Dynamics in Groups: Are We There Yet?

We know that groups are dynamic entities, and yet we rarely study them as such. Previously hamstrung by limited theory, a decade of advances in understanding the fundamental nature of groups and change promised a revolution in group research. Our goal here is to review those theoretical developments and then examine their impact on our empirical understanding of group dynamics. Examining work done and not done, we will take stock of this work, identify the obstacles that seem to keep us focused more on group statics than dynamics, and then close by offering suggestions about not only what approaches to take when studying group dynamics, but also how the field can help develop these approaches. We hope that a review of the group dynamic literature in 2021 will celebrate our coming empirical accomplishments rather than lament a lack of them.     

Are We Adapting to Floods? Evidence from Global Flooding Fatalities

There has been a growing interest in understanding whether and how people adapt to extreme weather events in a changing climate. This article presents one of the first empirical analyses of adaptation to flooding on a global scale. Using a sample of 97 countries between 1985 and 2010, we investigate the extent and pattern of flood adaptation by estimating the effects of a country's climatological risk, recent flood experiences, and socioeconomic characteristics on its flood‐related fatalities. Our results provide mixed evidence on adaptation: countries facing greater long‐term climatological flooding risks do not necessarily adapt better and suffer fewer fatalities; however, after controlling for the cross‐country heterogeneity, we find that more recent flooding shocks have a significant and negative effect on fatalities from subsequent floods. These findings may suggest the short‐term learning dynamics of adaptation and potential inefficacy of earlier flood control measures, particularly those that promote increased exposure in floodplains. Our findings provide important implications for climate adaptation policy making and climate modeling.     

Are you obsolete?

Are you vulnerable, regardless of length of service at your organization and your unique skill sets? There are ways to test vulnerability and assemble some hard evidence that your management role makes a difference. You need to conduct a self-test for obsolescence. Ask yourself the following questions: Are your skills state-of-the-art? As a manager, how do you compare with others doing the same, or similar, job at competing organizations? Is your role essential? Where does your job fall into the big picture? Can you be replaced easily? If a thorough examination of your skills and your role convinces you that your contribution returns more to the organization than your salary, can you prove it? Consider these strategies: (1) Put together a portfolio, (2) ensure your boss' support, (3) advertise your successes, and (4) cultivate recruiters. The best reason to analyze your value to the organization is that if you are laid off, getting another comparable job--or a better one--will be far less of a hassle.     

Are We on the Same Page? Determinants of School Board Member Understanding of Group Accountability Perceptions

This article connects the accountability and small group dynamics literature by testing several hypotheses related to the link between perceived dynamics on American school boards and board member agreement on accountability perceptions. The authors conclude that board members who view their boards as productive, low-conflict, and active, are more likely to be in agreement with their fellow members’ perceptions of accountability. The results are of use to scholars seeking to understand the relationships between small group dynamics, accountability, and performance on governing boards.     

How Will We Know It When We See It? Conceptualizing the Ethical Organization

How might one conceptualize the ethical organization? The argument presented here is that the truly ethical organization accentuates three main components. First it must be law-abiding in its basic execution of its organizational ethical responsibility. Second, the organization must exercise strong ethical leadership in its day-to-day operations and policies. Finally, at the organizational level, there must be ongoing monitoring processes ensuring compliance of the organization. Specific techniques for consistent, ongoing monitoring and enforcement of ethical compliance by an objective party are described.     

Are diamonds a safe haven?

The diamond market has recently experienced important structural changes moving from a monopolistic market to a more liberalised and competitive one. As a result, diamonds are being discussed as a new investment asset class, with possible valuable portfolio contributions. The aim of this paper is to analyse their potential role within an investment framework, using previously unpublished data. We use the GemShares and NASDAQ OMX patented license and Polished Prices proprietary Price Reporting Agency (PRA) database to build our own standardized financial polished diamond basket indices (DBIs), using actual reported data of traded prices, adjusted for liquidity by traded volume. The impact of adjusting for traded volume of investment grade (only) diamonds is sufficient to develop a unique subset different to that captured and reported by the PRA. We first construct an index for High-Quality (HQ) and a second one for Medium-Quality (MQ) diamonds so we can study both of their dynamics and investment features. We further analyse the relationship the two indices have with major macroeconomic and financial variables, as well as other precious commodities to investigate their role as safe haven or hedge. We find that the DBI_HQ Index returns are, on average, positively correlated with major macroeconomic variables—in particular with the Euro and Chinese Interest rates. The DBI_MQ Index returns are largely uncorrelated with the same macroeconomic variables—with the exception of Euro Interest rates and the Israeli Exchange rate. When we compare our Diamond Indices returns with major financial variables and other precious commodities, we find a broad lack of correlation between their returns, and significant difference between the DBI_HQ and DBI_MQ Indices. We may conclude that diamonds are broadly a poor hedge for any of the portfolios we considered, with a few important exceptions—especially gold. Using Bauer and Lucey’s (Financ Rev 45(2):217–229. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.952289, 2010) approach we further tested the “safe haven value” and “hedging usefulness” of the two Indices. In contrast with previous studies we believe the unique data we accessed allowed us to demonstrate that diamonds represent a strong hedge for gold investors, and in addition exhibit features of a safe haven for stock markets during periods of financial stress.     

Are you obsessed with interaction?

Too many organizations and managers, the author says, are using "interaction" among employees as a means to encourage them to buy-in, to stimulate teamwork, or to build morale. In too many cases, the forced interaction only serves to annoy or embarrass employees--or raise suspicions about management motives. Wise employees fear they will be burned if they open up and interact. There are better ways to run meetings, the author says, and she provides a few.     

Incomplete Contracts: Where do We Stand?

The paper takes stock of the advances and directions for research on the incomplete contracting front. It first illustrates some of the main ideas of the incomplete contract literature through an example. It then offers methodological insights on the standard approach to modeling incomplete contracts; in particular it discusses a tension between two assumptions made in the literature, namely rationality and the existence of transaction costs. Last, it argues that, contrary to what is commonly argued, the complete contract methodology need not be unable to account for standard institutions such as authority and ownership; and it concludes with a discussion of the research agenda.     

Examining Organic and Mechanistic Structures: Do We Know as Much as We Thought?

Burns and Stalker's theory of organic/mechanistic structures (1961, The Management of Innovation. London: Tavistock) has been widely used. However, review of the empirical literature revealed inconsistencies in how the concepts have been operationalized. These inconsistencies may interfere with the ability to consolidate knowledge. This paper reviews the various ways in which researchers have operationalized the concepts, and summarizes the empirical findings derived from these operationalizations. In doing so, it highlights gaps and opportunities for future empirical and methodological work, suggesting the need to further our theoretical conceptualization of the concepts and to draw attention to Burns and Stalker's ( 1961 ) largely neglected corollary of the employee experience. As such, this review provides a road map for future exploration of the wide‐ranging implications associated with organic and mechanistic structures.     

Are There Differences in the Health– Socio‐economic Status Relationship over the Life Cycle? Evidence from Germany

Abstract. Most research on the relationship between health and socio‐economic status (SES) controls for age or investigates the relationship for a particular age range. This paper, however, examines the effect of SES on health across different age groups. Using data from the German Socio‐Economic Panel and controlling for health–SES endogeneity, we find that the health–income relationship does vary across the life cycle and between genders and different labor force status, with the impact of income on health relatively more pronounced for younger cohorts. The unemployed also have lower levels of health at all levels of income.     

Are you on the right track?

Physicians in early or mid-level leadership positions need different skills than those at the top. What are the skills they need and what are the risks of focusing on the wrong skills?     

Are you ready for virtual organizations?

Success, and maybe even survival, in the future will go to those health care organizations that can respond to constant and rapid change in a timely fashion. And timely doesn't mean what it once did. Years and months may no longer be a satisfactory response time. Even weeks may not always do. Opportunities will have to be seized quickly, or they will disappear forever. One possible answer to the leaden nature of most bureaucratic, hierarchical organizations may be a new kid on the block--the virtual organization. Formed solely to work on a single opportunity, these organizations can be used to position the parent organizations for almost any conceivable change.     

Are Workers' Enterprises Entry Policies Conventional?

Abstract. One of the reasons why workers' enterprises (WE) still represent a relevant chunk of the economy may lay in some affinities with conventional profit‐maximizing firms. To provide a solid basis to this presumption, we compare the entry policies of WEs and conventional firms when size is set at entry and kept fixed afterwards. Even though short‐run differences remain between WEs and conventional firms, a long‐run coincidence appears in an uncertain dynamic environment. Endogenizing size and time of entry we see that the two kinds of firms enter at the same trigger market price and size. Both of them enter earlier and choose a dimension larger than the minimum efficient scale. This generalized coincidence may be another way to explain why WEs still make for an important share of the economy despite the ongoing mantra of their imminent demise.     

Are More Competent Workers More Satisfied?

Abstract. In this paper, we analyse the relationship between workers' competencies and their job satisfaction in the context of dual (i.e. vocational versus communicative) skill demands. We analyse the effects of workers' competencies on their overall, intrinsic, and extrinsic job satisfaction. We focus on pharmacy assistants who need both pharmaceutical and communicative competencies in their work. Results from a linked employer–employee survey show that assistants with more communicative competencies are more satisfied with their job, whereas assistants with more pharmaceutical competencies are not more satisfied than the less competent assistants. In addition, workers who perform tasks below their level of competence are more dissatisfied with both their remuneration and career prospects and the content of their job as such, than were other workers. Our results indicate that the demand shift from vocational towards communication skills, which occurs in many professions, can affect the job satisfaction of the most competent workers.