Article Abstracts

Articles

The Collective Construction of Work Group Moods
Caroline A. Bartel - New York University
Richard Saavedra - University of Michigan

This research examines mood as a collective property of work groups. We argue that work group members experience group moods when they can detect and display mood information through observable behavioral expressions. To test the hypothesis that work group moods are manifested behaviorally, we developed an observational instrument and compared observers' reports of work group mood with self-reported measures from 70 work groups. As predicted, groups converged for eight distinct mood categories, and observers' reports of work group mood were consistent with groups' aggregated self-reported values. Convergence in members' moods was positively associated with task and social interdependence, membership stability, and mood regulation norms. Theoretical and practical implications of work group mood are discussed.

We investigate the impact of contact between organizations in multiple geographic markets, focusing on two competitive behaviors: growth in current markets and entry into new markets. Drawing on sociological and economic theories, we propose that the extent of multimarket contact determines the level of competition experienced by a focal organization and therefore influences its growth and market entry. We also propose that market structure, specifically the extent to which markets are dominated by a few large firms, influences competition and therefore influences growth and market entry. Finally, we propose that market structure accentuates multimarket competitive dynamics, as mutual forbearance is more pronounced in markets dominated by a few large firms. Analysis of growth and market entry by a mixed population of multi- and single-market firms in the California savings and loan industry generally supports our model and shows that multipoint competition affects all rivals, multi- and single-market firms alike.

Embeddedness, Social Identity and Mobility: Why Firms Leave the NASDAQ and Join the New York Stock Exchange
Hayagreeva Rao - Emory University
Gerald F. Davis - University of Michigan
Andrew Ward - Emory University

Organizations derive their social identity from membership in formal groups and strive to maintain a positive social identity. When their social identity is threatened and group boundaries are permeable, organizations defect to other groups. This paper suggests that organizations receive identity-discrepant cues when in-group members defect to an out-group, but how organizations respond to such cues hinges on their social affiliations to the in-group, out-group, and defectors. A study of organizations that migrated from the NASDAQ stock market to the New York Stock Exchange reveals that strong ties to in-group members (NASDAQ members) reduced the impact of identity-discrepant cues and diminished defections. Conversely, strong ties to out-group members (NYSE members) enhanced the impact of identity-discrepant cues and increased defection. Proximity to defectors increased cross-overs--organizations followed defectors to whom they had direct ties. Implications for the study of embeddedness are outlined.

Cognitive Biases and Organizational Correctives: Do Both Disease and Cure Depend on the Politics of the Beholder?
Philip E. Tetlock - The Ohio State University

The study reported here assessed the impact of managers' philosophies of human nature on their reactions to influential academic claims and counter-claims of when human judgment is likely to stray from rational-actor standards and of how organizations can correct these biases. Managers evaluated scenarios that depicted decision-making processes at micro, meso, and macro levels of analysis: alleged cognitive biases of individuals, strategies of structuring and coping with accountability relationships between supervisors and employees, and strategies that corporate entities use to cope with accountability demands from the broader society. Political ideology and cognitive style emerged as consistent predictors of the value spins that managers placed on decisions at all three levels of analysis. Specifically, conservative managers with strong preferences for cognitive closure were most likely (a) to defend simple heuristic-driven errors such as overattribution and overconfidence and to warn of the mirror-image mistakes of failing to hold people accountable and of diluting sound policies with irrelevant side-objectives; (b) to be skeptical of complex strategies of structuring or coping with accountability and to praise those who lay down clear rules and take decisive stands; (c) to prefer simple philosophies of corporate governance (the shareholder over stakeholder model) and to endorse organizational norms such as hierarchical filtering that reduce cognitive overload on top management by short-circuiting unnecessary argumentation. Intuitive theories of good judgment apparently cut across levels of analysis and are deeply grounded in personal epistemologies and political ideologies.

Legitimacy Building in the Evolution of Small-Firm Multilateral Networks: A Comparative Study of Success and Demise
Sherrie E. Human - Xavier University
Keith G. Provan - University of Arizona

This article reports a longitudinal examination and comparison of two multilateral networks of small and medium-sized firms in the U.S. wood-products manufacturing industry. The research focused on how each of these networks built legitimacy over the course of their early evolution, from the pre-network field, to initial formation and growth, and toward sustainment, culminating in the success of one and the demise of the other. Our findings demonstrate that despite differences in their early bases of support, which resulted in very different strategic emphases, the two networks ultimately had to address three conceptually distinct dimensions of legitimacy--the network as form, the network as entity, and the network as interaction. Based on the findings, we develop specific propositions and draw some tentative conclusions about how legitimacy is established in multilateral networks and how the failure to build legitimacy across the three dimensions may lead to network collapse.

Data on Silicon Valley law firms over a 50-year period were used to study the genealogy of organizational populations and its consequences for organizational life chances when a member of an existing firm leaves to found a new firm. Hypotheses and subsequent analysis suggest that the transfer of resources and routines between a parent organization and its progeny decreases life chances for the parent firm and increases life chances for the progeny. The results are contingent on the founder's previous position in the parent firm and time since the parenting event. In addition, I find that progeny have lower life chances when the parent is a failing firm, when there are multiple parents, and when the founder is a former senior partner of a large law firm.

How Experience and Network Ties Affect the Influence of Demographic Minorities
James D. Westphal - University of Texas at Austin
Laurie P. Milton - University of Calgary

This study examines how the influence of directors who are demographic minorities on corporate boards is contingent on the prior experience of board members and the larger social structural context in which demographic differences are embedded. We assess the effects of minority status according to functional background, industry background, education, race, and gender for a large sample of corporate outside directors at Fortune/Forbes 500 companies. The results show that (1) the prior experience of minority directors in a minority role on other boards can enhance their ability to exert influence on the focal board, while the prior experience of minority directors in a majority role can reduce their influence; (2) the prior experience of majority directors in a minority role on other boards can enhance the influence of minority directors on the focal board, and (3) minority directors are more influential if they have direct or indirect social network ties to majority directors through common memberships on other boards. Results suggest that demographic minorities can avoid out-group biases that would otherwise minimize their influence when they have prior experience on other boards or social network ties to other directors that enable them to create the perception of similarity with the majority.