Richard A. Posthuma

• JD PhD
• Professor at The University of Texas at El Paso

Purpose Drawing on the challenge–hindrance stressor framework and the “too-much-of-a-good-thing” principle, this study examined the curvilinear effects of two emic social challenge stressors (guanxi beliefs and participative decision-making (PDM)) and the moderating effect of an etic social hindrance stressor (perceived organizational politics) on...

This study comprehensively analyzed and summarized business-related research on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Research on the FCPA is essential because sanctions for violations have grown substantially, increasing risks for multinational enterprises (MNEs). Recent fines exceeded $1 billion, and business executives were personally fined...

Purpose - This study systematically reviews the literature on psychological ownership theory since its inception 30 years ago. Psychological ownership describes why and how individuals inform their identities by taking ownership. The authors provide guidance and support to management scholars to access the field and make meaningful contributions to...

We examined the effectiveness of pay for individual performance (PFIP) in companies operating in multiple cultures. With the use of data from 308 multinational enterprises (MNEs) collected by IBM's WorkTrends™ project, we tested hypotheses regarding the moderating influence of the nine dimensions of the GLOBE country culture model on the relationsh...

We examined the effectiveness of Pay for Individual Performance (PFIP) in companies operating in multiple cultures. Using data from 308 multinational enterprises (MNEs) collected by IBM’s WorkTrends™ project, we tested hypotheses regarding the moderating influence of the nine dimensions of the GLOBE country culture model on the relationship between...

Purpose - Psychological ownership (PO) theory and extended self theory explain why someone feels like the owner of his/her job or organization. Yet, there is limited prior research examining whether PO differs as an individual versus collective phenomenon, and in different cultural contexts. The authors extend this literature by examining the dimen...

We propose a cross-level perspective on the relationship between individual-level perceived camaraderie and organizational-level camaraderie climate which interact to predict employee perceptions of innovativeness. Additionally, organizational gender diversity weakens the cross-level interaction. We tested our hypotheses by conducting a multi-level...

Enforcement of laws that prevent corrupt international business dealings has intensified recently. Firms have paid record-setting fines of hundreds of millions of dollars, and individuals have been tried and convicted. This escalating situation demands effective action from business leaders. Compliance has become increasingly complicated as more co...

The purpose of this article is to examine social cognitive theory and social comparison theory, and how they are integrated to propose that self-efficacy mediates the relationship between leader-member exchange social comparison (LMXSC) and performance. Furthermore, the article supports the need for development and examination of the effects of edu...

Psychological ownership theory and extended self theory explain why someone feels like the owner of his/her job or organization. Yet, there is limited prior research examining whether psychological ownership differs as an individual versus collective phenomenon, and in different national cultures. We extend this literature by examining the dimensio...

The actual legal owners of a company are highly interested in making sure the company is successful. That’s because their legal ownership entitles them to reap the benefits from company profits, sales growth, etc. Sometimes employees can feel like owners, even though they are not legal owners, if the conditions are right. When this happens, employe...

We propose a cross-level perspective of the relationship between individual-level perceived camaraderie and an innovative environment where organizational-level camaraderie climate further enhances the innovative environment. Additionally, gender diversity weakens the cross-level interaction. We tested our hypotheses by conducting a multi-level stu...

This research contributes to the interviewing literature via an empirical study that includes all four major structured interview question types: past behavioral, situational, background, and job knowledge. The latter two question types are often used in practice but have received little scholarly attention, and no research has looked at all four i...

Whereas informal job search (i.e., using personal contacts for job search) is positively associated with the receipt of job offers, research has yet to consider the extent to which informal job search translates into current employees’ turnover decisions or to investigate factors that may restrain (or facilitate) the translation of informal job sea...

Purpose This paper aims to examine whether the number of employment discrimination laws in a country influences voice and accountability. Design/methodology/approach The authors compared the number of employment discrimination laws in different countries to perceptions of voice and accountability. Findings Results indicate that the number of disc...

This study presents a taxonomic foundation for research on employee performance management practices based on a comprehensive review of the literature (198 articles and book chapters). The taxonomy consists of 50 practices organized within seven topic categories, including an evaluation of the amount of research evidence supporting each practice. T...

Drawing from neo-institutional theory, we examine the relationship between preference for entrepreneurship and actual entrepreneurship behavior across multiple countries and cultures. We elucidate how multiple societal-level cultural models, namely Hofstede, Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE), and Schwartz affect th...

Although much has been written about the causes of expatriate adjustment, more research is needed on managing the fear and anxiety experienced when expatriates work in hostile environments. The perceived risks of terrorism, kidnapping, crime, and civil unrest can have negative effects on the performance of expatriates and the organizations that emp...

Purpose To address the increasingly turbulent environments that businesses face, the purpose of this study is to build on prior research to propose a comprehensive model aimed at enhancing business school education in Latin America. Design/methodology/approach The authors modified and adapted prior meta-analytic research on workplace training prog...

Purpose Using an institutional theory perspective (micro and macro), the authors examined employment lawsuits across case type and alternative dispute resolution methods (negotiated settlements versus trials and arbitrations). Design/methodology/approach The authors examined actual data from US federal court lawsuits ( N = 98,020). The data includ...

The authors extend i-deals theory to an individual-within-a-team context. Drawing upon social comparison theory, they contend that individuals will react to their own i-deals within the context of group members' i-deals. Therefore, they examine the role of relative i-deals (an individual's i-deals relative to the team's average) in relation to empl...

Growing interest in idiosyncratic deals (i-deals), defined as customized agreements of nonstandard terms between employees and their organizations, require an understanding of the boundary conditions and the underlying process of this phenomenon. We developed theory and examined the context and process of relationship between i-deals and job perfor...

Purpose ‐ The purpose of this paper is to summarize research about Hispanic workers in the USA and identifies directions for future research. Design/methodology/approach ‐ The paper identifies, analyze, and summarize 112 peer reviewed publications that deal with Hispanic workers in the USA. Findings ‐ The findings are grouped into major categories...

As business becomes more global, ethical issues are more likely to emerge during international business negotiations (Majluf and Navarrete, 2011; Vernon, 1987). This chapter examines the development of research on international business, negotiation, and ethics, as well as the need for more research on the intersection of these three disciplines an...

This study compares job interviews (n = 11,667) in Mexico with those in the following countries: Belgium, Russia, Taiwan, and the U.S. The findings support our hypotheses, which are based on a meta-cultural framework. The results reveal that in Mexico and Taiwan women are less likely to conduct interviews. In addition, interviewers asked different...

A conceptual model explicates the expected precursors and consequences of using Spanish in the workplace. Using data from employees at a retail store located in the southwest U.S. (N = 190), the use of Spanish in a U.S. workplace was examined. Several factors were tested as predictors or consequences of the use of Spanish in the workplace. For pred...

High Performance Work Systems are designed to enhance organizational performance by improving employee capability, commitment, and productivity. Yet there is very little consensus about the structure of these systems and the practices therein. The lack of structure may be inhibiting the growth of knowledge in this field and the degree to which orga...

The increasing frequency and complexity of transnational business relationships has been commensurate with an increase in contractual disputes. In such situations, home country cultural norms will often influence how MNEs resolve contractual disputes in foreign markets. This begs the question: does fit between an MNE's choice of conflict strategy a...

Leaders of higher education institutions can create top management teams of academic administrators to guide and improve their organizations. This study illustrates how the leadership of top management teams can be accomplished successfully through a combination of goal setting (Doran, 1981; Locke & Latham, 1990), understanding of team roles (Belbi...

Every day, managers face the risk of lawsuits being filed by their workers. Lawsuits are disruptive, time consuming, expensive, and often completely unexpected/unanticipated. To better prepare for this undesirable occurrence, managers must understand the risks involved. Three metrics—frequency, severity, and range—elucidate the risks of employment...

Purpose The five studies included in this special issue focus on emotions and conflict management. These studies highlight how conflict management research can help managers, employees, and organizations more effectively manage the emotional aspects of conflict. This paper aims to summarize these studies. Design/methodology/approach Five studies w...

This chapter analyzes the current state of research on the topic of age stereotypes and age discrimination in the workplace. Recognizing the growing importance of age stereotyping research as the workforces of many countries continue to grow older, this chapter defines and differentiates the important concepts used in this field of research (e.g.,...

In this paper, we employ the event study methodology to examine shareholder wealth consequences of corporate environmental lawsuits filed in the US Circuit Courts from 1980 to 2001. We find that stocks of defendant firms experience significant negative abnormal returns around the lawsuit filing dates. When the plaintiffs are government entities, th...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to use a risk management perspective to identify the risks of employment discrimination law liability for multinational employers. Design/methodology/approach Data from 101 US Federal Court cases that involved multinational employers operating both inside and outside of the USA were content coded and then used...

Purpose This introduction aims to summarize five studies in this special issue on conflict management in the Middle East. These studies highlight how conflict management research relates to important issues in this critical region of the world. Design/methodology/approach The five studies were combined into this single issue so that readers can co...

Purpose This introduction aims to summarize five studies included in this themed issue that focus on conflict management and performance outcomes. These studies highlight how conflict management research can help organizations perform more effectively. Design/methodology/approach The five selected studies were combined into this single issue so th...

Purpose – This themed issue seeks to gather together several papers on the topic of managing ethnic conflicts. This introduction summarizes these papers. Design/methodology/approach – This introduction gives an overview of the purpose of the themed issue and then summarizes each of the articles. It also provides recommendations for future research...

This field study linked multiple dimensions of procedural justice to working nurses' (N=198) agreement to permit their names to appear in recruiting advertisements for their employer. Using a longitudinal design, surveys were completed at two different times. After controlling for differences in gender, tenure, job involvement, and distributive jus...

We examined (1) how interviewers construct fit perceptions about applicants and (2) the relationship between these perceptions and actual hiring recommendations. It was hypothesized that actual demographic similarity and human capital similarity would indirectly affect fit perceptions. These fit perceptions would be predicted by the interviewer's p...

Purpose To examine the impact of benefit information in recruitment advertisements on job pursuit intentions. Design/Methodology/Approach We collected data from maquiladora workers in Mexico (N = 186). Findings We found that ads offering detailed descriptions of benefits increased applicants’ job pursuit intentions more than ads that simply offered...

We expand relational models theory by integrating it with social dominance theory to examine how national culture influences preferences for males and nationals in employment-related decisions. Data from the World Values Survey (N = 2331), culture scores from the GLOBE project (N = 62 countries), and Hofstede (N = 49 countries) indicate that collec...

Comparing Hofstede and GLOBE deepens our understanding of the influence of different measures and dimensions of national culture on union membership. Data from the World Values Survey were matched to GLOBE and Hofstede country culture scores (n = 43,867 employees, 32 countries). Union membership was positively related to GLOBE'S Institutional Colle...

The authors identify, analyze, and summarize prior research from 117 research articles and books that deal with age stereotypes in the workplace. They discover and report the most prevalent and well-supported findings that have implications for human resource management. These findings are described in terms of prevalent age stereotypes that occur...

We identify, analyze, and summarize prior research from 117 research articles and books that deal with age stereotypes in the workplace. We discover and report the most prevalent and well supported findings that have implications for human resource management. These findings are described in terms of prevalent age stereotypes that occur in work set...

We examined the dimensionality of pay satisfaction using a Spanish language questionnaire and a sample of 236 maquiladora workers in Mexico. A confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a five-factor solution has the best fit compared to alternative models. Thus, blue-collar Mexican workers were able to distinguish five distinct facets of pay sati...

Richard A. Posthuma, of El Paso, Texas, provides the fundamentals of installing best conflict resolution practices into a workers' comp scheme to yield lower costs and better employee relations

Despite arguments for a significant negative relationship, there have been ambiguous findings on the empirical relationship between procedural justice and turnover behavior. This study attempts to clarify these past findings by examining the effects of multiple dimensions of procedural justice on the voluntary turnover behavior of nurses in a work-...

This article discusses evolving federal and state legal standards pertaining to obesity-related perceived disability claims, identifies specific evidence that has been found to either support or refute such claims, and provides employers practical guidance for limiting the risk of litigation involving the growing number of overweight employees. The...

The question of whether U.S. employment discrimination laws apply to international employers is complex and involves multiple sources of legal authority including U.S. statutes, international treaties, and the laws of non-American host countries. This article provides detailed and simplifying guidance to assist employers in working through that com...

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate how national culture and proximity to national borders can influence the conflict styles that co‐workers use between themselves. Design/methodology/approach In this experiment, samples were drawn from regions near the US Mexican border further north in the USA and further South in Mexico. Total n...

A macrojustice view is used to test the validity of several theoretical perspectives on outcomes for employees and employers in employment lawsuits. Comparing dispute resolution procedures (negotiation, trial, and arbitration), data from 98,020 federal court cases show employers winning more often in high social context cases (Civil Rights and NLRA...

This article compared the relative validity of traditional predictors of turnover intentions using samples from the USA and Mexico. Matched samples of retail grocery store employees (USA: N = 187; Mexico: N = 150) completed questionnaires that reported perceptions of inter-role conflict, positive affect, job satisfaction, perceived ease of movement...

Hypotheses derived from negotiation theories are used to predict settlements of employment lawsuits. Out of the 159,120 U.S. Federal District Court cases studied, most were settled; but settlement rates were lower in ideologically-oriented cases (Civil Rights, NLRA, RLA) than in economically-oriented cases (ERISA, FLSA). When parties were repeat pl...

This study tests a risk assessment model for employer compliance with U.S. employment discrimination laws. Data from N = 101 federal court cases that involved multinational employers operating both outside and inside the U.S. were used to identify risk factors that predict the likelihood that foreign employers operating inside the U.S. -- and U.S....

Using prehire biographic and work history data, temporary help agency workers (N = 201) were classified as marginal or satisfactory. Marginal temps had characteristics suggesting poor work histories and willingness to accept any kind of employment. In prior jobs, they were paid less and more likely to have been laid off. They had also been temps fo...

Is there a need for more influential international conflict management research? This question takes on two dimensions. The first is whether there is a need for more influential conflict management research. The second is whether there is a need for more international conflict management research. Both questions can be answered in the affirmative....

This study examined predictors of initial levels and of changes in self-efficacy (S-E) for cognitive ability employment testing. The testing S-E of 287 job applicants at a utility company was measured before the test, immediately after, and again after pass/fail feedback. Being male, having been hired previously by cognitive ability tests, perceivi...

This study examines the effects of procedural justice perceptions on outcomes in an actual selection context with applicants taking a general mental ability test to gain employment as utility meter readers. Applicant attraction and intention related to the organization were measured at 3 time periods. This allowed us to control for initial levels o...

Employees (N=92) from the USA and Mexico completed questionnaires that measured rule-breaking, drug use, and attitudes toward theft. Integrity-related variable clusters had significant intercorrelations. Rule-breaking correlated with supervisor evaluations of work performance in Spanish and with trustworthiness in English.

This article compares and contrasts a legal concept known as procedural due process with a psychological concept known as procedural justice. The two concepts are defined and distinguished. Then the similarities between the two concepts are demonstrated by showing how they share similar dimensions and underlying rationale. It is suggested that dime...

Sometimes mismatches between tactics used by mediators and causes of the dispute may reduce the likelihood of achieving a settlement. Data from collective-bargaining disputes suggest that when party inflexibility was a source of the dispute, added mediator pressure increased the likelihood of a settlement, but discussing alternatives reduced the li...

The last major narrative review of the employment interview was published over 10 years ago. Since then, 278 studies have examined numerous aspects of the interview. This review summarizes and critically examines this recent research. A framework is developed that partitions research into social, cognitive, individual difference, measurement, and o...

Much of the prior literature on arbitrator acceptability is focused primarily on demographic characteristics of arbitrators and parties. This article draws from several behavioral theories to build a single conceptual model of arbitrator acceptability. Key concepts from the theory of planned behavior, control theory, organizational justice theories...

This paper presents empirical evidence about the dimensions of supervisor evaluations of employee job performance. Factor analytic results supported the conclusion that supervisors were able to distinguish between two dimensions of job performance. While bivariate correlational analysis indicated that these two dimensions of job performance were si...

There is virtually no theory-based research that examines if arbitrator behaviors influence whether they will be chosen for future cases. This longitudinal field study uses organizational justice theory to predict the acceptability of arbitrators in dispute-resolution processes involving labor and management representatives in actual cases. The dat...

This article describes the legal framework for the justification of employee selection procedures. It describes the concept of adverse impact and explains how employers must provide a business necessity for the use of selection procedures with adverse impact under the EEOC Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures. Adopted in 1978, there...

Much of the existing procedural justice literature is based on incomplete or inadequate conceptualizations and operationalizations of the multiple dimensions of procedural justice. Thus, many studies fail to adequately tap into the multiple domains of the several dimensions of procedural justice. This failure may have resulted in studies which repo...