Multilevel Theory and Research Conference

Dynamics Across Time

Dan Beal, Gilad Chen, Matt Cronin, & Brent Scott

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Discussion Questions

1. What roles does time play in organizational phenomena? Specifically, in what important ways does time affect single-level and/or multi-level phenomena that we often study in organizational research?

2. If we were to take time seriously, what are methodological implications for studying organizational phenomena?

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Gilad Chen: Question#1

• How long do organizational phenomena take place or last?

• Newcomer socialization (e.g., Chen, 2005)?• Expatriate adaptation (Firth et al., 2014)?• Other (conflict, leader emergence, network evolution)?

• When do multilevel effects take place?• Top-down [contextual] effects ?• Bottom-up [upward influence] effects?

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Gilad Chen: Question#2

• Qualitative-quantitative triangulation:• e.g., “how long would you say it has usually (on

average) taken a new member to become a full team member?” (Chen & Klimoski, 2003)

• Chen (2005):

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Gilad Chen: Question#2

• Tangirala, Chen, et al. (under review):

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Low Promotive voice High Promotive voice2

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Early phase

Later phase

Team Learning

When and how long does influence last?

6time

influence

Processes start and stop

States are persistent

States have memory, but how quickly do they forget?

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Conflict

Stress

β

May bleed into other contextsLots of intertia

Often localizedLittle inertia

Using the stock and flow concept

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Stress outflowinflow

Conflict

strain psych. equilibration

R

B

Methodological questions to figure out

When is a state a stock? Continuity of change/conservation of level is key,

“substance” is not

How do we evaluate rate of change experimentally?

Will that rate be constant across levels of the stock?

How do we parameterize the control of a flow valve?

Many factors will influence simultaneously

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Negative affectStrain psychological

re-equilibration (NA)

Knowledge

forgetting

extinction

Learning

Negatively biasedattributions and

inference

+

+

Contentiousness ofactions chosen

+

Exit decision

+-

Assessment part of move Choice part of move

Positive affectpsychological

re-equilibration (PA)Progress

+

DELAY

Unique knowledge-

+

R2

R1

B1

B2

Inter-individual differences in intra-individual variability

Hippocrates and the choleric typeMore recently… Consideration and initiating structure

Aldag and Brief (1977)

PersonalityLarsen (1989); Fleeson (2001)

Interpersonal trust Fleeson and Leicht (2006)

Emotions and emotional laborHouben et al. (in press); Scott et al. (2012)

Organizational justiceScott et al. (working paper)

Future Opportunities

Is variability always “bad?” Personal factors

Preference for routine vs. novelty (Oreg, 2003)Self-monitoring

Situational factorsSocial network characteristics (power, influence)

…and person/situation interactionism (Mischel & Shoda, 1998)

What constructs and theories can benefit from the inclusion of variability?

Methodological Issues

How to capture it Experience-sampling studies, direct

assessments

How to operationalize it (Wang et al., 2012)

SD Amplitude of fluctuations

AutocorrelationTemporal dependence (inertia)