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The relative validity of valence-instrumentality-expectancy (VIE) force model predictions of performance, based on positive and negative outcome lists, was examined. Using an open-ended questionnaire, Army and Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets generated positive and negative outcomes associated with participation in ROTC. VIE predictions were tested separately for the two samples using both self and supervisor ratings of performance. VIE composites based on the combined lists of outcomes significantly predicted both self and supervisor performance ratings in the Navy sample, and self-ratings in the Army sample. Limited support was obtained for the hypotheses that (1) positive outcome based VIE composites would correlate greater with performance than negative-based composites, and (2) VIE correlations with self-ratings would exceed those with supervisor ratings. The results were discussed in terms of how individuals process positive and negative outcome information related to high performance. Several suggestionsforfuture research designed to specify the nature of these processes were offered.

The authors employed a longitudinal quasi-experimental design to examine individual- and team-level outcomes associated with an individually delivered, technology-based (CD) training program aimed at developing generic teamwork skills. Data were collected from 54 members of 8 trained and 8 quasi-control MBA student teams who competed in a business simulation. At the individual level of analysis, trained members exhibited higher teamwork knowledge scores and peer ratings of teamwork behaviors than did members of quasi-control teams. At the team level of analysis, trained teams exhibited increasingly improved performance over time relative to quasi-control teams. Additionally, team processes mediated the relationship between teamwork training and team performance. The authors discuss implications for the use of technology-based teamwork training programs and identify promising areas of future research.

An organizational development (OD) survey was administered to members of a military organization, supervisory groups received feedback, and a follow-up survey was conducted one year later. We hypothesized that initial levels would predict which supervisors would use the feedback, and that use of the feedback would lead to subsequent improvements. Results indicated that workgroup (N = 142) perceptions of management-supervision, supervisory communications, and work-unit climate changed significantly, but differentially, consistent with our hypotheses. Results are discussed in terms of previous meta-analytic reviews of OD interventions and practice in organizations.

Using data from samples of four different employee populations, we tested Bedeian and Armenakis' (1981) model of the relationships between role strains, tension, job satisfaction, and propensity to leave. Results from the path-analyses yielded mixed support for the model, both within and between samples. Furthermore, we explored the effects of employee personal characteristics on the variables included in the model and identified several additional sources of influence. The findings are discussed in terms of the applicability of the Bedeian and Armenakis model to various employee populations, the need to further develop and to refine the causal model, and the targeting of organizational interventions aimed at managing role strain and turnover-related processes in organizations.

Scholars have been interested in the extent to which organizational phenomena generalize across levels of analysis for quite some time. However, theoretical frameworks for developing homologous multilevel theories (i.e., theories involving parallel relationships between parallel constructs at different levels of analysis) have yet to be developed, and current analytical tools for testing such theories and models are limited and inflexible. In this article, the authors first propose a typology of multilevel theories of homology that considers different stages of theory development and different levels of similarity in relationships across levels. Building on cross-validation principles, the authors then delineate and demonstrate a comprehensive and flexible statistical procedure for testing different multilevel theories of homology. Finally, the authors discuss implications for theory, research, and practice, as well as potential caveats of the new statistical tests.

This introductory article for the feature topic on mediation is designed to provide a context for the articles that follow. Specifically, the authors revisit the history of mediational inferences in social and organizational sciences and illustrate how mediational inferences have been evident for more than a century. Some of the important milestones and the evolution of thought leading to today are chronicled. Then a modern-day framework for understanding mediational inferences is outlined that serves to highlight how the articles included in this feature topic contribute to the continued evolution of the bases of mediational inferences. The article concludes with the authors' vision of what may be fruitful directions for future research.

A systems-based, guided examination of employee involvement (EI) in the context of participative climates is presented. The authors proposed a theoretical multi-cross-level model to examine the relationship between participative climates as they exist at top and middle organizational levels and employee attitudes and behaviors. Data from an organization consisting of 11 relatively autonomous districts further divided into 88 units were used to examine the relationship of EI practices, participative climates, and individual ( n = 483) work-related attitudes and involvement in the EI process. Results indicated that district and unit participative climates interacted with one another in influencing work-related attitudes and behaviors. The importance of multiple participative climates operating in relation to one another to influence individual attitudes and behaviors, and how these climates are supported, is discussed.

This study examined factors that affect individuals' intentions to remain with their current organization, as well as team-level, manager-rated effectiveness, using a sample of 78 teams from a large grocery store chain within the Baltic region. The results suggest that team interpersonal processes play a key mediating role in facilitating both outcomes. Specifically, interpersonal processes had a positive effect on manager-rated team effectiveness. Furthermore, the quality of team interpersonal processes had a significant positive impact on employees' commitment to the organization, which, in turn, was found to enhance employees' intention to remain in that organization. Similarly, professional familiarity served as a salient antecedent of team interpersonal processes. This study, thus, offers evidence of the multilevel importance of interpersonal processes as a critical driver of both team- and individual-level outcomes.