In this dissertation I seek to answer the research question of who are those people that have the ability and motivation to facilitate other people’s creative thinking. Actors who are in the creator’s social environment, such as her coworkers and family members, can potentially enhance the creator’s level of creativity. Although these contacts can be active collaborators of the creator’s thinking processes and can eventually have a significant impact on organizational creativity, so far their role in organizational life has been overlooked by researchers. Consequently, in my dissertation I develop a theory of “creativity catalysts”, and define a creativity catalyst as an employee who helps to improve the usefulness and novelty (i.e. creativity) of the ideas and products produced by another employee (i.e. the creator) through direct interpersonal interaction with the creator. I examine two aspects of serving as a catalyst to another’s creativity: the intensity of a creativity catalyst’s contribution and the span of a creativity catalyst’s contribution. Intensity of contribution is conceptualized as the extent to which the creativity catalyst can improve the output generated by the creators to be more novel and useful. Span on the other hand, is the number of people that perceive an individual as a catalyst for her own creative performance. To answer the research question, I develop and empirically test a theory of creativity catalysts by integrating a social capital theory lens (i.e. structural social capital and relational social capital) with a stable motivational orientation (i.e., learning goal orientation). First, I argue that a catalyst’s relational social capital (i.e., quality of relationships with her coworkers) in the organizational communication network determines her motivation to take the role of a creativity catalyst. Second, I argue that the catalyst’s structural social capital (i.e., the extent to which she can connect with the disconnected others in her network structure) underlines her ability to contribute to others’ creativity. Integrating these two arguments, I hypothesize that the catalyst’s relational social capital (i.e., the motivation to become a creativity catalyst) interacts with her structural social capital (i.e., the ability of a creativity catalyst) in predicting both the intensity and span of the catalyst’s contribution to her coworkers’ creativity. Second, I hypothesized that learning goal orientation, a stable motivational orientation, interacts with the situational motivational characteristic of relational social capital in predicting both the span and intensity of a catalyst’s contribution to her coworkers’ creativity. To test my hypotheses, I first ran a pilot study on a sample of full-time MBA students in order to validate the creativity catalyst measure; and then tested my hypothesized model on employees from two companies, using multiple data sources over multiple phases of data collection. Consequently, I found support for both of these interaction hypotheses on the intensity and span of a creativity catalyst’s contribution to her coworkers’ creativity. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings, and future research directions are discussed.

Recent reports in the field of medicine have recommended the use of teamwork training to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities from human error. Teamwork training in the field of medicine appears promising, but few empirical evaluations of such programs have confirmed their effectiveness. Existing teamwork training studies have tended to use a traditional, lecture approach to training, with positive but modest results upon teamwork attitudes and behaviors. The current study developed and evaluated a more active teamwork training protocol for trauma resuscitation teams. The training protocol supplemented several medical and non-medical role plays with a lecture and guided discussion for feedback. Forty-one residents participated in the training on one of two days (groups) and completed evaluation measures prior to and immediately following the training program. The training was evaluated with measures of trainee reactions, attitudes towards teamwork, and responses to a situational judgment test (SJT). Analyses compared item and scale scores between pre-training scores and post-training scores. T-tests generally found higher means for post-training behavioral responses than pre-training responses. However, mean comparisons with teamwork attitudes and learning goal orientation did not yield significant differences. An item analysis of the SJT responses (using chi-square) indicated significant response shifts in many items that correspond to the teamwork training content. In summary, results indicated that teamwork training on behavioral choices, but little effect on the self-reported attitudes of trainees.

The purpose of this study was to identify whether three achievement motivation variables (LGO, GNS, and AO) were positively related to work-family balance, and to investigate plausible interactions between these variables and work-family stressors on balance perceptions. Relationships of these variables to work-family conflict and facilitation outcomes were also analyzed in order to identify differential relationships. Data were collected from 428 individuals through a web-based survey. Results indicated that all three achievement motivation variables were clearly related favorably to work-family balance and facilitation, while only AO was negatively related to conflict. The relationships between schedule flexibility and all work-family outcomes were moderated by both LGO and GNS. The majority of proposed interactive effects between achievement motivation variables and work-family stressors on balance were not significant. However, several interactions were significant when conflict or facilitation served as the criterion measure. Overall, the results provide support for LGO, GNS, and AO as both direct and indirect contributors to work-family balance.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between mentor characteristics (i.e., motivational tendencies, personality traits), mentoring provided, and protégé outcomes. A motivational approach was taken, in the sense that motives to mentor, as well as personality characteristics of the mentor, were considered in regard to their ability to predict the type of mentoring provided and outcomes for the protégé. Specifically, the potential relationships between personality traits (Intrinsic Motivation, Learning Goal Orientation, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Machiavellianism) and mentor motives, as well as the provision of career and psychosocial mentoring, were examined. In addition, the current study examined the ability of mentor characteristics to predict several protégé outcomes. Ninety-one mentors (i.e., college juniors and seniors) were paired with 91 protégé (i.e., college freshmen) and were asked to meet for a half hour each week for four consecutive weeks. Self-report measures were collected from both mentors and protégés before the mentoring sessions began (T1) and after (T2) they were completed to determine the effect of having a mentor on various outcomes. All mentoring sessions were videotaped so that trained raters could code the type of mentoring behaviors that occurred within a given session. Results were analyzed via correlational analyses, exploratory regression analyses, and hierarchical regression analyses. Individuals who were generally more intrinsically motivated and learning goal oriented reported being more motivated to mentor others for intrinsic satisfaction reasons. Mentors who were more extraverted and agreeable than their peers reported being more motivated to mentor in order to benefit others. In addition, having a mentor who provided career mentoring reduced school-related stress for a protégé. The key findings of the current study provide support for the view that personality and motivational characteristics of the mentor affect the type of mentoring provided, albeit indirectly in some cases. In addition, it is important to consider multiple sources of mentoring data provided (i.e., mentor, protégé,independent rater) rather than just the protégé's point of view because this will provide a more well-rounded picture of the mentoring relationship, as well as identify potential gaps in perception that may exist between mentors and protégés.

The purpose of this study was to identify and examine the role of dispositional characteristics in effective mentoring relationships. A learning and development framework was incorporated to examine the relationships of protégé and mentor characteristics, mentoring provided, and developmental mentoring outcomes. First, relationships between individual characteristics and mentoring provided were examined. Second, relationships between individual characteristics and partner developmental outcomes were examined. Third, mentoring provided was examined as a mediator of individual characteristics and partner developmental outcomes. The final sample consisted of 93 protégé-mentor pairs. Protégés and mentors were asked to complete an online survey measuring learning goal orientation, locus of control, self-efficacy for development, mentoring received/mentoring provided, and multiple assessments of relationship effectiveness. In general, the hypotheses were not supported, but supplemental analyses provided support for the importance of examining individual characteristics. Key findings contribute to the mentoring literature by illustrating the role of learning goal orientation and self-efficacy for development in effective mentoring relationships. Future research should investigate additional underlying mechanisms that further explain the mentorship learning exchange processes.

Submitted by Jinlong Huo (thassiafgv@gmail.com) on 2018-04-03T19:44:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Jinlong Huo- Dissertation.pdf: 664289 bytes, checksum: 9edf2cf8666e879beaf88d10ee2dbb92 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by ÁUREA CORRÊA DA FONSECA CORRÊA DA FONSECA (aurea.fonseca@fgv.br) on 2018-04-10T16:02:53Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Jinlong Huo- Dissertation.pdf: 664289 bytes, checksum: 9edf2cf8666e879beaf88d10ee2dbb92 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marcia Bacha (marcia.bacha@fgv.br) on 2018-04-13T12:46:18Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Jinlong Huo- Dissertation.pdf: 664289 bytes, checksum: 9edf2cf8666e879beaf88d10ee2dbb92 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-13T13:06:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jinlong Huo- Dissertation.pdf: 664289 bytes, checksum: 9edf2cf8666e879beaf88d10ee2dbb92 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-12-05 / Leaning from external sources is a crucial but challenging task for improving team performance. Using the role-based team composition approach, we investigate how traits of team members in different roles—spanners and receivers—influence a team’s ability to benefit from its external advice ties. We argue that the interplay between spanners’ learning goal orientation and receivers’ agreeableness affect the influence of teams’ external advice ties on team performance. In 88 teams working over the course of 14 weeks, we find that team external advice ties influence team performance more positively when spanners’ learning goal orientation and receivers’ agreeableness are high. We discuss both theoretical and managerial implications of our findings.