The Past, Present, and Future of OBHDP

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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
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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
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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
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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
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