Workers’ learning, skill acquisition, and development of work-related competences are inextricably linked to the performance and success of the organizations where they work. Likewise, their learning outcomes and the knowledge sharing routines they develop are connected to and influenced by characteristics of their job, including workload, time pressure, cognitive complexity (job demand), their manager's goals, and the kinds of formal learning opportunities they can access, e.g. training. With this in mind, organizational leaders must foster a work culture where learning and teaching are valued and celebrated. All employees should understand that they are prized members of this learning culture and encouraged to take an active role by sharing pertinent information, knowledge, and know-how they accumulated by way of experience.
Organizational leaders at every level should encourage all workers to exchange ideas across boundaries and to make a commitment to helping develop a work atmosphere where learning is a norm. What follows is a review of specific actions leaders and managers can take to support learning and knowledge sharing in their organization.
Learning & Metacognition
Metacognition is an awareness or understanding of one's thought processes; in short, it is thinking about your thinking. Metacognition involves various self-regulation procedures, including planning, goal-setting, and routine performance monitoring. We use these activities to measure the effectiveness of our learning strategies, logic, or expectations—they are self-assessments of our thinking that allow us to determine when it is necessary to revise our assumptions, anticipated outcomes, goals and strategies. Metacognition includes our approaches to gauging our comprehension (meta-comprehension) and memorization (meta-memory). Researchers believe that the better an individual’s metacognitive abilities, the more efficiently they learn because they are more adept at monitoring their learning processes, determining when they are having problems and making the changes they need to meet their goals.
In theory, these signals of effectiveness are the basis for self-regulatory decisions about how to achieve desired cognitive outcomes. Researchers believe that high demands will lead workers to set high goals for themselves and to have a high degree of autonomy gives them more opportunities to accomplish challenging goals. However, be careful— goals and intention training can be tricky. For instance, generating significant changes in goal intention strength only produces a modest change in goal achievement, which suggests there is a considerable gap between people's goal intentions and their ensuing achievement.
Error Management Training & Metacognition— For years, psychologists like Albert Bandura once argued that learners should avoid mistakes, which were considered costly and thought to result in unnecessary toil. However, since the 2000s, empirical evidence of the opposite opinion has grown considerably, particularly the view of error management during training. With the error management approach, mistakes are a part of the learning process, and trainees are expected to actively explore the environment and embrace the errors they make during the process.
Trainees in error management settings perform considerably better than those in error-avoidant conditions when:
they are given clear instructions encouraging them to embrace the mistakes they make during practice, consider them opportunities to improve their comprehension, recall, and retention of novel information;
they are asked to think explicitly about the problems they encounter, what objectives they aim to accomplish, and other metacognitive prompts.
Managers can lay the groundwork for effective organizational learning and knowledge sharing by focusing on the following areas:
Supporting Worker Autonomy & Metacognitive Processes— Research into learning has discovered that people learn best when they engage in autonomous active learning, meaning they are not pressured, but willingly initiate the process of setting goals and choosing learning strategies. A 2010 quantitative systematic review of the literature on organizational learning found that job demands, autonomy, motivational, and meta-cognitive processes have a strong positive association with learning outcomes. Additionally, the study found moderately strong evidence for a positive relationship between job demands and autonomy on the one hand and learning consequences on the other. These data suggest that together, high (but not overwhelming) work demands and high levels of autonomy promote learning. Autonomy is the degree to which workers are free to determine their work schedule and routines to get their jobs done. The study indicated there is strong evidence of a positive association between job demands on the one hand and motivational and meta-cognitive processes on the other. Organizational psychologists define metacognition as an individual's knowledge of and control over their cognitions: in short, thinking about your thinking. (see side panel for more on metacognition.)
In light of the above information, organizational leaders should provide workers a consequential degree of license to make process judgments related to how role expectations are met. Worker engagement, creativity, and innovation are maximized when workers possess a high degree of discretion over how their work responsibilities are fulfilled. Additionally, managers can boost the learning in their organizations by cultivating an autonomy-supportive team climate, wherein team members feel their colleagues provide them with a degree of freedom and support to engage in self-initiated exploratory learning activities. Workers operating in an autonomy-supportive organization are more likely to proactively learn novel information and demonstrate persistence throughout the process.
Finally, it is important to remember that these recommendations can improve learning and knowledge sharing at every level of the organization. Just as managers should provide the workers in their care an environment conducive to knowledge transfer, managerial learning must be supported by organization leaders. Managers must also be held accountable for their professional growth and development and be granted access to the support and resources they need in order to improve.
Building & Maintaining Trust & Psychological Safety— Trust and healthy respectful relationships enable organizations and the teams within them to successfully engage in knowledge transfer activities. For instance, the meta-analysis of studies on training found those that incorporated cognitive and interpersonal skills and tasks yielded the greatest positive effects. According to evidence collected by social scientists, interpersonal skills are associated with the interactions workers have with their coworkers, clients or customers, and entail a multiplicity of proficiencies from leadership and communication skills, to team-building skills and conflict management. Building trust and interpersonal capabilities will put your organization on the road to creating psychological safety.
Psychological safety represents the degree of perceived safety worker’s feel among their coworkers in taking risks, expressing opinions, asking questions, and sharing information without fear of negative responses. Psychological safety is essential to learning because it supports an environment where workers more readily exchange information. They are more open with their colleagues about their experiences, mistakes, and new ideas, which leads to discussions that contribute to the development of and transfer of new knowledge, capabilities, and routines. Therefore, team leaders can facilitate learning by taking an active role in supporting a climate of psychological safety—giving members a clear understanding of the reasoning behind organizational activities, expressly inviting all team members to contribute critical feedback. Remain vigilant, and if necessary, mitigate the silencing effect of status differentials.
Building & Maintaining Strong Social Support Resources— Professor of psychology Sheldon Cohen, defined social support as “a social network’s provision of psychological and material resources intended to benefit an individual’s ability to cope with stress” (p. 676). Social support is positive social interaction, and includes teammates helping one another, as well as other staff members. Social support is regarded as a means of nurturing positive team behavior that encourages communication, buffers against stress, and facilitates well-being.
Leaders, remember to encourage the members of your teams to:
applaud their colleagues when they are successful;
reach out to coworkers before taking actions that might affect them;
when possible, assists colleagues with their work for the interest of the team.
The importance of social support extends to organizational leaders too, as low work productivity and worker disengagement are both related to employees experiencing low levels of support from coworkers and management. Conversely, social support from leaders has been found to lower employee turnover, strengthen job performance, and result in higher levels of job satisfaction. Social support from supervisors is a well-documented antecedent to workers successful transfer and translation of newly learned information and is vital to the process of providing workers with positive reinforcement via feedback.
Leaders can use relations-oriented behaviors, which is are focused on the state of their relationships with subordinates—their satisfaction, motivation and well-being. Via relations-oriented behaviors, organizational leaders can improve workers’ skills, the relationship between leaders and workers, commitment to the mission and learning outcomes. An important relations-oriented behavior is positive regard. Demonstrating positive regard conveys genuineness, empathy, and the sense that you care about and value each worker. This fortifies organizational citizenship behavior and strengthens knowledge sharing. Accordingly, take time to get to know your workers on a personal basis. In situations requiring the correction of a worker’s mistake, be sure to communicate positive regard. When addressing the problem, avoid conveying anger or disgust. Instead, deliver criticism in tandem with empathy and feedback on ways the problem can be rectified or avoided in the future.
Finally, managers can provide workers with incentives for participating in social support activities. Incentives include rewards and recognition. Applaud effective learning and sharing, providing appropriate recognition for notable achievements and individual contributions to teams and the organization.
Focusing on Team Training— Research indicates strategic team training can yield a multitude of benefits for your organization. Specifically, focusing on developing team performance can result in an increase of group functioning of approximately 12 to 19 percent. Besides enhancing performance outcomes and teamwork associated processes, team training also bolsters the members’ affective outcomes, including trust, confidence, socialization, and attitudes regarding their perceptions of the effectiveness of team communication and coordination processes. Additionally, engage your workforce in training aimed at building task-specific expertise. Be sure to take advantage of the benefits gleaned from feedback. Both positive and negative feedback from managers and peers can bolster work force learning outcomes; specifically, when trainees attempt to apply the skills they learned in training.
As discussed in the side-panel Learning & Metacognition, error management training is an evidence-based approach to learning that does not focus as much on providing learners detailed step-by-step instructions on correct task solutions, but instead, puts a positive spotlight on errors made during practice. Via an error management approach, trainees engage in experimentation in a practice setting where errors are likely to occur. Consequently, managers hoping to evaluate the effectiveness of training should do so by measuring post-training transfer outcomes, not performance measurement taken during training. Using the error management approach, in-training performance will likely be slower, as trainees are encouraged to make errors and address them on the spot. The error management approach also appears to enhance adaptive transfer, meaning an individual’s ability to modify the knowledge gleaned from training events and efficaciously apply it to structurally distinct problems or situational conditions other than those encountered during training.
Using Technology to Support Knowledge Sharing— Use technology to promote the exchange of information, knowledge transfer, and skills training. Training literature indicates a positive relationship between performance self-efficacy and transfer before and after training in various degrees of computer-supported collaborative learning. However, the development of computer-based initiatives must be done carefully, as there are challenging aspects related to the moderating effect of some computer collaborative training. According to recent empirical research, computer-supported training appears appreciably more effective than non-computer supported and computer supported + collaborative training. Additionally, organizational management should consider incorporating instructional computer simulated games into their training paradigms. There is reliable research data indicating trainees learned more, relative to a comparison group, when simulation games conveyed course material actively rather than passively, trainees could access the simulation game as many times as desired, and the simulation game was a supplement to other instructional methods rather than stand-alone instruction. However, trainees learned less from simulation games than comparison instructional methods when the instruction the comparison group received as a substitute for the simulation game actively engaged them in the learning experience.
Bringing it All Together— Bringing all of these areas together will not always be easy; however, the more you do it, the more you realize that these distinct components are interdependent and overlapping. Autonomy requires trust and bolsters employee’s ability to surmount the challenges associated with the demands of their work. As organizational trust and accountability increases, psychological safety deepens and workers become more comfortable taking risks, making mistakes, and speaking up. Consequently, error management training can be highly advantageous, as psychologically safe trainees learn to exert emotion controls resulting in reduced negative emotional reactions to mistakes and setbacks in the learning process. Concomitantly, workers exercise their metacognitive skills, enhancing their capacity to productively plan, monitor, and evaluate their motivations, procedures, and progress.
By bringing together all of the areas mentioned above and designing information paradigms that support the establishment and maintenance of active knowledge sharing intentions and attitudes, you will bolster your organization's relational and cognitive capital. These capital resources are crucial network-level determinants for transferring knowledge. On the other hand, there is evidence suggesting structural capital can be considered instrumental (as a brokerage mechanism) in facilitating the process of searching for and gaining access to novel, distinct knowledge existing at other organizations.
In conclusion— I would suggest that all organizational managers remember that there is not a single magic bullet in the above recommendations. To foster consequential and profitable change in your organization’s information sharing and knowledge transfer ecosystem requires more than delivering resources to your workforce. These are tactics, components of a larger overarching organizational strategy that concomitantly requires trainees to change their consciousness, material activities, and social interactions; that is, an active approach to leveraging transfer. Via praxis and your organization’s critical resource, people, their creativity, and resolve, organizational learning, and knowledge transfers of practical know-how and skills can become the norm. Success won’t happen by investing in a few initiatives, theories, or policies, but by being invested in many evidence-based activities, tactical approaches, and by allowing time for these practices to take root with your workforce and develop on an effective scale.
Wielenga-Meijer, E. G. A., Taris, T. W., Kompier, M. A. J., & Wigboldus, D. H. J. (2006). Understanding task-related learning: When, why, how and who?. McIntyre, S.; Houdmont, J.(ed.), Occupational health psychology: European perspectives on research, education, and practice, vol. 1, 59-82.
Abstract: Not Available
Bell, B. S., & Kozlowski, S. W. (2010). Toward a theory of learner-centered training design: An integrative framework of active learning. Learning, training, and development in organizations, 263-300.
Abstract: The goal of this chapter, therefore, is to develop an integrative conceptual framework of active learning, and we do this by focusing on three primary issues. First, we define the active learning approach and contrast it to more traditional, passive instructional approaches. We argue that the active learning approach can be distinguished from not only more passive approaches to instruction but also other forms of experiential learning based on its use of formal training components to systematically influence trainees' cognitive, motivational, and emotion self-regulatory processes. Second, we examine how specific training components can be used to influence each of these process domains. Through a review of prior research, we extract core training components that cut across different active learning interventions, map these components onto specific process domains, and consider the role of individual differences in shaping the effects of these components (aptitude-treatment interactions [ATIs]). A final issue examined in this chapter concerns the outcomes associated with the active learning approach. Despite its considerable versatility, the active learning approach is not the most efficient or effective means of responding to all training needs. Thus, we discuss the impact of the active learning approach on different types of learning outcomes in order to identify the situations under which it is likely to demonstrate the greatest utility. We conclude the chapter by highlighting research and practical implications of our integrated framework, and we outline an agenda for future research on active learning.
Kozlowski, S. W., Chao, G. T., & Jensen, J. M. (2010). Building an infrastructure for organizational learning: A multilevel approach. Learning, training, and development in organizations, 363-403.
Abstract: Not Available
Wielenga-Meijer, E. G. A., Taris, T. W., Kompier, M. A. J. & Wigboldus, D. H. J. (2010). From task characteristics to learning- A systematic review. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51(5), 363-375.
Abstract: Although many theoretical approaches propose that job characteristics affect employee learning, the question is why and how job characteristics influence learning. The present study reviews the evidence on the relationships among learning antecedents (i.e., job characteristics: demands, variety, autonomy and feedback), learning processes (including motivational, meta-cognitive, cognitive and behavioral processes) and learning consequences. Building on an integrative heuristic model, we quantitatively reviewed 85 studies published between 1969 and 2005. Our analyses revealed strong evidence for a positive relation between job demands and autonomy on the one hand and motivational and meta-cognitive learning processes on the other. Furthermore, these learning processes were positively related to learning consequences.
Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1975). Development of the job diagnostic survey. Journal of Applied psychology, 60(2), 159
Abstract: Describes the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) which is intended to (a) diagnose existing jobs to determine whether (and how) they might be redesigned to improve employee motivation and productivity and (b) evaluate the effects of job changes on employees. The instrument is based on a specific theory of how job design affects work motivation, and provides measures of (a) objective job dimensions, (b) individual psychological states resulting from these dimensions, (c) affective reactions of employees to the job and work setting, and (d) individual growth need strength (interpreted as the readiness of individuals to respond to "enriched" jobs). Reliability and validity data are summarized for 658 employees on 62 different jobs in 7 organizations who responded to a revised version of the instrument. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive–developmental inquiry. American psychologist, 34(10), 906.
Abstract: Studies suggest that young children are quite limited in their knowledge about cognitive phenomena—or in their metacognition—and do relatively little monitoring of their own memory, comprehension, and other cognitive enterprises. Metacognitive knowledge is one's stored knowledge or beliefs about oneself and others as cognitive agents, about tasks, about actions or strategies, and about how all these interact to affect the outcomes of any sort of intellectual enterprise. Metacognitive experiences are conscious cognitive or affective experiences that occur during the enterprise and concern any aspect of it—often, how well it is going. Research is needed to describe and explain spontaneous developmental acquisitions in this area and find effective ways of teaching metacognitive knowledge and cognitive monitoring skills. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Amabile, T. M., & Fisher, C. M. (2000). Stimulate creativity by fueling passion. Handbook of principle of organizational behavior, 331341
Abstract: Not Available
Konrad, A. M. (2006). Engaging employees through high-involvement work practices. Ivey Business Journal, 26, 11-14.
Abstract: Not Available
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2008). Facilitating optimal motivation and psychological well-being across life's domains. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne, 49(1), 14.
Abstract: Self-determination theory (SDT) differentiates motivation, with autonomous and controlled motivations constituting the key, broad distinction. Research has shown that autonomous motivation predicts persistence and adherence and is advantageous for effective performance, especially on complex or heuristic tasks that involve deep information processing or creativity. Autonomous motivation is also reliably related to psychological health. Considerable research has found interpersonal contexts that facilitate satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness to enhance autonomous motivation, which comprises intrinsic motivation and well-internalized extrinsic motivation. SDT has been applied in varied cultures and in many life domains, and research is reviewed that has related autonomous and controlled motivation to education, parenting, work, health care, sport, and close relationships.
Ostroff, C., Kinicki, A. J., & Tamkins, M. M. (2003). Organizational culture and climate. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Abstract: Not Available
Bell, B. S., & Kozlowski, S. W. (2002). Adaptive guidance: Enhancing self‐regulation, knowledge, and performance in technology‐based training. Personnel Psychology, 55(2), 267-306.
Abstract: Considerable research has examined the effects of giving trainees control over their learning (Steinberg, 1977, 1989; Williams, 1993). The most consistent finding of this research has been that trainees do not make good instructional use of the control they are given. Yet, today's technologically based training systems often provide individuals with significant control over their learning (Brown, 2001). This creates a dilemma that must be addressed if technology is going to be used to create more effective training systems. The current study extended past research that has examined the effects of providing trainees with some form of advisement or guidance in addition to learner control and examined the impact of an instructional strategy, adaptive guidance, on learning and performance in a complex training environment. Overall, it was found that adaptive guidance had a substantial effect on the nature of trainees' study and practice, self-regulation, knowledge acquired, and performance.
Black, A. E., & Deci, E. L. (2000). The effects of instructors' autonomy support and students' autonomous motivation on learning organic chemistry: A self‐determination theory perspective. Science education, 84(6), 740-756.
Brown, A., Bransford, L., Ferrara, R., & Campione, J. (1983). Learning, remembering and understanding Handbook of Child Psychology: Cognitive development. P. Mussen.
Abstract: Not Available
Ford, J. K., Smith, E. M., Weissbein, D. A., Gully, S. M., & Salas, E. (1998). Relationships of goal orientation, metacognitive activity, and practice strategies with learning outcomes and transfer. Journal of applied psychology, 83(2), 218.
Abstract: A model of learning transfer that focused on the active role of the learner was developed and tested within a complex decision-making task. The study examined how individual differences, learning strategies, and training outcomes influenced transfer of learning to a more complex task. A sample of 93 undergraduate students participated in a 2-day radar operations study. Hierarchical regression analysis results indicated that mastery orientation was positively related to metacognitive activity of the learner. Metacognitive activity was significantly related to knowledge acquisition, skilled performance at the end of training, and self-efficacy. All 3 of these training outcomes were related to performance on the transfer task. Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Winne, P. H. (1996). A metacognitive view of individual differences in self-regulated learning. Learning and individual differences, 8(4), 327-353.
Abstract: Metacognition's roles in self-regulation of cognitive tactics and strategies is explored in relation to five sites where individual difference factors are likely to be observed and affect performance: domain knowledge, knowledge of tactics and strategies, performance of tactics and strategies, regulation of tactics and strategies, and global dispositions. Though the current literature is sparse, tentative hypotheses about kinds of individual differences and their impact are proposed. Directions for future research are noted concerning the need for more sophisticated metacognitively-based models of SRL as a complex collection of individual differences, and some suggestions are made about methodologies for investigating complex, metacognitively regulated approaches to learning.
Webb, T. L., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Does changing behavioral intentions engender behavior change? A meta-analysis of the experimental evidence. Psychological bulletin, 132(2), 249.
Abstract: Numerous theories in social and health psychology assume that intentions cause behaviors. However, most tests of the intention- behavior relation involve correlational studies that preclude causal inferences. In order to determine whether changes in behavioral intention engender behavior change, participants should be assigned randomly to a treatment that significantly increases the strength of respective intentions relative to a control condition, and differences in subsequent behavior should be compared. The present research obtained 47 experimental tests of intention-behavior relations that satisfied these criteria. Meta-analysis showed that a medium-to-large change in intention (d = 0.66) leads to a small-to-medium change in behavior (d = 0.36). The review also identified several conceptual factors, methodological features, and intervention characteristics that moderate intention-behavior consistency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Heimbeck D, Frese M, Sonnentag S, Keith N. 2003. Integrating errors into the training process: The function of error management instructions and the role of goal orientation. Personnel Psychology, 56(2), 333-361.
Abstract: Error management training explicitly allows participants to make errors. We examined the effects of error management instructions (“rules of thumb” designed to reduce the negative emotional effects of errors), goal orientation (learning goal, prove goal, and avoidance goal orientations) and attribute x treatment interactions on performance. A randomized experiment with 87 participants consisting of 3 training procedures for learning to work with a computer program was conducted: (a) error training with error management instructions, (b) error training without error management instructions; and (c) a group that was prevented from making errors. Results showed that short-and medium-term performance (near and far transfer) was superior for participants of the error training that included error management instructions, compared with the two other training conditions. Thus, error management instructions were crucial for the high performance effects of error training. Prove and avoidance goal orientation interacted with training conditions.
Keith, N., & Frese, M. (2005). Self-regulation in error management training: emotion control and metacognition as mediators of performance effects. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(4), 677.
Abstract: In error management training, participants are explicitly encouraged to make errors and learn from them. Error management training has frequently been shown to lead to better performance than conventional trainings that adopt an error avoidant approach. The present study investigated self-regulatory processes mediating this effect. Fifty-five volunteer students learned a computer program under 1 of 3 conditions: error avoidant training, error management training, or error management training supplemented with a metacognitive module. As predicted, both forms of error management training led to better transfer performance than did error avoidant training (d = 0.75). Mediation hypotheses were fully supported: Emotion control and metacognitive activity (from verbal protocols) mediated performance differences. These findings highlight the potential of promoting self-regulatory processing during training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Keith, N., & Frese, M. (2008). Effectiveness of error management training: a meta-analysis. The Journal of applied psychology, 93(1), 59-69.
Abstract: Error management training (EMT) is a training method that involves active exploration as well as explicit encouragement for learners to make errors during training and to learn from them. Past evaluation studies, which compared skill-based training outcomes of EMT with those of proceduralized erroravoidant training or of exploratory training without error encouragement, have yielded considerable variation in effect sizes. The present meta-analysis compiles the results of the existing studies and seeks to explain this variation. Although the mean effect of EMT across all 24 identified studies (N 2,183) was positive and significant (Cohen’s d 0.44), there were several moderators. Moderator analyses showed effect sizes to be larger (a) for posttraining transfer (d 0.56) than for within-training performance and (b) for performance tasks that were structurally distinct (adaptive transfer; d 0.80) than for tasks that were similar to training (analogical transfer). In addition, both active exploration and error encouragement were identified as effective elements in EMT. Results suggest that EMT may be better suited than error-avoidant training methods for promotion of transfer to novel tasks
Originality/value– The meta‐analysis results herein contribute to the KS literature by identifying the determinants of KS, and an important potential limitation of much existing KS research.
Witherspoon, C. L., Bergner, J., Cockrell, C., & Stone, D. N. (2013). Antecedents of organizational knowledge sharing- a meta-analysis and critique. Journal of Knowledge Management, 17(2), 250-277.
Abstract: Purpose– Knowledge is the most important component of sustainable organizational growth and economic performance. This meta‐analysis aims to summarize the determinants of individuals' knowledge sharing (KS) intentions and behaviors in organizations.
Design/methodology/approach– The authors organize the knowledge sharing antecedents investigated in 46 studies (n≈10,487, median n=172) into three categories, i.e. knowledge sharer intention and attitude (four variables); rewards for KS (three variables); and organizational culture (nine variables).
Findings– Variables in all three antecedent categories positively contribute to KS intentions and behaviors; high between‐study variability exists, and the fail‐safe n statistic suggests the observed effects are robust against a “file drawer” (missing study) bias. Moderator results suggest that motivating KS is easier in collectivist, as opposed to individualist, cultures.
Research limitations/implications– In most of the studies included in this meta‐analysis, participants volunteered to share knowledge with researchers. Hence, an important threat to validity in the existing research is a potential “cooperation bias” in which participants likely overestimate their willingness to share knowledge. Future KS research should investigate the dark underbelly of knowledge activities in organizations, including investigations of knowledge hoarding, withholding of knowledge to gain personal advantage, and “contributing” worthless information to gain (through gaming) personal payoffs.
Originality/value– The meta‐analysis results herein contribute to the KS literature by identifying the determinants of KS, and an important potential limitation of much existing KS research.
Blume, B. D., Ford, Baldwin, & Huang. (2010). Transfer of training: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Management, 36(4), 1065-1105.
Abstract: Although transfer of learning was among the very first issues addressed by early psychologists, the extant literature remains characterized by inconsistent measurement of transfer and significant variability in findings. This article presents a meta-analysis of 89 empirical studies that explore the impact of predictive factors (e.g., trainee characteristics, work environment, training interventions) on the transfer of training to different tasks and contexts. We also examine moderator effects of the relationships between these predictors and transfer. Results confirmed positive relationships between transfer and predictors such as cognitive ability, conscientiousness, motivation, and a supportive work environment. Several moderators had significant effects on transfer relationships, including the nature of the training objectives. Specifically, most predictor variables examined (e.g., motivation, work environment) had stronger relationships to transfer when the focus of training was on open (e.g., leadership development) as opposed to closed (e.g., computer software) skills. Other moderators related to the measurement of transfer also influenced transfer relationships, including situations in which transfer outcomes were obtained by the same source in the same measurement context— which consistently inflated transfer relationships. Findings are discussed in terms of their relevance for future research and training practice.
Arthur Jr, W., Bennett Jr, W., Edens, P. S., & Bell, S. T. (2003). Effectiveness of training in organizations- a meta-analysis of design and evaluation features. Journal of Applied psychology, 88(2), 234.
Abstract: The authors used meta-analytic procedures to examine the relationship between specified training design and evaluation features and the effectiveness of training in organizations. Results of the meta-analysis revealed training effectiveness sample-weighted mean ds of 0.60 (k = 15, N = 936) for reaction criteria, 0.63 (k = 234, N = 15,014) for learning criteria, 0.62 (k = 122, N = 15,627) for behavioral criteria, and 0.62 (k = 26, N = 1,748) for results criteria. These results suggest a medium to large effect size for organizational training. In addition, the training method used, the skill or task characteristic trained, and the choice of evaluation criteria were related to the effectiveness of training programs. Limitations of the study along with suggestions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Arthur Jr, W., Bennett Jr, W., Edens, P. S., & Bell, S. T. (2003). Effectiveness of training in organizations- a meta-analysis of design and evaluation features. Journal of Applied psychology, 88(2), 234.
Abstract: The authors used meta-analytic procedures to examine the relationship between specified training design and evaluation features and the effectiveness of training in organizations. Results of the meta-analysis revealed training effectiveness sample-weighted mean ds of 0.60 (k = 15, N = 936) for reaction criteria, 0.63 (k = 234, N = 15,014) for learning criteria, 0.62 (k = 122, N = 15,627) for behavioral criteria, and 0.62 (k = 26, N = 1,748) for results criteria. These results suggest a medium to large effect size for organizational training. In addition, the training method used, the skill or task characteristic trained, and the choice of evaluation criteria were related to the effectiveness of training programs. Limitations of the study along with suggestions for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative science quarterly, 44(2), 350-383.
Abstract: This paper presents a model of team learning and tests it in a multimethod field study. It introduces the construct of team psychological safety--a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking-and models the effects of team psychological safety and team efficacy together on learning and performance in organizational work teams. Results of a study of 51 work teams in a manufacturing company, measuring antecedent, process, and outcome variables, show that team psychological safety is associated with learning behavior, but team efficacy is not, when controlling for team psychological safety. As predicted, learning behavior mediates between team psychological safety and team performance. The results support an integrative perspective in which both team structures, such as context support and team leader coaching, and shared beliefs shape team outcomes.
Edmondson, A. C. (2003). Speaking up in the operating room- How team leaders promote learning in interdisciplinary action teams. Journal of management studies, 40(6), 1419-1452.
Abstract: This paper examines learning in interdisciplinary action teams. Research on team effectiveness has focused primarily on single-discipline teams engaged in routine production tasks and, less often, on interdisciplinary teams engaged in discussion and management rather than action. The resulting models do not explain differences in learning in interdisciplinary action teams. Members of these teams must coordinate action in uncertain, fast-paced situations, and the extent to which they are comfortable speaking up with observations, questions, and concerns may critically influence team outcomes. To explore what leaders of action teams do to promote speaking up and other proactive coordination behaviours – as well as how organizational context may affect these team processes and outcomes – I analysed qualitative and quantitative data from 16 operating room teams learning to use a new technology for cardiac surgery. Team leader coaching, ease of speaking up, and boundary spanning were associated with successful technology implementation. The most effective leaders helped teams learn by communicating a motivating rationale for change and by minimizing concerns about power and status differences to promote speaking up in the service of learning.
Cohen, S. (2004). Social relationships and health. American psychologist, 59(8), 676.
Abstract: The author discusses 3 variables that assess different aspects of social relationships—social support, social integration, and negative interaction. The author argues that all 3 are associated with health outcomes, that these variables each influence health through different mechanisms, and that associations between these variables and health are not spurious findings attributable to our personalities. This argument suggests a broader view of how to intervene in social networks to improve health. This includes facilitating both social integration and social support by creating and nurturing both close (strong) and peripheral (weak) ties within natural social networks and reducing opportunities for negative social interaction. Finally, the author emphasizes the necessity to understand more about who benefits most and least from social-connectedness interventions.
West, M. A. (2012). Effective teamwork: Practical lessons from organizational research (3rd ed.). West Sussex: Wiley.
Abstract: Not Available
Orlikowski, W. J. (2002). Knowing in practice- Enacting a collective capability in distributed organizing. Organization science, 13(3), 249-273.
Abstract: In this paper, I outline a perspective on knowing in practice which highlights the essential role of human action in knowing how to get things done in complex organizational work. The perspective suggests that knowing is not a static embedded capability or stable disposition of actors, but rather an ongoing social accomplishment, constituted and reconstituted as actors engage the world in practice. In interpreting the findings of an empirical study conducted in a geographically dispersed hightech organization, I suggest that the competence to do global product development is both collective and distributed, grounded in the everyday practices of organizational members. I conclude by discussing some of the research implications of a perspective on organizational knowing in practice.
Drach-Zahavy, A. (2004). Exploring team support: The role of team’s design, values and leader’s support. Group Dynamics: Theory Research and Practice, 8(4), 235–252.
Abstract: This study addressed the issue of team support and explored the role of structural factors, namely, job enrichment designs; the role of cultural factors, namely, individualism-collectivism and power distance; and the role of the leader's support, which served as support carrier in teams. With 56 nursing teams, the results demonstrated that whereas leader's support, collectivism, and low power distance facilitated team support, job enrichment designs placed constraints on the accessibility of support to team members. Additionally, leader's support and low power distance moderated the negative impact of job enrichment on team support. These findings suggest that support is not primarily a burst of altruism displayed by individuals, and they draw attention to the teams' contexts that most likely serve to encourage team members to engage in support. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Grossman, R. (2014). How do teams become cohesive? A meta-analysis of cohesion’s antecedents (Doctoral dissertation, University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida).
Abstract: While a wealth of research has deemed cohesion critical for team effectiveness (e.g., Mullen and Copper, 1994; Beal, et al., 2003), less emphasis has been placed on understanding how to get it. Multiple studies do examine cohesion antecedents, but these studies have not yet been integrated in either theoretical or empirical manners. The purpose of this study was thus to begin addressing this gap in the literature. I conducted a series of meta-analyses to identify and explore various antecedents of cohesion, as well as moderators of antecedent-cohesion relationships. Findings revealed a variety of cohesion antecedents. Specifically, team behaviors, emergent states, team composition variables, leadership variables, team interventions, and situational variables, as well as specific variables within each of these categories, were all explored as cohesion antecedents. In most cases, significant relationships with cohesion were demonstrated, and did not differ across levels of analysis or based on cohesion type (i.e., task cohesion, social cohesion, group pride). Hypotheses pertaining to moderators of antecedent-cohesion relationships (e.g., theoretical match between antecedent and cohesion) generally were not supported. Thus, while most antecedents appeared to be important for cohesion's formation and sustainment, some interesting differences emerged, providing insight as to where attention should be focused when enhanced cohesion is desired. Results provide a foundation for the development of more comprehensive models of team cohesion, as well as insight into the mechanisms through which cohesion can be facilitated in practice. Ultimately, findings suggest that teams can become cohesive through the presence of various processes and emergent states, team interventions, and components of their situational context.
Rhoades, L., & Eisenberger, R. (2002). Perceived Organizational Support: A Review of the Literature. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(4), 698-714.
Abstract: The authors reviewed more than 70 studies concerning employees' general belief that their work organization values their contribution and cares about their well-being (perceived organizational support; POS). A meta-analysis indicated that 3 major categories of beneficial treatment received by employees (i.e., fairness, supervisor support, and organizational rewards and favorable job conditions) were associated with POS. POS, in turn, was related to outcomes favorable to employees (e.g., job satisfaction, positive mood) and the organization (e.g., affective commitment, performance, and lessened withdrawal behavior). These relationships depended on processes assumed by organizational support theory: employees' belief that the organization's actions were discretionary, feeling of obligation to aid the organization, fulfillment of socioemotional needs, and performance-reward expectancies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Fleishman, E. A., & Harris, E. F. (1962). Patterns of leadership behavior related to employee
grievances and turnover. Personnel Psychology, 15, 43-56.
Abstract: THIS study investigates some relationships between the leader behavior of industrial supervisors and the behavior of their group members. It represents an extension of earlier studies carried out at the International Harvester Company, while the authors were with the Ohio State University Leadership Studies.
Yammarino, F. J., Spangler, W. D., & Bass, B. M. (1993). Transformational leadership and performance: A longitudinal investigation. The Leadership Quarterly, 4(1), 81-102.
Abstract: A model of transformational leadership and performance was developed and tested with a representative sample of 186 United States Navy Officers who were graduates of the United States Naval Academy (USNA) and assigned to the surface warfare fleet. Longitudinal and multisource data concerning these officers were collected from USNA records, 793 senior subordinates of the officers, and the officers' superiors since time of commission. LISREL procedures were used to test the basic model, and results provided support for the proposed conceptualization. Military performance as midshipmen at the USNA predicted officers' subsequent transformational and laissez-faire leadership and officers' appraised performance while on fleet assignment. Officers' transformational leadership while on fleet duty predicted officers' appraised performance. Also, officers' transformational and laissez-faire leadership while on assignment in the fleet predicted attributed effects of the officers' leadership behavior. Implications of the results for leadership theory and practice are discussed.
Butler Jr, J. K., Cantrell, R. S., & Flick, R. J. (1999). Transformation leadership behaviors, upward
trust, and satisfaction in self-managed work teams. Organization Development, 17(1), 13-
25.
Abstract: Examined relationships among transformational leadership behaviors, upward trust, and job satisfaction. Data were collected from 79 members of self-directed work teams at a large manufacturing firm in the southeastern US. Team members' trust in the leader mediated the relationships between 4 of 6 leadership behaviors and team members' satisfaction with their work. All 6 leadership behaviors moderated the relationship between team members' trust in their leader and satisfaction with their work. However, data support neither the mediated nor the moderated model for members' satisfaction with their supervisor. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
Noe, R. A., Clarke, A. D., & Klein, H. J. (2014). Learning in the twenty-first-century workplace. Annu. Rev. Organ. Psychol. Organ. Behav., 1(1), 245-275.
Abstract: Human capital resources are key for organizations to gain a competitive advantage. Learning based on formal training and development programs, informal learning, and knowledge sharing influences the development of human capital resources. This article provides a selective review of research on learning that occurs in many different forms and at the individual, team, and organizational levels. It is organized around five themes—thinking differently about learning, reconsidering the form and design of learning, facilitating learning in the workplace, expanding the scope of learning outcomes, and improving methodology in learning research. These themes provide a framework for understanding how learning can contribute to the development of human capital resources and organizations’ competitive advantage. For each theme, relevant research is reviewed, and limitations and future research directions are provided.
Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T.A. (2009). Organizational Behavior (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Abstract: Not Available
Taylor, P. J., Russ-Eft, D. F., & Chan, D. W. (2005). A meta-analytic review of behavior modeling training. The Journal of applied psychology, 90(4), 692-709.
Abstract: A meta-analysis of 117 studies evaluated the effects of behavior modeling training (BMT) on 6 training outcomes, across characteristics of training design. BMT effects were largest for learning outcomes, smaller for job behavior, and smaller still for results outcomes. Although BMT effects on declarative knowledge decayed over time, training effects on skills and job behavior remained stable or even increased. Skill development was greatest when learning points were used and presented as rule codes and when training time was longest. Transfer was greatest when mixed (negative and positive) models were presented, when practice included trainee-generated scenarios, when trainees were instructed to set goals, when trainees' superiors were also trained, and when rewards and sanctions were instituted in trainees' work environments.
Bass, B. M., & Stogdill, R. M. (1990). Bass & Stogdill's handbook of leadership: Theory, research, and managerial applications. Simon and Schuster.
Abstract: Not Available
Blatt, R. (2008). Organizational citizenship behavior of temporary knowledge employees. Organization Studies, 29(6), 849-866.
Abstract: This study examines accounts of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) by temporary knowledge employees. Most studies of OCB are based on the perspective of permanent employees and may not account for the unique perspective of temporary knowledge employees. This study finds that the most prominent themes in temporary knowledge employees' explanations for why they engaged in OCB are their perceived norms of professional behavior for their occupation and an experience of positive regard with and among their co-workers. This is in contrast with the themes of social exchange, organizational identification, and impression management that are currently invoked in explaining OCBs among permanent employees.
Salas, DiazGranados, C., Burke, Stagl, Goodwin, & Halpin. (2008). Does team training improve team performance? A meta-analysis. Human Factors- The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 50(6), 903-933.
Abstract: Objective: This research effort leveraged the science of training to guide a taxonomic integration and a series of meta-analyses to gauge the effectiveness and boundary conditions of team training interventions for enhancing team outcomes. Background: Disparate effect sizes across primary studies have made it difficult to determine the true strength of the relationships between team training techniques and team outcomes. Method: Several meta-analytic integrations were conducted to examine the relationships between team training interventions and team functioning. Specifically, we assessed the relative effectiveness of these interventions on team cognitive, affective, process, and performance outcomes. Training content, team membership stability, and team size were investigated as potential moderators of the relationship between team training and outcomes. In total, the database consisted of 93 effect sizes representing 2,650 teams. Results: The results suggested that moderate, positive relationships exist between team training interventions and each of the outcome types. The findings of moderator analyses indicated that training content, team membership stability, and team size moderate the effectiveness of these interventions. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that team training interventions are a viable approach organizations can take in order to enhance team outcomes. They are useful for improving cognitive outcomes, affective outcomes, teamwork processes, and performance outcomes. Moreover, results suggest that training content, team membership stability, and team size moderate the effectiveness of team training interventions. Application: Applications of the results from this research are numerous. Those who design and administer training can benefit from these findings in order to improve the effectiveness of their team training interventions.
Blume, B. D., Ford, Baldwin, & Huang. (2010). Transfer of training: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Management, 36(4), 1065-1105.
Abstract: Although transfer of learning was among the very first issues addressed by early psychologists, the extant literature remains characterized by inconsistent measurement of transfer and significant variability in findings. This article presents a meta-analysis of 89 empirical studies that explore the impact of predictive factors (e.g., trainee characteristics, work environment, training interventions) on the transfer of training to different tasks and contexts. We also examine moderator effects of the relationships between these predictors and transfer. Results confirmed positive relationships between transfer and predictors such as cognitive ability, conscientiousness, motivation, and a supportive work environment. Several moderators had significant effects on transfer relationships, including the nature of the training objectives. Specifically, most predictor variables examined (e.g., motivation, work environment) had stronger relationships to transfer when the focus of training was on open (e.g., leadership development) as opposed to closed (e.g., computer software) skills. Other moderators related to the measurement of transfer also influenced transfer relationships, including situations in which transfer outcomes were obtained by the same source in the same measurement context— which consistently inflated transfer relationships. Findings are discussed in terms of their relevance for future research and training practice.
Keith, N., & Frese, M. (2008). Effectiveness of error management training: a meta-analysis. The Journal of applied psychology, 93(1), 59-69.
Abstract: Error management training (EMT) is a training method that involves active exploration as well as explicit encouragement for learners to make errors during training and to learn from them. Past evaluation studies, which compared skill-based training outcomes of EMT with those of proceduralized erroravoidant training or of exploratory training without error encouragement, have yielded considerable variation in effect sizes. The present meta-analysis compiles the results of the existing studies and seeks to explain this variation. Although the mean effect of EMT across all 24 identified studies (N 2,183) was positive and significant (Cohen’s d 0.44), there were several moderators. Moderator analyses showed effect sizes to be larger (a) for posttraining transfer (d 0.56) than for within-training performance and (b) for performance tasks that were structurally distinct (adaptive transfer; d 0.80) than for tasks that were similar to training (analogical transfer). In addition, both active exploration and error encouragement were identified as effective elements in EMT. Results suggest that EMT may be better suited than error-avoidant training methods for promotion of transfer to novel tasks
Originality/value– The meta‐analysis results herein contribute to the KS literature by identifying the determinants of KS, and an important potential limitation of much existing KS research.
Gegenfurtner, A., Veermans, K., & Vauras, M. (2013). Effects of computer support, collaboration, and time lag on performance self-efficacy and transfer of training- A longitudinal meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 8, 75-89.
Abstract: This meta-analysis (29 studies, k = 33, N = 4158) examined the longitudinal development of the relationship between performance self-efficacy and transfer before and after training. A specific focus was on training programs that afforded varying degrees of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). Consistent with social cognitive theory, results suggested positive population correlation estimates between self-efficacy and transfer before (ρ = 0.31) and after (ρ = 0.39) training, and thus a small but positive increase. Three boundary conditions were estimated. First, effect sizes were higher in trainings with rather than without computer support. Second, effect sizes were higher in trainings without rather than with collaboration. Third, time lag had marginal effects. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for theories of complex social and computer-mediated learning environments and their practical significance for scaffolding technology-enhanced learning and interaction.
Highlights
► Meta-analyzes the relationship between self-efficacy and transfer of training. ► The relationship increases from ρ = 0.31 before training to ρ = 0.39 after training. ► Estimates were more positive in trainings with computer support rather than without. ► Estimates were more positive in trainings without collaboration rather than with. ► Effects of time lag were non-significant.
Gegenfurtner, A., Veermans, K., & Vauras, M. (2013). Effects of computer support, collaboration, and time lag on performance self-efficacy and transfer of training- A longitudinal meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 8, 75-89.
Abstract: This meta-analysis (29 studies, k = 33, N = 4158) examined the longitudinal development of the relationship between performance self-efficacy and transfer before and after training. A specific focus was on training programs that afforded varying degrees of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). Consistent with social cognitive theory, results suggested positive population correlation estimates between self-efficacy and transfer before (ρ = 0.31) and after (ρ = 0.39) training, and thus a small but positive increase. Three boundary conditions were estimated. First, effect sizes were higher in trainings with rather than without computer support. Second, effect sizes were higher in trainings without rather than with collaboration. Third, time lag had marginal effects. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for theories of complex social and computer-mediated learning environments and their practical significance for scaffolding technology-enhanced learning and interaction.
Highlights
► Meta-analyzes the relationship between self-efficacy and transfer of training. ► The relationship increases from ρ = 0.31 before training to ρ = 0.39 after training. ► Estimates were more positive in trainings with computer support rather than without. ► Estimates were more positive in trainings without collaboration rather than with. ► Effects of time lag were non-significant.
Sitzmann, T. (2011). A meta‐analytic examination of the instructional effectiveness of computer‐based simulation games. Personnel psychology, 64(2), 489-528.
Abstract: Interactive cognitive complexity theory suggests that simulation games are more effective than other instructional methods because they simultaneously engage trainees’ affective and cognitive processes (Tennyson & Jorczak, 2008). Meta-analytic techniques were used to examine the instructional effectiveness of computer-based simulation games relative to a comparison group (k= 65, N= 6,476). Consistent with theory, posttraining self-efficacy was 20% higher, declarative knowledge was 11% higher, procedural knowledge was 14% higher, and retention was 9% higher for trainees taught with simulation games, relative to a comparison group. However, the results provide strong evidence of publication bias in simulation games research. Characteristics of simulation games and the instructional context also moderated the effectiveness of simulation games. Trainees learned more, relative to a comparison group, when simulation games conveyed course material actively rather than passively, trainees could access the simulation game as many times as desired, and the simulation game was a supplement to other instructional methods rather than stand-alone instruction. However, trainees learned less from simulation games than comparison instructional methods when the instruction the comparison group received as a substitute for the simulation game actively engaged them in the learning experience.