Organizational Psychology:
A Scientist-Practitioner Approach
Jex, S. M., & Britt, T. W. (2014)
Prepared by:
Christopher J. L. Cunningham, PhD
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Kelsey-Jo Ritter
Bowling Green State University
Kristen S. Jennings
Clemson University
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Chapter 5: Productive Behavior
in Organizations
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Defining Productive Behavior
• Employee behavior that contributes to the
goals of the organization
• Three common forms:
– Job performance
– Organizational citizenship behaviors
– Innovation
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Job Performance
• Linked to behaviors associated with jobrelated tasks
• Distinguished from other related terms
(effectiveness, utility, productivity,
efficiency)
• Critical to clearly define the criterion
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Models of Job Performance
• Aimed at identifying performance
dimensions common to all jobs
• Several dimensional models:
–In- versus extra-role performance
–Campbell’s eight-dimensional
framework (Table 5.1)
–Murphy’s four-dimensional model
(Table 5.2)
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Measurement of Job Performance
• Various methods exist:
– Paper/pencil, job skills, hands-on,
simulations, task ratings, and
general/global ratings
– Ratings are generally the most popular
• Focus on evaluating performance-related
behaviors
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Measurement of Job Performance
(Cont.)
• Indirect is more common than direct
• Murphy’s list of performance assessment
options
• Good measurement must overcome many
threats:
– Measurement/rater error
– Restricted range in ratings
– Instability of performance over time
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Measurement of Job Performance
(Cont.)
• Efforts to reduce error in ratings
– Behaviorally anchored rating scales
– Rater training
– Multiple methods
• Distinction between:
– Typical or normal performance
– Maximum or peak performance
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Restriction in Performance Ratings
• The problem is in low variability among
employees when using the rating data
• Artifactual restriction versus true restriction
• Possible reasons for this restriction:
– “Survival of the fittest”
– Organizational standards are too low
– High performance is not consistently valued
– Low performance is often excused
– Resources are unevenly distributed or limited75
Instability in Job Performance
over Time
• Challenge of assessing employee
performance when it changes over time
(i.e., when it is not stable)
– Comment 5.4
• Possible reasons for instability:
– Changes in employee’s knowledge
– Changes in the job’s characteristics
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Determinants of Job Performance
• At a general level, a person’s performance
on the job is due to a combination of:
– Ability
– Motivation
– Situation
• Several other models have expanded upon
this general idea
• Figure 5.1 provides a summary
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Campbell’s Model of Job Performance
• Complex interaction of:
– Declarative knowledge
– Procedural knowledge/skill
– Motivation
• Many other individual characteristics are
also likely to play a role
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General Mental Ability
• Person’s capacity for information processing
and understanding
• Shown to account for 25%+ of variance in
performance across most jobs
– Especially when job is complex
• May be associated with job performance via a
person’s job-related knowledge
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General Mental Ability (Cont.)
• Narrow cognitive abilities may be better
predictors than GMA
• Potential adverse impact of GMA tests
• Emotional intelligence as a predictor of
performance
– May be especially important in jobs requiring
emotional labor
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Job Experience
• Shown to relate positively to job
performance over many jobs
• As with GMA, seems to link to
performance via job-related knowledge
• Diminishing returns
• May be important to consider both density
and timing of past job experiences
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Personality
• Recent resurgence of interest here
• Several specific traits have shown consistent
positive relationships with performance:
– Conscientiousness
– Extraversion
– Agreeableness
– Openness to experience
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Personality (Cont.)
• Emerging considerations for predicting
performance:
– Bandwidth: Trait versus facet level
– Potential curvilinear relationships
– Contextualizing personality to the job
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Personality (Cont.)
• Composite traits related to performance
– Core self-evaluations
– Psychological capital
– Proactive personality
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Organizational Citizenship Behaviors
• Behaviors that go beyond those required for
(or rewarded in) the job
• Organ’s classification:
– Altruism
– Courtesy
– Sportsmanship
– Conscientiousness
– Civic virtue
• Main reasons for OCB: Positive affect, equity,
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and disposition/personality
Special Issues in OCB Research
• How is OCB linked with employee and
organization performance and
effectiveness?
• Does OCB  effectiveness or vice versa?
• The construct validity of OCB
• What role do employee expectations play?
• Will OCB remain a viable construct in the
future?
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Innovation in Organizations
• Productive behavior in which useful
novelty is created and applied within an
organization
• Research is considering the influence of
employee and organization factors
(separately and together) on the
development of innovation
– Comment 5.8
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Innovation in Organizations
(Cont.)
• Employee attributes that matter:
Specific skills, meta-skills, personality
characteristics, and motivation necessary
for creativity
• Organizational determinants:
–Technical vs. administrative innovation
–Strategies for increasing organizational
innovation: Hiring, training, influencing
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motivation
Adaptive Performance
• Behaviors employees perform in
challenging and changing work contexts
• Eight types of adaptive performance
• Examples:
– Handling emergencies or crisis situations
– Handling work stress
– Solving problems creatively
– Dealing with uncertain and unpredictable
situations
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