Managing anger responses to perceptions of unfair managerial treatment. Workers' experience of anger at work can be distracting and result in lower performance, which contributes to lower productivity in the Australian economy. This project seeks to understand this phenomenon and offer solutions for minimising the impact of anger at work for both individuals and workgroups.
Managing key professional transitions in the health sector. This project will examine how health professionals make effective transitions into their roles, and balance the tensions between maximising patient outcomes and managing efficiencies and budgets. Quality healthcare is an important issue for all Australians and the project contributes to improving outcomes for healthcare employees and their patients.
To use or not to use financial incentives for motivation and performance. For decades, compensation experts have advocated for the use of financial incentives to motivate work performance, yet organisations keep encountering performance issues caused by these incentives. Using agency, expectancy, and self-determination theory to inform a meta-analysis and a series of experiments, this research will help uncover the most important motivational mechanisms that explain how financial incentives infl ....To use or not to use financial incentives for motivation and performance. For decades, compensation experts have advocated for the use of financial incentives to motivate work performance, yet organisations keep encountering performance issues caused by these incentives. Using agency, expectancy, and self-determination theory to inform a meta-analysis and a series of experiments, this research will help uncover the most important motivational mechanisms that explain how financial incentives influence different types of performance. Given that compensation accounts for an important proportion of an organisation's operating expenses and that employee engagement is on the decline around the world, this research will provide a strong empirical basis to develop more effective compensation systems.Read moreRead less
Motivating work teams: An emergence-based process model . With work teams having to undertake more critical and complex tasks, this project aims to develop and evaluate a new process model of team motivation emergence through field studies using varied samples of workers, simulation studies, and computational modelling. The project expects to generate solutions to Australia's declining work engagement by answering calls for research on how to develop team motivation. Expected outcomes include n ....Motivating work teams: An emergence-based process model . With work teams having to undertake more critical and complex tasks, this project aims to develop and evaluate a new process model of team motivation emergence through field studies using varied samples of workers, simulation studies, and computational modelling. The project expects to generate solutions to Australia's declining work engagement by answering calls for research on how to develop team motivation. Expected outcomes include new knowledge of team motivation disseminated through scholarly and practitioner-oriented publications and presentations, as well as practical team assessment and training tools made available to organisations so they can improve team performance.
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A general theory of multiple-goal pursuit. The aim of this project is to develop and test a formal theory that explains the mechanisms by which people make choices amongst competing goals in a dynamic and uncertain environment (‘multiple goal pursuit’). People have to manage competing goals in a wide range of settings (for example, work, education, sport), yet the mechanisms are poorly understood. The theory is expected to integrate formal theories of self-regulation with formal theories of deci ....A general theory of multiple-goal pursuit. The aim of this project is to develop and test a formal theory that explains the mechanisms by which people make choices amongst competing goals in a dynamic and uncertain environment (‘multiple goal pursuit’). People have to manage competing goals in a wide range of settings (for example, work, education, sport), yet the mechanisms are poorly understood. The theory is expected to integrate formal theories of self-regulation with formal theories of decision making, to provide a more general account of multiple goal pursuit. The project aims to test the predictions of the theory in a series of experiments in which people have to pursue two goals simultaneously. The experiments allow us to test competing views, and understand the mechanisms involved.Read moreRead less
The dynamics of goal-oriented leader behaviour in action teams. Organisations increasingly rely on action teams - those that form swiftly to tackle urgent, potentially dangerous incidents that unfold rapidly in uncertain environments. Effective leadership is critical for managing teams in such dynamic situations. However, little is understood about the dynamic behaviours required of action team leaders to effectively manage goal-directed action. The project will integrate self-regulation, team l ....The dynamics of goal-oriented leader behaviour in action teams. Organisations increasingly rely on action teams - those that form swiftly to tackle urgent, potentially dangerous incidents that unfold rapidly in uncertain environments. Effective leadership is critical for managing teams in such dynamic situations. However, little is understood about the dynamic behaviours required of action team leaders to effectively manage goal-directed action. The project will integrate self-regulation, team leadership and team theories to propose when team leaders should perform various behaviours and for how long, in order to develop the team states required for effectiveness. The project will then test the model with Incident Command and Surgical teams. Results aim to uncover prescriptive guidelines for the training and management of action team leaders.Read moreRead less
Task Contingent Units of Personality and Adaptive Performance. The project aims to test a model of adaptive personality, to cross-validate the model in Italy, China and the United kingdom, and to develop and test a model for the modification and development of adaptive personality factors that enhance adaptive performance. Adaptive tasks differ from routine tasks in degrees of novelty, difficulty and uncertainty which require higher levels and different types of cognitive processing. Individuals ....Task Contingent Units of Personality and Adaptive Performance. The project aims to test a model of adaptive personality, to cross-validate the model in Italy, China and the United kingdom, and to develop and test a model for the modification and development of adaptive personality factors that enhance adaptive performance. Adaptive tasks differ from routine tasks in degrees of novelty, difficulty and uncertainty which require higher levels and different types of cognitive processing. Individuals who adapt their focus, emotions and exploratory activities in response to the changing cognitive demands of tasks are expected to outperform those with less adaptive personalities. Those with more adaptive personalities are expected to perform better on problem solving, learning, innovation and development activities.Read moreRead less
Work, income, spending, and wellbeing in Australia: A multi-level, longitudinal analysis of individuals and households. Social science research on the effects of income on wellbeing is substantial, however, this research has largely missed five crucial factors. These factors include: the work people do to generate income; how they use income; effects on physical and social wellbeing; effects at the household level; and causal effects at multiple levels. This project aims to address all of these ....Work, income, spending, and wellbeing in Australia: A multi-level, longitudinal analysis of individuals and households. Social science research on the effects of income on wellbeing is substantial, however, this research has largely missed five crucial factors. These factors include: the work people do to generate income; how they use income; effects on physical and social wellbeing; effects at the household level; and causal effects at multiple levels. This project aims to address all of these factors with a new model of wellbeing, the Work-Income-Spending-Effects (WISE) model, and utilises the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia database. This project also aims to demonstrate trade-offs among work, income, spending, and multiple types of wellbeing within a new paradigm for engaging the Australian public, organisations, and policy makers.Read moreRead less
Changing contexts: Impacts on organisations, teams, employees and clients. The project aims to explore workplace change with a view to maximising the positive outcomes of change. Organisations, teams, and individuals need to change and adapt to remain competitive in today’s global marketplace. Using a multilevel systems approach, the project plans to examine three different types of change – human resource management practices, team composition, and daily work environment pressures – to determin ....Changing contexts: Impacts on organisations, teams, employees and clients. The project aims to explore workplace change with a view to maximising the positive outcomes of change. Organisations, teams, and individuals need to change and adapt to remain competitive in today’s global marketplace. Using a multilevel systems approach, the project plans to examine three different types of change – human resource management practices, team composition, and daily work environment pressures – to determine their impact on organisational processes and effectiveness, team adaptability and performance, employee wellbeing and performance, and service to clients. Project findings may help organisations, managers and employees better understand the process and implications of various types of workplace changes, enabling them to better manage change.Read moreRead less
Developing and testing dynamic models of goal striving in approach and avoidance contexts. This project will examine how people manage competing goals, such as productivity and safety, in a dynamic environment. The results will improve understanding of human motivation and have implications for practice in military, industrial and commercial settings.