The Past, Present, and Future of OBHDP
Transcription
The Past, Present, and Future of OBHDP
33edwards_392.qxd 9/5/01 1:58 PM Page 130 The Past, Present, and Future of OBHDP Jeffrey R. Edwards University of North Carolina July 2001 marks a time of transition for Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. The journal was founded 35 years ago by Jim Naylor under the title Organizational Behavior and Human Performance with the goal of publishing fundamental research in applied psychology, analogous to research in general psychology appearing in Psychological Bulletin and Psychological Review (Naylor & Briggs, 1966). During the succeeding years, the journal published articles in organizational behavior and psychology as well as articles devoted to judgment and decision-making processes relevant to organizations. The latter trend prompted the change of the journal title to Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes starting with the February 1985 issue (Naylor, 1984). At that time, Dan Ilgen became associate editor and handled manuscripts in organizational behavior and psychology, while Jim Naylor focused on manuscripts concerning judgment, decision making, and quantitative methods. Jim and Dan continued this arrangement until 1998, when Dan assumed the editorship and invited Elke Weber and myself to serve as associate editors. Dan asked me to become editor starting July 1 of this year, an honor and privilege I gratefully accepted. Joining me as associate editors are Terry Connolly, David Harrison, and Scott Highhouse, who are outstanding scholars and have conscientiously served OBHDP over the years as reviewers and board members. My first action as incoming editor was to assess the status of OBHDP. Published journal rankings have consistently listed OBHDP in the upper echelon of journals that serve as outlets for research in organizational behavior and psychology (e.g., Gomez-Mejia & Balkin, 1992; Johnson & Podsakoff, 1994; Zickar & Highhouse, 2001). These rankings are consistent with the results of a survey I conducted of outgoing board members, who characterized OBHDP as one of the top journals in organizational behavior. The survey also positioned OBHDP as one of the top journals in the field of judgment and decision making. Thus, OBHDP has evidently earned an outstanding reputation during its 35-year history, due in large part to the dedication and hard work of its reviewers, board members, and editors, particularly Jim Naylor and Dan Ilgen. The survey of outgoing board members also suggested ways in which the positioning and emphasis of OBHDP could benefit from some fine tuning and adjustment. Several board members expressed the belief that OBHDP had shifted away from organizational behavior and psychology and toward judgment and decision making. This belief is consistent with recent publication patterns for OBHDP in which some issues have contained more articles on judgment and decision making than on organizational behavior and 130 The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 33edwards_392.qxd 9/5/01 1:58 PM Page 131 psychology. Moreover, some OBHDPP articles that deal with decision processes have not directly addressed the relevance of these processes to organizational behavior and psychology, even though these processes are often quite relevant. These trends suggested that it would be worthwhile to reaffirm the mission of OBHDP and communicate this mission to SIOP members, who represent a core constituency of OBHDP. Since its inception, OBHDP has been a forum for fundamental research that delves into basic psychological, cognitive, and decision processes underlying behavior in organizations (Naylor & Briggs, 1966). The blending of organizational behavior and human decision processes represented in the title of OBHDP is quite natural (March & Simon, 1958) and has enormous potential for explaining numerous phenomena that are central to theory and research in organizational behavior and psychology (Connolly & Ordóñez, 2001; Highhouse, 2001; Ilgen, Major, & Tower, 1994; Naylor, 1984). In turn, research into basic psychological processes associated with organizational behavior helps establish the relevance of these processes and contributes to theory testing and development. This interplay is exemplified in OBHDP by special issues under the editorships of Jim Naylor and Dan Ilgen on topics such as cognitive self-regulation approaches to motivation (December 1991), groupthink (February–March 1998), the psychological foundations of knowledge transfer in organizations (May 2000), and forthcoming issues on psychological processes associated with organizational justice and emotions in the workplace. Looking ahead, our goal is to reinforce this interplay by attracting and publishing research that addresses basic psychological, cognitive, and decision processes that pertain to attitudes and behavior in organizations. This goal is manifested in the domain statement for OBHDP that the associate editors and I crafted, which reads as follows: Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes publishes fundamental research in organizational behavior, organizational psychology, and human cognition, judgment, and decision making. The journal features articles that present original empirical research, theory development, literature reviews, and methodological advancements relevant to the substantive domains served by the journal. For each type of article, the journal emphasizes research that makes substantial contributions to understanding psychological processes relevant to human attitudes, cognitions, and behavior in organizations. As implied by its title, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes spans a broad spectrum of topics that address psychological and cognitive aspects of organizational behavior. These topics fall under the broad headings of perception, cognition, judgment, attitudes, emotion, wellbeing, motivation, choice, and performance. These topics are inherently integrative, given that perceptions, attitudes, and emotions are rooted in cogThe Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 131 33edwards_392.qxd 9/5/01 1:58 PM Page 132 nition and judgment, and motivation and performance are inextricably linked to choice. We are interested in articles that investigate these topics as they pertain to individuals as well as dyads, groups, and other social collectives, as exemplified by research on social cognition, negotiation, conflict resolution, interpersonal processes, and group decision making. For each topic, we place a premium on articles that make fundamental theoretical contributions to applied psychology and, at the same time, are anchored in phenomena relevant to organizations. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes welcomes empirical research using different methodological approaches, including laboratory experiments, field experiments, field studies, survey research, and computational modeling. Studies are evaluated not according to the method used, but by the rigor and care with which the method is applied and its ability to yield valid answers to important research questions. Manuscripts that present multiple studies using complementary methods are particularly appealing. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes seeks research that makes significant contributions to the literature. Hallmarks of such research include developing and testing new theories, examining untested core elements of existing theories, resolving conflicting predictions from multiple theories or conflicting findings from multiple studies, and integrating different theories, propositions, or research streams into a unified framework. Significant contributions are less likely from research that merely replicates previous findings, revisits established findings using different samples or measures, or offers an incremental advancement to an existing body of knowledge. We urge authors to pose research questions that are fundamental and relevant to organizations, fully develop their theoretical arguments and hypotheses, apply rigorous empirical methods, and seek conclusions that break new ground and provide major and lasting impact. The mission of OBHDP is reinforced by the incoming editorial board listed at the end of this article. The areas of expertise represented by these scholars demonstrate the blend of organizational behavior, organizational psychology, and human cognition, judgment, and decision making that characterizes the domain of OBHDP. Many of these scholars belong to SIOP, and some are probably your colleagues. If so, please take a moment to congratulate them for the role they will play in the future of OBHDP. Further information regarding OBHDP is available at www.academicpress.com/obhdp. In addition to the domain statement and incoming editorial board, this site contains guidelines for authors and subscription rates, which are now discounted for SIOP members. OBHDP is entering the next phase in its history as a major journal in organizational behavior, organizational psychology, and judgment and decision-making processes relevant to attitudes, cognitions, and behavior in organizations. The associate editors and I have inherited the stewardship of an outstanding journal, and we are committed to further strengthening its quality and reputation during the coming years. An important initial step is 132 The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist 33edwards_392.qxd 9/5/01 1:58 PM Page 133 to reaffirm the domain of the journal and communicate it to relevant stakeholders, such as the members of SIOP. We hope you find this information useful as a reader, reviewer, and author of OBHDP. References Connolly, T., & Ordóñez, L. (2001). Judgment and decision making. In W. C. Borman, D. R. Ilgen, & R. J. Klimoski (Eds.), Comprehensive handbook of psychology, Volume 12: Industrial and organizational psychology. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Gomez-Mejia, L. R., & Balkin, D. B. (1992). Determinants of faculty pay: An agency theory perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 35, 921–955. Highhouse, S. (2001). Judgment and decision-making research: Relevance to industrial and organizational psychology. In N. Anderson, D. S. Ones, H. K. Sinangil, & C. Viswesvaran (Eds.), Handbook of industrial, work, and organizational psychology (pp. 314–331). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Ilgen, D. R., Major, D. A., & Tower, S. L. (1994). The cognitive revolution in organizational behavior. In J. Greenberg (Ed.), Organizational behavior: The state of the science (pp. 1–22). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Johnson, J. L., & Podsakoff, P. M. (1994). Journal influence in the field of management: An analysis using Salancik’s index in a dependency network. Academy of Management Journal, 37, 1392–1407. March, J. G., & Simon, H. A. (1958). Organizations. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Naylor, J. C. (1984). A time of transition. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 341,1–4. Naylor, J. C., & Briggs, G. E. (1966). Statement of editorial policy. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 1, 1–2. Zickar, M. J., & Highhouse, S. (2001). Measuring prestige of journals in industrial-organizational psychology. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 38, 4, 29–36. Incoming OBHDP Editorial Board Maureen Ambrose Hal R. Arkes Susan J. Ashford Jonathan Baron Max H. Bazerman William P. Bottom Jeanne M. Brett Arthur P. Brief Joel Brockner Susan E. Brodt Colin Camerer David Chan Gretchen Chapman Russell Cropanzano Shawn P. Curley Robyn M. Dawes Fritz Drasgow Daniel C. Feldman Baruch Fischhoff Robert Folger Jennifer M. George Gerd Gigerenzer Reid Hastie Chip Heath Rebecca A. Henry Verlin B. Hinsz Daniel R. Ilgen Gary Johns Timothy A. Judge Helmut Jungermann L. Robin Keller Gideon B. Keren Joshua Klayman Richard Klimoski Steve W. J. Kozlowski Richard P. Larrick Patrick R. Laughlin Irwin P. Levin Robert G. Lord Margaret A. Neale The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist Gregory B. Northcraft Greg R. Oldham Lisa D. Ordóñez Kenneth H. Price Ilana Ritov John Schaubroeck David A. Schkade Benjamin Schneider Zur Shapira Barry M. Staw Philip E. Tetlock Leigh Thompson Robert J. Vandenberg Elke U. Weber Douglas H. Wedell Howard M. Weiss Robert E. Wood J. Frank Yates Michael Zickar 133