widespread use of computer speech synthesis in manufacturing and produc... more Abstract Despite expected widespread use of computer speech synthesis in manufacturing and production applications, no one has yet determined the effects of synthesized speech on task performance. This laboratory study introduced speech synthesis in replicating ...
Challenging experiences are considered important for career development, and previous studies hav... more Challenging experiences are considered important for career development, and previous studies have suggested that women have fewer o f those experiences in their jobs than men have. However, the nature and possible determinants of this gender gap in job challenge have hardly been empirically studied. In the present study, the authors examine (a) gender differences in individuals' choice to perform challenging tasks and (b) gender differences in the allocation of challenging tasks in opposite-sex dyads. Results show that the men and women in the sample did not differ in their individual choice to perform challenging tasks, but after task allocation in opposite-sex dyads men ended up with more of the challenging tasks, whereas women ended up with more of the nonchallenging tasks. The authors discuss the possible consequences of these results for women's career development.
Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis that perceived collective efficacy w... more Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis that perceived collective efficacy would mediate the effects of self-efficacy on individual task performance. Design/methodology/approach -An assessment center design with 147 participants in 49 three-person groups was used. Findings -It is found that for individuals working on an assigned group goal, perception of the group's collective efficacy, rather than self-efficacy, has a direct influence on task performance. Research limitations/implications -Future researchers should examine the extent to which cognitive intelligence influences collective efficacy effects. Practical implications -The research suggests that perceptions of collective efficacy and team support may influence early career developmental task performance. Originality/value -This paper found that collective efficacy might be more important than individual efficacy in predicting individual task performance in some circumstances.
Despite the importance of interpersonal influence processes in computer-mediated communication (C... more Despite the importance of interpersonal influence processes in computer-mediated communication (CMC) environments, the emergence and functioning of leaders in CMC settings remains unstudied. An initial model and propositions address the possible extension of selected leadership models beyond face-to-face (FTF) communications and into the non-face-to-face CMC environment. We (1) model relevant variables for CMC leadership, (2) briefly review the implications of
... Virginia Commonwealth University Mark A. Siders ... Attempts to estab-lish a causal link betw... more ... Virginia Commonwealth University Mark A. Siders ... Attempts to estab-lish a causal link between corporate culture and organizational perfor-mance have yielded unclear outcomes and results (Pennings & Gresov, 1986; Lim, 1995; Arogyaswamy & Byles, 1987). ...
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Papers by Randall Sleeth