Newcomer adjustment, the process an individual goes through within the first year at a new organization, can be a challenging transition for traditionally aged recent college graduates. Unsuccessful adjustment can have profound negative consequences for young adults, organizations, and undergraduate institutions. Gaps exist in the human resource…

An attachment theory perspective of mentoring is presented to explain the degree of functionality of a mentor-protege formal match in an organizational setting. By focusing on Bowlby's (1969/1982) behavioral system of attachment and its triarchic taxonomy of secure, avoidant, and anxious-ambivalent attachment, previous conceptualizations are…

Individual readiness for organizational change reflects the concept of "unfreezing" proposed by Lewin (1947/1997b) and is critical to successful change implementation. Understanding the conditions conducive to individual readiness for organizational change, instead of the more traditional focus on resistance to change, can be useful for designing…

As the use of workplace knowledge economies increases and emerging motivational-state variables such as employee engagement become more widely used, current frameworks of leadership are undergoing changes in perspective and practice. Moreover, while shifts in workplace dynamics have occurred in practice for some time, scholars are now calling for…

Within work settings, humor is used by workers for a wide variety of purposes. This study examines humor applications of a specific type of worker in a unique work context: crime scene investigation. Crime scene investigators examine death and its details. Members of crime scene units observe death much more frequently than other police officers…

There is common agreement about the importance of workplace learning. Discussions about the topic have mostly focused on two major components: formal training and informal learning. These components have become the defining features of workplace learning. This article proposes a conceptual framework of workplace learning that is comprised of the…

One aspect of personality, perceptions of internal versus external control of reinforcement, shifts under conditions of change. This review of the literature examines the relationship between planned organizational change and locus of control. The review includes literature from the disciplines of clinical and social psychology, adult development,…

In an effort to increase efficiency and democracy, the modernization of the public sector has involved an increase in market and user control, an increased application of technology, a decentralization of responsibilities and competencies, and more management and personnel development initiatives. The concept of "modernization" signals a…

This article investigates the previous research and theories of workplace commitment using content analysis and concept mapping. It provides a conceptual model of workplace commitment, integrating the literature on organizational commitment, occupational/career commitment, and individual commitment. The significance of this article lies in the…

Given the proliferation of training transfer studies in various disciplines, we provide an integrative and analytical review of factors impacting transfer of training. Relevant empirical research for transfer across the management, human resource development (HRD), training, adult learning, performance improvement, and psychology literatures is…

In this article the authors introduce social network analysis (SNA) as a methodology for analyzing transfer climate prior to training. The literature has indicated that transfer climate is critical to a trainee's ability to apply the new knowledge, skills, behaviors, and attitudes they gain through training back to the workplace. SNA serves as a…

There is conflicting empirical evidence regarding the learning potential of the workplace. Some studies conclude that workplaces should be seen as strong learning environments, whereas others show evidence of the ineffectiveness of the workplace as a learning environment. In this article, we argue that this disagreement might be caused by…

The ability of employees to interact cooperatively and collaboratively is the fulcrum of competitive advantage for organizations operating in pluralistic environments. Contact theory suggests several conditions under which effective interpersonal relationships across racial, ethnic, and cultural groups may occur. Research examining the contact…

The broad aims of this study are to gain insight into employees' on-the-job learning activities to help them improve their on-the-job learning. The authors define on-the-job learning styles and operationalize the concept to include both mental and overt learning styles and both interpersonal and intrapersonal learning styles. Organizations and…

In reference to Peter Kuchinke's manuscript, the author points out that current MBA programs suffer from a myriad of ills that are somehow detrimental to organizations and that there is a similar problem with human resource development (HRD) programs (hence the reference in the title to "birds of a feather"). In this article, he shares his…